Remember the doll house that Kalissa bought on a garage sale for me for $20?
You might remember that it needed new siding and updates. Â I really didn’t anticipate it happening any time soon….
But Hubby has been working on it. Â In fact, I have a cute little story about it.I went out the garage to chat with him and he was working on it.
He said, “You know…maybe we shouldn’t have this for the childcare kids.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
He said, “We’re going to do a lot of work fixing it up and they might trash it.”
I said, “I know.”
He said, “How about we put it in the upstairs spare bedroom and we keep it for grand kids when you’re upstairs sewing?”
I think he had a winning idea. Â I’m sure I’ll bring it down occasionally for the childcare kids but I don’t think it’s going to be down here all the time. Â Most of the kids in my care are under 3 years old so doll houses like this aren’t really developmentally right for them. Â I do have the wonderful Fisher Price ones (Thanks Connie!)
So being we are keeping the house “nice”, we thought we might take Michelle’s suggestion and look for some windows for it.
It seems a little project has turned into something big again….oh and I need to find wallpaper…and new flooring. Â This is turning out to be so much more than I anticipated.
Hubby has some siding in place…
It looks like it’s my turn to come up with some windows. Â Does anyone know of a good online place for doll house windows and such? Â It looks like I need one!
I don’t have any ideas for the windows…BUT… places that sell wall paper generally have old sample books that they give away. Pages are pretty big, so you might be able to get a whole room wall papered with a page. The kiddos will have fun with what ever wall paper you don’t use!
Not sure about the Windows, but for wallpaper you might keep an eye out for scrap booking paper while you’re thrifting. I’ve heard that makes great dollhouse wallpaper. You could even use checkered paper for a kitchen floor. Or you could even use some of your fabric for wallpaper, bet that would work well. I love the siding, it looks so cute already.
It’s a little pricey, but Minatures.com has some great stuff, depending on how fancy you want to get.
Try michaels or hobby lobby! They have lots of furniture and parts for model Victorian houses! Or they used to and if u use scrapbook paper modge podge the outside for easier clean up in case someone gets excited with markers or crayons!
You know what they say about remodeling. First you fix one thing, and then the area next to it looks a little shabby now so you fix that. And so on. Next thing you know you’ve done the whole house. At least your whole doll house shouldn’t be too big of a money pit. Enjoy the process!
Jo,
I think hubby has a great idea, it will be wonderful with both of your talents put to good use.
Oh and what happy grandchildren you will have…….Hope things are progressing with your
health issues. I didn’t comment on the day that you wrote the article about what to say to
friends or family that have cancer, it was right on spot.Thanks for sharing.
How about laminating plastic. clear and tough
What fun! Will enjoy following along as this progresses….
And, you know, when it is ready for furnishings, you may need to make a couple of tiny quilts to go inside….just saying….
How fun!!! Miniatures.com as well as ebay and etsy are great resources, as well as hobby lobby. Pinterest has great ideas too.
There are lots of websites with printable dollhouse wallpaper. I’m getting ready to redo a house that was wallpapered from sample books and, aside from the print being way too huge, the texture just looks WRONG. The only way I’d use real wallpaper or carpet is if it’s from my own house (The house my grandparents made me has carpet and linoleum from the house we were living in when I was two. It’s hideous, but I’m keeping it for the memories it evokes.) If you don’t want to print it yourself, get some cute scrapbooking paper. Or just paint the walls a solid color.
I wouldn’t do plastic in the windows, just trim them with something cute. My thirty year old dollhouse has “real” dollhouse windows and they haven’t aged all that well.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!