Tag Archives: dollhouse

Hit the Beach

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sandcastleThe end of the summer might be in sight, but there’s still time to hit the beach! We made sand castles and then played a shell grabbing game on the “beach.” Just be prepared…some of those waves can get a little big!

shell game 2

You’ll need:

  • 1 small box (mine was 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 6″)
  • A box cutter
  • Yellow construction paper
  • 2 paper towel tubes
  • 1 corrugated cardboard base (I used a 12″ cake circle)
  • 4 baking cups
  • Sandcastle decorating supplies (more on these later!)
  • 2 bedsheets (1 brown, 1 blue)
  • An assortment of seashells
  • Scissors, tape, and glue for construction
  • Hot glue

We all build the same basic sandcastle, and then the kids customized them with art supplies! To begin, cut the top/lid off of a box (cut the tabs too, if there are any). Then, use a box cutter to cut a drawbridge out of the front of the box. A square door is easier to cut than a curved door:

drawbridgeWrap the sides of the box with yellow construction paper. Hot glue the wrapped box to the center of your corrugated cardboard base. Next, cut 2 paper towel tubes into four, 5.25″ tall towers. Wrap the tubes in yellow construction paper, and hot glue them to the sides of the box (not to the corrugated cardboard base – they’ll just pop off). For the perfect finish, hot glue a baking cup on the top of each tower.

finished basic castleNow it’s time to decorate! We scattered art supplies all over the gallery floor, announced that the tide was out, and had the kids “beach comb” for castle decoration materials.

Supplies included (and these were all some variation of yellow or gold): paper crinkle, self-adhesive foam shapes, mesh tubing, sparkle stems, pipe cleaners, dot stickers, embossed foil paper, patterned paper, cotton balls, mylar, foam beads, craft ties, pieces of bubble tea straw, large plastic buttons, tulle, fabric squares, star stickers, fish stickers, embossed foil seals.

When the castles were finished, we went back to the “beach” to play a shell grabbing game. First, we laid a brown bed sheet on the floor as “sand.” We placed a number of enticing seashells on it. Then, Katie and I grabbed either end of a blue bed sheet and moved it back and forth over the sand to create “waves.” We had a CD of ocean wave sounds playing too.

One by one, the kids came forward and tried to grab two shells before the waves covered them. Some kids took their time walking up and down the beach, scouting the perfect shell before they made a move. Others just dove right in and grabbed as fast as they could. We adjusted the waves to the timidity of the kids of course. And best of all, no one left with sand in their shoes!

shell game 1shell game 2shell game 3

Fairyland Real Estate

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fairyland real estateAre your winged friends on the market for a cottage to call their own? Look no further than this literal fixer-upper. It may start as a plain brown box, but it quickly blossoms into a dream home! We offered two choices – a Wintertime Fairy House or a Summertime Fairy House. Scroll to the bottom of the post to check out the latest real estate listings!

We read The Dolls’ House Fairy by Jane Ray (Candlewick Press, 2009). Rosy and her Dad have a cozy Saturday morning ritual. First, they have hot chocolate and French toast for breakfast. Then, they play with a dollhouse they’ve built together. But one Saturday, Rosy awakens to find that Dad is in the hospital. Sad and worried, she decides to comfort herself by playing with the dollhouse. She’s surprised to discover a real fairy has moved in! Thistle has hurt her wing, and decides Rosy’s dollhouse is the ideal place to recuperate. Thistle isn’t perfect. In fact, she’s very messy, full of mischief, and scatters fairy dust everywhere. But the two girls become terrific friends. When Dad returns home, Thistle takes off before he can be introduced. But Rosy will always remember her house fairy friend.

You’ll need:

Extra supplies for the Wintertime Fairy House include:

Extra supplies for the Summertime Fairy House include:

First, the fairy! Decide whether you’ll be making a Wintertime Fairy or a Summertime Fairy (or go crazy and mix the seasons!). Use multicultural construction paper, patterned paper, embossed foil paper, and construction paper to decorate the a toilet paper tube. We also threw in some craft ties for belts, collars, and bracelets.

fairiesTo make the wings, pinch a tall rectangle of iridescent cello into a bow tie shape, and secure it in the center with tape. Attach the wings to the back of your fairy with tape.

