The best way to enjoy your children is to engage with them when they are young, the time to make memories. There are certain projects you can do together that are great fun and that you will always remember. One of them is to build a home made dolls house from cardboard and paper. Now, it may not be as grand as the one in the image but in a child’s eyes it will be perfect.
If you are thinking about building a dolls house with your daughter, here are some tips to help with your creation.
Materials Required
- Corrugated Cardboard
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Felt
- Lining Paper
Tools Required
- Scissors
- Craft Knife
- Ruler
- Hot Melt Glue Gun
- Printer
Construction
- To begin, make sheets of strong cardboard by using two layers of corrugated card stuck together, with the corrugations running at ninety degrees to each other. Doubling them up makes them strong and less likely to fold.
- Make a base from card.
- Cut the outer walls out of the double layered card. The size is entirely your choice. You may determine it by the size of the porcelain doll that will live there, or space constraints may be the determining factor. The main walls to measure and cut are for the sides and back. If you wish to fit a roof, slope the side walls at the top, to accommodate it. The cardboard must be cut with a craft knife and ruler because it is too thick to be cut neatly with scissors.
- Cut the roof pieces.
- Assemble the walls and roof using hot glue.
- When the main structure is assembled, cover it in lining paper using PVA glue mixed with 50% water, to add strength to the joints and toughen up the whole structure.
- Design and print wallpaper using a computer and printer, a great way to introduce your little one to modern technology. The colours and patterns are their choices using basic drawing applications.
- Paint the house in whatever colours your child wishes. Using water based paints, apply several coats.
- Apply the wallpaper using PVA glue.
- Make carpets from pieces of felt and apply them with glue.
- Cut out a large piece of cardboard for the front of the house. Mark the position of windows and the front door and cut them out.
- Cover the front of the house with lining paper in the same way as the house.
- Paint and decorate the front of the house. This piece simply lifts out of the way when the child wishes to play with the house; there is no need to attach it.
Once the house is assembled, set to work on building furniture out of card too, to match the house you have so lovingly crafted. There are dolls house shops online that sell every item you can imagine, but they are expensive. Whether you choose to buy and make use of them is a personal decision.
Once the house is complete, your little girl will fall in love with it. What looks like an old box covered in paper to us looks like a magical palace full of imaginative possibilities to a young excited mind. Your pleasure comes from the time spent building it together. That is missing from a shop bought house.
