animation friday - because it's hard to sleep with a round bottom

Thanks to Cintia's easy instructions, I've made my first animation! Yippee!

I also found a solution to our dolls' "falling out of bed" problem... also handy when camping out (maybe they need a tent?!).

Looking forward to playing along with Animation Friday at My Poppet...

my creative space - the ephemeral dollhouse

I've gone on and on about this dollhouse, haven't I? Not to mention spent much time thinking about decorating options, even wishing I had more hoarded papers to choose from (I know, really...).

Then, I came to a realisation - this is a cardboard dollhouse.

It is, ultimately, designed to be short lived, even disposable. It is also a dollhouse for a small child - a small child who sees "bananas" and "boats" in scraps of fabric or cardboard. It does not have to be perfect, or even finished, to be loved.

So here it is: the ephemeral, happily unfinished dollhouse.


The art room - filled with happy music, loads of natural light from a lovely big window, and inspiration from Leunig and Van Gogh...



The (unchanged) dining room (a buffet might be nice in here)...


The extra - bright kitchen, with wonky stove, wonky lino, and an empty fridge - not for long...


The floral bedroom - with just one bed for 7 dolls...

I wonder what will happen to this house next? The one thing I know is, I won't be the one making the decisions... and it will probably never be "finished".

More creative spaces here.

my creative space - how to make a boxy piano

A while ago I had a bit of fun making some "upcycled" furniture for our (not yet finished) cardboard dollhouse. Estelle was kind enough to suggest I should do a tutorial, so here it is...

How to make a boxy piano...

1. Find 3 boxes which, when stacked together, look a bit like a piano.


2. Don't worry if they're not the right length, just measure, cut and fold to make a smaller box (if they're nearly the right size, don't bother - just pad out the short one with some paper or cardboard).


3. BEFORE you stick them together, gently fill the boxes with tissue paper or newspaper - just enough to help keep their shape but not so much that they bulge (check by stacking them up again)... sorry I forgot to photograph this step!

4. Put a bit of glue between the boxes, then start taping them up - I like to use this gummy brown tape that I've had since I dabbled in watercolour painting many moons ago, but any tape would do.


5. Tape them up until they're nice and stable - I probably went a little overboard...


6. For my first piano (see here), I just used the brown tape all over for a fast and easy finish. This time, I covered the piano in little bits of brown tissue paper that I'd dipped in diluted PVA glue.


7. Leave it to dry (and don't be too careful about covering the bit where the keys will go - that's about to get covered up)


8. Measure the space for your piano keys to go - subtract a few mm from each side, then draw your piano keys. After discovering first time around that lead pencil can smudge when covered in Mod Podge or glue, I used a non watercolour black pencil this time.


9. Stick on the keys with Mod Podge or PVA, remembering to seal the top of the keys too, and you're done!


After finishing this piano, I wondered whether one family of dolls really needed two pianos - Audrey and Beris disagreed, and quickly set themselves up for a piano duet....


the only problem is, Audrey is a "by the book" classical piano player, and Beris is a "play what you feel" avant garde type, so it ended up as more of a piano duel...

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty's.

my creative space - not quite the after photos

A while ago (quite a while ago...) I got started on a cardboard box dollhouse, thinking it would be a quick job to finish. The evidence suggests I was wrong...

In fact, the doll house looks a bit too much like our house - lots of boxes piled up everywhere, holes in the walls, and lots of mess...

Luckily, the little wooden dolls who've been waiting to move in are pretty adaptable, and have started getting on with life in their unrenovated abode (with the help of an enthusiastic 3 year old).

They've already had their first dinner party (banana and broccoli pasta, anyone?) and tested out their new chairs (can you tell they come from take away pizzas?).


Not long after, the dolls showed their creative side, and decided to move into their art and music room, despite having wallpapered only one wall (but what a lovely wall it is!).

One day, there might be a proper after photo... but don't expect it too soon!

For lovely creative inspiration, visit Kirsty

(and I'll be drawing and announcing my tiny giveaway winner later tonight...)

my creative space

So, last week I was telling you about my CD rack dollhouse-to-be ... what I didn't tell you was that I'd already been planning another DIY dollhouse, which I nearly abandoned, but have decided to finish after all (and how fun will it be to have two houses? The residents will have neighbours to visit!!).

This is how it looked this morning...

yep, it's made out of nappy boxes.

Unfortunately in the "everything's too hard" stage of early parenting I decided I wouldn't be able to cope with cloth nappies - in retrospect, it probably could have been achievable - but, enough of the could-have-beens, at least I'm reusing the boxes, yes?!

I decided to go through my collection of used wrapping papers to find some good "wallpaper" - and a not insignificant amount of time passed by as I reminiscenced (yes, I know, it's just wrapping paper... no prizes for guessing where I sit on the hoarder - chucker continuum!).

I did at least manage to get back to the job and install a lovely terracotta roof (this paper was wrapped around some flowers we received when Mini Blogger was born... yes that was three years ago... but look how useful it is now?... have I convinced anyone??).

For those of you who don't crazily hoard paper but would like to make a cardboard dollhouse, visit Sarah for another idea (and a giveaway too!).

Of course it's Thursday, so Kirsty's is the place to be - see you there!