Old-fashioned prints for Victorian themed dollhouses

        Elizabeth Hector illustrated children's books at the turn of the last century. I have restored three of her charming prints in three different sizes for a nursery wall inside of a Victorian dollhouse. Students may print them freely for personal projects only. Enjoy!

Victorian creeping cat, lovable sheep and red squirrels - all would look period appropriate in a
dollhouse nursery!

Dollhouse Prints for Horse Loving Dolls

        The following clip art is of four paintings by Martin Stainforth. The prints are for student personal use only. If your doll loves horses, you may print and frame these samples below to hang in your dollhouse for fun...

• Read more about the artist here.

Horses in brown, bay and chestnut: some stand in front of fences, others in front
of stables.

Currier & Ives Prints for The Dollhouse

"The Pioneer's Home. On The Western Frontier." Currier & Ives print for dollhouses. The
lithograph depicts fur trappers, a log cabin, a covered wagon, pet hunting dog, a forest 
glen, children with their mother, a log bridge, hay stacks fall color and barnyard animals.

        Currier and Ives lithographs depicted a variety of images of American life, including winter scenes; horse-racing images; portraits of people; and pictures of ships, sporting events, patriotic and historical events, including ferocious battles of the American Civil War, the building of cities and railroads, and Lincoln's assassination.

"Winter In The Country, The Old Grist Mill" print by Currier & Ives depicts: log buildings,
winter forest, frozen stream, snow, horse and sleigh, cloudy skies.

       The original lithographs shared similar characteristics in inking and paper, and adhered to folio sizes. Sizes of the images were standard (trade cards, very small folios, small folios, medium folios, large folios), and their measurement did not include the title or borders. These sizes are one of the guides for collectors today in determining if the print is an original or not. "Currier used a cotton based, medium to heavy weight paper depending on the folio size for his prints until the late 1860’s. 

 

"God Bless Our School." by Currier & Ives, print shows: globe, sculpture, painting with easel,
map, old text books, slates drafting tools etc...

       From about 1870, Currier & Ives used paper mixed with a small amount of wood pulp." In addition, Currier’s inking process resembled a mixture of elongated splotches and dashes of ink with a few spots, a characteristic that modern reproductions would not possess." In 1907 when the firm was liquidated most of the lithographic stones had the image removed and were sold by the pound with some stones final home as land fill in Central Park. Those few stones that managed to survive intact were of large folio Clipper Ships, small folio Dark Town Comics, a medium folio "Abraham Lincoln" and a small folio "Washington As A Mason".

Links To Currier & Ives Sites:

• Currier and Ives Tradecards
• Behind the Scenes: The Artists Who Worked for Currier and Ives
• Currier and Ives, Printmakers to the American People
• Currier and Ives print of Chicago Fire, 1871, here.

"High Water" In The Mississippi by Currier & Ives shows: people taking refuge on their roofs
during a flood, a steamboat, trees in the flood and crates and barrels floating.

Garden Watercolors by Margaret Waterfield

        These garden watercolors would look wonderful framed and hung inside of the dollhouse... I've restored their colors for our visitors to include in their doll's homes, for personal use only, not intended for redistribution on alternative websites. Enjoy!

Musical Theater Posters for A Dollhouse

        Musical theater is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole. Although musical theater overlaps with other theatrical forms like opera and dance, it may be distinguished by the equal importance given to the music as compared with the dialogue, movement and other elements. Since the early 20th century, musical theater stage works have generally been called, simply, musicals. 

       The following vintage theater posters have been cleaned and resized from the public domain for young children to print and decorate their dollhouses or doll theaters with. Enjoy.

       Vintage poster for musical, "Show Boat" from a New York theater production. Read more about this popular old musical by Kern and Hammerstein.  Educators can visit this wonderful website that rates film for kids and teachers, reviews film and offers lesson plans to use while watching film. The sample lesson for Show Boat is here.

      

Poster for musical production of Oliver. Read more about music and lyrics by Lionel Bart.

You can watch Oliver for free on YouTube here from Christ University.

      

       A poster for West Side Story made for the music theater of Lincoln Center, Broadway at 64th St. The entire production by Jerome Robbins. Read here about the story behind the musical.

        Two vintage posters for Fred R. Hamlin's musical, "The Wizard of Oz." This musical version premiered at the Chicago Grand Opera House in 1902.   Experience historic reproductions of American Operettas here.

