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How To Make A Stunning Dolls House For Your Child If Money Is Short

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There are many incredible dolls houses on the market today that are collected by adults as well as played with by children. Have you seen the price of them recently? They are astronomically expensive. Many people simply can’t afford one for their child, but this does not mean that they should go without. A wise parent will engage their child in an activity to create a one of a kind house together. The project may take a few days to complete, or it could be worked on, added to, or improved as an ongoing hobby over months and years.

 

If you are determined that your little girl should be the proud owner of a designer dolls house, you will find the process of making one fairly easy. The construction process will give hours of fun to you both and your little one will fall in love with the finished product. Here is the process.

 

Materials Needed

 

  • Cardboard. Collect lots of good quality cardboard of various thickness. Corrugated card is best for the exterior walls.
  • Hot melt glue
  • Paint
  • Paper
  • Stencils
  • Fabric tape (found in haberdashery shops)
  • Brown Paper

 

Tools Required

 

  • Craft Knife
  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Paint Brushes
  • Hot Glue Gun

 

The Walls

 

If the house is to last, the external walls must be strong. Corrugated card is a tough material but only rigid in one direction. By sticking two pieces together, one with the corrugations at ninety degrees to the other, it becomes much stronger. Use this material for the floors too.

 

Construction

 

Construction is as simple or complex as you choose to make it. Some people may choose to make a house that is box shaped; others may decide to install a complex roof. Whatever the shape of the house, the construction process is similar.

 

To join two walls:

  • Cut a strip of fabric tape to the length of the joint.
  • Run a bead of hot glue along the first wall and stick half the width of fabric tape to it.
  • Run a bead of glue down the second wall and stick the other half of the fabric tape to it. The walls are now held together by the tape.
  • Using brown paper and a hot iron, work over the fabric tape, melting the glue again and improving the adhesion.

 

Use this method to give a strong joint wherever two pieces come together.

 

Decoration

 

When construction is complete, the whole house must be covered in paper. Use a mix of 50% PVA glue and 50% water to coat the paper before applying it. Now paint the house. Some rooms will look good if you wallpaper them with your own design created from sheets of paper, a stencil, and some water based paint. The amount of time and detail you put into painting the house is a personal choice. It does not have to be done all at once. Keep doing a little at a time if you prefer, between play, of course.

 

When the house is finished, your little one will cherish it and probably spend many happy hours playing happily. You may think that it is not a masterpiece, but they look at it with different eyes and because you have made it together, they will love it all the more.

 

Remember to take plenty of photographs of the house during construction and when it is complete so you can look back fondly at the fun you had.

 

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