fairy wingsSet the fairy aside, it’s time for your house! It’s best to use a box with an attached lid, so you can open and close the front of your house. I used a craft box, but you can also use a large tissue box. Simply cut the bottom of the tissue box to form a lid, like so:

tissue box house optionNow use a box cutter to cut a door and window into the lid. I went with a double shuttered window, since it looks really cute when you decorate it later on.

fairy house step 1Next, tape a rectangle of tagboard inside the box to create a second floor. Since our boxes were just 9″ tall, the second floor was considered to be a small “sleeping loft.”

fairy house step 2Fold a large rectangle of tagboard to create a roof, then tape (or hot glue) it to the top of the box. Finish by hot gluing the house to a corrugated cardboard base (you can cover the base with paper first if you like).

fairy house step 3Now to decorate! Kids could do whatever they liked, but my Wintertime House had rows of mirror board icicles, a silver embossed foil seal over the front door, cotton ball snow, and silver dot sticker stepping stones. So I made sure each architect received the same supplies (but they were welcome to use them however they liked of course).

wintertime houseLikewise, my Summertime House had fabric flowers, leaves, flower stickers in the yard, green paper crinkle, and a gold embossed foil seal.

summertime houseFor both houses, I made sure there was plenty of construction paper, patterned paper, and embossed foil paper handy to decorate the interiors and exteriors. One quick decorating tip! Whilst landscaping your house’s yard, make sure you don’t tape items (such as fabric flowers or cotton balls) in places that will impede the swinging motion of the front of your house. The final touch was a solid wood dining table, created by hot gluing a wood round to the top of a wooden spool.

spool tableLet’s take a look at some of those Fairyland real estate listings! Katie and I definitely had some fun with these…

house 1Hard-to-find classic cottage located in the heart of the Summer Fairy Kingdom. Unique black squiggle doorknob and hearty garden sure to please. Tranquil and traditional, don’t miss the chance to live here!

house 2Magic abounds! Walk through a firework front door into your flawless new flat. Newly renovated autumn leaf roof makes this one not just for summer fun!

house 3Ice and snow don’t stand a chance against this relaxing retreat! Self-cleaning roof and unique icicle fringing make this house a stand out!

house 4Situated on the highest hill in Winter Fairy Kingdom, this arctic abode offers astounding views as far as the eye can see! Giant window on western wall ensures a light-filled living space.

house 5Fairy palace paradise! Every detail, from the leafy roof to the flower front door, was carefully selected and finely crafted. Don’t miss the vintage polka-dot shutters!

house 6Modest, but magnificent. Generous lawn and green roof make this perfect for anyone wanting to enjoy summer in Fairyland.

house 8A meticulously designed jewel waits for the perfect fairy to move in! Side-mounted solar panel provides all the energy required for your cozy abode.

house 7Austere with black, white, and silver highlights, the clean lines of this house are perfect for the the modern fairy. A stunning silver suite awaits!

house 9The grassy frame and striped roof draw the eyes to this exceptional estate. Perfect for the artistic fairy, with plenty of potential for more rainbow colors.

house 10A classic chilly chalet! Prepare to “ooo” and “aahh” at the panoramic mountain views from your enormous second floor picture window!

house 11Nature lovers will feel right at home in this lushly landscaped lodge, complete with mature plants and gorgeous flowers galore!

Ghostbusters

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ghostbustersWhat do you do when your dream house is haunted? Call in a professional ghost remover of course! We decorated a ghost box, whipped up 4 tissue paper ghosts, and then went a-ghost huntin’ in this custom 4-story cardboard house.

exterior house 1I hid each kid’s ghosts in various locations in the dollhouse and then invited him/her to find them and tuck them back in his/her ghost box!

ghost in atticWe read Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara (Square Fish reprint edition, 2010). A girl (and her cat) move into a new house but…oh my…the house is haunted by ghosts! The girl, however, happens to be a witch and quickly begins catching the ghosts. After a spin in the washing machine, the ghosts happily become curtains, tablecloths, and cozy blankets. This book was in the holiday section of my local library but it’s so sweet and fun, it really should be read year-round!

