Dollhouse Decorating Don't Forget The Quilts! by Hilary Kratovil -- age 14

I was thrilled when I bought my small, 4 room doll house. It wasn't the three story house with wrap around porch and lots of windows of my dreams, but my grandpa was coming to build it for me and it was cheap! I was thinking of how to get the best out of the small space when my grandpa suggested we add extra rooms. It took us a week to build.

So, now I had a doll house. Great, but the shingles ALONE would have cost me around $30. Babysitting just doesn't bring in that kind of money. My grandpa told me I could use cardboard for the shingles. Cardboard? What was this man thinking? Sure, it's the same thickness of store-bought shingles and its free, but it's ugly! He told me that they would stain just as well as wood, and look just as good. I spent the next five hours using an exacto knife cutting out the shingle-shaped pieces from desk calender backing.

I next went shopping for windows. Not a good idea since they're $10 apiece. Grandpa did it again. He suggested that we use balsa wood to outline the windows, indoor and out. It looked really good. The shingles and balsa wood for five windows cost only ten dollars altogether! After my grandpa left, I got started on the exterior painting. The shingles took the stain beautifully, just like he said.

Wallpaper is expensive, but I knew I didn't need much. I used old wallpaper books. The samples weren't big and I really had to stretch some, but it worked out really well. Using leftover paints from my dad's home improvement projects, in some rooms I wallpapered one half and painted the other half. Make sure the print is small enough when using wallpaper that's not meant for doll houses.

Because I wanted my doll house to be country, I didn't want wall to wall carpeting. I wanted wood. Balsa wood was just the right thing. I stained it and cut it into 1/2 inch wide strips. I staggered the strips to look like real oak planking. For my rugs I used loosely woven plaid upholstery material. I cut out a square and then sewed a zig-zag machine stitch 1/2" from the edge and fringed the edges. The stitched lines kept the whole rug from unraveling.
I was missing the most important part -- furniture! If you're like me and enjoy looking at miniatures in stores, you know how much furniture costs. A friend told me how she ordered a doll furniture kit from a catalog company named Greenleaf. Their prices are very reasonable. A kit consists of sheets of wood from which the pieces for the furniture could be punched out. The kit instructions were clear. I used a hot glue gun for quick construction. Some of the furniture included was: sofa and chairs, end tables, dining and kitchen sets, stove, sinks, toilet, bathtub, beds, and dressers! For quilts on the beds, I designed a quilt pattern on my computer graphics program , printed it onto fabric, colored it in with fabric pens, backed it and quilted it.

Doll house accessories are expensive, so I make my own. Have you ever looked at the prices of fake food? They're just as bad as real food! I found a book that showed how to make food for your doll house with FIMO, a clay you harden in the oven. A small package can go a long way. I use white and then paint it with my mom's acrylic paints. I also use FIMO to make soap, pots, and vases.

I decided that in honor of my mother, I wanted a sewing room. While on vacation I found a miniature sewing machine. I made some bolts of fabric with mini rectangles of brown cardboard and strips of scrap material wrapped around them. I used small prints for the fabric. I made kitchen and living room curtains from small scraps of lace.

I love my doll house and have so much fun fixing it up just the way I want.

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