Doll Display Shelf - Fantasy Style!

Okay, I've been watching My Froggy Stuff again. This time, she had the brilliant idea to create a doll shelf to display a couple dolls by using a frame. You can check out her video HERE. So.... I decided to make one of my own.

And I have to admit, I think it came out beautifully! I see myself making another one. Though I would tweak it some more. Like make the railing taller, for instance. And give it a different theme. You get the point though. So let us take a walk through the steps, then watch a video where I show you my design elements!

Decide a theme

I chose something medieval. Fantasy style. Because why not?

I had thought about a Fallout version, with a vault door, but I was having trouble coming up with the right design. Maybe next time.

I think this weird frame got a great new life. What about you? I'll stop talking and show you now. Enjoy!

A 1/6 Scale Store to Make Life Size Ones Jealous!

Barbie shops. Often. Right? But where does she go? How does she come home loaded with new items? She goes to the store of my imagination, of course! I have put together a store box room to allow Barbie to shop to her hearts content. But it also serves a practical use. This store of mine holds my minis. Neat and orderly! Walk through the steps with me, and I will show you how I created this room. 

Do you watch My Froggy Stuff on YouTube? No? You are missing out! That lady is super talented. My husband says even crazy to some degree, as her builds are SOOOOO DETAILED! There are things she will build that I'm thinking... Nope. Not necessary. But I keep watching, because more times than not she makes something that I'm thrilled with. She has a ton of printables on her blog that you can find HERE. For this project, I used the Target wall background under the Shops and Stuff list. It will take you to her Google document list where you can print those out for free.

I glued those to foamboard that were cut to create a 3-sided room box. On the right-hand side, the wall isn't full. I'm considering a door option to go there. 

I used dimensions from My Froggy Stuff that were in one of her videos to create the free standing shelving unit. The platform is 3 1/4" wide by 8" long. The middle part is 5" wide by 9 3/4" tall. I think the base ones were about a 1/4"? I didn't write those down and mostly eyeballed it. The shelves I made just to fit.

Then I covered mine, because I haven't been able to get smooth cuts on my foamboard. If any of you know a trick to doing it smoothly, feel free to leave me a comment! I like that these can move around while offering extra shelving. I think they will also work well for photos. But they take me a really long time to make. Partially because of everything else I have to do during a day... The wall on the left-hand side has shelves that go from top to bottom, as well as all the way across.  

One thing I found is that some of my minis are a bit on the large size. As long as we aren't talking mega here, I was thinking it suits that family or economy size. Back when I was a kid, it was also called institutional size. How do I know this? Because I'm the oldest of 10 kids and we bought that size before places like Costco and Sam's Club were cool. But I'm not satisfied with calling these larger minis by those names. I'm thinking... Survival Solutions. A play on the prepper mind.  

My daughter has helped me with setting up this store. We found that attaching the minis to a clear plastic piece by using glue dots worked best. Once the layout was just right, I hot glued the strips to the shelf. This way, I can remove minis and move things around as needed. However, you can just glue them down too. Or if you have doubles sitting one in front the other, just glue the front one down and make the back one removable. Do it how it works best for you. 

The first set of moveable shelves are being used for the toy aisle. Don't mind the naked doll in the background. I asked my daughter to grab a doll for comparison in heights. That was the only one she could find apparently. *insert face palm here* 

Next, was the checkout counter. I just used foam board to create the open-sided box. That was then glued to the floor. I used various card stock and paper to make it look prettier. I had a small cash register piece that I painted and glued on as well. The card reader that we have came from a Mini Brands capsule. As you can see on the left side, I tacked the Mini Brands coolers to it with Glue Dots. This way, I can remove them if I want to later. They hold juices and sodas, like you would see near checkouts normally. 

For the rest, like that cooler you see in the back, I'll be leaving you with this video to see. I'll walk you through it and show you how it looks on a closer level. Hope you like it!

 

I still have not decided on a name, so if you have one in mind, leave me a comment below!

