DIY Dollhouse

My husband has to be commended for building this spiffy dollhouse made out of the scrap wood that was just lying around.  The painting and finishing was done by our trusty carpenter.  My eldest and I couldn't wait to put wallpaper on it so we picked out the prints way before it was done.  This is a before and after shot:

Looks a lot better than the dreary plain old white house.

I promised myself I wouldn't buy little furniture for this new project.  We have a multi-colored wooden dollhouse with furniture but I had Scandinavian dreams for this one, so I didn't want to touch that other set.  I was super inspired by this blog post Modern DIY Dollhouse Furniture by Landsdowne Life that DIY furniture was the way to go.  So my daughter and I started collecting knick knacks/lose parts.  My obsession was waiting for the dental floss and hair conditioner to run out because I needed them for the dollhouse.  This was the first batch of furniture (pre-floss and conditioner cap):

I say not bad for starters.  Looking good for a few pieces here and there.

So the first batch of furniture was a hit!  My three kids were engrossed in play, and it was a joy to watch since I made the interiors myself and I didn't spend anything on the cutesy modern furniture!  Here are the recent photos.  Notice the Hermes artwork in the bathroom wall!  That's from a Hermes catalog family gave to me from a trip to Japan!

For a closer look at the little parts that make the interiors:

iPhone box bed.  Vietnamese pouch for the matress.  Silver perfume cover for the nightstand.  Acrylic cover from a little container.

The piece de resistance: the water closet!!!  Dental floss and hair conditioner cover!  I love it to bits!  Do you spot the other features?!  The mirror was extracted from a pink Barbie mirror for kids!

I can't wait to see what you can come up with!  Please shoot me a message so I can see your modern DIY dollhouse furniture!

Party Paperminties - "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

When I was told of the next party paperminties theme "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," I was thrilled and excited!  I am an Eric Carle fan.  Each of his illustrations is really a work of art. When I look through his books, I imagine how he designed each masterpiece and tediously painted and handpicked the perfect paper to complete them.

Wanting to get some insight into his design process, I researched a bit and found this on his official website.  This is what he says about his artwork, "I begin with plain tissue paper and paint it with different colors, using acrylics. Sometimes I paint with a wide brush, sometimes with a narrow brush. Sometimes my strokes are straight, and sometimes they’re wavy. Sometimes I paint with my fingers. Or I paint on a piece of carpet, sponge, or burlap and then use that like a stamp on my tissue papers to create different textures."

For this party paperminties theme, I wanted to make each one as close to the original artwork as possible and thought of using tissue paper as well but since it's not going to hold up on a wall or a centerpiece stick, I decided to do my own cut-paper versions. 

“I begin with plain tissue paper and paint it with different colors, using acrylics. Sometimes I paint with a wide brush, sometimes with a narrow brush. Sometimes my strokes are straight, and sometimes they’re wavy. Sometimes I paint with my fingers. Or I paint on a piece of carpet, sponge, or burlap and then use that like a stamp on my tissue papers to create different textures.” - See more at: http://blog.sanfranciscomusicbox.com/how-eric-carle-makes-his-beautiful-art/#sthash.uFIjeCZU.dpuf

Well, Mr. Eric Carle,  I hope I do you proud! = )

Large Wall Decor

Large Wall Decor

Large Wall Decor

Large Wall Decor

Party Invite - paperminties' first party invite!  The circles are attached to each other with circle paper fasteners so the body retracts behind the head of the caterpillar.  I copied this from a school invite. ; )

Table confetti.

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Sticks

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Stick

Table Centerpiece Sticks

Table Centerpiece Sticks

Table Centerpiece Sticks (foreground).  Excess party invites were used as party decor (background)

Table Centerpiece Sticks

If you need paperminties to customize your next party with cut-paper party decor, just let us know by sending us a private message through our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/paperminties. ; )

Homemade Elephant Stamp and Gift Paper

I eagerly made this homemade elephant stamp for the son of my very good friend but was pretty delayed in delivering it.  So to make amends, I added a little extra surprise on the side - homemade, elephant-stamped gift paper!

I made the gift paper out of mahjong paper - when I finally purchased it!  Amidst the school-time shopping rush, I braved the school supplies section of the bookstore to look for mahjong paper and with hubby's help, happily went home with the heavy pad with 40 sheets of potential gift paper.

Mahjong paper is perfect for making homemade gift paper as it's sold flat (not folded) so if you want to stamp an image away, you could just go at it, line of sight undeterred!  Plus, when it's used as gift paper, you don't have to worry about the visible creases.  Also, compared to kraft paper, it has a more ideal width at 33"x 33" and has a better shade of brown.   A bit of a downside though (which I don't mind actually) is that all sheets are sealed with padding adhesive on all sides (hubby says it's because after a game of mahjong, the topmost sheet is meant to be torn off).  I used a cutter to separate the first sheet of paper from the rest of the pad.

Here's a shot of the homemade elephant-stamped gift paper.

So cute, isn't it?!

I found it so nice that I hesitated to give it away for a moment!  Hahaha!  Shhhh...

I can't wait to make more homemade gift paper with the 39 remaining mahjong sheets! ; )  I'll definitely post the finished products when I get the time! = )

Painting with Marbles

Today's art activity was really fun! 

We painted with marbles!!!  Painted with what?!?!  MARBLES!!! = )

We did this a couple of times at the preschool where I used to teach.  Painting with marbles evolved from 'painting with rocks.'  Painting with rocks was a bit more difficult as the rocks tumbled about awkwardly, almost always missing the paint streaks on the paper so we ended up experimenting with painting with marbles.  The results were amazing!

So since we had marbles (as I posted on Cereal Box Marble Run), we tried the activity this afternoon! The girls picked out the paper and the different paint colors, and we watched how the artwork turned out when the marbles rolled over the paint streaks.

The end result: nine (9) mini Jackson Pollocks!

Here are the materials we used:

Tubes of paint
Marbles
Plastic tray that could fit 8.5x11" paper
8.5x11" paper

First, we put the paper into the plastic tray then we applied the paint streaks.  For the sample, I used the primary colors.

 

And the girls rolled the marbles about in the tray.

Our first finished product.

Really neat, huh?!

Here are the rest...the girls took turns choosing paper and paint, and tilting the tray from side to side.

Blue and silver paint.

Purple and gold.

Gold and silver on speckled black paper.

Blue, orange and gold on speckled black paper.

Light blue and gold on speckled black paper.

Trying out as many colors.

Trying out as many colors on purple paper.

After all nine works of art, the marbles were thick with paint.  Since we used acrylic, I washed them off right away with soap and water.  The paint came off quickly with a little bit of scrubbing.

These works of art make great gift-wrapping paper!

Or when framed, a nice, homemade Father's Day gift to brighten up daddy's office wall!

So, mommies, try and make little Jackson Pollocks out of your little ones with this simple yet really fun painting activity! = )