Cut Now, Measure Later : Personalized Paper Mache Doll Houses

Hello again!

Disclaimer: According to Wikipedia, both "Papier-mâché" and "paper mache" are acceptable, so, I'm going with the easier version today. ;)

Ok, this week, I'm going to show you a project near and dear to the kid in me. (Let's be real, I'm 99% kid.) Anyways, while wandering through the the paper mache aisle at the craft store, I came upon an entire section of doll houses in varying sizes.

I immediately remembered the AMAZING doll house my parents made for my sister and me when we were little. Everything was meticulously painted and decorated, and my Barbies LOVED living in it.

So, inspiration struck, and I knew that some of my little nieces might love to play with a scaled-down version of the house I had.

If you remember my love of peg people, you'll know how excited I was to find that a peg doll would fit perfectly through the door of one of these houses. So, naturally, I painted a peg-version of each niece.

After that, it was time to get going on the houses. :)

Here is what you'll need to decorate a doll house of your own:

-Paper Mache doll house (or similar product you made/found at a craft store)

-Acrylic paint, paint brushes

-Spray paint (optional for covering large areas)

-Scrapbook paper (optional, for window box) and all-purpose glue

-Acrylic clear coat spray or Mod Podge for sealing your artwork :)

-Accessories are optional: ribbon/fabric for curtains, felt/wooden flower pot for houseplant

-Hot glue gun (if adding accessories)

Ok, here we go!

The first thing I did was paint the inside of each house with spray paint. Any color would work-- I just used a bright, happy spray paint that I already had in the garage.

Next, I painted the outside of the house with acrylic paint. Use whatever color you want! Depending on the paint you have, it may take a couple of coats.

After that, I used green acrylic paint to paint the "grass" around the house. I used a fine brush to paint grass leaves on the bottom of edges of the outer wall of the house too.

*Remember, all of these details are up to you! I also painted a vine against one side of the house and used a fine brush or pencil dipped in paint to make the flowers on the vine and in the grass.

I decided to make a window box under the front window. I cut a rectangle of scrapbook paper I had with a wood grain on it, and glued it to the house using a glue stick. Next, I painted more vines and flowers. There are no rules!

Next, I painted the roof and chimney.

If you're happy with your house, it's time to seal your hard work! Since I glued paper onto the front of the house, I used Mod Podge to cover the paper and paint.

Hooray! You have a beautiful, happy doll house!

You know I like accessories, so I decided to add a few to the interior of each house. I used ribbon/trim scraps to make curtains and used hot glue to apply them.

Confession: I LOVE houseplants. They don't always survive, but I just love plants that live inside. I blame/thank my mom for this. :) So, naturally, a doll house isn't a doll home until it has a plant. (This was probably my favorite part.)

I found these incredibly cute wooden flower pots at the craft store and got to work. First, paint the pot whatever color you want.