The Dollhouse!!!!

Once upon a time, in about July, a girl was shopping at the DI with her kids. Lo and behold, she came upon this. For $5. True, it needed TLC, but it had good bones, minus a few screws here and there.

I’ll describe what I did as I’m going, and then I’ll show you the finished project. This was a HUGE project! But, considering the grand total was around $10 (including the $5 for the dollhouse), I’d say that’s pretty awesome wouldn’t you?!? I primed and painted the whole thing. My hubby was disappointed I painted the wood, but it was gouged and scratched with a pen. So, I painted it. I painted all the rooms, laid down flooring (hee hee, sounds so real, doesn’t it), and then built almost every single piece of furniture. Just made it up as I was going… Let’s start with the top room:

I built the bunk bed out of 1/4” MDF (my mom gave me a bunch of scraps of MDF she had) and dowels. I cut out foam for the mattresses, and covered them with a “sheet” (white fabric hot glued on), and made a bedspread and pillows. I also made a gumdrop pillow, because it’s just so fun!

I made a little memo board to hang up with cardboard, fabric, ribbon, and hot glue. See that cute little sewing machine? It actually spins, and was 50 cents at the DI. I also bought that little turquoise chair for 25 cents. I cut a little picture my daughter had colored and turned it into a picture above the memo board.

The wallpaper is mod-podged wrapping paper that I liked the look of. The “carpet” is some velvety upholstery fabric I got from my grandma, that I also used for my hubby’s Halloween costume here…

Moving down a floor…The water closet. Bathroom. Etc..

I still want to find a shower head looking thing for above the bathtub. I made everything in here, except the mirror is an old makeup mirror I found. I painted the floor gray, and then mod-podged squares of cardstock that I had decorated to look like tile, and cut up. I couldn’t find any paper I liked the look of at the store. The paper cost about 10 cents. I also mod-podged the swirly designs on the wall, cut out from my mom’s Cricut…

The bathtub is a 2x4 block of wood with a punch of holes drilled out. It’s not my favorite, but it will work for now. The toilet is a block of wood with a roundish piece glued to it, and a piece of a lotion bottle I saved from here glued underneath. The sink is a block of wood, with an L-screw for faucet, and an egg carton basin.

None of the furniture can go right against the wall unless I cut a chunk out of it because it’s got raised edge, as you can see from the picture. I put 2 beads under the tub for feet so it can go right against the wall. I painted some felt in an ombre fashion for the rug.

The lights are a tongue depressor cut to size with 4 rose-looking beads glued to it.

I had wanted to build some stairs to go from the bathroom up to the bedroom, but I didn’t have enough scraps, so I may finish that later. Then, I used the stairs to hang a shower curtain for the bathtub…

The master bedroom, as I like to call it. It’s got a picture of our family on the wall, and a mirror that I made a frame out of popsicle sticks. The “carpet” in here is a textured black fabric I hot-glued down. The bed was made from MDF, and I made the mattress and bedspread like the bunkbed. The nightstands are pizza toppers (you know they put in the middle of the pizza so it doesn’t get smashed to the lid?), cardboard circles, ribbon around the edges, and a swirly modpodged on top. The lamp is from egg carton, with the base being a nail and 2 beads glued together.

I made the chandelier out of beads, wire, and a broken chain I had lying around. Just glued everything together….

Hung from the ceiling with an eye ring. You can now go outside onto the deck.

I hung a curtain from a bamboo skewer and cup hooks to make it different from the inside. I laid down the brick by painting it white, and then mod-podging red rectangles down for bricks. The benches are blocks of painted wood with pillows I made on top. The egg carton planter has silk plant leaves glued in to make the plant.

Nice retreat, right?

On to the downstairs. There’s a kitchen.

There’s a pencil box refrigerator, painted white with Krylon plastic spray paint (75 cents at the DI), a block of painted wood with a hole cut in the top for the sink, a block of painted wood for the oven, and an old Mentos gum container for a garbage. I painted the floors on the bottom to make it look like hardwood. I didn’t have the brain power or wood left for cabinets, so I hot glued some painted paint mixing sticks (you know that you get for free when you buy paint?) and cut them to make floating shelves instead. So far, they’ve got a little cup hot glued on there. I may make some little plates out of cardboard before Christmas just for fun, we’ll see.

The felt is painted with a stencil I had made for another project in 2 colors.

The sink has a faucet from an L-screw, like the bathroom, but I added beads hot glued on for the handles. The oven has a toothpick cut to size, with a towel sewn on, for the oven handle. The top is cardboard circles, and beads for the controls. I drew on the drawer, and glued another toothpick for it’s handle, and painted the window on the front.

The light is a tongue depressor with buttons hanging down from fishing line. I mod podged swirlies on the ceiling too, just for fun.

I built the table by cutting a square from MDF, and gluing it to a toothbrush holder I found at the DI (75 cents). I made the chairs with glue and MDF, and painted them red, then mod-podged little swirlies on them (what? I didn’t have stencils, and it adds a nice touch!). I made the rug by cutting a stencil out of cardstock and painting on felt.

I made the piano from the MDF, and just glued all the pieces together and painted it. I drew the lines on with a piece of paper (no rulers were small enough to fit even sideways!), and made the piano. The “TV” has Toy Story playing, one of my daughters favorites. I actually goofed up a little. I wanted pictures in the dining room, and the TV in the family room, but I glued them on and couldn’t switch them by the time I remembered. Oh well! I guess they eat while watching TV.

I made this chandelier out of wire, beads, and hot glue. Took a bit of time

The family room.

The lamp is made from a dowel, piece of round wood, and an egg carton. I made picture frames out of cardboard and painted them. The 2 red pictures are my daughter’s artwork that I cut up and framed. The plant is from an egg carton and silk leaves like the other one. I made the fireplace with a piece of MDF for the mantel, and the sides and underneath the mantel are tongue depressors and popsicle sticks layered for depth. I mod podged tile from the bathroom around the edges, and printed off a picture of a fire and glued that in. The couches are made from MDF, glued together, quilt batting, and then fabric that was half sewn, half glued.

I made the cushions and pillows with the sewing machine and stuffed them. The yellow cabinet was another DI find for about 50 cents. It had the one lonely cup glued to it, so I took it off and painted the cabinet, then cut off the bottom a little to make it fit in the house.

I hung the curtains with a bamboo skewer cut to size, and sewed fabric to go on them. I still need to tie a piece of ribbon around them to finish them. Oops. I made a front door, but I still haven’t found the right hinges, so it’s not hung.

Looking in the front door.

The ceiling fan is made from beads, buttons, a bamboo skewer, and the blades are cut from a milk jug.

K, just to review. Before:

Just in time for Christmas After:

So what do you think? I tried to make everything super durable, and if it’s not, then it was basically free to make, so I can replace things, or fix things, as needed.

I’m not lying when I say I wish I could live here!

If you want any more details about something, just email me! There's a ton of measurements, and I really was making it up as I went, so if you need specifics, let me know!

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