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Making Miniature Furniture for Beginners – The Essential Guide


Hey Friends! I wrote this guide to help you on your miniature journey. In this useful DIY Dollhouse guide, you will learn how to make miniature furniture.

In this guide you will learn what techniques and materials are often used to make miniature furniture and doll house accessories.

My goal is to help you gain clarity and have a much better understanding of how to make dollhouse miniatures.

This guide is perfect if you wish to learn the art of making miniatures for beginners.

How to Make Miniature Furniture and Doll House Accessories


Finding Inspiration to Make your own Miniature Furniture

  • Google Search – Use Google to find tips, tricks , tutorials, videos and instructions on dollhouse miniatures.
  • This Blog – We provide free DIY Dollhouse Tutorials and free Dollhouse Printables, feel free to explore our blog.
  • Youtube – Youtube has a lot of video tutorials available for miniature furniture and doll house accessories.
  • Pinterest – Use this for visual inspiration and to check out projects other users have created. There are even dollhouse miniature printables you can find for free on Pinterest.
  • Facebook – You can follow artists on their Facebook business pages if they have one. Follow us on facebook at Mini Magistery for miniature furniture inspiration.
  • Instagram – A great visual platform where people share photos of their makes and miniature collections.
  • Magazines – Here are some magazines that provide dollhouse tutorials and inspiration. These include:

⦁ Dolls House and Miniature Scene
⦁ American Miniaturist

Look for magazines that provide photos and step-by-step tutorials on how to make miniature furniture.


There are many vintage magazines and books available for purchase which are tailored to dollhouses. Ebay and Etsy have a nice collection of vintage books and magazines available.

⦁ Dolls’ House Step by Step magazine by Del Prado


I recently purchased a few issues from the Dolls’ House Step by Step magazine by Del Prado. These magazines are not too expensive, they come with step by step instructions, ready to assemble wooden kits and accessories. I purchased the magazines from ebay and noticed that some people sell in bulk where others sell single issues. I’d suggest waiting for deals and researching prices to get the best offer.


Pictured Above: Dolls’ House Step by Step magazine by Del Prado with a bathtub accessory for the dollhouse.


Books- Cut out and assemble books are popular for making papercraft dollhouse projects.

You can get books solely based on dollhouse tutorials that have step-by-step instructions. Theres a good selection of dollhouse related books on Amazon and Ebay.


A book that I would personally recommend is titled ‘Finishing Touches’ by Jane Harrop. There are step-by-step instructions including photographs and over 70 projects to make.


Pictured above: my paperback copy of the Jane Harrop book mentioned.


E-Books / PDFs

Etsy is worth checking out for E-Books / PDFS that are available for download. I found some by simply searching for the keyword ‘Dollhouse Tutorial’.


Groups
There are many paid online classes / courses you can look into joining to improve in your chosen specialism.

  • Be sure to follow your favourite artists and research if they provide tutorials online or near your local area.
  • Research your local area for guilds or search for guilds with online membership options. The same can be done with clubs.
  • The IGMA (International Guild of Miniature Artisans) is based in the USA and well recommended and ran by elite professionals. They offer apprenticeships and residency options are available.

Dollhouse Themes

Looking into different interior design styles and trends is a great place to start for choosing a dollhouse theme. Think about if you want a singular theme or if you’d prefer to choose a different theme for each room. Some examples for this could be Modern, Medieval and Victorian.

Scale

Here’s a brief explanation of dollhouse scales:

  • 1:6 Scale – Known as the fashion doll scale / Playscale, this scale is perfect for dolls such as Barbie. A 6 inch item in real life is represented as one inch.

Does 1:12 Scale fit Barbie?

No. A Barbie Doll measures 11.5 – 12″ inches in height and the furniture is at 1:6 Scale to fit Barbie, this is double the size of 1:12 Scale. A 1:12 Scale doll measures 5-6″ inches height and would therefore suit better for 1:12 Scale furniture as it is much smaller.

  • 1:12 Scale– This is the most popular scale and known as the one inch scale. A one foot item equals to one inch in this scale.
  • 1:24 Scale – A lot of miniatures enjoy working in this half inch scale as they are able to make precise, detailed miniatures.

You can use the internet to find items / furniture of interest that you would like to try and replicate. Search to see where these items are sold online, the selling pages usually provide measurements and dimensions.

Ideas outside of the Dollhouse

It’s possible to make miniature furniture and dollhouse accessories without owning a dollhouse. Here are some other ideas for inspiration of what you can make without owning a dollhouse:

  • Make furniture, scences or accessories anyway. Just use a box or something useful to store them in.
  • Dioramas
  • Room Boxes
  • Shops / Stores
  • Shadow Boxes
  • Frames
  • Book Nooks
  • Fairy Gardens


Modern Methods for making Miniature Furniture

Some miniaturists enjoy making dollhouse furniture and doll house accessories with modern technology. I will list and explain them below:

  • Laser Cutting & Engraving

Achieve precision quality cuts, personalise projects with engraving and make your own kits or purchase SVGS.

