DIY Dollhouse
In our March issue (making its way to mailboxes and newsstands right now), Cookie's market editor, Meryl Levin, describes how she made a dollhouse for her niece out of foam core board. She put graphic wrapping paper on the walls, cut clocks and pictures of out of catalogs and "framed" them with Sharpie, and her niece filled the rooms with her own toys. Not only is it almost as fun to personalize as to play with, it also stores flat, and can even travel with her to Grandma's house! If you want to try this yourself, here's how Meryl did it (use the diagram below as a reference):
1. Start with a piece of 20"x30" foam core board (a standard size at art-supply stores), and using a box cutter and a T-square or yardstick, cut 10 inches off of the longer end to make a 20"x20" square.
2. Cut the board horizontally right across the middle to create two 10"x20" rectangles.
3. Measure 10 inches across the bottom of one rectangle, and cut a notch 1/4-inch wide and 2 inches tall. At the top of the second rectangle, make a notch the same size.
4. At the bottom of both rectangles, measure 4 1/2 inches from both ends, and cut doorways 2 inches wide and 5 inches tall.
5. Slide the notches into each other to form the x-shaped house.
this is absolutely brilliant!
i agree - fabulous idea!
Thank you for the idea:
http://greencard.canalblog.com/archives/2008/02/23/index.html
the notches need to be 6 inches and 4 inches. not 2 inches. But this is a really great idea!!!
I found this idea through the nie nie dialogues! The standing plus sign shape is brilliant!
My sister and I used to get screamed at for cutting up my mom's catalogs to make magazine dollhouses! But it was so worth it! Thank you for the trip down memory lane!