Glad Greetings Cottage

I wanted to share with you the latest little house that's going to market.

Isn't it amazing, and fun, to see what can be made from old boxes and things that would otherwise go in the trash?

The cottage is called Glad-Greetings because of the little girl on the support column and her Glad Greetings.

Made from a cardboard box, this little cottage has wood floors, fabric walls and a beautiful lace "wall paper border." It comes with handmade furniture.

There's a fireplace in the corner, with a hearth and a little pot made from Sculpey and wire.

Cork and wire make for good curtain rods, and lace always makes pretty curtains.

The sleigh style bed boasts storage drawers underneath, of course covered in sparkles and with dainty wire-and-bead drawer pulls.




The little window sill is big enough for sitting things on, perfect for a little fairy who lives in the woods and collects things.


A chinese take-out container was cut in half and then covered in fabric to make two beautiful wingback chairs.





The containers were unused and probably would have ended up in the trash were it not for The Scrap Exchange.



I put in a little Kelly doll to illustrate the size of the furnishings.





A clock and little dishes made from Sculpey have started filling in the cupboard, made from a little gift box.




I hope you enjoyed your tour!

Enjoy this day.

Making A Doll House Book

I've been wanting to make a little book for the dolls. One with actual pages. Thank you to Mommylion, a commenter who pointed out this mini book tutorial at Hitty Print Mini. It worked out great!

I printed the covers for the little doll house books from Hitty Print Mini and then used little strips of words cut out of a no-longer-useful book.

By the way, I am always looking for books at the thrift store that have beautiful pictures or words -- something that would be great for a doll house project, but is no longer readable. I would much rather reuse a book than to see it thrown away!

My children LOVED reading through these little doll house books. A word here or there that jumps out and makes them think of something historical!

Fun stuff. The little doll house bookshelf up next!

Lynn

Tiny Little Books

I want so much to make books with pages that will open and close. I need to surf around and find a place with detailed instructions and suggestions. Until that spare moment...



this little book was simply made by printing the cover from Hitty Print Minis and then cutting pieces of paper to fit inside, stacking them evenly and setting them right into the book on a strip of hot glue run right down the middle.

I will get better at this. You know how I love books.

Lynn

Doll House Lanterns

Again, another sweet doll house project from Hitty Print Mini: precious little doll house paper lanterns.

We did as suggested on the website and cut off the "paper" sticks which will print out with the lantern. (You'll know what I mean if you look at them on the website.) Instead, we hot-glued toothpicks into place after cutting the ends off the toothpicks with scissors.

Okay, time for a disclaimer: Ends of toothpicks are sharp and should not be left on the floor to be stepped on. They can be dangerous. Cut over the trash can so that all sharp pieces go into the trash. Secondly, moms, do the cutting. Not children. Also ALWAYS supervise the use of hot glue guns. They are not for children without supervision.

We used just a dab of glue inside each corner to attach our little strings for these two doll house lanterns. They will probably hang up in the dolll house somewhere near the door or in a doll's bedroom.

The Well Read Doll

My dear friend Michele at Smile, Wink, Nod posted a wonderful link today, so I have to thank her for helping me find this! How could I have missed this sweet bunch of miniature printables at Hitty Print Mini? Oh, never mind, at least I know about it now! And I thought you would want to know as well.

Today we made the dolls a bunch of books for the doll house!


These were so cute printed out!! A page of book covers. I simply cut out each tiny book cover, folded it in half, and then glued it with a glue stick around a piece of nice smooth cardboard (think thick card stock).

Just to show you how mini they really are.


You know now I must make a doll house bookshelf. These dolls love books! I love these dolls.

Lynn

Doll House Emergency Supplies

This week we finished up our studies of Storm in the Night.



And you know me. I was inspired to make something for the doll house. As luck would have it - or should I say as the occasion was presented to me, I ran out of my favorite eye cream. The little jar could certainly not be discarded. Anything small has to be considered as furniture or some little thing for the dolls. You'll see the little jar sitting up at the corner of the book, above, freshly turned into a stool that doubles as storage. For now, let's take the top off and see what's inside.



Oh, it looks exciting!!



It's emergency supplies!! A book of matches for the doll house candle, and a flashlight! And they'll always be located in the comfy storage stool so we know how to get to them quickly!



Do you know what the flashlight is made from? The little extension pieces that you would use to increase the size of the posts in a scrapbook! They even unscrew so the dolls can pretend to put in new batteries. The tip, light and switch are tiny pieces of felt that were hot-glued on.



Here's brother, who's pulled the stool up close to sister's bed so he can read to her. She's not feeling well today.



The satin trim on the stool came from an old pair of pajama bottoms that finally wore out, but the tie around the waist was too pretty to throw out, so it went into the "string drawer." The top of the stool is padded with a cotton ball with a circular piece of fabric placed over the top and then hot-glued into place. The final touch was the trim glued around. The little matchbook is just a little black piece of paper folded with the matches drawn onto a white piece of paper and glued inside.

Lynn

PS - Miniatures are fun, but remember they are small and not for children too young to understand about not putting thing in their mouths.

Cute As Pie

Is it just me, or is this just cute as pie?



Do you see the apple pie on the table? I had a bottle cap from my ginger-ale today and thought this would make a perfect doll house pie pan, if only the edges were brought out some.



And what a way to finish up How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World!



This little pie is just a bottle cap with the edges flattened out somewhat by pliers, a circle of felt glued in for the bottom crust, little pieces of felt glued in for apple slices, and felt strips glued on the for the top crust. I think the dolls will have wonderful conversations about Italy and Sri Lanka and England...

Lynn

Doll House Blanket

As I wrote a few days back, Princess of the Universe and I have been making blankets for the doll house. In the gift from Louise was also a piece of cheery fabric -- just perfect for a doll house creation.



Little doll boy has a new blanket, trimmed with pom-poms and a dream-filled little pillow to match.

Louise, thank you again

Lynn

The Most Wonderful DollHouse Book

It is! And it came to me in the mail yesterday from my sweet friend, Alana.



It's true I was a bit tired when I came home yesterday, but this book very much lifted my spirits when I saw it in the mailbox and then even more when I looked at it last evening and just marveled at all the things I can make with Princess of the Universe!

This book has very clear instructions and has many things in it that have already set my mind to work. It's called The Most Wonderful Dollhouse Book and it's by Millie Hines (by Butterick, copyright 1979). It's a treasure! :)



Alana, thank you.

Hugs,
Lynn

Fresh Eggs for the Dolls

While I was in A.C. Moore the other day, I could not resist these fresh eggs and milks for the doll house.



There's gotta be a lesson in these.

Lynn

Doll House Cup

Did you know that caps from toothpaste tubes make great doll house accessories?



It's either a great doll house cup or a cool doll house canister. Your choice!

Keeping it simple,
Lynn