She wants a doll house this time!

[Wongo]

After receiving a huge birthday present last year, my almost 3 yr old daughter said to me yesterday “Daddy, I want a doll house, ah, ah.. birthday”.

How could say no to her. She has always been very well behaved lovely good beautiful little girl and she deserves it (believe me I don’t spoil my child). I just hope that she won’t ask for a real pony next year. Oh well lets get busy then.

Do you have any experience to share? :)

[bitingmidge]

Ahh well you see, 21 years after my middle daughter's third "birfday", she said "Daddy, can we have our wedding at your house?"

It happened last Saturday...Rocking horses turn into Doll's houses which turn into real houses...it never stops!!!!

But life with daughters is pretty darned wonderful no matter what "they" say!!

On the doll's house, when the girls were more or less that age, (5,3,going on 1) my dad made a doll's house for them, which was a bit like a bookshelf with a gable roof, complete with flag on the peak. Each shelf had bits of old tiles and carpet, scraps of wallpaper and stuff. There were bits of trimming, an old spice rack that did a passable imitation of a balustrade, all painted in whatever was left over around the place. It looked like a dog's breakfast to us grown-ups...but to the kids it was anything they wanted it to be. The best part about it was that it was also a great place to store all their junk!

The less detail, and more room for imagination the better...don't make this one the Victorian classic....

If you need more description I'll sketch it for you!

[DaveInOz]

Having just finished (apart from the carpet) one for my 3yo I would make the following suggestions.

If you let them pick the paint colours get used to it looking strange (exterior - pink walls and purple roof)
Squaring off icey pole sticks and gluing them down, sanding and varnishing makes for an amazing polished floorboard look - but it is a massive pain in the ****.
If you have room make it to a 1:6 scale, this is BIG but all the barbie doll furniture sets are in this scale, they are cheap, available and amazingly detailed. You also don't have to buy a new set of dolls etc.
Quad molding (concave) used as cornices looks good and helps hold the ceiling up.
Quad molding (triangular) cut to length and glued to a backing board makes easy stairs.
Don't bother with stair rails they just get in the way.
Rooms to include (there are never enough) - kitchen, bed room, lounge room, nursery minimum. - get the furniture set first and see howmuch room they take up - (I made them 400 deep and 500 wide, and it is crowded!)

I'll post pics soon.

[jackiew]

I agree with Biting Midge. Go for robust but simple. Nothing worse than having a toy which you have to be "careful" of. If you want to make a heirloom house wait till she's 8 or 9 and a bit more responsible. My sisters and I spent many happy hours playing with an inherited dolls house. I cringe now at what we did to it. It had a front panel which lifted off with windows and front door . It had light shades with torch bulbs powered by batteries so you could have the front on and see lights behind the curtains.

The only thing you seriously have to think about is sizing the rooms for the furniture and the dolls which are going to go in it.

You can buy heaps of different dolls house furniture ( and pay heaps for it too ) or you and she can make simple stuff together out of blocks of wood, yoghurt pots etc . If she hasn't already got any small dolls ( and at that age she might not yet have any because of the choking hazzard ) I suggest you go out and buy a small family ( mummy, daddy, little girl, baby ... or if you're feeling particularly liberal mummy, mummy ..... etc ) and tell one of your relatives that's what they've bought her for her birthday and size your house accordingly. Its very frustrating if you can't get your dolls into the house. :)

[ozwinner]

Ahh well you see, 21 years after my middle daughter's third "birfday", she said "Daddy, can we have our wedding at your house?"

It happened last Saturday...!
Ahhum, where are the invites? :(
I told you not to post them!! :mad:

Al

[bitingmidge]

Ahhum, where are the invites? :(
I told you not to post them!! :mad:

Al

I wondered why you weren't there :eek: !

I'll email you a slice of wedding cake! :)

P

[ozwinner]

Send me a piccy. :D

I hope all went well.
Even without me there. :p

Al

[AlexS]

Wongo, what sort of father are you?! Surely at that age you should be buying her first tools!

[bitingmidge]

surely at that age you should be buying her first tools!

Sorry, doesn't work!

We were determined to "neutrally blueprint" our first born. Every time she was given a doll, she was also given a truck. A bracelet, a spanner....and so on.

At about two years of age she came into our bedroom nursing a football wrapped in a bunny rug.

Our views on gender imprinting moderated after that!

P :D

[ozwinner]

You.....did take some piccys......didnt you.?


Al

[bitingmidge]

Oh Oz, you're such a softie...here's a shot of me helping her out of the car just outside the church.

:rolleyes:

P

[ozwinner]

Owhh dad.

From what I can see, she has eyes full of love, good one P.

Al

[RETIRED]

I bet she is better looking than her old man. ;)

[Caliban]

Midge, old mate, you'r abetter man than me.
My baby has a sleep over boyfriend whom she is madly in love with, even if I can't understand why. He can make her laugh when the rest of the world sh#ts her to tears, Christ knows why. She was the son I always wished I had. (I have two sons by the way) The photo of her, two years old, paintbrush and bucket of water in hand, helping me when no one else gave a damn, still melts my heart after all these years.
To lose her to someone else is killing me.
Tears
Jim

[ozwinner]

Gees Jim, let go.

