Dollhouse Miniature Lunch Bags

Watch the video here.

Since school is set to start here any day now I thought we should make sure the kids in the dollhouse don't go hungry at lunchtime this year.

I love to make lunch bags in doll size, they are sooooo easy and at the same time just soooo darn cute!

The first version is the traditional paper lunch bag that many of us grew up using. Just a brown paper bag. I usually use a real brown paper lunch bag to make them too. The paper is so thin and looks so perfect in doll size. It is very delicate though so be especially careful when scoring your fold lines.

Of course you could use any paper you want to. Even in real life there are paper lunch bags in many colors and designs.

Then for our second version of the lunch bag I decided to go a bit more modern. Every store I have been into the last few weeks has a huge display of the re-usable, insulated lunch bag. After all they are much better for the environment and they kind of keep the kids lunch at a better temperature. So I figured with a few simple tweaks my standard lunch bag pattern could join the modern world. For this one I recommend using a card stock weight paper but any color will work, you could even use a tiny printed paper. This bag is just begging to be decorated, so if you make on and decorate be sure to let me see it!

Now for the cutting and scoring measurements.

For the basic paper lunch bag:

Tear a straight edge- this will be the top of your lunch bag.

Score 1” away from this edge

Cut ¼” away (1 ¼” total height for the paper strip)

Now from one end :

Score at:

½”, ¾”, 1 ¼”, 1 ½”

And cut at 2”

You should have a ½” area (bag bag) ¼” area (side 1) ½” area (front of bag) ¼” (side 2) and finally another ½” area (the back overlap)

Fold the sides as I showed you on the video and then trim and glue your bag togther.

For the modern bag:

From the long edge

score at ¼”, 1 ¼” and cut at 1 ¾”

Now from one end score at the same measurements as for the paper bag.

Now just follow the steps I took in the video to assemble.

These are sooo simple I am sure you will be able to make up enough of them for an entire mini class room in no time at all. 

Dollhouse Miniature Slushie

Watch the video here.

We are coming the end of a long hot summer and around here that means it is time to go to the fair! And what trip to the fair is complete without some summer fair food. This week thought the dolls might like to cool off with a nice cold Slushie!

I asked my teenage son what color he thought of when I he thought of Slushies and he said blue so that is the color we are making in the video. Of course you can make any color you want to. So just pick your favorite and follow along.

This project takes just a few materials. First we do need a cup of some kind to put the slushie in. I used the top to a dried up bottle of tacky glue. Look around and I am sure you will find something to use. You could even make some paper cups using printables you can find online.

Next we need the two components to make our slushie- colored craft sand and Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. You will also want a colored paper clip or something similar for a straw.

You also need something to work on (I like aluminum foil for this) and a toothpick to mix up the ingredients.

Start by measuring out enough sand to fill your cup about 2 times. This really isn't a lot so err on side of a bit too much rather than not enough. Add the Dimensional Magic just a few drops at a time and mix well. You are looking for a rather thick mixture that will hold its shape when you mound it into the cup. Not too thick (too hard to get it into the cup) and not too thin (won't hold its shape) it is really something you will do by feel rather easily.

Now use the toothpick to move the sand mixture into your cup and make a nice mound on top. Carefully insert the paper clip and get it where you want it to be. You can't change this once the mixture dries to be sure now.

Set your slushie aside to dry over night. I found I had to prop mine up because the paper clip made it too top heavy to stand up on its own.

Once the mixture is dry you can use a pair of wire cutters to clip off the excess paper clip and you have a slushie for the dolls in your dollhouse.

These are soooo easy to make and take so little in the way of materials. If you make some be sure to show me a picture I want to see them!

Dollhouse Miniature Coke

Watch the video here.

Let me start by asking a question that has popped up a lot lately. Yes, we will be getting back to the garage building project. It has just been too hot here to work on any large projects lately and now that it has cooled off (at least for the last few days) I have so many things that I have to get caught up on. As soon as the weather is more comfortable and I get caught up with other things we will work on it again.

Now on to today's project! This week I decided to look through the complimentary projects over at PaperMinis again. I love Ann's projects and I was in the mood for something quick and fun to do today. Since it is still summer I thought the dolls might need some cans of coke to keep them refreshed.

It is really easy to take advantage of these free projects all you have to do is go over to the Paper Minis site (link here) and sign up for the free newsletter. In every newsletter (usually toward the bottom of the page) is a link to the library of these free projects.

Most of the free projects come in 3 scales: dollhouse (1/12^th), Barbie (1/6^th) and American Girl (1/3^rd) this is the smallest scale but all the scales go together pretty much the same way. You will need to adjust the size of the punch to cut out the tops and bottoms of the cans in other scales Or just use scissors for this step.

The projects come in the form of a PDF that you can download to your computer so you can print it out. The only real secret to printing these is to make sure your printer is set to print as “borderless” (it might be called something different on your printer but it should be similar. On my printer I go to the preferences tab to tell it this. If you skip this step your things you print out will not be the correct scale for your doll.

I used plain, cheap white cardstock this time. You do need something of about that weight for the box. You can use a glossy paper but sometimes the ink will crack on glossy paper.

After you have everything assembled just give your cans a coat of a gloss finish and the box a coat of satin and you ready to display.

Be sure to check out the links at the top of this page to all my other blogs so you can see what else I have been creating and doing.  

Dollhouse Miniature Furniture Makeover

Watchthe video here.

I know this is a really short video but I wanted to get something done for you all this week. It is still really hot here and working on anything is just miserable.

I was at the Dollar Tree the other day and noticed they had some dollhouse furniture in the toy section. This time instead of having that really cheap looking finish the pieces all appeared to be totally void of any finish. I grabbed a pair of this little tables (?) so I could show you a side by side before and after this time. I think I will work out another finish for the other one for a future video. If there is something in particular you would like to see me do with the other one let me know (keep in mind they are really rough- so they aren't going to come out like an expensive piece)

This time I simply brushed on a thin coat of brown craft paint and wiped off any excess. This gives a faux stained wood finish. You will have to dab on some extra paint where the glue resists the paint.

I did decide to give my piece some “metal” drawer pulls via a coat of metallic paint. As far as craft paints in the metallic colors go I really prefer the Ceramcoat brand. The others that I have personally tried have all be almost transparent instead of opaque.

I did end up spraying the finished piece with a gloss a spray finish, I had planned to use a satin but my can wouldn't spray so I had to use the one that would work.

If you are working with kids I think these little furniture pieces might be a fun craft project to do. Just get a few pieces of the furniture and various colors of craft paint and let them have some fun. The spray finish could either be skipped or done by an adult outside.

Sorry this is so short but I am just not dealing with this heat well at all.

Also a side note I have changed the name of my general craft blog and I plan to be adding more to it in the near future. The link is at the top of this page so if you are interested be sure to check it out and maybe subscribe to that blog too. (there is a Youtube channel for that one too- I will be announcing it this week over on that blog)