How To Build a Fireplace For An American Girl Doll House

Left, there is just enough space inside my faux fireplace to hold a "iron grate and some small wood logs.
I used a wooden picture frame to finish off the fireplace opening. Right, the height of my handcrafted
fireplace is perfect for all of our 18inch dolls; it measures 22" tall and 10" wide.

       In my humble opinion, a fireplace is one of the most romantic features of any home. That home could be for a doll but it could also be for a person. 

       Fireplaces for dolls are constructed with very strong cardboard or wood. I chose to build mine using old paper mache techniques that most older kids can certainly manipulate with only a bit of practice. 

       A fireplace may be any size or shape you desire; these come in as many materials as you can imagine! 

       If you look closely at my example, you can see that my stone-faced, 18inch doll fireplace is actually detached from any wall. I build my doll furnishings so that they may be conveniently packed away in storage. Free standing doll furniture is not only easy to store, but also easier to sell, move and manipulate into any photoshoot.

Click to see stonework details.

Supply List:

• plastic knife
• cardboard
• small sample tiles
• white, yellow and black acrylic paints
• Gorilla glue
• stain for the wooden mantle
• brick
• wooden picture frame
• wood for mantel
• Claycrete paper mache
• Mod Podge 
• clear acrylic sealer (spray or liquid)
• wood glue or Gorilla Glue
• sponges (optional)

Step by Step Instructions:

1. First I had to decide on a standard height for an 18inch doll house room that I would be constructing for photography purposes in the near future. 
2. Then I measured and cut a wall suited to those measurements. 
3. Using wood glue, I attached a shallow heavy cardboard box to the cut wall and covered the form entirely with masking tape.
4. Then I cut a mantle made from wood and adhered it to the top of my shallow box with wood glue. 
5. I weighted this mantle board down with a brick and let the glue dry for several days before staining it.
6. I then cut a floor board to attach at the bottom of my fireplace so that I could tile the floor a few inches in the front of the facade.
7. I glued the tiles down all a once because I purchased these on a small mat. Then I applied my grout and wiped away the mess with a sponge and water. 
8. I let the grout dry over night.
9. Then I cut away the lower half of a simple, wooden picture frame. And glued this to the opening of my firebox. I weighted this down and gave it time to dry.
10. Finally, I was ready to mix the Claycrete and mold it into a stone pattern around the front and side surfaces of my doll fireplace.
11. After letting this stone surface dry for a couple of weeks, I then painted it a dark grey entirely.
12. Then I mixed several lighter grey colors and dry brushed these alternately across the surface of my stones to give them dimension. If you are not familiar with this technique, I would suggest you use a dry sponge to work the paint in and out of the surfaces. instead.
13. When you are satisfied with your paint work, seal all the surfaces with a acrylic spray fixative.

Left and Center, I attached a shallow heavy cardboard box to the cut wall. Right, I weighted this mantle
board down with a brick and let the glue dry for several days before staining it.

Left, you can see the brick at the top weighting down the mantle till it dries. Center is a close-up of
the wooden picture frame used to trim out the facade of my fireplace. Right, I've used a bit of wood
 putty to fill in cracks around the frame.

Here are some shots of the stonework as I molded it with my hands and a plastic knife. It is a very simple
 process; just mush it on and flatten it out a bit as you go. These are only rocks after all!

Above is the decorative wire soap dish used
here for faux fireplace grate.

        I found a small soap dish that reminded me of a cast iron fireplace grate at my local thrift shop. As you can see on the right, it also has a daisy motif on the front of it. Then I stacked small wood stems on top of it. These stems are frequently sold at our dollar store down the street. If you can't find these, just cut up twigs from your lawn after a storm to make convincing logs for your doll's fireplace instead.

More Fireplace Crafts for 18inch dolls:

• History of fireplaces by Noah
• DIY cardboard fireplace for 18" American Girl and Journey Girl Dolls
• Cozy Festive Fireplace for American Girl dolls
• American Girl Doll Fireplace Craft Tutorial
• DIY Modern Marble Fireplace for American Girl Doll
• Cover a box for an American Girl doll
• Froggy designs a doll fireplace using boxes and contact paper

Two Techniques to Restore One Doll's Chair

Left, this chair was originally painted peach. Center, I layered both blue and pink using a dry brush technique.
Right, the finish is done.

       I chose to repaint this dollar find from the local flee market and then to hand weave a new seat using twine and ribbon found in my craft supply at home.

I wove a seat cushion using twine for the warp
 and ribbon for the weft.