       Poster for "Hansel and Gretel" opera theater by Ralph Chesse's Marionettes with music from Humperdincks opera.   Kids can also go here to design their own opera!

Autumn Printable Paintings for Your Dollhouse

        Decorate your dollhouse this season with lovely landscape prints. These autumnal scenes were painted by George Inness "The Spirit of Autumn" and John Joseph Enneking "Call of the Wild"

George Inness "The Spirit of Autumn"

       One of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced, in turn, by the Old Masters, the Hudson River school, the Barbizon school, and, finally, the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, whose spiritualism found vivid expression in the work of Inness's maturity (1879–1894). See more of his work here.

John Joseph Enneking "Call of the Wild"

       Enneking died at Boston in 1916. Shortly after his death, memorial exhibitions of his work were held at the Boston Art Club and in Portland, Maine. These were followed a decade later by two exhibitions at the Vose Galleries of Boston in 1922 and 1926. His family placed the bulk of his work in storage in an old warehouse in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. After the death of his wife Mary Katharine Elliott Enneking (November 2, 1844 — October 23 1923), the paintings were forgotten. The paintings were rediscovered in the late 1950s as the warehouse was being torn down. The Vose Galleries in Boston were again involved in promoting his work, and in 1972, in the publication of Enneking's biography. See more paintings by J. Enneking here.

Make a Versatile Framed Print From a Greeting Card

Left, you can see our framed, fruit still life hanging over the 18" doll fireplace mantle. 
Right, I've slipped an alternative photograph of Mesa Verde behind the paper frame
and over the top of the greeting card's fruit picture. You can cut a whole stack of prints to
 switch in and out of a frame like this! I also painted the edges of my frame with a tiny
 bit of orange paint to cover up the white paper.

       In order to make a similar craft, you will need to find a greeting card or a photo in a magazine that shows a framed picture up close. Many auction catalogues and furniture magazines have photos like these as well. I found a greeting card inside my desk that I felt would be excellent to use in this simple craft. You will also need tacky white school glue, scissors, additional cardboard, and perhaps an exacto knife. Ask an adult to help you use the knife if you are not ordinarily allowed to do so.

       If you can not find a picture/greeting card like mine, you could ask an adult to take a picture of a framed painting from your own home to print and use in much the same way.

Left, my greeting card for this dollhouse craft. Center, the picture of fruit is cut away from
 the card and so is the frame. Right, at the very left corner of the picture frame you can
barely see the thin strips of cardboard that lift the frame off of the faux painting. This is the
 top of the framed art where you can slide an alternative picture.

       Carefully cut the photo of the painting away from the picture frame and also cut out the frame, being mindful of delicate twists and turns if the frame is of the antique variety. Our frame was printed with metallic ink on paper, so it looks just like a real frame!

       Now take the painting and mount it with a thin even layer of glue onto a heavy piece of cardboard. Leave a little boarder around the faux painting of approximately 1/4 inch. Let the mounted picture dry under a heavy stack of books to keep it nice and flat.

       Next, repeat the same step with the frame only cut the cardboard from the outside edges and the inside edge as well. You may need help while using a sharp exacto knife to cut out any details. Ask an adult for help if this is the case.

Left, when the picture is glued to the front frame the entire piece should stand away
from surfaces slightly. Center, the painted fruit reframed with a narrow opening for
new pictures to slide in front of the original if needed. Right, the string is attached with
 masking tape.

      Now cut thin strips of cardboard measuring approximately 1/4" wide to glue around the outside boarder of your faux painting. Glue these narrow strips to the sides and lower half of the painting only. Leave the upper edge of the faux painting without any strips. Repeat this step 3-4 times around the three sides of the painting only. Let the glued strips dry completely.

       Glue the frame backed with cardboard onto the front of the painting. Use heavy books to weigh down the frame and picture while these dry. After the glue has hardened you should have a framed, three dimensional painting with an open side at the top of the frame only. This is where you can slide an alternative photo or picture when the dolls desire a new look in their dollhouse decor.

       Tape a string across the back to hang the doll sized art onto a fireplace mantle or dollhouse wall.

Prints by Paul Poiret

       Paul Poiret (20 April 1879, Paris, France – 30 April 1944, Paris) was a leading French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. His contributions to his field have been likened to Picasso's legacy in 20th-century art.

