Dollhouse Theme Ideas for Spring / Summer

Hello Again, Today I wanted to help you gain inspiration with some dollhouse theme ideas for Spring / Summer. This post has some great ideas for collectors and makers.

Seasonal Dollhouse Themes

Let’s begin with some ideas for Seasonal events that take place during the Spring / Summer time.

Mother’s Day / Mothering Sunday Themes

Celebrating the Mothers Day Season – Pay homage to your Mother or someone who has been an important mother-like figure in your life. Some topics to consider:

How they decorate their home
Things they like, home decor styles, interior design or hobbies
Their dream home
Miniature flowers as a gift
Their workplace / job role
Miniature Items that have sentimental value / meaning to the both of you
Capture a fond memory of yourself with them or create a scene
A place you enjoy spending time together

Easter in the Dollhouse Theme

Next up, why not decorate your Dollhouse for the Easter season.

Pictured above, the original artist used pastel colours to brighten the room which captures the essence of Spring.

You could make a tablescape with food based around Easter/ Spring Time, chocolates and Easter decor. The original blog post for this piece can be found here.

Another idea: Try and make some Easter Eggs or create some bird eggs to symbolise Spring and new beginnings.

May

For the month of May, the activity of Maypoling is a fun event for a group of children to partake in. This activity would be used to celebrate May Day.

A maypole is made by attaching colourful ribbons to a large pole. The children would then grab the ribbons and dance around the pole.

You could collect or make a miniature Maypole.

(As shown above) A photo of a Maypole for your reference.

A beautiful thatched Spring cottage, perfect for dollhouse theme ideas

Real-Life Places / Locations

There are plenty of real-life places you can draw inspiration from. They could be:

Los Angeles
Miami
Florida
Hawaii
The Beach
The Lake / River / Pond
On the Lawn
The Grassland / Grass / Bankings
At the Summer House
Your Vacation / Favourite Vacation Spot
At the Countryside

Hot environments / Biomes

A very hot and humid jungle is a theme that can be explored when thinking of the Summer Heat. Another suggestion is to consider the dry, sandy Dessert.

Colourful row of wooden beach deck chairs , on decking with a sea view. A great way to represent a Nautical dollhouse theme.

Nautical Theme for your Dollhouse

If there’s one thing that compliments the warmer weather, it’s the Sun , Sand and Sea. To transform your dollhouse and achieve a Nautical Theme, I’ve got some great tips:

Use bright, airy, welcoming colour schemes
Add hints of blue to symbolise the sea
Bring in some Nautical Decor, such as shells, ship wheels, boats and ships.
Does your dollhouse family like animals? What about a fish tank or aquarium.
Add elements such as coral and driftwood to your home.

Beach Hut Diorama

Do you love going to the beach in the Spring or Summer Time? Then why not make a cute little beach hut. This beautiful diorama is a brilliant example which you could incoperate in your crafts.

The original artist has posted about their Beach Hut make in their blog. Click here to view.

Talking of the beach, think of what items you might take along with you to visit the sandy shores. How about making a cute miniature beach bag?

I’ve found a cool Youtube tutorial based on making realistic DIY Miniature Beach Items. You can have a look here:

Fish Market / Stall

Shopping at the local fish market and having seafood in the summer is bliss for some. Try and make a fish market stall or a fish shop.

Here’s a great example of a Fish Market Stall:

Addional Idea: Who doesn’t like going to the sea side and getting some fish and chips? You could make a fish and chips restaurant.

FIshing

I’m sure you can imagine a fisherman sitting in the sun on a warm summers day, patiently waiting for a catch and hoping for success. If you love to fish or just fancy a go at making some miniatures based on this hobby, why not give it a try
If you prefer collecting miniatures, fishing items could make a great addition to a dollhouse room.

Here’s another shack idea , A fishing shack! Take a look at this amazing example from another artist:

Pirates

A pirate theme could be full of fun and has to be a mention in this Nautical category.A list of Pirate Ideas to bring inspiration:

Pirate Accessories
Treasures
Swords
Hats
Coins
Gold
Chests
Ships
Rum
Sea Creatures
The Captain and Crew
Barrells
Cannons
Gunpowder.

Don’t you just love this little Pirate Room Box? (Pictured below)

Outdoor Hobbies / Events

Now we will move onto some outdoor hobbies and events you could base your theme around.

Gardening

A perfect time for any green thumb, a Miniature Garden could be made full of wonderous florals and gardening delights.
We have a FREE tutorial which shows you how to make a Dollhouse Seed Box which you can visit here. It also comes with a FREE dollhouse printable in 1:12 scale so be sure to check it out. Click here to see our free Dollhouse Miniature Tutorial.

