How to make molding around a window for dollhouse

First you need large popsicle type sticks. Here’s what they look like.  Now we are going to make some strips of wood out of it.

The window on the right is the window that we are making the trim for.  If you look on the sides of the window I made some lines with a marker to show you the length that you need for the sides of the siding to be from top to bottom.

You will also need some regular size popsicle sticks, on the left is what they look like.  You need to cut the top and bottom curve areas off the large stick so both top and bottom are flat.  Next you need to use a regular popsicle stick to make some wood pieces that are the same width that you will need.  Use the stick for a template. Once you make the lines cut out the strips of wood using a razor knife.

These are the pieces cut out.

You need to take these two pieces you just cut and measure from the bottom of the window to the top area that I showed you in a prior picture, both pieces need to be cut the same length. Now you can glue these pieces on both sides of the window.

Next take another regular popsicle stick and cut the length to fit under the window it will be glued down as a window sill put the glue on the outer area of the stick.

Next take another regular popsicle stick and cut it the same width as the window side by side.  If you look at the picture it explains better.  This popsicle stick gets glued down under the sill.

Next is the top piece which you use another popsicle stick cut to size and glued down.

Here it is painted white.  It's much cheaper to make your own this way than to buy them.  Use your imagination and it will soar.

Making a nice shelf for your dollhouse

You will need to cut two pieces of wood, one for the back wall and one for the shelf.  The wood that I’m using came from a white wooden blind.  Just because the blind doesn’t work anymore doesn't mean you can't use the wood, you can use it for crafts.

I love this magazine, you can get so many pictures out of it. I’m going to cut some pictures out of this magazine.  Best of all the company will send you one of these catalogs for free all you need to do is ask for one. The request catalog button is just on the bottom of their site.

I saw this picture of pink flowers and thought, "I will use that".

In this picture you can see that using mod podge I glued the picture onto the back wall, then I used a black permanent marker to draw some black designs and a border around the picture.

Next thing you do is glue the shelf onto the back wall piece.

I glued on some small glass jars which you can find in the nail polish area of a store.  Inside the jars are sprinkles for your nails.  I also use these jars for making "spices" for in my dollhouses.  I have a post on how to make them in my blog too. In the middle is a small bunny glued down for Easter. 

Here is the shelf on the wall, I glued it to the wall.  The mirror above it used to be part of a cheap cameo necklace I took off the cameo, which I use for another project and use the back piece for a mirror.  Don’t pass up those cheap cameo necklaces, you can use them like this.  Use your imagination and it will soar!

Making a quilters themed solar light using a bubble gum machine

I love these bubblegum machines they make great displays for that special item in your garden or house.  Today I’m going to make a quilters display for the garden using this bubblegum machine. First, you need to take out all the pieces on the inside (this bubblegum machine didn’t work).

I had my son cut off the metal nub on the inside of the lid with his Dremel.  You need to do this for the solar light, so the light shines into the display instead of concentrating light in one spot.

After taking out all the pieces, this is what it looks like on the inside.

Next I used a Styrofoam sheet to make a floor for the inside.  I had to cut two pieces which I glued together.

I needed to cut a hard piece of cardboard to use for the floor on top of the Styrofoam. I used a piece from a checker board. It was bought at a garage sale for cheap (missing pieces).

I then glued a piece of material to glue on top of the cardboard to give it a finished look. Next I glued the whole thing down onto the Styrofoam.  Finally I glued down the plastic sealer that came with the bubblegum machine.  It holds the glass dome in place.

First, picked out the items I wanted in the glass dome.  I ended up picking out two quilters sitting at a table, a dog and two little candlesticks. Which were made from two buttons for the base, two blue beads and two pieces of stiff white wire material for the wicks.  I glued these all together to make the candles.  Remember a lot of times quilters work till all hours of the night they need candles.

I made sure I hot glued down all the different items I used for the theme.  Then I hot glued down the globe to the top and the red cap. Now, for the light.

In Walmart they sell 97 cent solar lights and all you need is this piece off the top. This is where the LED is and the solar panel.  Make sure you put a little hot glue to hold it down into place.

This is what it looks like lit up.  These type of lights are unique and look beautiful in a garden, and best of all no electric bill! Use your imagination and it will soar!

How to make decorative lights for a dollhouse

I bought these hair accessories from a flea market today.  Any round hair items can be turned into nice lights for a dollhouse.  The first I did was cut the balls off the elastics and I drilled a hole in the middle of the ball so I can glue in led lights that I bought from the dollar store.

Here are what the led lights look like.  They work on batteries.  The ball will have the led lights glued into the holes that you drilled into them.

Here are what the lights look like glued into the holes in the balls.  These can put onto the front porch of a dollhouse or around the top of a ceiling area in a dollhouse.  Use your imagination and it can soar!

Making Andy's bed from Toy Story Part II

If you haven't seen the 1st part, it's here. It will show you how I made the frame.

I glued a piece of the balsa wood on both the head and footboard.

Then I painted the whole bed dark brown.

You then can take a piece of cardboard, a little smaller than the inside area of the mattress, box spring area.  Once you cut the cardboard, you hot glue on a piece of stuffing material. Batting is the name of the material used for the cushioning.

Then you cover it with a piece of mattress cover material.

Here it is with the mattress glued down to the frame.

You then take the material that you are going to make a blanket out of and cut the size you need, hot glue the sides together, unless you want to sew it together. I used an old hand towel.

Now to make a pillow! I made it out of some batting material and put a piece of material covering it.

This is what the finished bed looks like.

This is another view. Use your imagination and it will soar!

Making Andy's bed from Toy Story Part I

The first thing I did was draw a picture of the headboard and foot board. 

I used balsa wood which is a soft wood and it is easy to work with. I cut out the footboard.

I then cut out another footboard but this time I cut out a piece of moon shape in it, this is going to be the headboard.

Then I cut out the two pieces that go under the head and footboards.

I then used a round toothpick to make the pieces that attach the top of the head and footboards to the supports.  I used the end of the toothpick to make a hole in both pieces and then cut small pieces of the toothpick to make "dowels". Then I poured glue on both ends and connected the two pieces together.  I had to do this to the footboard and headboard.

In this picture both pieces are glued together. The toothpick "dowels" really help out.  I then took a screw driver and made a dent in the top middle and bottom middle, its time to put the decorative lines in it.

I added toothpicks that I cut down and made the dents in the wood so that the toothpicks could be glued down.

These two pieces of wood came from something I broke apart, that's where I get a lot of my wood from.  I cut these pieces down to the size of the side railings for the sides of the bed frame.  It all depends on how big I want the bed to be.

I then took a dowel and cut pieces that will go on the front and back of the bed.  If you look at the photo you will see the poles.  I picked these beads that you see on the tops of the dowel.  I had to whittle away some of the width of the tops of the dowel so they would fit the beads.  I glued the dowels into the beads.

In this picture you can see where I glued the posts on and also the side railings.

This is another view.

I then cut a piece of the balsa wood to make the floor of the bed, this is where the mattress will sit.

I then glued on a piece of balsa wood across the bottom to give it a finished look.

The rest of the steps will be here, part II