Make Dollhouse Furniture Out of Everyday Items

No dollhouse is complete without dollhouse furniture. You can either purchase individual items from a toy store at a high price, or use your imagination to make your own from everyday items found around the house. You will be surprised at the things you can make from old container lids, empty boxes, scraps of fabric, and magazines cut-outs.

Tables

Use the plastic center from a delivered box of pizza as a round table. Rinse it and place it directly, or cut a round piece of fabric and place it on the table as a tablecloth.

You can glue the lid from an orange juice box on to a spool to serve as a table, or glue a rectangular piece of cardboard on it. To finish, paint an empty toothpaste cap and place it inverted on the top to serve as a vase. Cut tiny pieces of green paper or fabric and place inside.

Beds

For a small bed, cut a piece of sponge the thickness you want and sew fabric on it. Cover tiny pieces of sponge with other pieces of fabric to serve as pillows. Invert an empty cheese box if you want a bigger bed. Make the bedding out of sponge, or sew a piece out of fabric scraps and stuff with cotton.

Chairs and Sofas

Take a Styrofoam egg carton and separate the cups. Take two rounded toothpicks and insert the pointy edges into the two corners of the back, and insert a third in the center. Glue cotton inside and cover with fabric to make a chair.

Make an ottoman by covering a wine cork with fabric and add some trim. To make a larger sofa, cut off a side of one side of a tissue box along with half the bottom. Fold a rectangular piece of cardboard in half lengthwise. Paint the piece and sew long cushions stuffed with cotton to place on your sofa.

Wallpaper, Wall Hangings, and Floors

Cut wrapping paper and glue it to the walls of your dollhouse, using different colors or patterns for each room. Also check with your local wallpaper store for appropriate small-scale prints. Cut out postage stamps or miniature pictures from magazines and frame them with colored matchsticks. Glue or tape these to your walls. You can even use miniature photos of yourself or your family or print small ones.

Cut out a piece of cardboard in any shape and cover with aluminum foil to serve as a mirror for your dolls. Use fabric scraps, knit a tiny rug, or cut out pictures of rugs from magazines and place on your floor for carpets. For a curtain, glue a piece of fabric of colored paper to one side of a drinking straw and glue the other side over a window.

This is a great project to do with the kids. They can customize their dollhouse using their imagination, and you can save money.