DIY Feather Dusters for Your Doll's House

Above are the doll's yellow and lavender feather dusters. These are stored
in the utility cabinet when they are not being used. See them hanging on
the cabinet's hooks here.

       These feather dusters sure come in handy after the dust settles in our doll's house! So much construction going on this month.

       Why not make a few for your collection today? They are easy to make and cost less than a penny to manufacture.

      Feather dusters can be made any size, miniature or playscale. It all depends on the length you make the toothpick.

Supply List:

• craft feathers
• toothpicks
• Sculpey, oven bake clay
• white school glue
• white twine

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Shape a simple little handle onto the end of a toothpick. Make sure that it encompasses at least 1/2 inch of the toothpick. This will make your feather duster durable.
2. Use the tip of a toothpick to poke a tiny hole into the end of the handle so that you can tie a small bit of twine on the end for hanging.
3. Bake these tiny handles in the oven at 270 degrees for 10 minutes. You do not need to remove the toothpicks from the sculpted handles. If these come out with ease, glue them back into the handles after the baking using school glue.
4. After the handles have cooled, attach feathers to the opposite end of the toothpicks with a little glue and twine. 
5. Using white school glue and twine, cover the remaining parts of the exposed wooden toothpicks. (see photo above)

Craft a Utility Sink and Hamper for Your Doll's House

I used the wooden shelf paper to cover my utility sink's lower cupboard.

       Our 12 inch fashion dolls will love these latest additions to their laundry room. The utility sink is cut from a bright yellow bottle and so is the doll's hamper. Spot, the pipe cleaner puppy, is waiting to see if the family cat will jump into the hamper to play hide and seek. Little does he know that the giant yellow sink is intended for more than just clothes.

The utility room cabinet and sink have two towel racks
made from tiny, unfinished, wooden spools and dowels.
I covered the counter top with aluminum foil tape to
mimic a stainless steel counter top.

Supply List:

• cardboard (boxes)
• sharp scissors, box cutter, Exacto knife etc...
• shelf paper with printed wood pattern
• white school glue 
• masking tape
• recycled bottle (thoroughly cleaned)
• buttons for hot and cold water knobs
• thick, bent wire for faucet
• fabric for the liner of your doll's hamper
• needle and thread to match the fabric
• aluminum foil tape
• hot glue and gun 
• old recycled bungee cord

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Cover a small box that stands approximately six inches tall with faux wood shelf paper.
2. Attach with glue a counter top cut from cardboard.
3. Cut a hole where the spout of an empty, clean bottle top will be inserted and glued into place.
4. Cover the counter top with aluminum foil tape to mimic a stainless steel counter top.
5. Hot glue a detached hook from an old bungee cord to act as a tall faucet for the sink.
6. Hot glue silver and black buttons on either side of the facet to act as hot and cold knobs. 
7. Hot glue two wooden dowel rods with tiny spools at either end to the box. These will become the towel racks for the dolls utility counter.
8. To make the laundry hamper, simply line both the exterior and interior of the remaining bottle half with a burlap looking fabric using the hot glue gun. I left a bit of the bright yellow bottle's bottom showing because I think it looks terrific coordinated with the modern sink.

Left, a recycled petroleum bottle is thoroughly drained and scrubbed before being cut apart for this project,
leaving no residue inside or out. Center, cover the box and counter with masking tape for addional strength.
 Right, I recycled an old bungee cord attachment for my faucet.

Left, I cleaned this bottle thoroughly before using it; I just had to have this bright yellow color for our
 doll's utility room! Center, compare the pipe-cleaner pup to the laundry basket. Right, the laundry basket
has been covered with a burlap looking fabric both inside and out.

