How to make miniature flowers for the dollhouse

Flowers I made for decorating the family dollhouses this Spring: tulips, daffodils,
 poppies and pink potted anthurium

 

        I took apart a string of puka shells to make the tiniest miniature tulip displays. You will also need fine wire, white school glue and green tissue paper to make this craft. 
       The green tissue is layered over the wire for the stems and leaves on the tulips. The puka shells have tiny holes in the bottom and this is where I threaded the ends of the wire stems coated with glue. Let the tulips dry over night and then paint the shell 'tulip flowers' with acrylic colors.
       Then hot glue the tulips inside of bottle caps for display inside your dollhouse. The faux tulips look best displayed in a shallow cap. Sprinkle a little sawdust over the hot glue and paint this to look like soil or moss.

• looking for puka shells at the beach...
• See how we made a 'sailor's Valentine' using puka shells...

These miniature tulips are made using puka shells, wire and cotton batting.

 

Miniature vase of poppies. I made this vase after watching
the Kit & Caboodlers newspaper crafts here.

Puka tulip arrangement and dime.

        To craft cotton batting poppies inside a newspaper bud vase you will need the following supplies: two cotton balls, white school glue, thin wire, and newspaper.
       First, roll the newspaper into a simple long and narrow bead shape with smears of white glue brushed between the layers. Make sure to leave a hole in the center of this bead so that flowers may be wedged inside of it. 
       You will need to stand this newspaper bead on end to make it look like a 'vase' so as you work with it, keep pressing the bottom of the bead to a table top. This compresses it's foot so that the bead can be level enough to stand alone. I shaped one end of the sample bead shown here with a more complicated foot. However, if you are just beginning to learn how to craft miniatures, you may leave the extra foot off of the project to begin with.
       After the bead shaped vase it dry. decorate it with clippings from a magazine or paint it, if you prefer.
       The poppies are made by twisting cotton batting around and around the tip of a wire along with layers of white school glue until the flower petals are formed. Then these are hand-painted with water colors.

• See how factory made beads are turned into dollhouse vases here... - These mini bead vases hold ribbon roses.

Left, are pink potted anthurium before painting. Right, the finished plant.

Miniature of daffodils, forcing bulbs.

       To make the pink potted anthurium for your doll's house you will need: fine wire, a cotton ball, and masking tape. Double up the masking tape and cut the heart shaped leaves from it. Mount the leaves onto the wire stems and then tape these to the inside sides of the egg carton vase. Next, make the flowers on the plant in the same way accept poke the wire above the pink blossom for the stamen. I also added a bit of cotton batting to the top of this flower for texture. After shaping the plant inside of the planter, I painted it with acrylics. Seal all of the plant with Mod Podge.

       I displayed the miniature plant inside of a mini handmade planter. These small planters can be cut  from a paper egg carton and layered with newsprint and glue to strengthen their molded shapes.  

        To make the mini daffodils in bloom you will need: a bottle cap, masking tape, white school glue, paints,  and quilter's pins with large bead heads. 

       Inside each of these are miniature daffodils are quilter's pins! I wrapped tissue around the pin heads to look like daffodils both open and shut. Then each wrapped stem was wrapped up together with masking tape and glued inside of the bottle cap, Paint the stems, bulbs and rocks with acrylics. Wrap the daffodils with yellow tissue paper and glue. Then 'highlight' the petals with a little white color.

       These tiny bulb flowers are popular to 'force' during the season of Lent in our own home and now in our doll's house. Just arrange the bulbs in a shallow dish of pebbles and waters and watch them grow to bloom just in time for Easter!

How to make miniature eggs in a carton . . .

Mixed beans for soup. The smallest navy beans look just like miniature eggs!

Finished mini egg cartons
compared to a dime. (coin)

        To make miniature eggs in cartons you will need the following supplies: scrap cardboard, tiny navy beans, masking tape, white school glue and newspaper or newsprint.

