I am FINALLY starting my Walmer dollhouse rebuild project.

I am FINALLY starting my Walmer dollhouse rebuild project.

I’ll be completely renovating this old 1960’s Walmer “knockdown” dollhouse into what I hope will be an amazing French Country style with a 2-story addition. When it is done, it will have European style casement windows, a large Bay window on the addition, two new dormer windows on the 3rd story, new doors and a completely new interior and exterior renovation. I’m practically building a new house (kind of like they do on that “Extreme Home Makeover” TV show, but without the bulldozer). These dollhouses have an interesting history. I found this information from someone named Joanne on the Greenleaf...Read more
French style split arch wooden 1:12 scale door

French style split arch wooden 1:12 scale door

I just have not found the time to do much with my Walmer dollhouse rebuild lately, but I did make some design decisions. I designed an impressive new front door to replace the mass-produced version I was going to use. I think it will give it more of a European flair. I used pictures of full-sized split arch French style doors to create a pattern. Then I had fellow Etsy seller ShedtoshelfBySean produce it for me. I really like how it turned out. After some staining, gluing with clear plastic sandwiched between the doors for windowpanes, hinges, fancy door handles...Read more
Dollhouse upcycle project: Making 1:12 scale fancy bowls from discarded plastic spout rings

Dollhouse upcycle project: Making 1:12 scale fancy bowls from discarded plastic spout rings

With a little effort and a few items, you can make these lovely porcelain-look bowls for your dollhouse. They will add such a realistic designer touch to a miniature China hutch, plate rail or dining room table. What you will need: First you need to prep the plastic rings by cutting the “bowl” part away from the ring. Carefully use a craft blade if you don’t want to dull your good scissors. Cut as close to the rim of the bowl as you can and then sand smooth any remaining bump left. If your plastic doo-hickey is like mine, there...Read more
Shabby French style Walmer dollhouse rebuild – part 2

Shabby French style Walmer dollhouse rebuild – part 2

If you are just joining my rebuild project, you can start with part 1 here. I’ve made progress on widening the window openings and added a second-floor doorway that will go to the new addition. Unfortunately, there was some splintering of the wood when I cut this, so I will have to do a little wood filler in places. I will also frame in this doorway – coffee stir sticks seem to be the correct width, so they will work to frame in and square off the openings. Door and window trim can cover any gaps, and leave a nice,...Read more
Double to singles: mini wood window conversion tutorial.

Double to singles: mini wood window conversion tutorial.

If you have double windows, but really need single windows for your dollhouse, you can convert them with just a pot of boiling water and some wood glue. Read on to find out how. First you start with a basic unfinished wooden double window, like the ones I sell in my Etsy shop. You can use either working or non-working windows. This tutorial covers non-working windows, but the steps to convert working windows are very similar. Looking at the back of this double window, you can see that it is really made of two single windows side by side. This...Read more
Dollhouse 1:12 scale miniature crystal chandelier made from a battery powered LED 15 light string.

Dollhouse 1:12 scale miniature crystal chandelier made from a battery powered LED 15 light string.

Pictures and a description of how I made this elaborate chandelier for my Gothic Victorian room box. This is the Gothic Victorian room box that I made recently. The huge crystal chandelier was a project that I started about 2 years ago, set to the side, and finally finished. This is how I made it. I started with a simple LED 15 light string with a lithium coin cell battery switch. Since I had 15 lights, I knew I needed a 2 tier chandelier with 8 lights on the lower tier and 7 on the upper. I created a metal...Read more
Just in time for Halloween: Miniature Psycho Movie House in 1:24 Scale Tutorial

Just in time for Halloween: Miniature Psycho Movie House in 1:24 Scale Tutorial

I tried to design a budget-friendly Halloween diorama for my workplace cubicle decorating contest, and came up with this tutorial for creating a replica of the house in the movie Psycho. I have always loved that house with it’s second-empire architecture, and grand cathedral window on the front. I also added a cemetery on the side with dead trees and gravestones made from polymer clay, but this tutorial is only about the house. The house in my pictures is actually 4” wider than the following instructions will create. I designed mine to fill up my cubicle space, but after I...Read more
Beach Cottage Room Box Build

Beach Cottage Room Box Build

I recently invested in a better lighting setup in a vain attempt to make myself a better photographer (similar to the expectation that buying new athletic shoes would somehow make one a better athlete). Nonetheless I bought it, and that created the desire to build a better room box for taking photographs of my miniatures. With summer drawing to a close, I find myself wanting to capture the essence of a summer beach vacation, so I can hold on to my favorite season a little longer. To that end, I created a beach cottage room box to use for displaying...Read more
How to make doll house corks for very small bottles.

How to make doll house corks for very small bottles.

Looking for fun and interesting ways to up-cycle all those wine corks you have been collecting? Sure, you could make a wreath, or a cool steampunk style bottle lamp, with the wine bottle and cork, like the ones I made. Here’s something new you may not have seen though: You can make tiny 1:12 scale corks for dollhouses and miniature scenes from full size wine corks with a few simple tools. You will need: A wine cork A hobby knife with break-off blade or a razor blade A 1/4″ or 1/8″ circle hand-held paper punch work gloves An emery board...Read more
Miniature 1:12 Scale Pink Yard Flamingos for Dollhouse or Fairy Garden

Miniature 1:12 Scale Pink Yard Flamingos for Dollhouse or Fairy Garden

I sell the miniatures I make on my Etsy site, and one of my most popular items is my miniature pink yard flamingos. I can’t keep up with the demand, so they are always selling out. They are extremely realistic looking and adorable, if I may say so myself. They are also time consuming to make. I know that I am never going to have a business that pays the bills by selling just them. OK, theoretically, I probably could make about 30 an hour, if I really push it, and do that four hours a day, leaving the rest...Read more
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