Here’s the Seed Box I made:

More ideas for the Garden Theme include:

Garden Shed / Potting Shed
Potting Table
Gardening Tools and Gloves – Think watering cans, spades, shovels and sacks
Gardening Machinery – Strimmers and Lawnmowers
Plants, seeds and flower pots
Trees, Bushes and Grass
Squirrels, Hedgehogs, Rabbits, Bunnies, Birds and Bees
Benches, Sunloungers, Tables, Parasols
Kites
Windcharms
A relaxing Garden spot or corner to indulge in reading your favourite Books
Secret Garden or Fantasy Garden
Greenhouse
Fish Pond / Koi Pond
Lilly Pad Pond
Garden Gnomes
A Fairy Garden

Tea Party: A tea party is a cute outdoor theme perfect for the season. This Alice in Wonderland inspired Tea Party scene is great!

Displayed in the above photo : A cute and whimsical Alice and Wonderland themed miniature Tea Party.

To achieve a tea party theme, incoperate Tea Pots, Tea Cups, Cakes, Baked Goods and Biscuits. Make or use a beautiful long table for all your guests and adorn the table with beautiful decor and a lovely table runner.

Outdoor Activities

Spring / Summer is all about getting out of the house and enjoying the season. I’ve provided some outdoor activity ideas you can consider for your dollhouse.

Surfing

The Sun is out and Surf’s Up! Try your hand at making a miniature surfboard or using one in your dollhouse scenes.

Kite Flying

Make or collect a cute little Kite ready to fly.

Camping

Grab your tent , food and the grill, maybe some beer. It’s camping season so how about a camping theme!

Some activities related to camping include:

Hunting
Fishing
Archery
Hiking
Scavenging
Metal Detecting
Tool-Making
Survival
Making the Fire
Sitting by the CampFire
Singing Songs with the Guitar
Forest / Woodland
Wolf, Deer and Moose.

Hobbies from the Past

Collecting bird’s eggs and examining their differences used to be well-liked hobby in older days, the perfect activity for a warm spring or summers day. Known as ‘Oology’ , collectors would display their prized eggs on a shelf. I’m certain you could make or collect a bird’s egg shelf or find other suitable ways to display them in your dollhouse.

Oology definition:
‘Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds’ eggs, sometimes called egg collecting, birdnesting or egging, which is now illegal in many jurisdictions.’ (definition sourced from: here)

Farming / Farmhouse

I personally love the farmhouse theme for interior design and would love to make a farmhouse themed dollhouse one day. For an example on how to achieve this, I’ve found this photo of a lovely Farmhouse style miniature hutch:

To continue, we will now look at the theme of Farming.

Life on the farm suggestions:

Farm Animals – For the topic of Farm Animals, I’ve found this really cute miniature chicken tutorial that you can try for free. Check it out here.

Shown in the photo above: Cute miniature hens made from paper.

More Ideas for the Farm Theme:

Fields
Hay and Hay Bales
Crops and Plants
Agriculture
Harvest
Cottage
Farming Shed
Farmers Yard
Farmers’ Market
Farmers Truck
Produce and Sacks
Farm Animals including Lambs and Chicks.

Spring / Summer Doll Ideas

The following suggestions add a spring to your step and really work well with the theme.
Even if you don’t use dolls in your collecting or making, they can make good room ideas too.

Here’s the list:

Easter Rabbit / Bunny
Fisherman / Fishmonger
Pirate / Captain
Sailor
Siren
Mermaid / Merman
Farmer / Farmers Wife
Gardener / Plant Collector / Herbologist
Explorer
Butterfly Collector / lepidopterist – Definition for lepidopterist: ‘ in British English (ˌlɛpɪˈdɒptərɪst ) noun. a person who studies or collects moths and butterflies.’ (Definition from: here)
Diver / Surfer / Submariner
Artist – A great time to go outdoors and paint scenery
Baker – The baker might want to bake Spring and Summer themed foods, desserts and sweets. They might also enjoy making summer and spring candy / treats.

Outdoor Sports

Maybe some Spring / Summer Sports can spark your imagination. They are:

Cricket
Croque
Tennis / Badminton
Swimming
Watersports
Rowing
Skipping
Horse Riding
Scuba Diving / Snorkelling
Riding a Bicycle
Running / Walking / Jogging / Hiking
Outdoor Activities for the Kids:
Swimming in the Pool
Water balloons / water pistols / waterfights
Taking their bucket and spade to the Beach
Easter Egg Hunt / Scavenger Hunt
Watersliding

I hope this guide has helped you in your dollhouse making , collecting or decorating journey. If you’re going to use any of these dollhouse theme ideas in your makes, I’d love to know in the comments!

Your little craft friend,

Categories: DIY Dollhouse

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,

Categories: DIY Dollhouse, Dollhouse Tutorials

Perfect your DIY Dollhouse with this Easy Miniature Garden Project

Welcome Welcome! In this post I’ll be sharing an easy DIY Dollhouse miniature tutorial where I will go through how to make dollhouse miniatures and I’m even including a FREE DOLLHOUSE PRINTABLE. This project would work really well for a miniature garden. If you are looking for dollhouse diy ideas, this post is for you.

This tutorial is for a 1:12 scale miniature and we’ll be making a dollhouse seed box with seed packets to display. It’s a fun craft project great for dollhouse miniature scenes and miniature garden projects. Want to learn more about dollhouse scales? Check out our previous blog post here to learn more.

