I recently converted one of my shelves into a dollhouse for my Pullips, but it's so plain! Does anyone have any cheap, creative ideas for making it look better?

Wandering around a craft store you can find tons of cute things to make their house more like a home.

scrapbooking paper for the walls - there is bound to be something you like and it's not expensive. Or check the wrapping paper at the dollar store or anywhere else it's cheap, sometimes you can find nice ones. Fabric remnants can work too.

scrapbooking section - for little picture frames

fleeces or fake fur just a little bit and you've got an awesome rug.

there some pin cushion chairs that I've seen around I'm not sure if they're the right size but they could be.

Mandi found a gorgeous chaise lounge at WalMart near the jewelery section - I think it's really supposed to be a jewelery box but it's the perfect size for furniture and it has storage space as well - I haven't bought one yet but they are tempting. oh there big straight backed chairs too.

you can buy some scrapbooking paper for wallpaper and make furniture out of cereal boxes and fabric.

or you gent get some paint and do a faux finnish on the walls and on the furniture. You can do marble, stone...anything you want, and its pennies. You can also get little stones and beads and some wood furniture- glue the beads/ stones down onto the wood however you want then go ontop to them with an air dry clay like you are grouting tiles. The tops of the beads or stones should be showing through. When it dries, you can paint the clat any colour you want. Ive seen this before and it looks awsome^_^.

You can also glue a few stones to a piece of plastic and use it as a tabletop.

+ Placemats for area rugs. (You can get double-sided ones which are good for a quick change!)

+ Fabric remnants to make pillows, curtains, coverslips, etc. Or for making a completely draped wall.

+ Scrapbooking sections in stores have TONS of mini stuff! Very detailed, too! And don't forget to look in the jewelry section!

+ Hardware section. There you can find floor vents and small fixtures that can be used as faux cast iron gates or gothic-style decorations.. Or feet and accessories for chairs/tables/etc.

+ I found some CD chairs in the electronics section.. Perfect size for dolls. (Just need to throw on some pillows and a blanket)

+ Plastic bottlecaps from pop bottles can be used to make retro mini-circle shelves to put items in.. (Other sorts of furnishings and trinket boxes) Ice cube trays work well, too!

+ Sponges can be covered to make comfy sofas and stools.

+ Training wheels for bikes can be turned into seats or tables.

Just.. Look at things in a totally different way! Household items can be changed 100% with a can of spraypaint, glue and some immmagination! xD

Holy moly, I'm loving these ideas. I have a small bookcase in my bedroom I might attack now O.O

im thinking i want to do this now too

it's fuuuuuuuuuun! ( and has a tendency to consume your life.):biggrin:

you can also look online for printable things you can use. there's a site called

'Jim's dollhouse printables' or something like that, he has heaps of neat stuff you can use to decorate. and there are links to other good sites. Google for 'dollhouse printable' and 'dollhouse miniatures' and see what you get.

I have access to a ton of neat stuff if you want me to find you some, 'basca. (like the cool Japanese furniture in my gallery) I get most of it from the dollar store and 7-11, so it's not very expensive.

oh, and if you can still find those mini-lcd christmas lights, you can use those to make spiffy lights.
hmm.

plastic containers and bottles make good 'glass' for glass tables/windows, etc.

Sylvanian families furniture is in scale for Mini-pullips.

scrapbooking supplies are *awesome* as far as decorations, and special furnishings. be sure to look in the sticker section as well, because there are some great things there.

oh, and the best advice for a beginner: Start Small! Don't get too complicated on your first project, or you may give up in despair when things don't work out. (they almost never do at first.) Just adapt and go on from there.

Oh my gosh!! These ideas totally *ROCK*!!!

I'm currently browsing Jim's Dollhouse pages and I'm *ADDICTED*!!

::squeals and bounces around:: I'm going to commence a shelf attack in about five minutes! MWUHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Go printer! GO!!!!

hey 'basca, do you want a fridge like potebrigette's? (did I spell that right? :eh:)

they come in pearly pink and in white. They're very realistic, and only 10 bucks! I can also get you the other half of the kitchen set, it has a counter and cabinets and a 'tile' wall. it's 14.00.
they make a great place to play with and store your tiny plastic food, lol.

Um, I think I'm the only one, but I have real carpet, tile, and wallpaper for my carpet, tile, and wallpaper. It's really surprising how few people actually use real materials, honestly.

Tiny furniture is another thing entirely, for fake food I highly suggest Re-ment though. They also made the fridge that I use.

Oh my gosh! I just looked up Re-ment stuff on ebay and they're *adorable*!!

How big are these things? I just saw a "Pinky Room" one and it looks cool! I'm just worried that it would be too small for my Pullips.

I'll put a pic of Minty's kitchen up for you. these are meant for 1/6 scale dolls, like barbie and Jenny. I have to adapt them to use them with my ponies, because they're too big.

they should be just the right size.

oh, and a room built for Pinky dolls would be probably be perfect for Mini-pullips! do you have a link to where you saw it?

Oh, and I have *pile* of extras of those food sets.

Potebrigitte, I think the reason most people don't use the real thing when they decorate is because it's so hard to find things that are in scale. and the miniature version is *waaay* out of most people's price range. I wondered about that carpet and tile in yours when I saw it, because you're right, it *is* unusual to see the real thing in a doll's room. Is the tile stuck down? I tend to leave everything unattatched if I can, so I can move rooms around when I go on a building spree.

The Re-ment food if about perfect scale, but the fridge is a bit short, but I'm not sure about the actual furniture.

I was wondering why no one else used the real stuff! The tile and carpet aren't attached at all, and the wallpaper has big loops of tape holding it in place. Luckily the adhesive is circa 1972 so I can peel it off easily if I want to change it. The tile is just a sample tile (25 cents from Home Depot) and the carpet is a section I cut off from a big piece that was left when my carpet was installed. If I can get my hands on one of those carpet sample swatches I'd be overjoyed, no more cutting! The best part is now her carpet and tile are identical to what's in my house (well, the tile is very close at any rate). Too bad I don't have that wallpaper, far out! lol

lol! short fridge...I just realized how used to Japan-sized things I've gotten.
aka: "Wait, you mean, fridges aren't *supposed* be dinky?"
*snicker*