A half inch scale dollhouse hutch

A half inch scale dollhouse hutch

This tiny Hoosier cabinet will add charm to your half inch scale kitchen. Test fit everything before you glue. The thickness of your matt board may be different than mine.

Matt board or thin wood

Wood glue

Craft knife

Ruler

1/8” square wood

Cover stock paper

White, grey, and blue acrylic paint

Silver gel pen

Paint brush

Mod Podge

Gloss varnish

Toothpick

2 bottom sides 1 1/4” x 1”

Bottom front 2 1/4” x 1 1/4” 

Back 2 1/4” x 2 7/8” 

Base 2 1/8”  x 1” 

Counter top (cut 2) 2 1/8” x 1 3/16” 

Left top side 1/2” x 1 1/2”

Right top side 1/2” x 3/4”

Left front 5/8” x 1 1/2”

Right front Whatever width space is left over x 3/4” tall.

Base under right front may vary, so size to fit.

Top, size to fit.

1 Assemble bottom - back, sides, front, and base.

Glue 2 counter top pieces together and sand around the sides and front to smooth and round the edges.

Glue on the counter top to the bottom section. You want a lip around the sides and front. Front lip will be more because cabinets will go on the front.

Assemble the top - sides, front, top, and base.

Cut legs to 1/4” tall, sand and glue on the base.

Trim thin pieces of cover stock to cover the side edges on the top and bottom of the hutch.

Paint white. Paint with Mod Podge and once dry lightly sand. Paint white again.

(I use Mod Podge to help keep the white paint from soaking into the board. Less white coats are required this way. Be sure to brush on the Mod Podge smoothly with minimum streaks.)

Cut out all your cabinets and drawer fronts.

Bottom cabinet 2 1/4” x 2 1/16”

Drawer #1 3/4” x 3/16”

Drawer #2 3/4” x 1/4”

Drawer #3 3/4” x 9/16”

2  top left cabinets 3/4” x 5/8”

Top right double cabinet (one piece)1 5/16” x 5/8”

Trim out the cabinets with strips of card stock. Thiner on the tops and wider on the sides.

Glue on the cabinets and drawers.

Paint white. Paint with Mod Podge and once dry lightly sand. Paint white.

Paint around the edge of the counter with a color of your choice. Let dry smooth with light sanding.

Cover the counter with a gloss varnish.

Draw on tiny hinges and drawer handles with grey paint and a toothpick. I used a silver gel pen to add some depth on the metal bits with just a small dot.

All done!

Happy Halloween!

dollhouse corner stairs

I have finally finished my stairs for the farmhouse and thought I would share the photos. I didn’t write directions but it is pretty clear by the photos. I started this months ago and was finally able to get them in the house.

 hot glue gun to gold in the cardboard.

I made the square size I wanted and drew in the angles for each top of the steps.

 Made a pattern with cardboard.

 propped up the backs with scrap wood.

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Dollhouse curtain on a curtain rod

I’ve made curtains in lots of different ways. But this time I wanted to add a wire at the base. I have used wire in bed ruffling (shown below in my vintage house). So why not in curtains? The top of a pushed open curtain is usually more scrunched and the bottom has loser pleats when pushed on a curtain rod. This is what I tried to emulate.

First, I cut some cotton fabric to a smaller width then the window. I imagined the width the curtain would be when open then made it less then that so when I made it permanently open it it wouldn’t take up too much space. Fabric in miniature can be bulky unless you can shrink down some fine cotton fabric with a shrinking machine. Still hoping for one of those someday.

Fold and glue the side hems with Tacky Glue.

Put glue at the top of the fabric and fold the top hem over your curtain rod. Be sure not to glue it to the curtain rod. Move it slightly to be sure it doesn’t stick.

Cut the wire and try and get it straight, glue your bottom hem over it. Immediately use your thumbnail to be sure the wire stays at the base.

Let it all dry.

Squish the top as tight as you can on the curtain rod.

Pin it to foam board at the top.

Then pull and pin at the base. Work your pleats until you are happy.

You can buy a Pretty Pleater if you want perfect pleats. But I personally wanted these curtains have a different look. If you were making curtains that you imagined would have hooks on the back a Pretty Pleater would be an ideal method.

I ran a shish kabob stick up inside to shape my wire folds at the base and to help guide where I would pin. Don’t force your pleats too much, let the fabric guide you. If it isn’t feeling right work the scrunched up pleats at the top a little. That can change the rest of the pleats.

Once you are happy, spray with your choice of fabric stiffer. I had some old Stiffen Stuff. The nozzle was clogged so I poured out an expired Benadryl spray bottle and used that.

You can also use aerosol hairspray but I have not tried that one yet because I always use this old stuff. :)

Once the fabric stiffener was dry I removed the pins. Use the tip of one of the pins to scrap out the holes left behind in the fabric.

I drilled a hole in my window frame (made from mat board) and put wires hooks through to hold the curtain rods for this treatment. Then I glued the window frames on the house. I am just starting this build so I was able turn the house on its side to weigh down the frames while they dried. 

At first I was bothered that there were creases here and there that wouldn't be there if it was in real life, but then I remembered two things. Some of my favorite dollhouses are ones that aren't perfect. It's a fantasy not reality. 

The other thing to always remember when working on something is that it will only be a small moment in a completed project. Yes, there maybe a few creases that bother me but once all the furniture, accessories, and lighting are in place they will disappear and a beautiful little world will emerge. 

It's up to the individual artist to chose which imperfections need to be reworked and which will only add to the fantasy. Always listen to your gut so you will be happy with the end result, but don't be too hard on yourself either. This is suppose to be FUN!

Looks like dad is leaning on his shovel talking with Pop-pop. Little do they know the kids are spying while the cat is taking in some sunshine.