It's the Little Things

My husband has learned that I have quite the affection for little things. Almost anything that can be used for 1/6 scale dolls catches my attention. And even his! He has helped me find things whenever we go out. From a tiny glass bottle at the local antique shop.

To the tiny books and passport at the Hobby Lobby. These, in particular, are often going on sale!

This Christmas tree was one such gift from him. We found it at a game store and I was just over the moon! It even plugs in to light up.

But it was lacking in decorations. Which is when I decided to create some nerdy ones myself. My first one was this tiny tophat that I made into an ornament. Again, these things go on sale often at the craft store!

Then someone traded me some beads that I strung around the tree. I have been watching for things I could add and it is slowly coming together.

At the antique shop, they had these bags of mini decor, as they called them, that were half off. There were even books and music score pages elegantly made.

My daughter got one of the bags that had little porcelain dishes. One of them was from France, 3 pieces from Germany. One of mine was from Mexico! It was as though our dolls had taken trips.  

This is how I come up with scenes like this one! I decided to build a nerdy kids playroom.

I added Squishmallows as stuffed toys. The books you see 'floating' are in clear razor covers that are now as shelves. The rug was made from a furry vest.

I was inspired to make this toybox/bench because of the Rainbow High fashion pack box. I used that as a drawer. Made the pillow cushion. And the back board is covered in paper and decorated with the tops of cupcake toppers from a super hero theme.

The Star Wars pictures came from a calendar we had. Also from packaging. I wanted it to look like posters covering the whole wall. That mini shelf came from the Mini Brands Books capsule. I'll add more kid books to it from my collection later. The Minecraft sword was one I 3D printed.

I had these little dinosaurs my daughter didn't want. A unicorn 'doll' toy and a Doorable princess as a doll too. I just need to add the baby themed items. You can sorta see the Mini Brands Baby bouncer in the corner of the above photo. But I also have a Grogu bassinet I had 3D printed too. That way the babies aren't left out of the fun! 

What are you creating?? Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear about it!

Creating a New Doll Room Box

Dollhouses are nice, but they can't compare to a set of rooms that you create yourself. From size fitting to details, there is so much that can be better for a custom dollhouse, right? I thought so. Which is why I asked my husband to build a box room that I could decorate and create with. I wanted to make something unique for the Nerdy Doll I photograph.

I gave my husband measurements and he cut the boards to make the box. I wanted something that would be solid in case the girls also played with it. But also something I can add to without making it rubbish down the line. I painted the floor brown and wanted to make the wall look like it had various shades of metals on the walls. The first wall I did on the left came out looking like something thrown up from the 1970's.

That was the kind remark my husband had when I showed him. Hmm... not exactly what I was going for. So I tried something different on the next wall.

I went with bigger blocks of color patches. Made a cream color the main background and the 'metal' colors smaller. I decided this was going to be a Steampunk themed food court. The splits would be three different sections with foods from my mini collection to serve the dolls with.

I was happy to at least have the doll sizing right on this room box. And then even happier when I saw that her Mario dress matched! My mom had sent me these bamboo cutting boards she picked up super cheap. I gave them a paint job to use as the dividers for the sections in the food court.

They are short enough that the dolls can ask for things over the partitions. What are fellow food service friends for, after all! 

 Intermission for some side notes!

While putting this together, my daughters got excited and decided they wanted to give their dollhouse a makeover too. So they took some of the scrapbook papers and redid the walls in a couple of the rooms. I was proud of their initiative on this! 

 

These girls always surprise me!

Back to the Steampunk Food Court! 

I have been slowly adding to it. Giving it more of the details I desire. I learned a trick from My Froggy Stuff on YouTube about using clear plastic packaging that is scored and folded, to create an 'invisible' barrier to keep things on their shelves. So I did that with the first shelf I installed. However, couldn't do it on the second because some of my sushi dishes were larger than the shelf. I've been trying to think up names as well as what will go into each section. I wanted to give each one a theme. The middle one is a cake place.

