Making dollhouses + making doll accessories / also for teddy bears

Dear users, dear designers,
do you enjoy crafting for your dolls and for your teddy bears? Would you like to show your creations here?

Hello everyone,

I’m sure many of you build entire dollhouses for your dolls or teddy bears. Since we’re “just the grandparents” and our three grandchildren only visit sometimes—and when they do, they want to play with the dolls—I’ve come up with a simpler version that I’d like to briefly share with you.

My dolls live in our attic:



When the grandchildren want to play with them, they take them along and play with them here and there. Sometimes they also want to play with them outside—on the big patio table or on the lawn in the garden. That’s why I came up with a “mobile” version.

I built a few doll beds and made (crafted, crocheted, sewn) mattresses, bedding, pillows, and rugs for them. The bed can be taken apart into its individual parts (i.e., frame and bed base) and easily put back together again. The beds come in different colors, and each one is decorated differently (the glittery ones are the most popular). So you always have a choice of which bed to pair with which bedding for which doll. Everyone has their own preferences. It’s really fun (even for me :-))





Of course, you can also place the bed(s) in a “room.” For the “mobile room,” I milled two grooves into a sturdy wooden board. You can now insert two room walls (sturdy cardboard covered with wallpaper) into the grooves. Here, too, there are several themed walls to choose from. To ensure the corner is stable, both walls need to be taped together. For the wallpaper, I picked up some sample pieces (50 cm each) at the hardware store. That’s allowed, and there’s a nice selection (little flowers or scrollwork are my favorites). The “wooden floor” is also a piece of wallpaper.



So the kids first put together the beds however they like, then they decorate the room. In the picture, for example, you can see a nightstand that used to be a cream jar. There are plenty of things around the house that you can use. You could also cut small windows into the walls, fold out shutters, hang curtains, and so on. It’s a wonderful way to play and let your creativity run wild.







The bed can also turn into a couch where you can have a pillow fight. That’s a great idea to try at home, too :-)



And once the grandkids have left, you can take the portable doll room apart and store it away to save space. The dolls go back up to the attic to wait for the next visit.

I hope you enjoyed my little trip into “my doll world” and had fun looking at my personal photos.

Warm regards from Ina

wow

Yes, Josefa, anyone who loves dolls will probably always remain a little bit of a child. That never goes away. And in my case, my grandchildren have reawakened my creativity in that area. I’m curious to see what else will be posted in this thread later on.

I know there are lots of doll and teddy bear lovers here on CP. I’m sure there’s more to come.

Best regards—Ina

Definitely :-)

Years ago, I built a dollhouse.
I collected cardboard boxes for it.
I cut out windows and doors with a utility knife, reinforced them with cardboard, and glued them together.
I stacked the boxes on top of each other. (I also removed the front view.)

You’ll need

• a lot of glue
• wallpaper or printed paper
• plastic film for the windows 
• markers for coloring the windows in the bathroom and toilet
• patience
• acrylic paint

Basic structure



Finished living room exterior with balcony



Bathroom



a children’s room



Bedroom



Finished



some old dolls


wearing new clothes


here, two are learning to snowshoe



Just build it yourself. Of course, however you like

Wow, Ina, who wouldn’t want to be a “kid” again? After all, deep down, we all still are.
Finally, I’ve gotten a glimpse of your doll collection. It’s wonderful, and it’s such a joy to look at your pictures and play along in my imagination.

Now we also know how you set up your “doll’s house” with the walls. Everything should be practical, after all, and kids want to be able to take everything apart and put it back together anyway.

schnatter_design, your homemade doll’s house looks fascinating. Wonderful. Especially because it’s so big and versatile, and so lovingly furnished. I just love things like that—doll’s houses in general.

Thanks to both of you for showing us.

Ina and schnatter_design, wow, I’m blown away by your beautiful, creative creations!!

As a child, I loved playing with my doll rooms, but I didn’t have a dollhouse. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space to set one up now—otherwise, I’d definitely be itching to get started. Ina’s version would be an option for my grandchildren, but they don’t visit often enough. And when they do, they play with my big dolls. Unfortunately, I don’t have any small ones.

I really enjoyed looking at your lovely doll furniture and houses.

Hello schnatter_design, I also think the idea with the boxes stacked on top of each other is a very good one. When you look at the photo where everything is fully assembled and the rooms are individually furnished, it makes you want to play with it right away. So many different rooms, plus a balcony and rope ladder and little furniture—really made with so much love!

Monika, what isn’t there yet can still happen. Just wait and see. Someday you and your husband will feel like building a big house for the teddies. Then one will be peeking out of every little window or lying cozily on the couch :-) Then you two would have more room on the couch, too.

Andrea, I know that you once started a miniature dollhouse. I remember a little stove with mini cookware. Whatever became of that?  Or am I mistaken?  My dolls—in the photo, that’s only a selection. There are about as many again that just didn’t make it into the photo. For my doll fashion, I always need the right model, after all.

I wish everyone a relaxed and cozy evening.
Best regards, Ina

Ina, the little bears sit up in the corner on the back of the couch in our living room, so they don’t bother us at all when we’re sitting there. And since there are just the two of us, there’s still room for two dolls on the edge. So everything’s fine. A dollhouse or teddy bear house like that would be great, especially for the many little teddy bears I still have. I haven’t even shown them yet—they’re scattered all over the apartment...

I really like your modular rooms. That would be another idea...

I had a dollhouse when I was a child. As I later found out, it belonged to my cousin.  

My dollhouse is set up in an empty bookshelf. I made the furniture myself many years ago, when my children were still small. Today, my grandchildren play with it when they come to visit.
I actually had intended to use the beautiful artist-style bendable dolls by Erna Meyer (see living room)
for this purpose, but my grandchildren prefer to play with the sturdier, more modern plastic dolls from Haba (see the bedroom and children’s room).

Oh, I didn’t include the children’s room in the photo:

Every now and then, I make a few more miniatures to complete the dollhouse. There’s always something new to discover. For example, the living room gets special decorations during the Christmas and Easter seasons, and at Halloween, there are pumpkins on the table, etc.

Absolutely enchanting, dear Ruth! It makes you want to live right in there :-) There’s even tableware in the little sideboard. There are so many details to discover. I think it’s wonderful that you’re continuing to decorate the dollhouse—it brings joy to both you and your grandchildren. I also really like the idea of the empty bookshelf.

Best regards, Ina

yes Ina, that’s right. But due to time constraints, this dollhouse has been put “on ice” for now. I do hope I’ll be able to finish it in Germany.

Your dollhouses are wonderful. That really makes a doll mom’s heart beat faster.