Taking a break from a project to show you a site I'm in love with!

http://www.playathomemomllc.com/

This site has so many activities and fun DIY stuff to do with your kids...I just get lost in it all. My daughter learns so quickly that I've decided I need to keep her mind going and try some new activities. We may try something new every week!

Dollhouse Part One: Inspiration

Last year, my mom and I went to a warehouse where a few companies stored and displayed interior design things. They were emptying out last years samples (of carpet, window treatments, tile, wood flooring, linoleum, and upholstery) to make room for new stuff. We grabbed three boxes of stuff thinking to ourselves that we could use these tiny samples in a tiny dollhouse.

 
We have/had this old blue case and it was in the baby's room with some toys on it, but I really wanted to do something else with it. It looked pretty rough: the scratches on the side are from adjusting the shelves to be more even for the dollhouse and realizing that whoever painted it before didn't paint under the shelf holders. 

I went online and looked at some various projects to do with old bookcases. There are a lot of pictures of people turning dressers and bookshelves into dollhouses. What's really interesting to me is you can buy a bookshelf/dollhouse from the store for a hundred bucks...or you can just paint one and slap on some wallpaper and do it for pennies.Granted the final project will cost me about 80 dollars (when you count all the wood for furniture and fixtures and the dolls themselves) it's still a lot cheaper than buying a plastic one in the store.

And so, we begin the journey.

I'm still working on the crochet project that I can't share as it's a gift I don't want her to see until...well it's done. So I'm going to post some pictures of my crafting work space.


This is a closet in our dining room (or the room that I have claimed as my space), I think it's supposed to be a coat closet...but whatever. On the top shelf I have a tub of carpet samples and two tubs of fabric. 

Below, on hangers, I have clothes that need repairs (ripped seams, missing buttons, pant hems), my sewing machine, box of fabric samples, tub of yarns, woodcarving tub, and a tub of misc. things. 

Here are two cabinets that I bought at Loews (I think 80 dollars each) and this is where I store a lot of stuff. 

Each shelf has a different "area" of crafting. Painting, sewing, scrapbooking, tools, drawing, and sculpting all have shelves (some more than one). There's also a shelf where I have put "things" for "random" projects that don't necessarily fit in any other category (like a box of sea shells and empty baby food containers).

Here's my new desk, this is mostly for school work rather than crafting, but this is a good space when a project over flows from my crafting table or if I'm working with a friend or my mom. 

 Here is my crafting table, it's just an old card table...I don't care what happens to it so there's paint on it and holes in it and it just makes "cleanup" easier if I don't have to worry about wiping everything down. There's the current stage of the dollhouse (although I will add better pictures of that in a bit).

Here is a picture of a bookshelf that I have reserved for crafting books. I don't buy too many books because I can find a lot of instruction for things and project ideas online.

So that's the space I have to work with. I have a fair amount of supplies for a variety of upcoming ideas I wan to try out. The whole dining room is sectioned off by a baby gate so I can leave some things out if they are drying or whatnot.