That will be in honor of Princess Leia. The far left side was going to be Asian foods, but might have some other types of foods mixed in. The last one... well, let's just say that I need better lighting at this table that I craft on. I couldn't tell that the support board I glued in for the first shelf was definitely slanted. So my husband came up with a name that was fitting. And I made the other shelves slanted to match. This place is now called Seismic Shakes! I've taken to a font generator. online to create the names that will be displayed over each shop.

Time for the serving counters!

Every food serving joint needs a counter to separate the client from the workforce. Though, if you have seen videos recently, they don't always work. But in my miniature world - we have respect for everyone! 

I had to put a little elbow grease in while the husband was at work. Using a vice and handsaw, then a sander, to get the boards cut how I wanted them, but I think it came out right. In this particular shop, I was able to add a sink too. 

I was able to 3D print some take out boxes and used the Teeny Tinies Sashimi Rollin' set from Five Below to stock most of what you see on the counter and shelves. A couple of things from Mini Brands filled other empty spaces. 

Leia's Sweet Buns has a counter! 

And shelving. Oh! And cakes! Cakes that I made from air dry clay that I grabbed at the Dollar Tree. I used a clearanced silicone mold to shape the cakes. I love this method so much. Simple, but looked amazing! I even added some pink paint to the icicle-looking stuff hanging from the shelf behind Suzette. I wanted it to look like frosting dripping from the shelf. 

What about Seismic Shakes?

I cut a round dowel to size, then used a piece of woven material my mom had sent me to make a divider. The counter would then lay over that. I threw in some planters on the walls too.

After all, plants will be like gold in a post apocalyptic world, right? I still have other details I'm working in here and there, but the majority is finished and I'm sharing it with you!

What are your thoughts? What would you change or add? Let me know in the comments below!

Temu Times Three

Okay, last post on Temu items for now. My daughters had requested, and the older one even bought, the dolls. I grabbed the miniatures for a project I plan to start. The hat was a bonus for my hat/cat loving little one! Let me know what you think! 

Pink hair doll - My daughter is in love with this doll! After seeing how great it is, I really want to get one for myself. Her eyes are gorgeous. Her hair is so soft! I love how well the joints work. And her face painting is stunning. Great quality! 

Anime doll - Her hair is so soft! Though once you pull her hair down from the two side parts, you can see she has a massive bald spot splitting those from her bulk of hair. It also has a tendency to come out easily when the girls brush it. Her eyes, have amazing details - purple with white stars. She reminds me of an anime girl. The paint job on her face is stunning. Her joints are well done too. 

Cat ears hat - My youngest daughter has been in love with this style hat for a while. So when I saw this one with the ears, I knew I needed to get one for her. She couldn't wait to show it off! The ears are a little far back and a little floppy, making it difficult to see them, but she's in love with it so I'm happy.

Dollhouse test tube set - Amazingly enough, I think they really are glass! Well, all but the stand, corks and stir stick thing. That made me so happy. I love realistic miniatures. This one was for a future project I'm working on. A 1/6 laboratory!

Drink set - these are the kind of things we love to find! Little drinks that are cute and doll sized. Made to be charms, the have the little holes, but are easily used for dolls instead. This particular set is now sold out. But there are lots of other options that were similarly priced.

This lingerie set was a little bit of a miss. The underwear were supposed to be for the Witch doll the girls made, but they were lopsided and didn't fit well onto the doll. The bra and nightgown at least were decent. The one I purchased was sold out. So you might have to find another seller anyhow. Maybe it will be better!

And finally, we come to the miniature doctor tools set. I got this so that I could enhance the Plague Doctor doll I created. 3D printing the tools wasn't working out. And these work great - except for the stethoscope which is slightly small. Unfortunately, this was also sold out. However, I did find other sellers with sets just like it. 

This last item, was actually something I had hoped would be like the Make It Mini capsules. But instead it was a kit for making things with crafting mousse. Instructions were in another language and mostly covered up by a seller sticker. But we managed to guess our way through it.