I’m super excited to start 2015 with a new “mini-series” — literally. Over the course of the next few months, I’ll be documenting the process of building, decorating and furnishing a 1:12 scale, split level, wooden dollhouse — made from an original 1955 Betsy McCall Do-It-Yourself Dollhouse pattern. Is anyone else as pumped as I am about this? I love my job!
Before we get into the details about the build, let me explain (a) why I am so excited and (b) what made me want to build a dollhouse in the first place. Let’s take a flash back to the early 1980s when I was a kid. My Dad has always been handy — a skill he began sharing with me at an early age — (above) just look at 18-month-old Kate wielding that hammer –watch out world! He had this great idea to make me a little playhouse using some leftover siding and supplies from the 1980 ranch house that he and my Mom built just before I was born. Needless to say, I loved the idea.
By Christmas, the playhouse was complete, and Dad set it up in our basement so I could play in it all winter before moving it out into the back yard in the spring. I absolutely loved that house, and spent many hours of my childhood hanging out in there hosting pretend tea parties and playing peek-a-boo through the shutters at my Mom. Thus began my love of miniature houses.
Fast forward a few more years, and yet another tiny house –built by my Dad — found its way under the Christmas tree. To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
Dad designed and built the dollhouse himself out of 1/2-inch thick plywood. It was furnished with all of my Mom’s childhood doll furniture and various tiny decor items she had collected for me to play with. Mom even sewed me some tiny curtains for the windows. I spent so many hours rearranging furniture, dreaming up imaginative story lines about the Barbie family that lived in the house, and loved every minute of it.
My obsession with miniature houses continued into adulthood, when I found a way to incorporate tiny houses and furniture into my “grown up” decor by building midcentury house shelves for my living room wall to display my miniature chair collection.
And of course you are all familiar with the midcentury Christmas Putz houses that I’ve been making for the last three years here on Retro Renovation — yet another manifestation of my miniature house infatuation.
DIY Betsy McCall dollhouse seems to have had a few versions
So then, it should come as no surprise that I became obsessed with the midcentury split level dollhouse I spotted in the bedroom of a stunning 1960 Toronto time capsule home we featured late last year. The moment I saw that dollhouse, I knew I had to build one. Thanks to a few of Retro Renovation’s readers, Pam and I learned that the time capsule dollhouse was likely made from a 1950s Besty McCall dollhouse pattern. The dollhouse in the photo above (from the Toronto time capsule) is slightly different than the pattern we found. Are there any dollhouse experts out there who know the model year of this groovy-yet-scary-staired version above?
Mere minutes after discovering the existence of the pattern, Pam went into search-and-acquire mode and spotted an original pattern on Etsy. To my delight, she bought it and had it sent to me with the promise that I would build the house and chronicle it on the blog — a task this handy, mini-house loving gal was more than happy to take on. Yes, it is now “my job” to build this dollhouse, documenting the process all along the way.
Making a dollhouse on a budget
Before I began, Pam gave me a few guidelines for building, decorating and furnishing the dollhouse:
- No using any ready-made, new dollhouse parts or furniture in the construction and decoration of the dollhouse — meaning I cannot buy roofing shingles, siding, flooring, etc. that is specified for use in a dollhouse. All such things must be made from materials I can find at the home improvement or craft store.
- All furniture must either be vintage or homemade.
- I have a $100 budget to furnish the house — a real challenge if you know the price of vintage doll house furniture these days.
- Pam sent me a few boxes of goodies from her hoard to help with covering floors and walls.
These rules ensure that I’ll have to be creative and also keep the project true to its humble, homemade retro roots, by repurposing items and using scraps that are already around the house with the goal of spending very little extra money to get the job done. Sounds like a fun challenge to me.
kara says
Kate, you are the CUTEST child ever. I seriously can’t take how cute.
Susan D says
Kate I am so jealous! I used to LOVE making miniature scenes as a pre-teen/teen. I made a log cabin, a disco, and a Victorian hat shop. I’m trying to remember some of the tricks I used…..toothpaste caps for lampshades, paper towel or toilet paper rolls cut & upholstered to make barrel chairs, used flashcubes make great “mod” side tables (that was for the disco) – I’m dating myself as I don’t even know if you could find a flashcube anymore!
On a tangent, about 10 years ago we scored a Kaleidescope dollhouse ( http://www.pmwarchitects.com/kaleido.htm ) on sale at our local toy store, “for my daughters” (ha!) They actually did play with it for a few years – now it’s boxed up in our basement. One of these days maybe I’ll list it on ebay….or I’ll get it back out it play with it again 🙂
Looking forward to the updates on your adventures!
pam kueber says
Wow, that is SOME dollhouse!
Mary Elizabeth says
Yes, the Kaleidoscope dollhouse is definitely a work of art. But what really piqued my imagination was the discotheque dollhouse! I would have loved to see that. And I’m thinking how to do a miniature disco ball that works and put dolls in different dance positions. Wow!
Susan D says
Mary Elizabeth, the disco sat in my parents’ basement, then my basement, for many years I think I finally tossed it in a big purge a few years ago. The years were not kind to it, but I wish I had taken a picture. The disco ball was easy, though, we had small mirrored ball Christmas ornaments so I just snagged one of those (the 70’s!)
Mary Elizabeth says
Unfortunately, we can’t keep everything (sigh!) or else we’d be on a special edition of “Retro Reno Hoarders”:
“And on tonight’s show, we have Susan and Mary Elizabeth, who each have a basement full of old dollhouses and dioramas made of found materials, and a man with 400 tiki mugs. Coming up next week. Pam’s ornament hoard.”
pam kueber says
Seriously.
Susan D says
🙂
Tikimama says
Oh, and another idea: Perhaps you could have one of your Reader Uploads for photos of all of our houses, furniture, ideas, etc!