There comes a time to let them go, I wish mine would go :D , nah only kidding.
Mine has a sleep over friend too, some nights I hear them, I must insulate this wall one day. :eek: :o :eek:

Al

[Wongo]

Thanks everyone for your inputs.

Dave, it will be nice to see some pictures.

I think I will build a simple, big and robust one. I will use the layout and colours of our 2-storage townhouse. It will be quite nice especially we are selling the house soon. BUT I told my wife last night about my design and what did she say “No why don’t you build a traditional old English cottage”. Fine, maybe I should carve all the furniture too. :(


Wongo, what sort of father are you?! Surely at that age you should be buying her first tools!

Alex, I am trying. I have taken her to every tool shops, hardware stores and timber yards in Sydney. If you see a man with a little girl on Saturday morning then its me. Don’t forget to say hello to us. :)

Bitingmidge, well done mate. It must be a very special moment. :)

[DaveInOz]

As promised.
Here it is simple and big - but not robust enough for my liking - next time (oh god :eek: ) I'll use thicker ply - 3ply is too thin for these spans.

The room sets of furniture are about $20 each and she gets them for birthdays etc. from the legion of grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends ....

She already had heaps of Barbies - including the ones my wife kept from when she was a kid.

The paint is from sample pots.

[Wongo]

Mr InOz, that’s awesome man. I love the floor. Thanks :)

[silentC]

What the hell is Barbie doing in shot #3?

That is huge! There are people living in townhouses that are smaller than that. Did you have to get Development Approval? ;)

Wongo, Hobbyco in the Mid City Centre (between George St and Pitt St Mall). They have dolls house stuff there. Might give you some ideas anyway.

[DaveInOz]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It is very user friendly and she loves it, in the end thats what matters. One day I would like to make one of the little fiddly ones with lights and architectural realism etc but not for little girls to play with.

As mentioned the floors were done by squaring up icey pole sticks and PVA glueing them to the ply. I then watered down some pine timbermate bog and rubbed it over the floor and into the gaps (like grout). Once dry I sanded and spray laqured (spray can). Time consuming but in no way difficult.

In shot #3 Ms 3yo is playing house, its is 3pm and barbie is passed out on the couch in front of the TV the glass of wine spilt on the floor.
:eek: I guess she watches too much TV :D

[MikeK]

Wongo,

I just finished one for my 3 year old (birthday present). I agree with the advice of the others - keep it simple. Also, let relatives know the names of shops that sell dolls house furniture. This gives them endless amounts of xmas / birthday opportunites. :)

I essentially built a 4 rooms over 2 storeys. This allowed me to put large "windows" (there's no glass), in the front doors and the sides. This allows the house to be closed and the kids to be able play by looking inside it. The house is painted in bright colours which match the colurs of her bedroom.

Some lessons for me were:
- I used 6mm ply, but even that didn't stop some of the warp with the doors attached to the side. Next time I'd use MDF or something stiffer.
- Do a full dry run before glue-up. That way you know when you've missed cutting an internal door (doh!).
- check to see what size hinges you can get before you make the final decision on thickness of timber. It took me a while before I found hinges small enough (with appropriate screws) to cater for 6mm ply.

Good luck.

Regards,
Mike.

[gosfordbob]

This is a dolls house I made for my 3 year old granddaughter, I got the plan from the library it was ment to be a pub.

[Caliban]

[QUOTE=silentC]What the hell is Barbie doing in shot #3?

Darren
What is wrong with you girl?
Don't you recognise the "Maree Antoinette" barbie when you see her in her penultimate moment?

[silentC]

Oh sorry, I thought it was the Paris Hilton barbie ;)

[Caliban]

Darren
Perhaps you're right. Those French Kens don't put up with an uppity woman. They slap em down as soon as look at you.
My mistake for being so Aussiecentric in my view of things.

[gosfordbob]

I'll try again, I made this for my 3 yearold granddaughter, it was meant to be a pub, I got the plans from a book at the library.
Bob

[jackiew]

that's excellent bob, couldn't spot it from the pictures .. how does the front stay on when its not in use?

[Wood Borer]

Congratulations to both Dave and Bob for being softies to their daughter and grand daughter.

I too become soft when it comes to our daughter and grand daughter.

- Wood Borer

[gosfordbob]

Jackiew, the front fits in a groove at the bottom and fits under the roof at the top.
Bob

[Iain]

Has a rocking horse and hope she doesn't want a pony.
8 years ago we got a pony for now miss almost 17, should just be a flash in the pan, ho ho bloody ho, she now represents the state and we have five of the beasties.
Oh well, at least I get to see some magnificent sunrises as we head off to events at 3.00am :o

[Wongo]

See the finished product

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=87382#post87382