You’ll need:

  • A box (mine was 4 ½” X 4 ½” x 9”)
  • Brown masking tape (or a selection of color masking tape)
  • 2 small pieces of mirror board (approximately 1″ x 1.75″ and 1.25″ x 1.25″)
  • Black permanent marker
  • Box decorating materials – I offered embossed foil paper, patterned paper, construction paper (blue, black, gray, purple, orange, pink), mirror board, small feathers, fabric leaves, white 6″ doilies, foil star stickers, and fabric flowers.
  • 12 squares of white tissue paper (approximately 6.5″ x 6.5″)
  • 4 pieces of white yarn (approximately 6″ long)
  • 1 ghost house (more on that below!)
  • Scissors, tape, and glue stick for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

Begin by decorating a box for your ghosts to live in. The exterior should be quite minimal (the interior is where you go a little wild). I went for an old-fashioned steamer trunk with a padlock:

box closedIf you’re using a patterned tissue box, you might want to cover it with construction paper or paint first. Then use brown (or color) masking tape to create lines on the outside of the box.

To make a padlock, cut a rectangle of mirror board into an upside-down U shape. Use a black permanent marker to draw a keyhole on a square piece of mirror board. Hot glue (or tape) the U shape to the back of the keyhole square. Attach the padlock to the front of the box with hot glue (or tape).

padlockThe exterior of the box is finished, now for the interior! I decided to go for a classic “night sky inside a box” for my ghosts. I lined the inside of the box with black construction paper, added foil stars, and finished the look with a crescent moon.

box openSome kids replicated this look, but others used embossed foil paper, patterned paper, small feathers, fabric leaves, white 6″ doilies, and fabric flowers to whip up some amazing ghost domiciles.

With the box finished, it’s time for the ghosts! Take 2 squares of white tissue paper and lay them flat on top of each other like so:

ghost step 1Then crumple a third tissue square and place it in the middle of the flat squares.

ghost step 2Bunch the flat squares around the crumpled tissue and pinch tightly,

ghost step 3Flip the tissue bunch over and knot a piece of yarn around it to created your ghost’s neck. Trim off any excess yarn and use marker to draw a face. Repeat these steps until you have 4 ghosts.

ghost step 4You have a box, you have ghosts, now for the house! If you’d like to keep it super simple, hide the ghosts in different locations in a room, classroom, or library. You could even turn off the lights and use a flashlight for an extra spooky ghost hunt. However, if you’d like recreate our ghost house, read on!

My colleagues in Firestone Library know to call me if they’re about to dispose of any large or unusually shaped boxes (you can read more about our library-wide recycling program here). So this dollhouse began as a tall, 6″ x 33″ x 41″ box. I also had a couple old archive boxes to use up (you can see more of them in action in this post and this post).

just the boxFirst, Katie and I measured where the stacked archive boxes hit the tall box, and then cut a big hole in the tall box for the archive boxes to slide into. The leftover cardboard was used to make the roof (to which I added some tagboard shingles and a cardboard chimney).

Next, we sliced one of the archive box’s lids in half and hot glued the halves inside the two archive boxes. This created four “floors” in our ghost house. We finished by hot gluing the archive boxes inside the tall box, and added a few pieces of packing tape for good measure.

gluingTo keep the house upright and sturdy, we hot glued a 5.5″ x 17″ x 25.5″ box to the back as a base. We reinforced the connection with lots of packing tape too. We knew it was going to get bumped and bashed by the ghost hunters!

baseNext, Katie used pieces of corrugated cardboard to create the walls that divided the rooms, and tagboard to make the staircases. You can see the whole thing evolving here. And this is only the beginning of the mess we made that day. Oh yes it is.

dana and katie With the basic elements in place, we decorated the interior. For hours and hours. Katie’s son even stopped by at the end of the day to get in on the fun (my favorites are the laptop in the living room and the Angry Birds artwork in the kitchen). But rather than go into excruciating decorating details, here are photos of the different rooms of the house, as well as some ghosts demonstrating various hiding places.

Living Room

ghost in living roomDark closet under the “grand” staircase (spooky eye stickers courtesy of Katie’s son)

closet under the stairsSmall Staircases

ghost on stairsBedroom

ghosts in bedroomBathroom

ghosts in bathroomLaundry Room

ghost in laundry roomAttic (complete with Amityville windows)

ghosts in the atticAnd here is a photo of the tremendous mess we made during the building of the ghost house. Oh yeah.

tremendous messDuring story time, kids could play the ghost hunting game as many times as they liked. I came up with some pretty creative new places to hide ghosts (like the overhead light fixture in the kitchen, and the roof).

ghost on roofAt the very end of story time, interested parties put their names in a hat and the winner took home the ghost house! If, however, you’re still yearning for more dollhouses and miniatures, mosey on over here to see some truly spectacular Harry Potter creations.