This is Emma with her most cherished present. She has been coveting this dollhouse for months. She loved visiting it every time we went near the antique store where she discovered it. She was stunned to find it waiting for her on her birthday. Of course, in true mini-me style, she immediately asked if we could paint the inside and put paper on the walls and get carpet for it. I didn't really consider what a money pit this house would be. I'd love any suggestions on where to shop for reasonably priced little things to turn this house into a sweet cottage for Emma.
The party was a hit but I have to say, I couldn't have done it without Martha. Eight girls in their pj's making button bracelets and paper bead necklaces, eating pizza, decorating cupcakes, playing twister, chowing down on popcorn while tucked into their sleeping bags watching I Carly. They were wonderful.
Even the decorations were courtesy of Martha. Flower pom poms hanging from the ceiling combined with paper flowers created an enchanted garden feeling even while the snowflakes fell.
I'm a bit relieved that it's over so that I can move on to other projects. Parties at home are such work, but worth it when you have a little girl that appreciates them as much as this one does. She's such a thankful kid.
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By the way, Thank you! Your votes counted and I went with haircut #1. It took a little adjusting to, but I love it. I'll post pics soon!
Well Happy Birthday to Emma..I love Home parties and Have done them every year for both my girls except for the last one...we did it at the American Girl store...she loved it. let me know where you find your house things..my husband built one like that for my eldest about 5 years ago...its gotten beaten up..for sure..missing all it's rails and such...she'll have fun with it...how fun to think about decorating it.
ReplyDeleteMy 7 year old daughter has loved her doll house for over a year and half now. Hows that for toy mileage. She asked for more furniture for Christmas. My s-mom has found little chairs and tables for her at various sales but I was in our Dollar Tree store this week and they had 3 or 4 pieces of doll house furniture.
ReplyDeleteI wish my dd was a pretty wooden one like your daughters but she has made the most out of the playschool version.
What a great birthday party Emma had. I loved the idea of the pom pom flowers hanging from the corners of the tablecloth (I think I will do that this summer) :-} Emma will have so much fun decorating her new doll house - it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen: I found this wonderful website. Her business is making custom dollhouses. I contacted her after noticing that she was using scrapbook paper as wallpaper and wondered how it held up. She emailed me back and said it works perfectly. We are in the process of building one ourselves. Lucky you! Yours is built.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun birthday!! What a great surprise too. I have seen dollhouse stuff on ebay.
ReplyDeleteI love that she wants to paint and decorate.
Have fun,
Rosemary
Use gift wrap and scrapbook paper to paper the walls of the dolhouse.
ReplyDeleteFound this post over at AT. Great ideas for recycled dollhouse furnishing and decor.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/babies-children/look-two-recycled-cardboard-dollhouses-044275
Hobby Lobby has cheap dollhouse stuff. But my favorite place to buy for the girls' dollhouses is
ReplyDeleteminiatures.com
Go visit! You'll LOVE it!
I buy most of my dollhouse stuff from Miniatures.com. They often have discount coupons/codes and sometimes free shipping. They have stuff in a variety of price ranges.
ReplyDeleteI just bought unfinished wooden dollhouse furniture at our local Michaels ($1 for each piece!) and I'm spraypainting them white.
Also, I use a ton of Christmas ornaments in our dollhouse. Sometimes you can find things that are just the right scale and don't seem too big/small.
Melissa & Doug also make a bunch of dollhouse furniture sets now too that aren't too bad and have little accessories.
Good luck in your dollhouse adventure. It can be addicting and expensive! My daughter and I have a good time decorating our dollhouse. We add a little to it each year, and decorate the outside for the seasons. Have fun!
What a lucky little girl! I would love to have a dollhouse like that, too. You two can have a lot of fun decorating and playing with it. You might find out-of-date wallpaper books that have mini-prints that would work great in her little house. Carpet and vinyl samples work great, too. And fabric. Oh, what you can do with pieces of fabric. You could use it on the walls in place of wallpaper. Please share pictures as she decorates it. Glad the party was a success. And that you survived! ~Adrienne~
ReplyDeleteI LOVED decorating my doll house when I was that age! Of course no one in my family has the decorating bug but me, so it was left up to a 7 year old to figure it out. Needless to say, spare grass-weave wall paper and extra carpet (makes a great shag, doll house size) don't work.
