A One Hundred Year Old Doll House

I took photos of this antique doll house in my kitchen garden. It once belonged to my mother-in-law and I will now pass it down to my younger daughter this Christmas. There are many handmade furnishings that were especially designed for it. I will include these along with measurements and templates in future articles.

Above is the side view of this 100 year old antique doll house.

The doll house has four rooms of equal size.

The roof of the doll house as seen from above.

The furnishings are mostly handcrafted. Above is an old-fashioned Welsh

cupboard, with miniature copper posts and brass candlesticks.

A hand-carved bed, tiny mattress, coverlet, and two tiny rose needlepoint

pillows provide a cozy place for small dolls to sleep.

A close up shot of the walls and curtains inside the doll house.

The doll house has two side entrances with windows.

The second entrance distinguished by red curtains and an

ornate red and blue print wall paper.

A dresser, movable vanity mirror, wash basin with a pitcher,

a fancy brass crib and a small plastic baby all accompanied this doll

house when my mother-in-law first purchased it.

A small child must have sculpted this bathtub and baby from homemade clay.

This Kitchen table and chair and cupboard also was hand crafted by

the doll house’s former owner. The mouth blown glass oil lamp was one if

the few tiny decorative objects to accompany the furnishings.

Unlike many modern doll houses, this antique version was designed

to be displayed with it’s back against a wall; it has a plain simple cabinet back.

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“Making Miniatures,” by Christiane Berridge

“When I discovered dolls’ houses it was as though a locked door had opened. Here was a hobby that united many of my existing interests and I could be creative with a purpose, indulging in my love of social history, architecture, painting, making and sewing along the way.” Berridge

“Making Miniatures: Projects for the 1:12 Scale Doll’s House” by Christiane Berridge, published by The Guild of Master Craftsman Publications is a thorough and creative resource for teachers and students of miniature craft. If I owned no other book on miniature craft, this book would be my choice. Mrs. Berridge demonstrates clearly how craftsmen may recycle containers, manipulate ordinary supplies, and think about miniature projects in fresh new ways. Visit the Guild Of Master Craftsman Publications to order a variety of her books online. This particular selection was published in 2003.

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Every Child Needs A Fabric Dollhouse

      When my girls were little, I used to stroll them down to a nearby San Mateo playground in the early morning hours. After playing in the sand, we would then walk over to the  Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe for a treat before visiting our local Hearth Song. Afterwards, we then would walk to the library and return home. Even though my husband and I didn’t have much money in those days, I always managed to collect enough loose change to purchase a little toy from their favorite shop. The fabric doll house pictured below came from the Hearth Song in Burlingame. I’ve kept it for many years, hoping that someday I would have a little grandchild to give it to.

The fabric doll’s house unzipped!

The fabric dollhouse assembled.

More Links to Fabric Dollhouses:

• UK lass in US: Fabric dollhouse tutorial
• UK lass in US – multiple versions of her fabric dollhouses
• Maeve’s fabric doll’s house
• MacCall’s fabric doll house pattern, number 8346
• Folding fabric dollhouse e-pattern
• Gillian’s Show and Tell Pieces
• Gnome Home

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Making Doll House Furniture?

Below are the two books I recommend for those of you who would like to take up the hobby of doll house building, collecting, and decorating. Both of these publications are authored by artists who have worked for the Guild Of Master Craftsman Publications and although these selections were published in 2002 and 2003, I still believe them to be the very best of this kind of resource.

“Making Upholstered Furniture, in 1/2 Scale,” by Janet Storey

“Janet Storey’s straightforward text and detailed diagrams show how to create elegant, upholstered dolls’ house furniture with simple tools, basic skills and inexpensive materials.

Specialist carpentry skills are not needed and, true to tradition, cheaper grades of timber are used underneath the upholstery. More expensive woods, such as mahogany, are used only in areas where the wood is exposed, such as for the legs.

Inspirational photographs, as list of tools and materials, information on fabrics and timber, advice on gluing, cutting cabriole legs, finishing exposed woodwork and making seat cushions make this an invaluable book for any dolls house enthusiast.”

“Dolls’ House Furniture, Easy-to-make projects in 1/12 scale,” by Freida Gray

“Making furniture for a 1/2 scale doll’s house is a daunting prospect for many miniaturests, but Freida Gray demonstrates that imagination, ingenuity and patience can take the enthusiast a long way. Beginning with simple projects requiring little more than a craft set, she gradually builds the reader’s confidence for more demanding work involving cabinet construction and the use of miniature power tools.”

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