Bob...what a WONDERFUL idea!!!
I’ll tell you, from MY point of view...when I was a little girl, my daddy made me a doll house. It was very basic two story w/a staircase in the center. My little sister got the same thing that year for Christmas.
Guess what? We still have them...I’m about to take mine out of mothballs, clean it up a tad and ..... sheesh, I don’t know. Put it out somewhere? ;)
Point being....it will NOT MATTER how elaborate/expensive a doll house you make. Their Daddy made that doll house...and they WILL treasure it for a loooooooooooooong time.
Merry Christmas!!!
Now thats priceless and I even understand the beeber comment. - Now I just have to figure out what a stune is. LOL!
Girls generally execute their dolls when they’re about 12y/o. You can save it for about 6 years though.
BTT
Check out if you need supplies : http://www.dejouxminiatures.com/?gclid=CKiOvYSIiJACFQn4gAodhluqqA
The dollhouse is now in my wife's home office/sudy, and surviving well.
It actually was built from a plan that was modified and constructed of pine and balsa.
Then, my wife and I used such wonderful things as wooden coffee-stirring sticks (the kind you see at Starbucks), which were cut up to be glued down as hardwood flooring (stained and varnished). The roofing is "shake shingles", made from the material we got from tearing apart wooden peck baskets, cutting them into individual "shake shingles), and attaching them with staples to the 1/4" plywood "roof sheathing". Various other material such as micro-pattern cloth was used to wallpaper rooms. Windows were trimmed with balsa to resemble double-hung windows with grilles. The interior is lighted with various light fixtures, such as painted ping pong balls cut in half and hand painted to resemble tiffany lampshades, etc. The lighting is provided by flashlight bulbs in the fixtures, which were wired through the ceilings and walls to a couple of AAA batteries under the dollhouse.
This is just how WE did it (wife and I), and she collected miniature furnishings over the years from garage and estate sales.
That's the ONLY dollhouse we ever built, but it was a great project. If you have some D-I-Y skills, you might want to give it a try by just looking at plans (even house plans you could get ideas from, then scale down for dimensions).
I am searching for new Shirley Temple and Wizard of Oz toys (collector items are too expensive for small children).
Months went by, the dollhouse pieces still laid there in its cardboard box, and I dont know why I did, but I decided to build the dollhouse myself using the picture of the finished dollhouse on the cardboard box as my guide (since the instructions have long since gotten lost).
I cant recall exactly how long it took me to build the thing (days? weeks?), but I did it. And I had great fun doing it as well. Not only that, but I also began to build, from scratch, tiny little pieces of furniture, knick knacks, books, and magazines for the dollhouse, using nothing more than odds and ends items I found around the house.
My sister had a ball playing with it, but eventually tired of it and left it alone, which is just as well as the glue I used (Elmers wood glue) lost its strength and the dollhouse fell apart piece by piece.
It was a fun project, but I havent done it again. :-)
My warning is to use the proper glue. I only used the yellowish looking wood glue because it was the only glue we had sitting around the house.
I've build over 20 of these, my first when I was just a girl of 12.
First things first, temporary assemble (without gluing)the main frame pieces of the house. Determine which sides will be the floors and which will be ceilings; which will be inside and which will be outside. Mark, in small letters, using a pencil, ceilings as "C", floors as "F", inside as I, and outside as O. Disassemble.
Second, paint the parts that will become the ceilings, including the tiny edges BEFORE assembling the house. Why? The wood becomes very dry over time and may absorb several coats. Trying to paint those tiny edges AFTER you assemble it will become a NIGHTMARE. Further, if glue runs down the wood or drips onto the floor, it's a LOT easier to get off of a painted surface and doesn't cause "glue" splotches in the paint/stain (which, yes, you will notice for the rest of your life, by goodness!).
Third, varnish, stain, or shellack the parts that will become the floors BEFORE you put it together - but try not to do the edges. Why? See above.
DO NOT put the individual pieces of trim on the walls, around the doors, or around the windows, etc., before putting the main part of the frame together. Why? Some of these models fit together very tightly - and you may have to "trim" the trim.
If you plan to paint the interior rooms or paper them, it's easier to do so before they are assembled. Papering is always easier!!
If you plan to paint the exterior, leave a little space unpainted around the "slots" where the tab goes in. Why? Glue sticks better to unpainted surfaces and the house will be strongers this way. Further, it's easier to use wood filler, sand it with a fine grain paper, and paint when the frame is secure.
Build the main frame of the house first, set with glue, IMMEDIATELY remove any excess or dribbles. Give it 24 hours to hold.
