A few months back, before we moved, Snow White and I started on her dollhouse. We punched out the pieces and I sanded the edges. Then I sanded, and sanded and sanded until my arms felt like they would fall off. Thinking of the upcoming move I thought it best to leave the construction until after we were in the new house. Neither Snow White or I would be happy if the movers broke her dollhouse.January 2007 - Now where is that dollhouse? Snow White points to the work bench in the basement.
The instructions say not to paint until the house is fully constructed. Yeah. Right. This is not the first dollhouse I have built. I know once it is constructed some of the pieces will be terribly difficult to paint. How is a 7 year old not going to get the red paint from the shutters and window trim on the pink walls? Do you know how much easier it is to put up the wall paper and lay down the carpet when the house is not fully constructed? I do.
She picked out the wallpaper, carpet and the colors for exterior and interior paint. This is her dollhouse so she can decorate it in whatever fashion her heart desires.
So we painted a few things before we put them together. While glue set on one item we were painting another piece. While paint was drying on one piece we were gluing other pieces together...and sanding...lots of sanding.
Yeah we have walls! Carpet! Stairs! Wallpaper! (Bitty Brats taking a construction break and they had Apple juice)
One Bitty Brat testing the stairs. Snow White's idea of painting the stairs both blue and green turned out to be a really neat idea!
Snow White and the Bitty Brats take a tour of the construction thus far. They are all pleased with the progress.
The roof is on. We painted the trim, front door and a few touch ups here and there. The house is on it's side to let the glue dry on the trim. The trim wouldn't lay flat enough so I stacked a few encyclopedias on top for good measure. Don't you just love my painting tarp? Actually it is a cheap-o vinyl table cloth. A lot less expensive than a tarp, very durable and hey, it works great! Paper plates work wonderfully for paint pallet.
Snow White did a super job cutting out the plastic windows and painting the window trim.
YEAH!! It's finished! Snow White said I am celebrating too early. The house is laying on it's back and the door is just positioned in the slot. Aren't the little hearts cute? We did find hinges and something to use as a door knob at Lowe's. So one more photo of the house to come later.
We really enjoyed all that went into building her dollhouse together. I had more fun than I expected and found out what type of decorating style little Miss Snow White has at the young age of seven. I hope this dollhouse stands the test of time and never goes in to the back of a closet or a storage shelf. This will be something she will treasure forever.
Now that her dollhouse is ready for furniture and all the other interior decorating maybe she will let me work on mine.
This is just a small sampling of what she has collected over a few months for her dollhouse. They are out of proportion with the house and each other but who cares, she likes them.
How cute is this? A dollhouse for the dollhouse. It even has 4 rooms just like her dollhouse. The "framed" photos we made together. We found the pictures on cards or in magazines. She painted the wood and lace (gold frame) and I put the lacquer over them.
She always wanted to work on my dollhouse but I purchased it as a Mommy only project. Something for me to tinker with when my hands feel the need to be busy and there is nothing to do. As if a Mommy would have a few free moments. I suppose that is why mine is still a frame with a few shingles on the roof and one room wallpapered.
4 comments:
OMIGOSH
That doll house is soooo cute.
That's awesome. I love the stairs.
The only house I ever constructed with my daughter was a gingerbread house... I wonder if ten isn't too old?
I was in 7th grade when my parents gave me a dollhouse. Ten isn't too old and it really does allow them to express themselves. You may not like their decorating choices but it is their dollhouse/project. They can redecorate as they get older.
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It is now 2010 and Snow White is 10 yrs old. She is still loving the doll house. It is always out and played with at least once a week. Today was special as we were making Valentine boxes during a Blizard. We reviewd her design ideas of the doll house and all the fun we had! After awhile I realized the Valentine boxes are Pink with Red details and we actually used the rest of the lace we used as trim on one of the "Doll House Portraits".
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