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

Free DIY Firestarters

So, maybe technically these aren't a craft, but they are super-useful. Plus you see so many different "this is the best firestarter" tutorials, how do you make sense of it all???

Well, fellow pyromaniacs, I'm here to help.
I've assembled my 3 favorite variations on the DIY firestarter and tested them out.

Version 1: The Egg Carton Log 

Cost: Absolutely Free. These were things you were going to throw away anyways. 

Assembly: Take an old cardboard egg carton. Put dryer lint in it.
Usage: Make sure some lint sticks out. Set it on fire.
What I like about these: They burn well, and for a good several minutes depending upon how dense you fill them. Plus, they are ridiculously easy to make. It seriously doesn't take me any more time than putting these things in the trash/recycling would. Also, my supply is pretty much self-sustaining. With the amount of laundry at our house, and the quantity of eggs we eat, I make one of these puppies almost as quickly as I can burn them, and I still manage to keep a few extra in stock.
What I don't like about these: They take up too much space if you're packing them to go on a camping or hiking trip. One or two isn't bad, but more than that and you're wasting space. You could always stack your cartons and assemble them on-site, but that's not always easy.
The Verdict: These are awesome to start your at-home fire pit, but not the greatest for camping.

Version 2: Grandma's Lint Starters
Cost: Free. You just have to melt down some used-up candles (see info below)
Assembly: Drizzle melted candle wax onto a handful of lint (over foil). Scrunch it up good.
Usage: Set the not-waxed part of the lint on fire
What I like about these: Grandma uses these for a reason: they work! I've also seen her put the lint into an egg carton before drizzling the wax, and then she'll use 2-4 egg spots as a single fire-starter. Either way, the wax slows the burn down so that these puppies last. Great for starting wet wood on fire, or if you're short on kindling and need to start by setting a larger log ablaze. Also, they are great for day-after campfires, when you're trying to start a new fire off the embers of the last. The lint will catch easily off those embers, and you won't need another match.
What I don't like about these: They're ugly. U-G-L-Y. Not only that, they use up a ton of candle wax to really soak it into the lint right. Meaning, I can get maybe 3-4 in a batch out of a larger used-candle. Also, I don't go melting down candles once a week. You have to wait until you have a few candles to throw away before you can say "today I'm going to make firestarters".
The Verdict: Keep a couple of these on hand for starting wet wood or larger logs without kindling.



Version 3: Cotton-Wax Discs
Cost: Almost Free, the cotton-rounds are 1-2 pennies each
Assembly: Check here for the full tutorial (and see my wax melting method below)

Usage: Tear the round so that the cotton is exposed, light the cotton bits on fire
What I like about these: They are small and compact, which makes them perfect for camping and backpacking. Also, I got about a dozen out of a half-used votive candle, which means I can spend an hour and get a HUGE batch of these. One alone will burn for a good 2-5 minutes. If you're starting a fire with damp wood, you'll need more than one, but thats ok because you just made like a hundred of these things.
What I don't like about these: Again, I don't use up tons of candles, so I don't have oodles to melt down. (Though these guys don't take much at all). Plus the melting down takes its own time. But that's about all the negatives I can find for these. Seriously.
The Verdict: My new favorite fire-starters. I'm still going to make the Egg Carton logs (only because I find that almost easier than throwing away the lint) and I'll use those for backyard bonfires. But these little cotton rounds are my new favorite camping accessory.

Melting Wax for Firestarters:
I'm not one to trash a pan just for wax, so here's what I did without ruining any of my cookware.
Put a kettle on to boil. And preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Take a glass baking dish and place your candles in it. If your candles are already in glass containers, you're all set. If they're not, place them in a tin can before placing them in the baking dish.
Once the water in the kettle gets hot (but not necessarily boiling) gently pour it into the baking dish around the candle-holders. Leave enough room so that the water can slosh a bit without splashing you or the candles.
Carefully place the dish in the oven, and turn the oven off.
Allow the candles 5-20 minutes to start melting. Once they look like they're pretty much turning liquid, you can remove the baking dish from the oven, and the hot water will continue to heat them. I dipped my cotton rounds directly into the candle holders with a pair of small tongs.
Please be careful when handling hot water and hot wax!