Supply List:

• acrylic paints (your choice, 2 to 3 colors)
• stipple brush (optional), or soft camel hair brush
• twin or natural colored yarn for the warp components
• purple embroidery floss and needle
• purple ribbon for the weft components
• clean paper towels 
• clear acrylic sealer

Step-by-Step Instructions for The Dry Brush Technique:

1. Dust and clean off the chair that you have on hand. I discovered the one above at resale for $1.49; it fits a 14" doll perfectly.
2. I also removed the damaged seat.
3. Lightly load up your brush with paint. Dab it on the paper towel to insure that it does not have too much paint on it. Because this is a dry brush technique, you need very little paint to accomplish this wood finish.
4. Now lightly brush the surface of the chair. Let it dry and repeat with another color. Layer the colors randomly as you go. Stop when you are satisfied with the brushed color surface.
5. Some of the colors will show in places more than others.
6. Seal with a clear acrylic spray or wash.

Step-by-Step Instructions for The Woven Seat:

       First you will need to decide the direction of your warp wrap. I chose to wrap my seat running the warp twine up and down instead of the traditional method of wrapping from left to right. This is because I wanted the ribbon weft to show on the left and right sides of my seat.

       Tie the warp twine onto the chair stretcher directly under the lowest rail of the seat. (below left) Now wrap the warp threads under, up and over the front stretcher directly opposite to its back stretcher. Do this over and over until the seat has been filled from one side of the support to the other. Do not pull the warp tight; this will distort the chair frame! The weaving will eventually tighten the seat properly as you go.

Left, I am reading to wrap the warp first. Center, I chose to sew together the warp threads at each
 end of the seat weave with purple embroidery floss. Because I wrapped the warp all the way around
 the front and back rungs of my chair seat. It was necessary for me to tie both the top and bottom
of corresponding warp threads together. The embroidery floss helped me to secure warp threads
before proceeding with the weave.

Left, penny shows size of woven seat on top of the seat cushion.
Right, the weave as seen from beneath the seat cushion.

More About Weaving for Young People:

• Construct a cardboard box loom for a child
• Weave The Ojo De Dios
• Check out the Weaving Index at Thrifty Scissors  

Miniature Dining Room Furniture Plans

       Below are plans for a formal, round dining table and a formal sideboard that you can include in a miniature doll's dining room by Klenke.

• Back to Klenke Index

"Dolly will be very proud of her fine dining room set with
table, side and arm chairs and side board." Klenke

Dining Room Table Plans, Instructions included by Klenke.

Sideboard Plans, Instructions included by Klenke.

A contemporary round dining table by Kat.

Mid-Century Faux Fiberglass Chairs for Barbie

Fashion dolls ranging from eleven inches to fourteen can sit comfortably in these faux Mid-Century Modern chairs.
On the far left are two Bratz dolls and on the far right is a 14 inch Mattel Barbie and a Lisa Frank doll seated together
in the same set of Mid-Century modern, doll chairs.

       These faux fiberglass chairs are made from paper mache of course! I painted them bright orange and covered their lower halves in faux wood grain shelf paper that I purchased from a local dollar store.

       This project was indeed made simpler because of the shoe forms. Some shoes are sold with these cardboard inserts included in their box. These paper mache forms keep the shoes looking new and prevent the crushing of shoe tops in transportation and storage.

       In this post I will demonstrate how I transformed the orange, faux fiberglass, chair designs. I used the bottom halves of each shoe form for these designs.   

Photo by Schlaier, Read more about the Eames Fiberglass Armchair
Visit the Eames Office at YouTube and watch films.

Supply List:

• spray paint
• faux wood grain shelf paper
• cardboard shoe forms
• wood putty
• sandpaper
• light weight cardboard
• Gorilla wood glue 
• masking tape

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. I cut each shoe form in half to make four separate chairs for our fashion dolls.
2. Next I shaped the bottoms of each chair to their unique curves separately, because not a single one of my faux fiberglass chairs is identical to the others. Place the chair, seated side up, on top of a piece of cardboard and trace around it with a pencil. Now I had a template to work the bottom half of the chair with.
3. I then taped and glued a piece of three inch wide cardboard around the circumference of the cardboard template, overlapping one end onto the other approx. 1/2 ". Then I glued this in place.
4. Tracing a template around the extended template on top of an additional piece of cardboard, I cut a closed end for the chair's bottom side. After gluing this chair piece on the bottom, I let it dry overnight. 
5. Using the Gorilla wood glue, I firmly glued the top half of the chair to the lower and let the entire chair dry again overnight.
6. I smoothed on the first coat of wood putty on the upper half of the doll chairs and also used masking tape to cover the lower half of the chairs, keeping these clean and free from paint. It is necessary to keep cardboard clean and free of paint so that shelf paper will adhere to surfaces properly.
7. At last I sanded the tops of each chair smooth and spray painted these surfaces with a bright orange color. I had to repeat these steps several times before achieving the smooth faux fiberglass surface I wanted.
8. Then I removed the masking tape and cut the faux wood grain shelf papers to cover each chair's bottom halves.
   

