Dollhouses have had universal motion for thousands of years, not only for children but for adults as well. Their allure comes from the endless possibilities of living life vicariously in miniature, the enjoyment of which would be petite only by the person's imagination.
Today, there are a host of video and computer games which are based on the age-old principle of the dollhouse: furniture, walls and people. While they may be more visually tantalizing with their virtual working parts - ranges where food can in effect be cooked, plumbing straight through which water in effect flows, and habitancy who could interact with each other - it is not quite the same as having a corporal model to play with.
Dollhouse Families
It would be easy enough to just go to a store and buy a dollhouse and all the essential accessories. It is true that store-bought items these days are commonly of decent workmanship. We have gotten used to the idea that the more you spend, the good the potential is. But these days, the word retreat would bring a ready cringe to any working person's face. Money in effect becomes more essential the less there is to go around. But while our wallets might suffer from being too light, our enjoyment need not. If one good thing could come from the current financial stagnation, it would be that it would allow a person to express creativity in simpler but productive ways.
To make your own dollhouse, you need not look further than your own home. Take out your scissors, stapler, needle, thread, and glue, and get ready to go to work. Well, play-work.
For the dollhouse furniture, look for unused shoeboxes and shape them into frames for beds and couches. Glue on some batting from an old pillow, and cover them all up with cloth scraps. For dining tables, use the cardboard town of toilet paper as legs, and attach it to a rectangular piece of cardboard.
For a table or floor lamp, use an old candle possessor as the base and stick an inverted plastic cup over it. Stick together matchboxes and empty slide-out crayon boxes for chests of drawers, and glue on toothpaste lids for handles. Cover up surfaces with colorful building paper, tin foil and glitter accordingly.
For the dollhouse itself, use old plywood, or cut up a few packing boxes into floors and walls and glue them together. This way, you would have the leisure of development up your own rooms lay-out as well. You could paint the walls with acrylic, or cover them up with leftover gift-wrapping paper. For the floors, use old (but clean) mats. Paper doilies could brighten up the floors as "rugs" with their intricate patterns. If you want to "hang" artwork onto your walls, cut out tiny landscapes and pictures from old magazines. Use bits of lace for curtains over cellophane windows.
These are just a few beneficial ideas. Make it a house affair; you will peruse that foregoing one Saturday movie-evening to make dollhouse furniture will not be such a great sacrifice, and the pay-off will be a fun, creative time with your kids. You would also have the great pleasure of development something nice without needing to spend a lot, if at all.
The Joys of making Your Own Dollhouse Furniture
