Dollhouse Miniature Nursery Lamp

Watch the video here.

I am still in search of some fabric for the crib project, I just can't find anything I really like for the main fabric. I guess I am going to have to break down and go to the huge fabric store in Portland next week.

In the meantime I decided to show you one way to make a working (yes, I said working) lamp for the nursery. This can easily be changed to make a lamp for just about any room of the dollhouse by simply changing the decoration on the base.

I am using one of the little rocking horses from the baby shower decoration department of the dollar store. For that reason I have been sitting on this project for a while because I was debating if I should use it as a Trash to Treasure (it really could fit there because of the materials) but in the end I decided it was probably better suited to the main video of the week because it is not really a simple beginner project.

For the upright portion of the lamp I used one of the cocktail straws I have on hand. I left mine white but you could also paint the straw to match your decor.

As for the base I had found these little bottle caps at the Joan's a while back in the dollar bin areas. I initially got them for a project for the 18” dolls but I haven't gotten to it yet. There are also pink and blue ones in the package. I liked that there was a hole on the side of the caps (so they could be attached to a piece of jewelry) I just really wish there was only one hole and not 2. If there had been only one it would have been easier to hide the unneeded hole. It would be simple to change out this base with something else. Just look at what you have and with some thinking you will figure it out. I think if these were painted other colors though they could be used in a lot of rooms.

The addition of the pony beads was a last moment idea that I literally came up with as I was gluing the project together. I am glad I did I think the lamp is much sturdier this way. I just wish I would have had a better color bead. A white one or a clear one (or even a metal color) would have probably been better but I still like how the lamp came out.

The bulb I used is I believe what is called a “grain of wheat” bulb. I get mine from Miniatures.com but by all means if you can buy them locally do so. I no longer have a convenient mini store so I mainly rely on online stores. I wish I had my transformer handy so I could have shown it lit up hopefully I can find one soon and maybe when I finally get the crib finished I can set up a room scene for you with all the nursery projects we have been working on lately. That way you can see how they look together.

The glue I used for the project is one from the line of Amazing Goop. I prefer to purchase this type of glue in the small assortment tubes. There is usually 4 or 5 tubes in the package and they are really small. The glue does cost more if you look at the by the ounce price but I don't use this type of glue very often and the tube usually goes bad for me between uses and I end up throwing away most of the regular size tubes. With the tiny sample size ones I can usually use up the amount before it goes bad and if not I am not throwing away a huge tube. For the projects where I do need it though it is a great glue. It just happened that I had to open the tube I was using in the video earlier in the day to fix something in the house so I wanted to use it up.

When choosing a glue for this project just keep in mind the different materials you adhering. We used plastic, metal and paper. Just read the labels of the glues you have to pick what you want to use.