Sinks for A Doll's Utility Room:

• Found parts for a doll house laundry room sink
• Smart Housekeeping for Mice & Other Folk

Construct a papier-mâché utility cabinet

       Some of our dolls are very tidy indeed! They have their own cleaning supplies that need to be stored somewhere. So I have made a cabinet from a recycled cardboard to include inside of the laundry room for this purpose. You can make a storage unit any size or shape that you desire. This cabinet is made to color coordinate with the other furnishings in our laundry room.

Left, the box is cut and glued together in the shape of a utility closet. Center, the surfaces/walls are covered with paper.
Right, the cabinet is filled with cleaning supplies, appliances, and other housekeeping stuff.

Miniature things found in our utility cabinet include:

1. an iron with a cord
2. cleaning supplies for keeping a doll's house scrubbed and polished
3. an aluminum dust pan
4. a broom for sweeping the doll house floors
5. a mop for soaking up all of those unfortunate spills
6. feather dusters for clearing away dusty counters, windows, etc...
7. a bottle of bleach for scrubbing out the bathtub and sinks

Supply List:

•  a cardboard box 
• white school glue
• masking tape
• faux wood shelf paper
• yellow scrapbook paper
• tiny plastic hooks
• tiny brass bead for the door knob
• Mod Podge
• scissors and a box cutter perhaps 
• Velcro dots

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Using a very sharp pair of scissors or a box cutter, configure the utility cabinet to suit your doll's needs and taste. Add and subtract shelving units and doors as you go. Attach the doors with masking tape on one side. 
2. Cover the entire box with masking tape.
3. Use the Mod Podge for applying layers of shelf paper and scrapbook paper to the surfaces. Make sure that you work bubbles out of those applications by using plenty of Mod Podge and a firm even pressure.
4. Stick tiny Velcro dots to the backside of the cabinet doors to insure these will close.
5. The tiny plastic hooks, used to hang the dust pan and feather dusters were purchased from a family dollar store.

More Doll House Laundry Rooms:

• How to build a cabinet for a doll house laundry room - in French
• Small kitchen and laundry room counter tops for a doll's house
• Doll house printables - white goods and kitchens

Craft a Miniature Ironing Board And Iron

This table top ironing board and miniature iron are handmade especially for our
 12 inch dolls.

 

       I chose to make the type of ironing board you can put on top of a table in order to save space inside of my doll's utility room. The ironing board fits perfectly inside the utility room cupboard. 

       Chose a fun looking felt for your ironing board cover! Our ironing board is covered with a hot pink, bright yellow and white floral print.

Supply List:

• scraps of felt, the top layer should be attractive
• cardboard
• white school glue
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• three beads of equal size

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First cut out the shape you would like your doll's ironing board to be from a thick piece of cardboard.
2. Now lay the cardboard cut out on top of thick felt and trace around the shape with a soft lead pencil. Cut the felt shape out. Both the cardboard pattern and the thick felt should be the same size and shape. Glue one of them on top of the other using white school glue.
3. Now position the ironing board shape with the cardboard facing up on top of the decorative felt fabric that will be the finished top surface of your ironing board. The decorative felt needs to be turned with it's best side against the surface you are working on. Cut this felt leaving approximately 1/4" excess around the entire ironing board shape. Clip the edges if needed.
4. Now use a hot glue gun to paste the decorative fabric around the edges of your cardboard cut-out. This process may be a bit messy, but it will get covered up in step 5.
5. Cut a piece of felt to match the size of your doll's ironing board and glue this to the it's backside. Trim the edges if you need to and then hot glue the tree beads to the three corners of your ironing board to act as legs.
6. Turn over the ironing board to reveal it's decorative, finished surface.
   

       Now that your ironing board is finished you can make a tiny iron that your doll can use with it. Below is a list of supplies and step-by-step directions to describe this process. 