Step-by-Step Instructions:  

1. Cut from the scrap cardboard a tiny rectangle measuring approximately 1 inch by 2 inches. 
2. From the tips of each corner, make a small diagonal cut. Turn these tips into each other to make the sides of the tiny rectangle box. Glue them together. 
3. Cover the entire tiny box using masking tape.
4. Twist more pieces of masking tape inverted so that the pieces are tacky on the outside. You can see the way I have done this in the photo above.
5. Now the tiny navy beans which look just like miniature eggs will stay in place as you line them up inside of the 'egg box.' 
6. Squeeze white school glue into all of the crevices.
7. Layer on newspaper or newsprint and then let the miniature eggs and cartons dry over night.
8. Brush on Mod Podge once you are satisfied with the egg cartons surfaces. The Mod Podge should be also generously applied to the navy beans. 
9. When not in use, store these tiny creations in tin only. Somehow, the insects will find them out and try to eat them, otherwise.
   

More Posts About Miniature Eggs:

• How to craft a 'rainbow' of hen eggs for your dolls...
• How Raggedy Ann took care of the baby chics
• Read about the hen and her eggs
• The current Easter egg hut at Color The Bible

How to assemble Easter baskets for your favorite dolls!

       Each little basket below measures less than three inches tall and two inches wide. Each one is the exact, perfect size for our American Girls, Journey Girls and My Generation Girl dolls. We gifted them to the dolls last Easter. Who knows what the bunny will bring the dolls this year?

A tiny ivy stem basket with nesting grass, a peach silk carnation and artificial plants, both front
and back sides photographed.

This doll-sized Easter basket is made out of silver and stuffed with miniature blue silk flowers
and Easter speckled eggs in: pink, blue and buttercream yellow. A tiny yellow ribbon tied into 
a bow with a mini silver bell is attached to one end.

Here are two baskets including miniature porcelain dolls dressed in their finest Easter dresses and
hats! The painted lavender basket on the left includes a miniature Bible with complete text! The 
gold painted basket on the right includes a variety of Easter eggs alongside the doll dressed in
pinks silks and white lace.

Just left, a basket with a bird's nest, candy eggs and a tiny pastel blue flocked bunny. The basket on
the right, includes a flocked white teddy bear, a nest and speckled bird's eggs.

Finally, the left painted pink Easter basket is filled with a flocked rabbit, multicolored Easter grass
and many decorated eggs. On the right, there is a fully jointed, tiny teddy bear in a silver Easter
basket with painted eggs just the right size for an 18 inch doll to enjoy!

Needlepointers share how to make Easter baskets for 

American Girl dolls using plastic canvas.

How I made a grandpa doll for our dollhouse family . . .

Winston takes a walk in the woods with Grandpa Eustace. Winston is a dog made from cotton
batting and dryer lint. His collar is a tiny red ribbon, his leash a piece of chain from old
necklace. 

        There are certainly many methods used to make little dollhouse characters. I chose to use a traditional wire armature method to craft a grandpa doll for our growing family of six inch people.

        I named this doll "Grandfather Eustace" and although he is partially blind, he helps many dolls to ''see'' the world around them with a bit of wisdom. He is steadfast, faithful to his purpose and our dollhouse neighborhood would be far too lonely without him.

       Our grandfather doll wears sunglasses to protect his eyes from harmful sunlight and to also remind other dolls that he is blind. He also carries a special cane and is always in the company of his a faithful guide dog companion "Winston" who is there to protect him from physical calamity if necessary.

 

Each of my dollhouse doll bodies starts with a few chenille stems, a button and cotton batting.
This method is very old, over 100 years or more. Go here to read about a similar doll making
method related to Grecon Doll body types.

Seven dollhouse doll bodies have been wrapped with cotton batting and now wait to be painted
 and dressed. Because dollhouse bodies are so small, some doll artists prefer to build-up these
 figures from the inside out rather than stuffing a tiny body cavity with filler.

Handmade dollhouse figures. Grandfather doll 6 inches tall.

       Grandfather Eustace glasses are shaped using very fine wire and then embroidered directly onto his head with tiny stitches along with his lips and mustache. His beard and head hair are cut from faux fur and pasted directly onto his head with tacky craft glue. None of his features or clothing can be removed as these are attached permanently to his wire/cotton batting frame. His sweater is sewn from a sock and his plaid pants from a vintage man's tie.  