  • Cutting Machines

Great for papercraft / vinyl work. Achieve professionally cut out designs and some machines can cut wood, emboss and score designs. Popular choices you could consider are a Cricut Machine or Plotter.

  • 3D Printers – Create detailed and useful miniatures with 3D Printing. Resin printers are very popular for their ability to make tiny items at high detail. If your printer has a small enough nozzle, it is possible to make small designs using PLA. Research each printer if you’re interested and decide what is right for you.

Now, we will look into the traditional and handmade options for making dollhouse furniture. There are a plethora of materials and techniques you can use to make miniatures.

Decide if you want to solely focus on one specialism or use a variety of skills and techniques. It’s really up to you. To avoid overwhelm, focus on what you enjoy and be kind to yourself.

Techniques for Doll house Accessories

I have listed a few different art and craft techniques you can use to make miniatures below.

  • Painting
    Apply paint to the walls of your dollhouse or add to furniture to achieve an interesting result. Miniature paintings are popular where artists make detailed , intricate small artworks onto tiny canvases.
    ⦁ Miniature Artwork
    Dislike painting? Try switching things up and use markers, pens, pencils, oil paints and more.
  • Embroidery
    Rugs, bedding, throws, pillows, cushions and much more can be made by using embroidery. Crochet, Knitting and sewing are popular embroidery methods. If you are a keen fabric artist, why not use scrap fabrics to make miniatures?
    ⦁ Wire Art– Intricate detailed pieces can be created using wire art and the wire wrapping technique.
    ⦁ Metal Work– You can make your own pieces / items using metal work techniques . Make miniatures from metal findings or old jewellery.
    ⦁ Papercraft– Boxes, envelopes, paper and books are a great idea for making miniatures from paper and cardstock.
  • Decoupage -You could try adding a paper decoupage effect to your furniture .
  • Origami -Why not try origami to make intricate items?
    ⦁ Beading-Use beads to make miniature objects or add them to designs. You can use beads from old jewellery if you’d like. A popular choice of beads for miniatures are seed beads.French beading is a popular technique worth mentioning.
  • Trash To Treasure– Make interesting miniatures from trash , old, thrifted or recyclable materials.
    ⦁ Pottery-Sculpt tiny objects on a mini pottery wheel if you enjoy working with ceramics.
  • Needle Felting– Try your hand at needle felting if you want to attempt to make realistic animals with a fur-like texture.

Materials

I will list commonly used materials for making miniature furniture and doll house accessories below.

  • Wood
    A variety of wood can be used to achieve different effects and textures. Choose your wood based on it’s quality, effect, strength and sturdiness. Consider how hard this would be to cut. You do not have to buy really expensive wood to achieve your goals.
  • Paints, Gloss , Stains and Varnishes
    Perfect for decorating your dollhouse and furniture. You can use different gloss, wood stains amd varnishes to furniture for a variety of effects. Try to achieve different textures with this method.
  • Clay
    Clay can be used to add texture and details to your work. Try sculpting animals and objects for your dollhouse projects using clay. Air dry clay, paper clay and polymer clay are just some that can be used.
  • Pan Pastels
    Add to clay pieces and miniature furniture.
  • Foam
  • To make great bases and add detail , try using foam. Foam is popular in diorama and terrain making.
  • Foamcore / Foamboard
    A thick foam material popular for making miniature furniture.
  • Hot Glue
    Some people have even made some really cool miniatures by using hot glue.
  • Cardboard
    It is even possible to make a dollhouse and furniture by using cardboard.
  • Cardstock
    Often used for printables or any paper type items a miniaturist wants to make.
  • Kraftboard
    Very similar to cardstock, good for intricate projects.
  • Chipboard– This material can help achieve smoothness to your project and is great for intricate cuts. Check the back of a standard notepad, the material used here is chipboard.
  • Mountboard / Matboard
    These are very thick graduation paper style boards. Matboard is useful for making scale models , architectural models and miniature furniture.
  • Modelling Putty, Epoxy Based Clay, Epoxy Putty – Modelling Putty or Epoxy based clay can be blended together to make a very strong piece that dries quickly. Can be sculpted / formed similarly to clay but is very sticky and I recommend wearing gloves.
  • Popsicle /Icepop/ Lollipop Sticks
    A fun and inexpensive way to make miniature furniture. You can learn how to make your own seedbox in this fun tutorial I have created. The tutorial includes detailed step-by-step to instructions on how to make your own seed display box. This comes with an amazing free dollhouse printable! Click here to see our tutorial.

Conclusion

There are a huge variety of projects you can make and endless materials you can use to create miniatures. Try not to get overwhelmed, work with what you have at hand and enjoy the process.

I hope this guide has helped you in your miniature journey, let me know what you think in the comments!

Your craft cheerleader,

About Kara