Dollhouses for Children: Dollshouse Emporium has a slot-together dollhouse for younger children. "no gluing, nailing, or hinges required." They offer free shipping to the US. http://www.dollshouse.co.uk/us/acatalog/s_jc_blossom.html

Whui in SF

Dollhouses for Children: At her age (3) I would recommend plain cardboard boxes decorated by you and her together. Furniture could be very simply made from blocks of balsa wood and scraps of fabrics and accessories from found items. Her imagination can be engaged and her creativity fostered with hardly any expense and no worry about breakage or damage. Later you might want to get her some of the Playstuff (TM) furniture that is scaled for dollhouses and built sturdily for youngsters, and let her help you build a house. My granddaughter and I built the Arthur for her the summer she was eight; the next summer we did the Moonbeam "House in a Box" which is a very sturdy and easy house; of course by that age she was trustworthy with the regular dollhouse furniture and had a ball planning the decor.

SUSAN AT WRH

Dollhouses for Children: regarding the type of dollhouse for your 3 year old granddaughter, I have several suggestions. Since you are looking for a play house to start, take a look at the wooden house made by Plan Toys. It is designed for small hands with lots of accessories for future Christmases/birthdays. Playmobile also makes a very detailed playhouse, as does Bodo Henning (a German mini company). I got my first dollhouse when I was 5. It was partly my mother's from pre-WWII, with a modern addition. The furniture was mostly my mother's. I loved it, but did not cherish it as I should have. Only when I was in jr. high and rummaged through the attic, did I realize what I treasure it was. I dug it out and have been hooked on minis ever since. My parents were very clever, and followed a tradition from my mother's childhood. My dollhouse was under the tree on Christmas Eve, but was gone again for "renovations" by Easter at the latest. This way, It was ALWAYS new and spectacular the following Christmas Eve. The "renovations" consisted of rearranged rooms, additional furniture, etc. We have 3 and 2 year old boys and we intend to do the same with their Brio train set. It will come Christmas Eve and be gone by Easter. This way, it's always new.

Susanne

Hair Salons: I did a hair salon in miniature for my daughter a few years ago when she graduated from cosmetology school. I invite you to take a look at it. I made the room itself out of foam core, covered the outside walls in the brick paper. It was made to fit in an aquarium place on its side with the open top as the back. My husband cut a piece of plastic to fit on the back (the actual top). The right front side wall I put in a door and front window with the name of the shop, and a small landscaped area. You'll find pictures on my web site http://fayzerplace.homestead.com/ -- go to My Minis -- Beauty Shop

Fay in St. Louis

Cigar Box Art: I recently added a page called cigar box art for the people that like to do scenes as well as building dollhouses. I tried to write out the instructions for the Adobe Hacienda. It uses wall texture, but you can frame a cigar box or pencil box as well and there are several framed ones for you to see. The old time sheriffs office is my favorite but I had fun doing all of them. http://www.hughes-ec.com/~frog/cigarbox_art.html

Sclarise

Beginners: what to start with - My mini club group has finished a project using insulation foam board we bought at Home Depot or Lowes, it is sold in 4' x 8' sheets and used in full size house construction. It is blue in color if you buy it at Home Depot and pink if you get it at Lowes, they are different brands but the same thing. (They will cut it for you if you can't get it in your car, I have them cut it in half or thirds. )

You can cut it with a box knife, it is a little over 1/2" thick. We have made buildings out of it and are currently building an apartment complex with it. Just substitute it for wood. Glue it together with white glue and reinforce the joins with toothpicks for stability. Prior to construction you must peel the protective film off the surface before gluing or finishing.

You can apply paint to the surface, glue wood strip to it, wallpaper, stucco with caulk or any of the finishes you would apply to wood or foamcore/foamboard. It is so easy to work with and surprisingly sturdy.

You may want to start out with a roombox, to get your feet wet so to speak. You could make it as big or as small as you wish or the same dimensions as a standard picture frame, an 11 x 14 say, then it would have a lovely finished front.