ReplyDeleteI have sense learned that velour, velvet, thick felt those things work best for carpet. Use a spray glue on the floor and material so it has even coverage. Scrap book paper for wall paper, or paint and stensils. To make wood floors, I would suggest painting it and using a brown sharpie to define the boards (time consuming).
Someone mentioned Hobbie Lobbie. they do have a great selection.
I wish I could play too!
gosh, i should really use spell check on days like this. :)
ReplyDeleteRemnants! Old carpet samples, old wall paper books, scrapbook papers. Old pins or broaches look good as wall decor. Curtains out of scrap material with a skinny stick for the rod.... what fun!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe party sounds like it was so much fun. Love the doll house. Maybe I should get a dollhouse, I never thought about the decorating possibilities there. That's probably the closest I'll come to owning two houses and being able to have two different decorating styles.I can't wait to see your new hair style!
ReplyDeleteWell it sounds like Miss Emma's birthday was a hit and what a wonderful birthday surprise. We have found inexpensive dollhouse furniture at AC Moore Craft Store and Micheal's also has $1 unfinished pieces of dollhouse furniture.
ReplyDeleteI have been without a computer so I'm just now catching up on my blog reading. Can't wait to see your new do. #1 would have been my choice as well.
Happy Birthday to your little sweetie...I want her present, too!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like lots of fun was had by all, but isn't it nice to get them over with?!
Can't wait to see the new "do", Meg...
Linda
xoxo
Hobby Lobby has doll house stuff and you can go to their web site and print a 40% off one item coupon.
ReplyDeleteYour local library probably has books on how to make curtains, rugs, furniture etc. for doll houses. Might be a fun project for you and your daughter!
I have a dollhouse just like Emma's. The cost of furniture is outrageous. But I've learned to keep my eyes open for bargains at dollar stores, WalMart, etc...anywhere I might be. My local dollhouse store is quite expensive. I know people who make their own furniture...I'm not that patient. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for replying to my post. I'm new at this and overly excited, so I'm sorry if what I wrote sounded odd. I didn't know any of this blogging was going on up until a few weeks ago and I'm having a lot of fun (maybe too much?). Anyway... thank you,
ReplyDeleteRue :)
PS. I love the dollhouse and I'm sure she will find much happiness decorating it :)
Great stuff as ususal! What fun!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Robyn
Jen, I've got some answers to your questions about my neighbor's kitchen. The cabinets are custom, the paint color is from Benjamin Moore (still trying to find out the color) and the countertops are honed granite. Honed granite is hard to take care of because it scratches easily and stains soak in more than regular granite. I know they were also hard to find.
ReplyDeleteSoon after completing this kitchen, my neighbors ended up moving. A house came on the market that was in a perfect location for them with a great floor plan so they bought it and bascially redid the entire house. Their new house is breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking!!!!
Hopes this helps.
Susie
Happy Birthday to your adorable Emma!! Love the doll house...money pit is unfortunately right. I have two young daughters and we are on our second and even more elaborate doll house. Thank goodness for grandmas or their house would still look like mine and my husbands and first apartment.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a decent color printer, check out these sites for FREE printables!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.printmini.com/
http://www.jennifersprintables.com/
The second site includes wallpapers by periods in US history.
I know she is loving her doll house. Sounds like a great party....Smiles
ReplyDeleteLove the doll house. I've gotten a few pieces of doll furniture at the specialty shop but it is expensive. So I covet my Hobby Lobby 50% coupons and buy from there. I used scrapbook papers and modge podged them on the walls. She loves it! I find myself "straightening" the doll house how I like it sometimes.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Sarah
http://vintagelily.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Emma's new doll house looks adorable I bet you could look on etsy.com for things like mini food and also some waldorf style dolls that will fit in the doll house.
ReplyDeleteThe best gift ever, I want one! Looks like she had a wonderful party:) Rachael
ReplyDeleteoh, sounds so fun...glad everyone had such a wonderful time, your little angel most of all! blessings!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fun birthday party! So cute!
ReplyDelete