Home Sweet Dollhouse

So for Christmas this past year, Ryan and I teamed up to make his (almost) 4 year old niece a dollhouse. I've seen quite a few tutorials out there on how to make a "bookshelf" dollhouse or something similar, so I tried to pull from those ideas and make little miss Sophia something really original, fun, and safe to have in the house with her baby brother. (No itsy bitsy pieces).

The House
Ryan was in charge of this part, and he made it all from scratch instead of using a bookshelf to start with. The main part of the house is 24" tall by 24" wide by 8" deep. The roof is 12" tall. The chimney was added for additional support, and there is a piece of trim to bridge the gap on the back where the back of the roof meets the back of the main house. We primed the whole thing white and then used a nice semi-gloss trim paint. The back wall of the 4 main rooms are painted with acrylic paint, and the back wall of the attic is "wallpapered" with a piece of 12" square scrapbooking paper cut on the diagonal, and glued with Elmer's glue.

The Furniture
Buying this from the store can be expensive, and as beautiful as those pieces are, they are NOT sturdy. I know this from experience. So instead, I wanted to make Sophia things that she could really play with, and yet nobody would be upset when things eventually break, as all toys tend to do. I hit the wood crafts aisle at Joann's and picked up a couple big pieces of 3/8" thick balsa wood, some 1" wooden cubes, and some 4" and 6" pre-made plaques. I used an xacto knife to cut the balsa to the correct size. You're also going to want some wood glue, medium grit sand paper, and a couple of clamps if you can find them.

The chairs are each made of a 1" wooden cube and a 1" wide piece of balsa wood, simply glued and painted. 

The kitchen table is all balsa wood, with 2 interlocking squares of balsa as the base. This was tough to get level though, so be prepared for some sanding. The beds are a combination of balsa wood and the wooden plaques. Ryan cut these for me on the table saw, but you could do it with a hand saw. the twin beds got the plaques cut short-ways and the king bed is cut long-ways. The frame of the bed itself if just 3 pieces of balsa wood, glued together and then to the headboard/footboard made from the wooden plaques. The clamps were handy for this part, but left impressions in the soft balsa wood, so maybe add a piece of cardboard or something to protect it. We painted the beds white just like the house, and I sewed little sheets and pillows out of some 1/4 yd pieces I got on clearance at Joann's. I pressed the edges of the sheets so that they would bend over the edges of the bed, and I feel like this really made the difference.

The couch is made from yet another plaque, cut longways. I built the seat out of balsa wood and sanded it to make the edges rounded after the glue was very dry. Balsa sands very easily, so it should be quick to get the edges rounded. The coffee table is just balsa wood again.
The toy chest in the attic is just a box that I bought from the woodcrafts aisle at Joann's and painted. It makes a nice place to store all the little items.

The Decorations
This was the most fun. The fireplace and the kitchen counters/fridge are all just images that I found online and printed off. I glued them to the back wall, and voila! I also added a dresser & mirror to the one bedroom, a plant & rug in the living room, and some family photos! The frames in the living room are actually scrapbooking stickers. The other photos just have a white border around them. I also did some printable miniatures for the cereal boxes and games. They're just paper and they were free, so nobody is going to be upset if they get lost. Check out Jennifer's Free Miniature Printables, and Jim's Dollhouse Printables.

We did buy the actual dolls and the Christmas tree from the little dollhouse store in Plymouth. Other than that, the whole thing was DIY! Please check out some of these other great blogs/sites that I used for Inspiration!

The Homemade Dollhouse
The DIY Dollhouse by The Busy Budgeting Mama
The Neapolitan Dollhouse by Simply Kierste

Christmas Crochet 2012

Alright Folks! The gifts have been given and here's the crochet round-up!

Michigan State Scarf
No pattern for this one. I think I started with a ch 14, but don't quote me on that. I know I used dcs in each stitch across. I ch 2 in the turning chain, because, for me, that helps to even out the rows.
Added a fringe. Thats about it.
6.5mm Hook & Red Heart Super Saver Yarn

Winter Day Moebius Cowl
Made just like I did the Rainy Day Mobeius Cowl last Christmas.
The yarn was "Sensations Rainbow Boucle" and it was NOT fun to work with. They LIE when they say you need a 5.5mm hook. LIES. SO I ended up working 2 strands together and using a 6.5mm hook. Not bad, but if I could find my 9mm hook, I bet that would be even better. Still turned out nice though.

Pineapple Pattern Shawl
I really love this pattern. Its called the Sidewalk Shawl and it is very pretty. Not too complicated once you get going either. I used Red Heart Super Saver and I stopped short of the pattern because it was big enough. Used a 6.5mm hook (are you seeing a trend yet?)
Very pleased with this one overall.

Magnificent Mantle Shawl
Well, this shawl pattern did not work well with this yarn. Again, I used the "Sensations Rainbow Boucle". My crochet center triangle came out so deformed that I frogged it and knit the stupid triangle. Just adding one increase on the first and last st of each row. Size 3 circular knitting needles for the center and 5.5mm crochet hook for the edging.

Golden Glimmer Fan Shawl
I used this Fan Shawl Pattern and Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn (in Topaz). I LOVE both the pattern AND the yarn. Used a 3.25mm hook and it worked up beautifully. Of the three shawls that I made up this year, this is my favorite pattern, and it got tons of compliments while I was working on it. 2 skeins wasn't really enough yarn though.

