I’ve always been interested in miniature settings, especially ones that include handmade objects. I found a dollhouse kit, the Buttercup that looked fairly simple and had an open main floor and attic. My daughter and I decided to do the dollhouse project together. It has been a long ongoing project, as we work on it when my daughter has the time available (mainly in the summer).
The pieces of the dollhouse kit are scored into thin wood sheets shaped in the forms of the various walls, roofs, floors, windows, etc. They have to be carefully detached or the wood splinters. We used Aleene’s® Quick Dry Tacky Glue to attach the pieces and then used long pieces of masking tape as makeshift clamps to hold the pieces together while they dried. The masking tape worked really well.
The doll house has a bit of a split personality going on as I wanted to try using some natural materials, gravel, shells, twigs and moss and my daughter wants to make a “mad scientist” lab. We’re not as concerned about having a strictly cohesive design, but more interested in using the dollhouse as a laboratory for our various ideas.
My daughter is designing the first floor. It will have a kitchen/science lab and a living room. We found a source for miniature glass lab beakers and chemistry items at Ray Storey’s website, here. She made floor tiles from card stock that she painted with a marbled design and then glued to the dollhouse floor. She colored the rug (a piece of velvet) with fabric markers in a bright modern design. I’m going to make some twig and shell furniture for the attic which will have a bedroom and bath. This DvD, “Creating Beautiful Fairy Furniture” by Debbie and Mike Shramer, is wonderful for inspiration and technique for twig furniture.
We used tacky glue to add pebbles to the bottom 3 inches of the exterior walls. Then we covered the outside of the house with a grey gravel we found at the hardware store. We put the house on it’s side, covered the up-facing wall with glue, and then gently poured gravel over it. We pressed down on the gravel and let it dry. We did this messy work on a table outside on the deck. We had to fill in areas where the gravel didn’t stick the first time we applied them. My daughter had planned to use little wooden shingles to cover the roof. But after we did the gravel walls, we decided to use moss because we liked the way the moss looked with the gravel. The moss came in sheets and large pieces so went on pretty quickly.
For the exterior windows, we are gluing on bits of moss and then covering them with small shells from a craft store. We didn’t like the decorative plastic pieces for the glass of the windows that came with the kit, so we used them as patterns and cut ours out of clear mylar. The front door will also be moss and shell-covered, and there will be more shell detailing on the roof. We have to do some touch up on the attic walls as we painted them before putting them together. The painting is much easier this way, but the wall joins don’t get covered very well. We still have most of the windows to cover with moss bits and shells. We are thinking we will cover the front door with moss and then put shell decoration on it.
We hope to finish our dollhouse next summer (during my daughter’s summer break) . Then comes the extra fun part of furnishing it.
A fun read all about dollhouses and miniatures is “The Dollhouse Blog by S. Mehreen” Her July 2008 archives have posts about a Hogwarts castle and two enchanting fairy houses using natural materials. (Update: Sumaiya Mehreen’s blog has been changed to “My Dream Dollhouse”. You can check it out here.)
Please enjoy this video of exquisite miniature breads, cheese, and deli meats by British artist, Vicky Guile. She makes these miniatures of polymer clay, and the detail is amazing!
I love this! The roof and stones really make it unique. I have a real thing for dollhouses and miniatures.
Anita
Thank you, Anita!
We had so much fun doing the roof and stones. The moss roof and gravel walls went very fast. I agree, something about the smallness combined with detail and intricacy make dollhouses and miniatures seem special to me. I also love the fantasy world quality of them.
I must admit, this post made me cry. It brought back all of the memories of working on dollhouses with my grandmother. We handmade a fair number of miniatures and had a wonderful time searching for the others. Unfortunately, I have none of them to remember her by, they were scavenged by other family members on her death.
I don’t need the physical reminders though for all those hours that we spent creating, shopping and brainstorming. Your dollhouse is very cute, but the most important thing that you are creating is not going to show in the photos, it is the shared experience and laughter!
A great story! We (my husband and I together) have a similar one with our youngest daughter — now a mom of two. We worked on her doll house from the ground up early in the mornings — after she was ready for school and a full hour and a half before she had to leave. She collected miniatures as well — what didn’t go into the house lived on shelves in a shadow box for miniatures on her bedroom wall. (She still has it all…) Too bad we didn’t have the links back then, the DVD’s, the resources we have today. (She is 39.)
I love the detail and design of the exterior here. A wonderful treasure you are creating with and for your daughter. And Bean, you too were blessed with you grandmom…
Hi Bean and Barb.
It’s so interesting that you both had similar experiences, one as the child and one as the adult. I really think of this project as part of our homeschooling life together. I feel lucky that at the ripe old age of seventeen, my daughter is still interested in spending time working together on projects.
What a fantastic project to work on with your teenage daughter. It’s wonderful that she still wants to do things together at that age. You have created an adorable house together ! I have recently become fascinated with miniature work while blog surfing. There are some amazingly talented miniature artists .
Tammy
Hi Ellifolks!
Great house project, I like the look you achieved with the different gravels and the moss. In fact, seeing your house makes me pause and think…about a living moss roof, with water circulating through its substrate, down eaves and out downspouts to be collected and pumped back up into it. Or maybe the moss smell would be too much for a small room. hm. more thought.
The furnishing plans sound fun, I’m sure there will be happy memories but I *hope* there will be posted pictures!
Cheers,
pete
Hi Tammy,
Thank you for the kind words and for coming to visit. I have found some amazing miniatures and dollhouses on the internet, also.
Hi Pete,
Your idea for the living moss roof sounds intriguing. I think the smell might be nice (although I haven’t been around large areas of live moss.
. Thanks for coming to say hi!!
What a wonderful project to work on with a loved one. Your story brought memories of a dear friend who has passed away but loved doll houses. I was never good at it, but we would sit for hours – I talked and she worked, made for a great combination. I truly miss those days.
Your work is beautiful, I love the colors and everything, the pictures made me feel like I was a part of the action.
Love it!
Thank you for the nice words and for sharing your memories of your dollhouse-loving friend, Marilynn! Sharing craftmaking is such a nice way of spending time together and fostering friendship and closeness.
Oh Ellen
I love your doll house project.
It´s so beautiful. I´m a big fan of miniature items
too. (can use that tiny stuff for the bears too).
Hugs, Tina
Thank you, Tina!! I do hope we get to finish it next summer. I think the miniature stuff ties in nicely with the bears, too.
I think you need someone to help you for this project…i do will contact one of my dear ones to play around with the things so that i can work on such projects..
Hi!
Just to let you know, my smehreen-dollhouse.blogspot.com blog has changed to My Dream Dollhouse (mydreamdollhouse.blogspot.com)
Regards,
Sumaiya.
Thanks for letting me know, Sumaiya. Your blog is such fun to browse. I updated the link on the post.