Supply List for The Iron:

• Sculpey oven bake clay
• acrylic paints
• tiny brushes
• cotton twine for the iron's electrical cord
• one tiny metallic bead 
• aluminum foil tap
• a toothpick for shaping the clay

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Sculpt the basic shapes photographed below. 
2. Set your oven at 270 degrees
3. Assemble the shapes and use a wooden toothpick to smooth away unwanted bumps and tears in the clay.
4. Prick the bottom of the iron to create steam holes.
5. Use the toothpick to prick a hole for the cord to be glued into the iron at it's base.
6. Bake the finished clay iron for approximately ten minutes in a 270 degree oven. Turn the oven off and allow it to cool along with your clay creation before removing it from the oven. This will help the clay to cure tougher. 
7. I positioned the iron on top of aluminum foil tape and then trimmed around the edge of the iron base leaving a slight amount of tape to fold over the edges of my miniature iron.
8. Then I pressed the foil tape firmly on the bottom of the iron to reveal the steam hole patterns on the bottom of the tiny appliance.
9. Then I painted the iron's buttons and sides using purple and blue acrylic paints.
10. Cut a length of cotton twine for the iron's cord. 
11. Tuck the twin along with some glue into the hole created for the cord.
12. You can knot it at the end with a small silver bead if you like.

Left, Assemble the shapes and use a wooden toothpick to smooth away unwanted bumps and tears in the clay.
 Center, Use the toothpick to prick a hole for the cord to be glued into the iron at it's base.  Center Right, I
pressed the foil tape firmly on the bottom of the iron to reveal the steam hole patterns on the bottom of the
 tiny appliance. Right, Then I painted the iron's buttons and sides using purple and blue acrylic paints.

What else can you make for a utility room?

• A feather duster
• Utility closet or cabinet
  
• A sink and hamper
• A washer and dryer
  

DIY a Washer and Dryer for Barbie

Imani can't wait to get this bright yellow, front loading
washer and dryer set home! Each have digital panel
features and tiny dials made from buttons!

       Barbie's laundry room at our blog home is growing daily, so as you may well guess, the doll's are eager to use this newly crafted, washer and dryer set. 

       You can make a set just like ours but you will need to wait for mom and dad to bake quite a few pancakes, cakes and pies in order to recycle  containers like ours! Perhaps you can convince them to save the cornstarch in a different plastic container?

Supply List:

• two identical Argo Corn Starch containers
• cardboard
• masking tape
• aluminum tape (or grey duck tape)
• two identical tin lids from frozen juice cans
• an assortment of buttons
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• pictures of water and tumbling cloths from a magazine
• Mod Podge 
• white school glue

Step-by-Step Directions: 

1. Wash out the contents of each plastic recycled corn starch container.
2. Soak the outside of the containers in warm water and dish detergent to remove the labels.
3. Dry these off thoroughly.
4. Screw the lids back on or save these for another project like I did, and cut a round piece of cardboard the same size as the opening to tape across and seal.
5. Now use the masking tape to cover the entire area where the lids screw on the containers. 
6. You can cover this area with aluminum tape if you'd like. 
7. Turn the containers upside down so that these tops become the foot parts of the washer and dryer.
8. Hot glue the tin lids from the frozen juice containers onto the front of both yellow boxes to mimic the doors of your front loaders.
9. You can cut out water and clothing pictures from a magazine to fit inside the window parts of your round doors.
10. Glue these to the interior of the round tins and Mod Podge over them.
11. Now shape the cardboard panels with glue and tape to fit onto the top edges of each yellow machine. Then hot glue them in place.
12. Search through your buttons to configure dials/controls to hot glue in place on top of the silver panels. 

Far left, I saved these two corn starch boxes because of their shape and bright color for this project.
Middle, you can see that I was thinking here whether or not to make them top loading or front loading.
Right, I shaped two top panels for the controls, dials and buttons from cardboard and masking tape.
Then, I hot glued these to the top edges of each appliance.

Make Your Own Washer and Dryer for Your Dolls:

• How to make a washer and dryer for dolls using a tissue box
• A doll's laundry room including stacked washer and dryer
• Detailed photos of spinning washer and dryer for Barbie