Left, paper mache shoe forms come with some shoe purchases in the U. S.
Center, the lower cut chairs with attached bottoms.
Right, the tops of each chair are covered with wood putty. and then sanded.

Left, the first spray paint layer. Center, I have smoothed more putty over the painted surfaces to repeat
 the sanding and painting. Not only does this give the surfaces a more finished, glass-like look,
 it also strengthens each chair. Right, all kinds of dolls may sit comfortably in my Mid-Century
furniture: Bratz dolls, Barbie dolls, Lisa Franks dolls etc...

Multiple angles showing the shapes of these plascale Mid-Century Modern chairs.

Transform a Curio Cabinet for Barbie

       The curio cabinet is a miniature duplicate of a much larger version that once hung in my girl's bedroom. This doll sized curio measures 8"x7" and will be a perfect place for our fashion doll's to display their porcelain collections in the future. I'm going to hang this cupboard in the bedroom of our doll's house but it would look just as nice in a dining room or kitchen if you's like to display your own somewhere else.

       Our family doll's prefer a much less sombre decor, however. So I have decided to liven this curio cabinet up a bit with some paint and decorative scrap papers. 

       As you can see, I also need to replace a finial knob on the top of this little cabinet. I found a wooden bead inside my button collection that suited this purpose and painted it lavender after gluing it in place.

Left, Before this small curio cabinet was stained and it's formerly displayed miniatures.
Right, After it has been painted and papered to display Barbie's miniature porcelains in a lavender bedroom.

Supply List:

• a doll size curio cabinet 
• lavender and white acrylic paints
• lavender papers: figures, patterns and flowers
• Mod Podge
• sandpaper
• tiny paint brush

Step-by-Step Instructions: 

1. Dust and sand down the surfaces of the curio so that it may be easily painted and papered.
2. Paint the outside shelving lavender and the inside shelving behind the glass door white.
3. Measure and cut papers to fit neatly into the inside wall of the curio shelves. I used a purple and white chevron patterned paper for the outside shelf walls. Then I cut and pasted a water lily printed paper with the same color combination behind the shelves inside the cabinet.
4. After pasting these in place, I then applied a second coat of Mod Podge onto the paper surfaces for a durable finish.

More Interesting Curio Cabinets Displays: 

• I love these fashion doll vignettes featuring Barbie's period clothes!
• Julie Conner's Art & Antiques Shop for Barbies 
• Use a Vintage Display Box for Barbie's Living Room
• kunstkammer or cabinets of curiosities 

Distressing a Sideboard or Buffet for Barbie & Family

       This old, discarded jewelry box will fit into our doll's dining room perfectly. Our twelve inch dolls will love displaying holiday dinner selections on this upcycled, sideboard for all their friends to admire. The grey distressed paint on this pretend sideboard looks classy in a formal dining room setting too!

How do you best determine which jewelry box will fit into your doll's house? Take a tape measure with you on your
 shopping trip. A real sideboard and/or buffet stands approximately four to five feet tall, depending on the age and
style of the piece. The jewelry box pictured here is approximatly 5 1/2 inches. So, my 11 1/2 inch fashion dolls look
just fine standing next to it. It is a bit wide for an actual sideboard but I don't mind the extra width; I will have more
 room for the display of dishes and food items in the end.

       A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers, all topped by a flat display surface for conveniently holding food, serving dishes, or lighting devices. The words sideboard and buffet are somewhat interchangeable, but if the item has short legs, or a base that sits directly on the floor with no legs, it is more likely to be called a sideboard; if it has longer legs it is more likely to be called a buffet.

Supply List:

• sandpaper
• masking tape
• grey acrylic or enamel paint
• paint brushes
• acrylic clear sealer
• old, dark stained jewelry box
• terry cloth

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Rub down the surfaces of the jewelry box with an old terry cloth towel. Make sure that you remove dust and dirt from the box's surfaces.
2. Wrap the handles of the box doors with masking tape in order to protect these from paint.
3. Brush on one layer of enamel grey paint.
4. Let the paint dry thoroughly.
5. Use a relatively smooth sandpaper to remove paint from the edges and some flat surfaces of the jewelry box.
6. How much paint you remove is entirely up to your own sense of taste. You want the surfaces to look older and worn, as though the piece were an antique.
7. Rub down the box again with a towel to remove sawdust.
8. Seal the "sideboard" or "buffet" for your Barbie's dining room with clear acrylic.

Above you can see my doll sideboard from different angles and up close.