Tikimama says
Wheeeeee! I am so excited about this! Dollhouses and miniatures have always been one of my most favorite things. I have my dollhouse from childhood with all the vintage furniture it came with. My sisters and I used to play with it every Christmas (that’s when Mom and Dad brought it in from the shed, since we didn’t really have room for it year-round. Made it extra special, too) I have been meaning to renovate it and repair the furniture for years. This might be the inspiration I need! I also have a dollhouse I got from an older man who built it for his daughters, and a vintage metal house I just got at an estate sale.
Please let us know the ruling on donations, Pam! And will the best place to post ideas and links be on the comments of Kate’s posts? I used to have so much fun hand-making bits and bobs for my houses. My original dollhouse has Contact paper for wallpaper – perhaps if you have some old stock in your stash? Or vintage fabrics applied with liquid starch. I made a simple rug for my daughter’s Barbies by just gluing yarn on a piece of heavy cardstock in a spiral – looked great!
I love the photos of you as a kid, Kate! You have a wonderful set of parents there!
Mary Elizabeth says
I never had made a shag rug with the needlepoint cloth or plastic canvas. The ones I made turned out looking like woven rugs, just using the basic needlepoint stitches.
You could use a miniature rug hooking tool to make shag. I think that would be the fastest way. Or you could embroider a piece of stiff fabric with crewel yarn loops, knotted at one end, then cut open the loops to make the shag. Your local craft store probably has instruction booklets, or maybe one of your readers has make miniature shag rugs and will share.
Here are some online sources for ideas. But I picture most of these dollhouses as being “country colonial” rather than mid-century modern.
http://mihpatte.com/dollhouse-rug-patterns/
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Plastic-Canvas-Doll-Furniture
http://www.jconnerhookedrugs.com/minpunch.html
Mary Elizabeth says
Like you, Kate, I helped build my own dollhouse as a kid–7 years old. One of my grandfathers was a carpenter, and I gave him plans from which he built the house. I made most of the furniture, too, except that which my mother had saved from her own childhood. I got a lot of ideas from magazines and Girl Scout projects. In scouts, I also built a miniature camp.
As an adult with a couple of girl children, I also helped refurnish that doll house. I almost went blind designing and making needlepoint Oriental rugs, which my daughters’ friends liked so much I made several for gifts as well. Some ideas:
1) Midcentury modern rugs with bold splashy designs will be easy on needlepoint canvas or plastic canvas. Also look in fabric remnant bins for bits of faux fur.
2) Get scraps of fabric from friends and readers for curtains and wall treatments. I remember a friend’s (real) house had one law of burlap, on which art work was displayed.
3) A bit of wire and two tiny hook eyes are all you need for curtain rods. (That was from my dad’s hardware stash.)
4) Have all your friends save you small, sturdy gift boxes. They make good table tops and bed frames.
5) A stack of small matchbook boxes glued together and then covered with paper or fabric make an excellent night stand or chest of drawers.
6) Small laminate samples will make good tops for end tables, with small dowels cut at an angle for modern legs. A large size sample will make a good table top for the kitchen as well as kitchen counters on balsa cabinets. Ask your readers to send you their rejects.
7) My dad helped me cut miniature vinyl tiles from leftover scraps.
Finally, ask for whatever you need–ideas or materials–from your readers. Be specific as to color and pattern, etc. We are totally invested in your project!
Kate says
Thanks for the ideas Mary Elizabeth…
My childhood dollhouse had curtain rods made with small screw eyes and very thin dowel rods threaded through. 🙂 I have been looking through my scraps to see what I have to use for flooring and countertops!
I’ve never made a plastic canvas rug before…how does one go about doing that? Do they end up like mini shag rugs?
Mary Elizabeth says
Actually, do you have to do everything yourself? I just saw Rachel’s comment offering to make you a rug! If not, you could get the instructions from her.
Rachel Hobson says
Sorry to be late in replying! Yes, needlepoint on plastic canvas is also an option! Punchneedle gives a rug-like texture (not shag … more knotted). If you search “punch needle dollhouse rugs” on Pinterest, you’ll see some examples. Most look pretty traditional, but you can create any design (so if you have a reference photo of a true MC rug, you can scale it down and replicate it). I have all the punchneedle supplies and would be happy to do it for you. 🙂
Plastic canvas and needlepoint is also easy and inexpensive, and there are many examples and tutorials online. 🙂
Sandra says
I wish I could find my Betsy McCall doll. Mom didn’t think Barbie was appropriate, but I had Betsy and my Mom made dresses for her.
Peter Mione says
I cannot wait to see how this unfolds. I, too, have a fascination with mid-century modern models and furnishings, so I’ll live vicariously through this blog. Thanks so much for doing this!
Kate says
you are welcome Peter! 🙂
Carole says
Love the shelves!!
The dollhouse reminds me so much of the metal version that I had as a little girl. Have fun building!
What adorable pictures of little Kate. 🙂
lynda says
How much fun this will be! And yes, the 80’s were the dollhouse glory years. We did our youngest daughter’s nursery in a dollhouse wallpaper from Katzenbach and Kids wallpaper book. My husband built a dollhouse to look like the house depicted on the paper. to my surprise, several years later I found a miniature version of the dollhouse wallpaper at a miniatures store. My husband built two beautiful dollhouses, a bear cabin, and 5, yes five wooden houses for Barbie scale dolls. (Friends wanted the houses after he finished them for our girls.) Of course I would not let our girls have Barbie, so I had to find the Sindy dolls from England for them along with all the Sindy furniture. (We have 3 daughters)
You will have so much fun doing this. Your creative juices will create a wonderful masterpiece. Aren’t you lucky to have such happy memories of your dad building you playthings!