I used round wire for the electrification of my tea shop, just sliced a small groove in the appropriate wall, floor or ceiling to make the wire runs, these grooves are covered by the flooring, wall finish, etc.

Susan in Texas

Cigar Boxes: If you want windows in your scene, but don't want to cut the box, Glue a "scene" behind your window , a curtain to the top of the window and glue the window inside your box. This will give the illusion you want, when the box is open.

Stand one cigar box on one of the short sides and open the lid. It projects out from the box. If you want more "space" than the depth of the box allows, make an extra floor like they do in break-away boxes. Attach a piece of cardboard to the front of the "floor" of the cigar box. Be sure it is the same thickness of the cigar box, to avoid a bump in your floor.

Attach this cardboard with a piece of fabric as a hinge. This will let the added floor bend up & sit on the edge of the existing floor, so you can close the lid of the box to put it away. When you display your box, the added floor will lay down and the lid of the box will be a wall alongside this floor. Carpeting the floor will hide the hinge & still be flexible for bending. Extra furniture can be moved out onto the added floor area for display.

Ann in AZ

RGT Lighthouse: It wasn't as hard to build as I thought it might be and was a nice change from a regular house kit. I used black/gray/white speckle paint on the foundation and stairs. It can't be seen but I love the way the floors turned out. At the suggestion of another minilist, after staining the floors I drew lines across the floor from opposite corners with a fine point black marker. Then drew lines parallel to the outer edges in each wedge all the way to the middle. Looked like a spiderweb. Then did some lines connecting the parallel ones to make it look like lengths of wood. Even though I didn't push all that hard on the marker it left the slightest indentation that still showed after three coats of polyurethane! I was so tickled! Also half blind from drawing all those lines on three floors! lol Oh, ya. One frustrating mistake while putting it together. I painted all the railing pieces and then couldn't get them to stay together!! Drove me nuts til I realized the glue wasn't holding because of the glossiness of the paint. I sanded the contact points and, voila, it stayed together.

Lita

Attaching Dollhouse to Base: I'm attaching mine by drilling holes in the base of my house, and pegs which stick up on the base, which fit the holes. This way, I can have the house totally separate, if need be; and it would make it easy to move.

Jonesy

Attaching Dollhouse to Base: could you fit the house to the base by measuring the inside of the house foundation, cutting molding or other short wood scraps to fit inside, nail that wood to the base, and then just set the house over this "inner foundation" so it holds the house in place? Would work like the inner foundation is a box and the house is the box lid, if that helps you visualize. You couldn't turn the whole thing upside down, but it would prevent the house from sailing across the yard if somebody bumps the stand!

Loretta.Sniarowski

Attaching Dollhouse to Base: I am building a RGT Bostonian, a very large house. My husband made a platform for it. The house is glued down, but underneath, he cut out the center of the platform so I can gain easy access to the wiring which starts underneath the house. Just another idea. This way, this very large 3-story house is securely fastened, but the underneath is still accessible.

Ninalu in CA

Attaching Dollhouse to Base: I attach my houses, but I've never done a house larger than 5 rooms! I would not attach a large doll house because of the moving/fixing potential problems. I've also never attached to a base larger than 2' x 2'. Someday I'll tackle something big and juicy!

To attach my little houses, I first screw a turntable on the plywood base. Makes it easy for folks to appreciate the whole thing. Then I carefully turn the house onto it's roof, and using longer screws, power drill it on. For one log cabin I did trace around the shape of the house first and drill tiny pilot holes to make sure I wouldn't have a large ugly screw coming up through the middle of my floor!

Bev Michie

Beginners: what to start with -: if you're just starting out and don't yet feel comfortable with the tools/skills to work in wood, why not try experimenting with cardboard first? Kaye especially, even if the results aren't perfect your daughter will still find it play-worthy. If you feel too inexperienced to design your own plans, there's a book called Building Cardboard dollhouses by Jeff Millstein which has several styles and complete patterns. It's out of print but www. bn.com has several copies and probably Amazon does too. That will give you experience with the basic principles of construction that will carry through to more durable materials.