To make the box perfect for your miniature garden you only need two popsicle sticks / lollipop sticks. These are the wooden sticks that are often used for ice cream. This fun miniature craft is perfect for beginners , however it does include gluing and we’re going quite small for this so it can be fiddly , collect all the patience you can muster ready for this tutorial.

Popsicle stick crafts are very popular and used to make amazing miniature furniture.

DIY Dollhouse Projects for a Miniature Garden

Here are some photos of the seed display box and seed packets I have made to give you an idea of what yours could look like. Let me know if you like my miniature seed box design in the comments section. I’d love to know your thoughts!

You can refer to the supply list below to check what materials are necessary to complete this DIY Dollhouse project.

Supplies you will need for the entire miniature garden project:

⦁ Two popsicle sticks
⦁ Superglue, PVA Glue (Tacky Glue) or B-7000 Glue
⦁ Optional : Gloves and a skewer stick to help apply the glue in small amounts and keep your hands clean
⦁ A cutting blade / hobby knife
⦁ Print out your free printable – I recommend printing onto cardstock
⦁ A ruler / measuring tape
⦁ A pencil to mark your measurements
⦁ Optional – Paint / Wood Stain if you would like to colour your box
⦁ Sandpaper / Sanding Block
⦁ Small piece of hessain fabric / fabric of your choice (Optional)
⦁ Cardstock that fits your printer (Letter / A4 For example)
⦁ Scissors
⦁ A scoring tool, I’ve used the metal ballpoint edge of a sculpting pen for this.
⦁ Tweezers (Optional)

The Amazon website should have everything required or check out a hobby and craft store in your local area.

Instructions for making a DIY Dollhouse Project.

Let’s begin! Cut off the rounded edges of your popsicle sticks. Then cut out all the pieces required to make your box.

2. Measure 21mm (0.82″ Inch / 2.1 cm) wide and cut. Do this six times. You should end up with six pieces all measuring at 21mm. The height for the project doesn’t matter as we are going to use popsicle sticks.

3. To assemble your box, we will take one piece and then glue another piece on top of it lengthways, as displayed in the picture below. I’ve used super glue entirely for the box assembly and would recommend it. I recommend wearing gloves to stop the glue getting stuck to your hands. I’ve used a bamboo skewer to carefully apply the glue.

4. Attach another wooden piece edgeways, see the photo below for a reference.

5. Glue on the last piece of wood to make a complete square shape and your box is now assembled. If you want to paint the box or add a wood stain you can do this now. Personally, I applied a wood stain to my box.

6. Next you can cut out the label from the free printable called seeds and glue to the front of the box. There’s an extra label if you want to glue onto the front and back of the box. (Keep reading to get to the printable section). Use a glue to you preference to attach the label.

7. This part is optional. I cut out a small piece of hessain fabric and glued it into the box. I thought this would give it a nice detail and add to the rustic appearance.This method stops your packets from ‘sinking’ into the box and makes them more visible.

Instructions for Making the Seed Packets included in this DIY Dollhouse Tutorial

Our free dollhouse printable of 1:12 scale seed packets contains two handy ‘seed’ labels you can adhere to your box. I’ve given you a whooping 16 seed packets with different variations to choose from and that you can use for future projects. These include photos of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs. You can roughly fit about four packets in the box we have made.

Access your Free Dollhouse Printable

To access the free dollhouse 1:12 printable , just click here to download it from my Google Drive.If you want to share this with a friend, please give them the link to this blog post and do not share the file directly.

Now let’s make our seed boxes! I’d recommend printing out your printable onto cardstock for best results.

Print out the document onto cardstock. Cut into strips.

2.Choose which seed packets you want to make (or make them all). Remember we can roughly fit around four seed packets to fit in the box. Cut them individually at one box each.

3. Cut out the entire box template , this includes the fold in sheet and the backing sheet as shown on the diagram below.

4.Score lines onto your box template as shown in the diagram below. I used a small metal ballpoint tool to score as seen in the photo below. These tools are also handy for sculpting with clay.

5. Apply glue to the back of the design. Fold the fold in sheet and bring it to the center page on the back of your design. See the diagram and photo for reference below. To fold / grab pieces and glue them down I use a tweezer as I find this helps as opposed to using fingers. It might be more fiddly with using fingers but you can give it a shot.

6. Grab the backing sheet as labelled on the diagram. Fold / bring this around like a circular shape / motion and then fold the corner part in and glue it to the side of the paper.

7. Fold in the first top corner of your sheet and then glue and fold the second top corner onto it. Now fold in the first bottom corner of your sheet. Fold in the first top corner of your sheet and then glue and fold the second top corner onto it.

8.Your box is now assembled! Well done. Do this as many or as little times as you please and feel free to fill your box with seed packets (roughly four to fill the box).

I hope you have enjoyed this project and I hope it has given you inspiration or a good starting point for diy dollhouse ideas. Be sure to let me know in the comments section and feel free to share your makes with us.

Your Craft Pal,