       These three small prints were drawn in 1908 by Poiret and they would look lovely framed inside of any doll bedroom, fashion bazaar, or hotel.

Three ladies show off their gowns.

Two ladies admire a painting.

Two ladies prepare for the evening.

Sew Groovy Textile Art for A Doll House

I chose to layer square patterns on top of the circles
 in this modern version of a doll tapestry.

       Anyone can use a doll house craft like this one to show off a few of their own needlework skills. 

       The fancy trim work on this miniature tapestry is much easier to make than it looks. All you need are some unusual yarns to tack around the shapes, to give it texture and pizzazz!

       Parents could supply their young ones with fabric glue and make this project a no-sew application if they need to.

       I made this modern tapestry for our doll house using the following supplies:

Supply List:

• three or four interesting, fuzzy yarn scraps
• a fabric scrap, modern dot pattern
• embroidery floss
• beads for the hanger
• a long wooden skewer or dowel
• hot glue
• fabric glue (optional)

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Cut and layer shapes with yarn trims onto one piece of select fabric for this tapestry.
2. Use either threads and a needle for the craft or fabric glue if you do not know how to sew yet.
3. You can choose to use any sewing stitch or color combinations to make an abstract version of this craft similar to my own example.
4. After you have finished your design, fold over a piece of fabric measuring approximately 1/2 inch at the top of your tapestry and sew it to the backside with a whip stitch or glue it in place if you prefer. This will create a long, narrow pocket for you to insert the dowel rod or wooden skewer.
5. Hot glue beads at either end to hold the wooden dowel in place. Now you can tie a yarn at either end to hang the doll sized tapestry on any wall in your own doll house.

Left, Hot glue beads at either end to hold the wooden dowel in place. Center, Cut and layer shapes with yarn
 trims onto one piece of select fabric for this tapestry. Right, Use either threads and a needle for the
craft or fabric glue if you do not know how to sew yet.

See more of my textile process for teens:

• Upcycling pre-teen trash
• Textured, blue textile banner
• Add texture to your textiles

Story-Pictures in Your Child's Room

"Noah's Ark" by Edward Hicks, 1846. Also see "The Peaceable Kingdom"
restored here for a Doll Art Gallery or dollhouse.

       As soon as the child is capable of grasping a composition of more than one object, or to put it more psychologically, of relating the various elements of a composition, he is ready for story-pictures (visual narratives). These may be illustrative of a text, like subjects from the life of Christ; or anecdotes in themselves, like the old-time pictures by Wilkie. or, in our own day, those of Sir John E. Millais. The child's imagination is now keenly alive, and affords him his finest enjoyment. The story subjects he likes best are of course drawn from his own little world. A picture of mother and babe is a familiar nursery scene to him, and the world-old theme of the Madonna never loses its charm. Story-pictures in which children figure are of peculiar interest, just as children's books are largely tales of children's doings. A child with an animal is a delightful combination in a picture - a subject unhappily not easy to find in good art. Velasquez's "Prince Baltasar on his Pony" is perfect. What a pity to give a child "Can't You Talk?" when a masterpiece like that is available. Velasquez also painted his young prince with his dogs; and other portrait painters, notably Van Dyck and Reynolds, have turned out charming compositions of children with their animal pets. Little Miss Bowles hugging her spaniel is one of the most familiar of this happy company. The child John the Baptist and the Lamb was a subject several times repeated by Murillo in some excellent pictures. By the same painter is a lovely picture, in the Madrid gallery, of the Christ-child playing with St. John and the Lamb. Murillo also drew groups of children at play directly from the scenes of the street and market, full of story suggestion. This theme of children playing together, like that of children with animals, has not been nearly so often treated as we could expect or desire. One finds most examples perhaps in the English portrait school of the eighteenth century.

Arthur John Elsley paintings of childhood.

Build on the Child's Curiosity

"Multiple viewpoints and impossible stairs"
 by M. C. Escher may be used to decorate a
dollhouse or shown in a Doll Art Gallery.

       As I count recognition, or identification, as one of the first elements of a child's interest in pictures, I regard curiosity as another. It is a pleasure to look at something which provokes investigation. From pictures of domestic pets, which a child identifies so quickly, he passes with awe and curiosity to pictures of strange creatures which have never come into his ken : elephants, camels, lions and all the rest. From pictures of houses and churches, such as he sees daily, he turns with inquiring eyes to views of beautiful Old-World buildings. Let the new thing be enough like the old to seem half-way familiar, yet enough unlike it to stimulate a fresh interest. The child must begin with what he can understand, but his thirst for knowledge gives him an eager zest for something a little beyond his understanding, not so far beyond it, however, that it is in outer darkness. The universal rule of progress is by one step at a time. 