       Both his ''hands'' and boots are painted on. The hands being constructed into wire loop shapes so that his cane and dog leash may be taken in and out of his holding when he is seated or stored away.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Shaping a Wire Armature Body:

1. Thread the chenille stem wire through the holes of a button and then twist the wires together at the back where these two ends come together. I use the button as the back of my miniature doll's skull.
2. Position both wires just below the button where the doll's chin will be. Twist the wire together a couple of times to make the neck of the doll.
3. Separate the wires apart to form the arms and then bend each of the two wires back at either end where the hands will be implied by a loop. The double thickness of the stem arms will lend them strength beneath the batting. 
4. Now shape the torso and legs doing the same with additional lengths of chenille wire. Twist and wrap all ends around the torso. 
5. Using white school glue and unravelled cotton balls, layer the batting over the wire limbs, torso and button "head." Add more cotton batting wherever the wire armature needs more padding to craft a "fleshed out" figure. The final layer should end with a surface brushed with additional glue. 
6. Once the doll body looks the way you prefer, you can either paint it or sew a layer of felt over the armature. I sew on felt ''flesh'' when I am making a doll that will be dressed and undressed to change it's wardrobe. If I intend to make the doll's cloths permanent, then I simply apply a thick layer of glue, let it dry and then paint the body or seal it with Gesso, prior to sewing it's cloths on permanently. 

More dolls I've made using wire armature:

• Here is a simpler method for making even tinier wire armature dolls.
• Use chenille stems to construct an enchanted fairy doll...
• See how a restored a damaged wire body on a little doll from Piotrkow
• Here is a beaded doll made with wire for a child's necklace

Victorian Child Scraps for Making Paper Dolls

        These painted scraps from the Victorian era may be printed-out on a home computer so that young people can use them in their creative paper doll crafts. They were scanned from originals in my former collections. I have removed scratches and tears and restored these for this very purpose. Do not redistribute them from alternative websites, enjoy.

The rose laurel for her hair.

A furry winter's bonnet.

A boy dressed in a brown sailor's suit.

She wears a coral beaded necklace.

The newspaper sailor's hat.

Dressed for a carriage ride coloring page...

Description of Coloring Page: English wooden doll, jointed, carved, short arms, flowered dress, bonnet, painted features

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Handcraft a sailor's valentine for your dollhouse...

       This craft is very old and seldom seen in antique shops today. Collections of sea shells were mounted inside shallow display boxes or frames with glue. Often the shallow frames were constructed in hexagon or octagon shapes. Sometimes two identical frames were hinged together so that a top and bottom could be made to close into a box with a lock.

Two versions of Sailor's Valentines for our dollhouse mantles.

       It is said that these Sailor's Valentines were made at sea during the long lonely hours by men on board ships for their loved ones. These love tokens of the sea have long since been connected to Saint Valentines Day for this reason.

Above are hundreds of strung, tiny sea shells.

Supplies Needed:

• white school glue
• scrap cardboard
• decorative papers: solid pink or blue, wood grain printed paper
• tiny sea shells
• hexagon or octagon templates
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. In order to construct a small "frame" for your Sailor's Valentine students will need to draft a hexagon or octagon template. Trace around one of these two shapes on top of a scrap piece of cardboard.
2. Then glue a length of cardboard approximately 1/2 inch wide around the outside edges of your cardboard shape.
3. Decoupage the interior of the small frame using pink or white solid colored paper. The inside of such frames in real life were most frequently painted pink or blue by their ''sailor'' crafters.
4. Cover the sides and back of your frame with wood grain paper.
5. Now flood the inside of your display box or frame with white school glue and layer in tiny sea shells in a pattern or scene. Let dry over night before displaying your Sailor's Valentine inside of the dollhouse. Hang your creation(s) on the wall or display them on a fireplace mantel if your prefer.
   

Left, I made two hexagon shaped, shallow frames for my version of the craft. Right see here the
papers decoupaged to the outside and inside according to the directions. I began each patterned
display by gluing a single shell to the center of my design, but you may glue your shells inside the
frame as you wish! See here yet another version of this same craft at Thrifty Scissors. It is made
using paper shell printables.

Craft video by USS Constitution Museum Staff.

Victorian Lady Scraps for Making Paper Dolls

        I will include here the Victorian lady scraps that have been restored for personal crafts from the antique versions I have in my own collections. In the future I will post how I have made paper dolls from these over the years. Click here to see how I made paper doll lace cards for my sewing basket.

Blond lady in blue silk gown.

Dark haired lady in gold silk gown.

An exceptional illustration of a gypsy with gold coin trims in her garments.

 

The pink lady who wears a ruffled collar trimmed with lace.