Seaside Scarf & Hat Set
Oh, look, more of the horrible "Sensations Rainbow Boucle" yarn. Why did I buy so much of this?! I knit the scarf using size 9 knitting needles, with the yarn held double. Improvised the hat with a 6.5mm hook and the yarn held double again. I fully intended to make a set of mittens or gloves to go with the set, but I just couldn't make it happen. Cast on to knit them 3 times with 3 different size DPNs and never could get the right gauge. Crochet just seemed like it would have been a nightmare because I couldn't see ANY stitches. At least its pretty.

Kevlar Survival Bracelet
Yes, you heard me. Kevlar. I stumbled across kevlar string on thinkgeek.com and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a survival bracelet for my favorite doomsday prepper, Kevin. I worked the first and last rows around a 3/4" parachute buckle and the rest is dc sts. I think the first and last row are sc stitches for stability. You CAN cut through the thread to trim it, if needed, FYI.

Baby Blues Cardigan
This is another pattern that was super easy and super cute. Its called the Don't Be Square Cardigan and it is 2 granny-style hexagons that are simply seamed on the sleeves and back. SO SIMPLE! I made this in September and didn't write down the hook I used, but I know I used scraps of "Red Heart" and "I Love this Yarn".

Christmas Gifts: Seamed Shrugs

I think that a basic shrug is a classic piece in anyone's wardrobe. Lucky for me, they are also rising in popularity and ridiculously simple to make. If you can make a wide scarf, you can make a shrug.

How to make a simple seamed shrug:
1. Measure the arm size by wrapping the tape around the arm at the shoulder. Add 2" to get your Width.

2. Next, put your arms out and measure from elbow to elbow, or however long on your arms you want the shrug to be. This will be your Length.

3. Also, take a measurement from the elbow (or point on your arm that you used for the Length) to the armpit. This will be your seam measurement.

4. Pick your favorite stitch, openwork pattern, or stitchgrid that can be worked in a square. Chain loosely until you reach your Width measurement. You may need to add a few stitches here to work with the stitch or openwork pattern.

5. Proceed with your pattern stitch until the piece measures 1/2 of your desired Length. Finish off your pattern then, and bind off. (if you really don't care about symmetry, you can just continue the pattern stitch until you reach the full Length, and skip to step 7)

6. Join your yarn at the same spot where you started. Begin the first row of your pattern into the back side of your original chain row, so that you will have a mirror image of the side that you already did, working in the same stitches. Continue your pattern stitch until the second arm is 1/2 of the total Length, or the same side as the other arm.

7. Do not bind off. Fold your rectangle in half long-ways. You will now seam up the arms. I chose to do this using a slip sitch from one edge to the other, but you can also use a yarn needle and sew it closed. From the end, seam up the length which you measured previosly.

8. When you reach the armpit area, fasten off and join your yarn at the other end, and seam up the opposite arm.

9. Do not fasten off when you reach the 2nd armpit. Instead, lay open the center of the garment which is unseamed, and begin making rounds of sc to border the edge. 1-4 rows of sc here looks very nice and finishes the garment.

 The purple shrug was made using the symmetrical method and the above stitch grid. If you use this pattern, you should end on an odd numbered row. The black shrug was made using the stitchgrid below. Though the symmetrical method was used, it was unnecessary.

Christmas Gifts: 90 Minute Scarves

So here are the scarves I made for my maternal grandfather and great-grandfather! The pattern is so simple and it works up super fast.

NEW TO CROCHET? I don't make my own videos, sorry. So check these out: http://learntocrochet.lionbrand.com/

My Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver Economy
Soft Navy + Shaded Dusk  and  Cafe + Shaded Brown*
*This color no longer includes the turquoise that it used to.

Grab your size 11mm (or larger) crochet hook, and 2 skeins of coordinating yarn.
You will work the 2 strands together as 1.

Ch 12, then Triple crochet (Yo 2x before inserting hook) in the 4th chain from the hook, and in every ch across.
For each following row: chain 4, and triple crochet into each stitch across.
Make it as long as you want (i use up the whole skein) and then add a single crochet border around all 4 sides before fastening off. Finish with a fringe on the ends.
Voila!


UPDATE 11/8/11: I've just added the pattern for a matching 30-Minute-Hat! Check it out! You'll use the same 2 strands that you worked with in the 90-minute scarf for a quick and easy matching hat!

PATTERN VARIATION:
I had several people ask me if they could do the same thing with a bulky or super bulky yarn, and the answer is yes! I prefer Lion Brand Homespun yarn and a 10.0mm hook. You will work with one strand only, as opposed to two, and I reduced the sts to DC's instead of triple crochet stitches, so if you still ch 12 for the base, you'll dc in the 3rd ch from the hook, and in every ch across. I used up almost the whole skein and it made a nice soft, long scarf. I used the remainder to add fringe!


**Ok, so I shouldn't feed the trolls, but to all of you who keep asking on allfreecrochet.com, the photos at the top were taken on my chiropractic table (much like a massage table) as it was the only surface that was available at the time. I never had ANY idea that my pattern would go any further than my local craft group, let alone become the most popular pattern on their site. Kthnxbai**