Doll House Fun

When Haley and Harley were little girls (they are now teenagers) we made mini-doll houses from 1/2 gallon juice cartons and oatmeal boxes. Haley's has survived pretty much as she made it (helped) but Harley's is missing most of the furniture. You can see Haley's picture on her bedroom wall. Her sofa and chair are made from pill bottles, the fireplace is scrap wood, the decorations are beads and mini silk flowers. The lampshade is a toothpaste tube cap.
The very first house we made was a bear house, with little plastic bears, and was done up like a fishing cabin with a patio, picnic table and bbq grill. It did not survive the many playtimes, but it provided hours of fun for them. The next one was a mouse house made from a large shoe box. Mama and Papa mouse are still living in the house, but baby mouse has disappeared again. His little cradle is empty. The first time he disappeared he was gone 3 months and we all thought it was permanent. But I got up at 3 a.m. one morning on the way to the bathroom and stepped on him in front of the door. We found no evidence that the dogs might have had him, no teeth marks or wet spots, so we decided we have a ghost that likes to play tricks. He was back home with his family, but a few months later he disappeared again, and this time he has not come back. As you can see Mama and Papa mouse look very sad.

The next project was another shoebox house but this one has no inhabitants. It looks like a small apartment even though the front door is a very fancy cutout from a catalog. The table is made from a chess piece and the tea set is beads.

Here is a close up of the fancy front door, toothpast cap lampshade and sofa from a plastic bottle cut to shape.

The next room is made from wood, 1/8 plywood cut and fitted together, with one side folding down to make the room accessible. The furniture is all hand made from plywood, wood scraps, and fabric remnants. The large lampshade is 1/2 of a ping pong ball. The books in the bookcase are tiny pieces of styrofoam covered with pieces of pink card cut from junk mail.

The girls have outgrown dollhouses for now, but there are two more on the way to being old enough for them, D'Anna and Serenity. I say for now, because I began making them after retirement age, it is never too late to do childish things. I have wonderful times with the grandchildren in a miniature world.

Grandma in the yellow house, who still likes the dollhouses.