Loretta. Sniarowski

Kits: I have only bought Greenleaf and DuraCraft. Between the two, I found duracraft to be superior as far as inexpensive kits go. Still lots of work because they are the "cheapies". If I were looking for a house now, though, I think I would go for the IBEC ones. I bought their cedar flooring for my cabin, and was very pleased with it.

Kim From Canada

DuraCraft: Yes, they have updated some, but not all, of their kits to 3/8" MDF. I started with the "old" San Franciscan kit and ended up stashing it in the garage because it warped and splintered. About two years ago they came out with these improved versions and I ordered one from Mott's Minis right away. It went together so easily!!!! I think I had the entire shell (including some bashing) together in less than two weeks! It looks beautiful, really strong and sturdy -- "expensive" looking. I highly recommend one of these, especially when price is a factor.

Tammy

Attaching House to Base: Just wanted to add my two cents to this subject: I secure mine by out lining the house on my base board; drilled little holes in several places (on the base board) next to my outline; then placed pegs alongside the house. This keeps the house from sliding (Or in my case) getting knocked off. The pegs can be covered with your landscaping. Then you can just slide your house on or off the board by removing the pegs on the back side of your house.

Joyce in Houston

Jonesy

Dollhouses for Children: There are several dollhouses available for small children. Plan toys makes some indestructible houses, dolls, and furniture out of rubber wood. They are just under 1/12 scale, so as your granddaughter ages she could gradually exchange some of the furniture or accessories for more delicate minis. This web page contains a lot of their toys: http://www.puffins.com/planindx.html#DOLLHOUSES -- and this page shows the houses: http://www.puffins.com/plntoy01.html Plan Toys just introduced a line of Georgian accessories. The Georgian dollhouse is adorable and the dolls are dressed in brocades! So cute! Also, there's a smaller set made by Small World, called FeltLand. FeltLand is approximately 1/24 scale, and features a lot of felt. I haven't played with these, but they are colorful and look strong. They are available at Yahoo Shopping; the best prices I've found are at http://shop.store.yahoo.com/purcifuls-toys/feldolwitfur.html They look like a lot of fun. I have considered buying a set just for myself. :-) They are set up as a stack of room boxes, so you can buy the whole set at once or you could just get a few rooms. I'm sure you've already heard of Fisher Price's Loving Family stuff. They are plastic and I don't like the house they come with, but I have considered taking the people and some of the accessories and putting them in a better quality house for my niece, since they are 1/12 scale.

Ghia

Dollhouses for Children: I have given this matter careful thought lately, because I have boy and girl twins who will turn 3 in July, and they are always after my minis! I don't know what kind of budget you are working with, but Dollshouse Emporium has an excellent child's dollhouse called Blossom Cottage that comes pre-painted and slots together in minutes for $123. It needs wallpapering, but the exterior is lovely! There are kid-tough furniture sets to go with it. See http://www.dollshouse.co.uk. Kids also love found object/DIY mini projects -- a match stick with a few feathers for a feather duster, toothpaste caps for wastebaskets, green tissue paper salads in acorn bowls, edible dollhouse food like Cheerios doughnuts and chocolate chip puddings. As for dolls, if she's a pink and purple tutu- and ballerina-loving 3 year old, she will adore the very inexpensive little girl porcelain dolls (under $10) at Dollshouse Emporium. My son worships them.

Madere, Silver Spring, MD

Porch: You can add any kind of porch you like. Most appropriate would be one about 6" deep and 8" wide. A very low pitch roof with gable to the front. It should be supported by 2 pillars at each of the front corners, and a 1/2 pillar (or a pilaster) at the back corners. Run a dentil molding around the 3 sides, just below the eaves.

Tom Berkner