• Why Young Children Are Curious 
• Tips on Nurturing Your Child's Curiosity 
• How Arts Education Develops Lifelong Learners
• Curiosity and Wonder: Cue Into Children's Inborn Motivation to Learn (pdf)
• A year with children 2016

The Museum of Natural Curiosity

the Child's Pleasure Is That of Recognizing Something Familiar

"Three Machines," by Wayne Thiebaud, 1963.
Read more about him and/or hang a print in a
dollhouse or Doll Art Gallery.

       If Dad is fond of fishing or sailing, the boy's first toys are likely to be boats, and so he is ready for any sea pictures, even Turner's. If Mother has a love for gardening, the little girl trained in the love of flowers will naturally like pictures of flowers. In all such cases it seems to me quite plain that the child's pleasure is largely that of recognition. He is proud and pleased to be able to identify and name the object. You secure his interest in a picture by pointing out the familiar things. The other day I dropped a bank-book which opened at a small woodcut frontispiece of the "Institution for Savings" - not much of a work of art. My four-year-old nephew fell upon it eagerly. "O see the house, isn't it cunning!" he exclaimed, gazing at the picture with the rapture of a Ruskin before the cathedral of Amiens. This of course was the sheer joy of recognizing a familiar thing. The mother might well take a hint from the episode. Here was a starting-point from which one might lead a child on to an interest in great architectural monuments. It behooves us to find out, first, what sort of picture a child likes, and if possible why, and then to gratify this taste in the most beautiful and artistic forms. If the child likes animals, give him Rosa Bonheur and Barye, rather than posters and Sunday comic strips. If baby pictures are in favor, supply prints of Correggio and Bellini, Van Dyck and Sir Joshua, rather than a ten- cent picture-book. If it is flowers, fruit, boats, houses, search out pictures of those objects which have genuine artistic merit. 

• What Makes Your Child "Tick"? Using Children's Interests to Build Communication Skills
• Want your children to survive in the future? Send them to art school.
• 7 Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Kids

How to Interest Children in Pictures

"A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts." Reynolds.

"Children On The Beach" by Mary Cassatt
may be printed for a doll's bedroom or a 
Doll Art Gallery.

       The lack of youthful training can never be fully made up in after years. In manners, speech, and taste we see this inexorable law illustrated in the lives of hundreds of people about us. The child who hears his native language murdered in his own home will never escape from that malign influence if he live to take a Ph. D. in philology. Girls and boys brought up on trashy reading can never by dint of the most devoted study of after life develop the same sensitive literary perceptions as the more favored children of cultured homes. Children surrounded by sentimental or meretricious pictures come to maturer years heavily handicapped in their susceptibility to noble art. If the young mind is fed only on the best in books and pictures it will by and by turn naturally to the good and reject the inferior. The taste cultivated in the impressionable years becomes as sensitive to esthetic impressions as a delicately-adjusted instrument to atmospheric conditions. Realizing the force of this argument, ambitious parents are eager to surround their children with the best art influences. But while the theory is obvious enough, its practical application in matters of art is much more difficult than in the matter of literature. Unfortunately the knowledge of good art is much less widespread than that of good literature, so that the desirable material is not so available. Many who are perfectly competent to select reading matter for a child are utterly at a loss in choosing pictures. In many a home where only the best books are found, the selection of pictures is execrable. I remember very well the family amusement when my small brother came home from grammar school in a state of incredulous amazement that a certain playmate had never heard of Raphael. The youngster soon learned that there were many others in the same deplorable ignorance - and this in families whose culture was not questioned. People willing to spend money freely on books are often very stingy in their purchase of pictures. Anything is good enough to cover a bare space on the wall! As well say anything is good enough to fill a vacant place on a book-shelf. Far worse, indeed, because the picture forces itself on the attention willy-nilly, while a book may be left unread.  by Estelle M. Hurll 

• Famous North American Painters Students Should Know?
• 7 Montessori-Inspired Designs Ideas for Kids' Rooms
• Growing Readers: Foster Early Literacy