Clothespin Dolls and Painted Cardboard Doll House

 

I saw this little cardboard house box being clearanced at Michael's and thought it would be cute to paint one up for my daughter. She is a little collector, akin to Ariel's hoarding obsession. To be fair, it runs on my side of the family. I have a bit of it myself.

Anyway, I started out with this cute little house:

I started to paint the top and then I stopped because I realized I needed a before picture.



Then I sketched out a rough idea of what I wanted it to look like.

 

 

 

Then I gathered my old fashioned clothespins (estate sale, oh yeah!).

 

 

And while I sat and painted, my children ran amuck. But I didn't care because I was listening to new episodes on Hulu while I worked.

It turned out pretty cute. There is the brother Ethyn, Daddy, Mommy, Clara, Grammy, and PapPap dolls in this picture. She misplaced brother Calvin and PopPop dolls already.


Here is what I learned:

• This is perfect for a three year old. Or at least mine. She likes tiny things, collections, dolls, and boxes. This encompasses all of her favorites!
• Next time I will paint on something more sturdy. Cardboard will not last long.
• The clothespin dolls look super cute going the other direction so you can make the split wood look like legs, but if you do it MY way they will stand on the edge of things. In this case, the house!
• I am going to mod podge the dolls because after a couple weeks they are starting to look worn. That's okay, though. I made them really simple on purpose because I knew she would be handling them a lot and they would not look brand new for long.
• Overall, a fun project to make and a great gift to give to a little girl!

She is pointing at the Clara doll :)