I Want One Too…
Posted by Rhonda Nelson in Rhonda Nelson, tags: Christmas presents, crafts, dollhouses
Around the middle of September last year my husband and I bought a doll house for our niece from Hobby Lobby and decided to put it together for her for Christmas. We would paint it and wire it and stain the hardwood floors. It was going to be a magical bonding experience for the two of us, plus an heirloom piece for Isabella.
Only one of those was right.
What the &*^%@! was I thinking? In the first place, we’d never assembled a doll house from scratch, so planning to do it for a Christmas present in the middle of September when I am married to THE GREAT PROCRASTINATOR wasn’t very bright. When you add in the fact that we both like to be in charge, welll… You can see where this might be a problem. Also, I don’t know if any of the rest of you have ever tackled this sort of project, but good grief…hundreds of pieces. Literally. Nine pieces for each window. Gobs of fretwork that was hard to paint. Eight-hundred shingles that had to be individually stained and painstakingly adhered to the roof. Those of you familiar with roofing will understand what I mean when I say that the shingles around the gables had to be “cut in.” Hubby sliced his hand open with a box cutter doing that. Big fun. I don’t do blood. He even had to pull our kids’ teeth when they were loose. Oh, and did I mention that every single piece had to be primed before it could be painted? It did, and that was my job. But here are the results. 
Family members furnished the rooms for her, which made it even more special. 
And this one… 
I got a little carried away when decorating. I shrunk down a picture of my niece and added it to the living room. Put a poster of Hannah Montana in the bedroom. Needless to say, she LOVED it. And that made it all worthwhile. And believe it or not, we’re going to do it again next year for our other niece.
What about you? Have you ever undertaken something like this? What were the results?
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LOL! Yes it can be a pain to build dollhouses. Growing up I used to build them with my Mom. We made about 20 houses over the years, and considering that each house can take months to get all completly done thats alot, lol! And it can be a very expensive hobby. My favorite that we made was a four story country house. It has a wrap around porch, is all wired with lighting and its beautiful. I am trying to figure out how to get it along with the others my Mom still has from California to Indiana. I would really love to share this hobby with my daughter.
Your house is beautiful and Im so glad your niece liked it. Good Job!!
Alina, that country house sounds WONDERFUL. I can definitely see where it could become addictive as well. When everything was said and done, I actually think my husband enjoyed it. He’s thinking about doing a few more houses to sell around Christmas. Plus, we’re doing one for my other niece. I’ve thought about using scrapbooking paper for wallpaper–because it’s so pretty!–but I’m not sure how the wiring would work with that. :-O
I love it too! I wished I had one like that when I was growing up. Beautiful!! You are right. it maybe a pain, but in the end its all worth it! The smiles on their faces. Priceless!!
Great Job!!
Beautiful work…I have always wanted to build a dollhouse!! No room and too many little hands – LOL. *sigh* maybe one of these days.
HOLY COW! that’s impressive. I wouldn’t mind putting something like that together. It’d be the priming and painting that would drive me nuts.
But Good Job! (Y)
My parents bought one for my youngest sister when she was younger… My father did not even try to put it together until she was twenty… now years later it is sitting half finished in his Den… so much for that project…
I’m so impressed!
Wow, that looks fantastic!! I love to do projects. Living in a tiny apartment with DH and DD (without a garage) there is just no room for me to do anything that needs to be spread out and left for a while. I’ve never had a doll house or even really been in to dolls…but this looks really neat. Someday when we’re back on our feet (and in a bigger space), I may have to look into this! Thanks for the ideas! (The o’ gear mill in the mind is turning away now!)
Y’all did an amazing job, Rhonda! Never really tried anything like this. I’m not very crafty, so only would do it with lots of help from someone else.
It came out really nice. Great job on it!
Very cool. My hubby just built our girls dollhouse and it was a huge pain.. But the memories priceless!