Creating a 1/6 Scale Laboratory

I've been wanting to create more fun doll rooms. Ones that explore my nerdy side more. I made the game room. That place to hang up favorite posters, play video games and watch the favorite movies. Then there was the Steampunk food court. A grocery store to put my Mini Brands in... So what comes next? A laboratory!

How do you pronounce it?

I say la-bore-ah-tory. I guess in some ways, I like to sound a little British when I say it. I think of the Mary Shelley classic, Frankenstein. Or even the comedy, Young Frankenstein. Remember the place where Igor has to go for the brain and he finds one from Abby Normal?

Or when they find the secret lab with shelves lined in parts. Kept in jars of formaldehyde? My daughters have a continuous flow of broken-off Barbie appendages. Hands, feet, whole legs, heads... Comes as an occupational hazard for dolls in their collection. Inevitable, you could say. Well, those keep going to Mom's stockpile. Especially after the first time I used a broken hand for a hospital scene that introduced my daughters to the idea of an amputee in their collection. 

So here is where I started.

Like I said, I began by collecting body parts that would snap off the girls' dolls. If I couldn't fix it, at least. I started putting them aside. Then I saw something in the Halloween section at our local HEB that sprung another idea.

A skeleton! Perfect! I grabbed this, removed it from the cage encasement and painted it white with a primer+paint mix that you can grab at Walmart or your local hardware store.  

On another wall, I wanted floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books. One of my YouTube followers had the great idea to add trinkets, statues, and bookends. Which will help so much in making those shelves fill faster! I used printables from Delightful Dolls and My Froggy Stuff. There are also others on Pinterest that I have printed out. 

Creating the bones of the build (Pun totally intended)

My daughter had a presentation project to put together, but didn't need the whole project board. So she cut a short piece off the top and gave the remainder to me. This would serve as the walls of my build. I grabbed a foamboard piece from the Dollar Tree to make the floor with. While there, I also grabbed some decal stickers to use as the floor design.

When it comes to my builds, I usually start one because of items I see and want to put in it. In this case, I had books, shelves, and jars. Lots of jars! I had inspiration from the movies I listed above. And it blossoms from there. I gathered up these various items with the intention of piecing together the room around it.