Young Victorian Girl Die Cuts

        These antique "die cuts'' or scraps of young girls from the Victorian era come from one of my older blogs that is being discontinued this week. However, I will keep and upload those scraps that I feel students would enjoy using for their own personal paper doll crafts.

Girl in apron and ruffled hat.

Girl with bouquet of roses.

Girl with lace and ribbon collar.

Girl biting her nails and fidgeting.

Just a few cat Victorian scraps for crafting...

        I have fewer cats and kitten scraps than dogs, but perhaps I will find some more on my next trip the "flee market?" Not real ones though, there are many folks in my home who are allergic to these little beauties. How will you finish dressing them up for your paper doll collection? If you prefer, you could dress them in something like velveteen and hang them on a Christmas tree, just like the Victorian's did.

A tabby with pale green eyes and red ribbon collar.

A blue ribbon collar around this cats' neck.

Here is a little Victorian miss dressed in blue.
She carries a basket full of kittens.

Dog Scraps for Creating Unique Paper Dolls

        The following pet dogs are for students to scrap their own paper dolls. Why not make your own unique collection? I will eventually acquire more than the four depicted below. Perhaps I will find a breed that is just like the pet you have at home.

A Bull dog with toothy grin.

 

A black labrador holding a duck for dinner.

A black and tan terrier with collar.

A mixed breed looks wears
 a man's bowler hat.

Victorian die cut of a girl cradling her pet cat and dog in her arms.

Bird Scrap Heads for Making Paper Dolls

       The Victorians manufactured many die cuts for paper doll making, in fact, countless variations of them. Some of these were of humans and some of animals. I will compile a small number of these on this post as I find them. The first two scraps below are of birds wearing dressy hats with feathers and flowers. At the bottom is a Victorian child dressed in winter costume, holding a morning dove in her gloved hands. Student may print them out, cut and paste them onto cardboard to create some unusual paper dolls . . . 

Bird scrap head wearing a straw hat.

Bird scrap head wearing a bonnet.

A child in blue cape holds her pet bird.

Sew a doll sized yo-yo lap quilt . . .

The yo-yos above are first attached together at
both the top and bottom and from side to side.
Then the yo-yos are whipped stitched on top of
a bottom layer of fabric that is the size of our
doll's blanket.

       Fabric yo-yos or Suffolk puffs are fabric circles, that can be made any size, and are gathered around the entire circular edge, pulled taunt and tied into a ''cookie-like'' shape. Multiple yo-yos may be tacked one to another in order to shape a decorative blanket, pillow, table runner etc... Sometimes these yo-yos have buttons or bows tacked to their centers to further emphasize their folk-like charm.

       The term "yo-yo" was coined at some unknown time in America about 100 years ago. However, the earliest origins of these textile puffs originated in England during the 1600s and were called "Suffolk puffs". 

       For as long as I can recall, yo-yos have been primarily made by little children when first learning to sew. This is because only a simple straight stitch is used when constructing them and many of these little embellishments are needed to make a blanket, thus, requiring a young sewer to repeat the steps over and over in order to have enough to finish a project. By the time a student finishes enough of these, he or she has mastered the straight stitch.

       Many children make stuffed dolls and animals from their yo-yos. I will link to a few ideas below for these too.

• Here is a doll constructed from yo-yos . . . 
• Simplicity pattern 8225 shows how to assemble yo-yos into a dog, inch worm or an owl

Both ends of the thread used to do this are tied together forming a "puff" pillow shape.
Sometimes the puffs are stuffed with woolen batting in order to assemble a heavier,
warmer quilt but most of the time, this is not done.

Above are many sizes of yo-yos stitched and collected over time by a young child.
I chose the smallest ones to link together for our doll's quilt.
Some people do not bother to sew the yo-yos onto additional fabric but
 leaving them with open spaces between will cause
 the textile to tear and wear faster.

Yo-Yo Sewing Projects:

• Sew a vintage yoyo clown to give as a gift
• How to make Suffolk puff flowers, these are called yoyos in the states

Color a Japanese Paper Doll with Two Outfits...

       Here is a lovely, simple Japanese paper doll. She comes with two traditional fashions you can print, color and cut-out. The perfect activity for a rainy day when little ones have nothing to do! These printables are for personal craft projects only. Enjoy.

This paper doll is slender and sweet.
Color her clothing with brilliant markers

Your doll can wear a Kimono for a special occasion;
 she also has a wig with flowers.