by Gill Jennings

Created on: March 27, 2009

Before you begin to make a dolls house, the first thing you need to do is plan your project.

What type of house will it be? You can make anything from a studio flat to a palace, depending on your passion, and your available time and space! My recommendation would be to start small, and find out how much you enjoy this type of project, before you commit yourself to something that's likely to take over your life for the next couple of years.

What scale do you want to work to? Traditionally, dolls houses are built to 1 twelfth scale or 1 inch to a foot, for 5 to 6 inch dolls. You, however, might want to build a house for a collection of dolls you have that are of a different size. No problem! Simply work on the principle that the rooms need to be about 1 and a half times the height of your tallest doll, and you'll be pretty much on track.

So, having decided on your plan, what materials will you need to make this house? Now is the time to decide how permanent a fixture in your home you want the dolls house to be. Obviously the longer you want it to last, the stronger the materials you should use.

First of all you will need something to make the rooms out of. You could use cardboard boxes. For the larger dolls house, wine boxes are great, and they are freely available at most supermarkets. For smaller-scale dolls houses, shoe boxes are ideal, so take a trip to your nearest shoe shop. If you want to build your rooms rather than have them ready-made, take a trip to your local market and see if they have any wooden fruit crates to throw away: these can easily be disassembled, as they are stapled together, and you can then use the wood to construct your house. An alternative to boxes or crates is to use a discarded shelf unit or cupboard, so ask around to see if any of your friends or neighbours are refurbishing!

Once you have the basic house, it's time to add some details. Cut out window openings: window frames can be made from ice lolly (popsicle) sticks, and "glazed" with clear plastic from discarded packaging. Doors can be made from cardboard or thin wood (back to the boxes & crates!), and hinges can be made from small strips of fabric glued to the doors or window frames. Beads from old jewellery can be glued on for door handles.

Now on to the decorating. You can paint your house with any paint. How about leftover paint from the last time you decorated your own home? Gift-wrap, old letters that are blank on the back, paper bags, and even old magazines can all be used

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>