Build any porches, balconies, windows, or chimneys LAST (whenever possible). You want to be able to tip the frame on sides or on it's back, if necessary, so the trim peices don't slide around when you are gluing them. It's always best to trim 1 side per day, with that side laying horizontally instead of vertically, otherwise the pieces can crawl down the side and dry onto the house (my Mom was never patient and always did this to her houses, which is why I wouldn't let her touch mine). These protrusions can be easily damaged if attached too early.
A good way to make sure you have the right pieces for the trim is to place them where they are supposed to go BEFORE gluing. As with the sides, etc., PAINT the parts that are going to be seen (including, yes, those tiny little edges) BEFORE THEY ARE PERMANENTLY ATTACHED. The finished side should always be the side that gets painted and faces out - otherwise, you WILL see the wood grain.
The best color for the exterior is WHITE (hides a multitude of sins) with your trim being your daughter's favorite color. The best color for interior trim is WHITE, with paper on the walls. Last, but not least, if you plan to paper your inside walls, DO NOT ATTACHED THE WINDOWS/PANES until this is done. You can use the window cut outs as guidelines/trimming space without jacking up your wood trim, the paint, or the film for the windows.
Anything else, freepmail me and I will give you my phone number.
Good luck! Lots of work, but what a blast!
My wife and I bought a dollhouse instead. She lucked out and got a great deal from a close friend who had to part with it when the family ome was sold.. it came fully furnished with oodles of tiny stuff.
It sounds like a great family project and will hold many memories for all of you down the road.
Good luck!
When I was a little girl, my parents got me one of those “modern” aluminum dollhouses with plastic furniture, which I thought was neat but bored me rather quickly, as it was all done for me.
As an adult, I’ve done a few dollhouses (around five), generally from a kit. It can be very addictive. There’s all sorts of cool things you can do to make it “yours”. I’ve made brick and “rock” (pebble) fireplaces, beaded chandeliers (out of a basic three-prong fishing hook, no less!), a “bearskin” rug out of an old fur collar, and dipped tiny, tiny candles using thread and old candlewax.
As for tips, I highly recommend following TheWriterTex’s suggestions: if I had done so, it would have saved me a LOT of grief! I would only add that if you’re making it to light up, do that before final assembly also.
Rather than spending money on expensive miniature wallpaper, I use contact paper, or fancy single sheets from a party supplies store or scrapbooking store. You can carpet a room by using a foamie sheet as your pad, and a small-patterned or plain upholstery fabric as your carpet.
You can create miniature family portraits from black and white photocopies and frame them in square or oval buttons. Really, your imagination is the limit, and you will look around at the world in a different way to see how you can use something in your dollhouse.
It is something that your daughter will likely treasure forever; I have donated some of mine to sell at charity auctions, and they fetch a really good price.
This could be LOTS of fun for you!
Best of luck to you! I never finished the one I started, but as an avid miniaturist (”scale miniaturist” sounds even better), I just switched scales to 1:6 instead of the 1:12 you’ll be working in - and proceeded to make roomboxes and dioramas for and with Barbie dolls.
It’s tons of fun, so I wish you the best. Also, look around at the miniatures websites (there are artists who do things you won’t believe!) and you can find some wallpapers and tiny printed items you can just make on your own computer printer.
And I’m sure your little house will have a compauer, so be sure to make a screen with the FReeRepublic masthead on it - and even a copy of this thread, reduced by 1/12th. You can even print it on acetate to be transparent on the monitor.
For inspiration, look for web pages on the Thorne Rooms in Chicago and Fort Worth (try the Art Institute of Chicago first); also Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Publications like back issues of the former Nutshell News and now DollHouse Miniatures Magazine have tons of tips. There are also books and one of my favorites is of the White House in Miniature, a fabulous edifice by the Zweifel family that used to tour the US, but I believe is now in a museum somewhere, but I’m not sure where.
Hope y’all have “mini” hours of fun!
It is at this point that I become confused.
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If you are not good with tools, or such, like me. Pay the man...
Congrats on baby on the way.
I have 3 girls, then a boy. Boys are retarded...
Yikes, I built a doll house from a kit many years ago. I purchased some of the furniture, but I also found a book in the library for templates of furniture - I made some of the furniture out of balsa wood. I still have the doll house and plan to restore it, someday. Michael’s crafts has a lot of supplies.
I never played with dolls of any sort so I never had a dollhouse but I had a friend in elementary, Andrea, who had the most kick ass doll house ever. It was huge, her dad built it for her and she loved it like you wouldn’t believe. If I close my eyes I can see it like it’s in front of me. Almost made me like dolls. Almost. LOL
http://www.hench.net/2005/DOLLHOUSE.htm