Hellooooo and welcome back to Liyana Aznil’s blog!
Heheheh…
It’s been quite a while since I last penned down any thoughts on the blogging world and so I’ve decided to make this one a fun read for all of you who have spared some time to drop by this little page of mine (thank you!).
For quite some time, I’ve wanted to get my daughter a dollhouse. No, no… she did not pester me for one. I voluntarily wanted to get her one. It’s a mom thing (or maybe I’m trying to relive my childhood dreams *grin*). I had my heart set on those large dollhouses that could fit her Barbie dolls and My Little Ponies and all those other pretend play dolls that she has so they could all have tea and live happily under one roof.
Unfortunately, those kind of dollhouses aren’t exactly cheap.
Especially if they’re made of wood.
Ohhhh boy the tags that come with those wooden dollhouses. It’s enough to buy me a brand new Kate Spade handbag.
See this one? I was head over heels in love with it. But the price was over RM1000. *pengsan*
So, with much determination, I set out to make a dollhouse with my own two hands!
From cardboard boxes!
Alhamdulillah it turned out quite alright. My daughter was thrilled and that’s enough to make me the happiest mom ever.
With that, I felt that I’d share the steps on how to make your very own cardboard doll house!
All you need are:
1 large cardboard box (the size you want your dollhouse to be)
1 additional cardboard box (for extras such as roof and flooring)
A long ruler
Paper mache (optional)
A variety of coloured paper (I simply used leftovers of wrapping paper)
Paint
Scissors/blade
Hot glue gun & glue
Step 1
Cut out the front section of the cardboard box of the size you want your dollhouse to be.
Back at home, I had a COWAY box sitting idly in my working studio from my recent purchase of the COWAY Lombok II air purifier (so in love with my air purifier). I also found another large box from the husband’s tech monitor purchase. Perfect!
Note: To all COWAY customers, don’t get rid of your boxes so quickly, you never know when they might come in handy!
I cut out the front section of the monitor box and got myself a perfect frame for the dollhouse.
Step 2:
Decide how many floors you want your dollhouse to have. Two? Three? It’s your call!
After you have decided, measure the length and depth of your dollhouse, and cut out the size from your additional cardboard box to make the floors.
Measure the sides of the walls and mark it to ensure that your floors will be glued on straight. I was lazy and went on to just stick it on without doing much measuring so yeah..go figure.
Now, using the hot glue gun (who will now be your best friend throughout this project) and stick the floors onto the walls according to your marks!
Step 3:
Cut a long section of the cardboard box balance or from your additional cardboard box and fold it in half. This will be your roof.
Alternatively, you can opt for a slightly lop sided roof like I did, just for fun, haha!
Now, grab your best friend (yes, little miss glue gun), and stick the roof to the top of your dollhouse’s body.
Step 4:
This is an optional step.
You can add on a layer or two of papier-mâché (paper mache) to give your dollhouse a stronger hold.
Just mix together 3 parts glue with 1 part water, dunk in strips of paper (I used white mahjong paper) and slap them onto your dollhouse.
Remember to squeeze off as much access of glue from your paper strips as you can. If the paper strips are too soggy, it might soak your cardboard frame, weaken its structure and cause it to curve in (yeapp…I learned that the hard way).
Leave it to dry overnight.
Step 5:
You’re almost done! All you have to do is just take the coloured/wrapping paper and decorate the rooms and floors!
You can even paint the walls!
After you’re done with all of that, don’t forget to add in room partitions too! Use the balance of the additional cardboard box to cutout room partitions and doorways.
Step 6:
If you have an extra observant kid (like mine), you might have to put in stairs so that the non-flying ponies without wings can go up to the other floors. I made mine using ice cream sticks which I got from Mr. DIY.
Step 7:
Take a step back and admire your hard work!
Taadaaa!! Your dollhouse is complete!
Now it’s time to surprise your kid(s) and let their imagination go wild with the furnishings and imaginative play.
Enjoy!
Oh, if anyone is interested in the COWAY LOMBOK II air purifier, it is currently on a Zero Registration Fee promotion! Contact me at +6010.2013357 to order yours today!
