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Build Doll House Furniture
that Amazes You!

June 2011

Build Tiny Furniture with Confidence

Construction Basics 

Build Doll House Furniture. In constructing your miniatures all that most times is required is that the piece you are creating look the part on the outside, that it has to play. That dressers, cabinets, cupboards and the like resemble their larger, real life counterparts.

Build mini furniture "carcasses" as covered in a previous article, found here. These play an important part in connecting your furniture pieces. They were chiefly used when applying effects such as stiles, rails and panels to larger real life furnishings. Though with a slightly different approach in miniatures we can get the same effect in our pieces too. At the least our creation will indeed "look" the part.

    Special Tip: In adding doors to your furniture, the use of layering wood comes in handy. It is not necessary to build doll house minis with the very same method you would use in making a full size piece. Such as is the case with adding a paneled look to your miniature cabinet doors. Cut correct length and thicknesses to small strips and place accurately on your door to resemble a panel effect.

With miniature furniture it is not necessary to do a lot of fancy joining of parts. In its simplest form all one needs to know is how to cut and glue the pieces accurately together.

5 Easy Ways to Join your Furniture Pieces Together

Some of the basic joins we see used in miniature furniture are the butt, mortise and tenon, biscuit, dowel and finally housing joints.

Hovering mouse over each picture to the right will reveal each joints name.

  • A butt joint is where you really butt two pieces of wood together to join them. However this type of joint is not as stable as other choices.
  • Mortise and tenon joints are the ones used in the creation of chairs. Such as a particular chair fashioned with rails. That's the kind of joint used in this case. Where one piece of wood fits inside the other piece.
  • The biscuit joint is similar to the mortise and tenon in that one piece of wood fits into the other and is glued in place. The piece in this case just happens to be in the shape of a thin oval piece of wood.
  • In a dowel joint we see the use of a small dowel with glue being used to secure the joint. These are a way of strengthening your joining efforts in larger real life pieces. However, because of the size of your miniatures it may be necessary to search out items such as cocktail picks or fine sewing pins to act as dowels as you build doll house furniture in mini.
  • For strength housing joints are used where one side is shaped similar to the other piece and glued and butted together for your miniatures. Two examples of housing joints are rabbet and dado.
Butt joint
Mortise and tenon joints
Biscuit joint
Dowel joint
Housing joint
Rabbet joint
Dado joint

In most of these examples there is a male and a female form to the wood pieces. Where one side is cut directly opposite of the alternate piece so they fit nicely inside of each other.

All this talk about what goes into the making of dollhouse furniture, are you wanting to get at an actual project that we can do? That said however we will save this topic for next month.

'Til next time, Build doll house miniatures into workable realities that both satisfy and impress. A personal awe inspiring plan is all it takes...

The last three month issues look into other topics related to dollhouse furniture creation. Check those issues out here.

More Info on How to Build Doll House Furniture here...

If you prefer, buy ready made Dollhouse Furnishings here...

Design Tip #9
Relax and Build Time

Go into your own design phase at your own speed. Take your time developing this skill.

"Now that the exterior of the house has been finalized we can begin laying out rooms on the interior. Rooms are defined by the walls that enclose them. They are then assigned a Room Type that assigns common room attributes." Quote from Home Designer User's Guide

PROJECT: Sizzling Summer Time Wreath

Wreath for Barbie

Build Doll House Heart Shaped
Wreath for Barbie

Barbie's Entryway Welcome Dilemma. Another simple solution. Made in play scale dimensions.


Materials:

For your Information: Clicking on the picture will take you to Amazon. A list of all needed materials for this craft can be found below this display. The pictures show our suggestions only for materials needed.

1) 2) 3)
4) 5+6) 7)
8)
  1. Hot glue
  2. Glue gun
  3. Stiff gingham ribbon
  4. Bridal beaded Pearl Spray
  5. White 1/8" ribbon
  6. Maroon 1/8" ribbon
  7. Tiny bird
  8. Fake snow used as nest material

Instructions:

We are working in 1:6 scale where every 2 inches represents 1 foot. Our dimensions we are aiming for are, if you were making this in a full size for you, the wreath would be 1 foot high in total, approximately. So Build Doll House Wreath design in scale.

  • Go into your crafting supplies and look for some stiff, starchy type ribbon. Usually an inexpensive grade can be obtained at places like Walmart. I chose this gingham pattern ribbon. Cut three pieces of equal length. Approximately 16 inches.
  • Glue and twist all the pieces together at one end. Now braid them together for added strength. Glue and twist, again, the same as at the other end.
  • Place a small amount of glue at the inner tip of the heart and pinch securely together. Then glue the bottom together in whatever manner you wish. Giving it the decorative finish you want.
  • Now apply ribbons and accents of your choice to make an attractive wreath for Barbie's door, wall or table top.

Steps in Designing Wreath

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3

Finished Miniature

Step 4
View or Buy Sizzling Summer Time Wreath for Barbie.
In the Spotlight
Woodcraft Plans
Woodcraft Plans



Build Doll House for Fashion Dolls (Woodworking Plan)

Imaginative detail that you or your child will love. For collectors or the child you adore.

What could be more appealing than working with your loved ones on a future family heirloom? Amazing time well spent on something worthwhile, rewarding and fun for the whole family.

by Woodcraft Plans

"Four spacious rooms fitted for 12" tall fashion dolls! Even attic storage is not forgotten as a detail. The house latches closed like a suitcase and incorporates a built-in handle for carrying. Full size plans for making the 24 pieces of furniture like a folding dining table, poster bed, chairs, fireplace and more. Includes full size patterns, a list of materials and instructions." Quote from Amazon.com

View Fashion Doll House Plan (Woodworking Plan) here.

What's been Happening At-the-Doll-House.com

We have a brand new look about us these days. Check it out here.

We are always building new pages for you. It seems that the more we create, the more new and exciting ideas come to mind. Some of our newest pages include:



For more details about our site check out Our Blog here.

To see more issues of our Newsletter online click here.

Build Doll House Woodworking Scroll Saw Pattern + Instructions to Build Your Own Victorian Mansion

DollhouseDesigns.com

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