More Doll Furnishings from Transformed Jewelry Boxes:

• Transform a Jewelry Cabinet with Mirror
• Glamorous Jewelry Box Updo

Craft a Unique Doll's Table Using Only Four Tiles!

       I am crafting some furnishings for Barbie and Ken's doll house. The dining room will tastefully decorated in neutral greys with just a pop of bright color. Below is the tile table craft which was so easy to make. However, it is important to collect just the right supplies in order to make a table like this one. You will need the help of an adult when cutting into styrofoam core with a sharp blade and when mixing grout. Read all of the directions carefully when working with the supplies. Make sure mom or dad are helping you while putting this table together!

Above you can see that this unique mosaic table is the perfect size for our 12 inch dolls by Mattel.

Supply List:

• four printed tiles 
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• Styrofoam core for table base
• self adhesive grey grout
• candle holder (metal with intricate cut pattern)
• acrylic sealer
• black acrylic paint
• Exacto knife (Sharp objects such as these need to be used by an adult.)
• paper mache pulp

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. You will need to purchase four square tiles of equal size for this project. I purchased the tiles you see here from a family dollar store.
2. Measure the sizes of the tiles and add a 1/4 inch space between these tiles to configure the size of table's base you will need to cut for the project. I chose to make a table suitable for a 12 inch doll.
3. Mix the grout and spread it in an even thin coat onto the table's base.
4. Position your four tiles on top of this layer of grout and let everything dry thoroughly.
5. Clean the tiles surfaces gently with a damp, clean sponge.
6. Remove the handle and candle from the metal stand.
7. Turn the tile 'table' top over and draw around the metal frame's circumference on the backside of the foam core with a pencil.
8. Cut a groove where the circle has been traced and fit the metal candle stand inside this groove.
9. Flood the circular cut where the stand fits with hot glue.
10. Now fit the candle stand back into the groove firmly and let it dry completely.
11. Mix a small amount of paper mache pulp. Carefully spread some of this between any cracks left in the foam core around the candle stand on the underside of the table. Let this dry for a few days.
12. Paint the underside of the table and it's edges with black acrylic paint.
13. Spray an acrylic sealer onto both the top and bottom of the table. It is unnecessary to spray the metal stand.

Left, here are the items that I have purchased from both a Dollar store and Resale. These metal
 candle holders are relatively common place in the U. S. Remove the candle and handle from
 the stand so that the container may be used to act as a base or 'legs' of a doll's table. Center,
you can see that I have attached the candle stand to the base of my table by cutting a groove
and filling it with hot glue and then paper mache. Right, I finished this table with black
acrylic paint.

DIY Découpage Dish Craft

Above is a very old set of durable, glass dishes shaped like the flowers of a petal.
I bought the set above, four bowl and four plates, in a local tag sale.

       You can easily customize small sets of desert dishes for a child size, play kitchen. You will only need a few basic tools plus Mod Podge. I chose to decoupage my bowls with a red acanthus design printed on tissue paper; I thought the colors were not only striking but versatile. I will hand-paint the plates to match, in a different post.
       Wash any dishes that you wish to use in this craft thoroughly, with warm water and dish soup. Many crafters use a sponge brush to apply Mod Podge because they think is works better. I just use either my finger tips or a regular bristle brush. There will be creases in the tissue, but the end result will be lovely. If you must remove a layer that you don't like, simple soak the dishes in a pan of hot water and remove the layer of tissue before starting over.

       As I have mentioned, you will need to cover the underside of the desert bowl with Mod Podge, a kind of transparent white glue. Then gingerly layer the tissue on top of the glue. Then cover the tissue layer again and layer a second time with the tissue, wrong sides together. I used this method because the print on my tissue paper was only one-sided and I needed the pattern to be double sided. Cover the final layers with several additional coats of glue and allow each application to dry thoroughly before brushing on another.
       Trim around the dry tissue layers with sharp scissors or a razor blade in order to preserve a final, clean edge around the lip of the bowl. Brush on a final, thick layer of glue to the lip to seal it. Do not wash these dishes after use, this will remove the découpage. Wipe the surfaces down with a damp cloth if they get dirty. This set is intended for play time only!

Above you can see that I covered my bowls with the same tissue print with the reverse sides together. You
 won't need to add this many layers of tissue if you use solid colors or two-sided patterns. Although the  
découpage is quite durable, it is not water proof, so remember that this craft only temporarily alters your glass
 dishes. On the far right, bottom corner, I show that the edges of each bowl have been given a final, thick 
layer of glue in order to seal the rims and keep the tissue dry for longer use. This glue will dry hard and clear.

In this sample video the back of
 the plate is pounced with paint.

See more video about decoupaging dishes:

• DIY Serving Plate Personalized Beautiful Easy Fun Make It Yourself
• Viveca's Decoupage on Glass