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I am really tired of the same junk out there for kids..and whose kid doesn't find some enjoyment with one of a kind gifts???
Also who has any money to pay for the crappy junk out there????
We deff don't ...esp this year....and dont want any more plastic junk in here....

I am looking to make my kid something cool for his toys..kind of like an all in one play center made from an old wood table as a base with slides, swings, and tracks made form the millions of possibilities in this house.......multi leveled..space efficient... and such so he can play with his action figures, cars and everything together while taking any wood pieces I have here and reusing them-- and a nice paint job.... and maybe even a cool way to store this junk that is always scattered...he has enough stuff and this might tie it all together and make it all more interesting -- time is money and creativity is priceless... artsy skills can come into play here full force!!

One could do the same for a girl-- making a multi tiered dollhouse from wood scraps and implementing details, painting pink,purple and other fav colors...
making specific areas for dolls and other things they may have to put on this contraption which could be the master base for all ...

any ideas floating out there for other kiddie t2t toys??

I always wanted to make my granddaughter a headboard for her bed that was also a dollhouse. I never did do it, though.

A friend of mine and her husband are building their little girl a Barbie doll house to scale, and I'm helping out with soem of the furnishings.

An old jewelry box of mine is going to be a dresser for the bedroom. A board covered with some curbed and washed antique satin fabric from old drapes is a box springs, and I also made a mattress by quilting some of the antique satin and putting it together and stuffing it with some memory foam from an old mattess pad. The sheets are from some percale fabric that was a skirt. The headboard is one of those kids' play tiaras mounted on the narrow edge of a 1 x 4. The dust ruffle is some pleated pink satin ribbon, and the comforter is a piece of white satin, machine-embroidered with a pink "B" in the middle and edged with some pearl trimmed braid. I gathered up some beaded organza ribbon and made a lampshade, using a clear baby nipple as the base of the shade. The lamp is a dowel inserted into an empty embroidery thread spool.

I also have an idea to make a chaise lounge out of one of those Blue Bunny oval ice cream containers. I would cut down the sides in the shape I want, upholster it with some quilt batting, and use some memory foam for the seat.

I've also made an upholstered couch out of a cardboard box. I still need to make the seat cushions.

I have a picture saved somewhere of a dollhouse made from a tall dresser. You leave the top drawer for storage and put thin pieces of wood like luan(?) where the bottom of the drawer would have been. It had a few levels. Then it was decorated with carpet paint etc. I think it would just depend on what size your dolls were,but you could always adjust the size of the stories of your dollhouse. It's on my to do list. But the idea for a boy would be fantastic. If I can post a picture I'm not sure where I got it, not sure who to give credit to.

40ad05e7-7611-4fee-9fb0-885386e4a988_player.jpg (59 Kb, 112 downloads) Dresser dollhouse

Amy Rae, That is cute!!!

You could try making an entertainment type item to house the kid's electronic "stuff" that gets accumulated over the Christmases.

How about taking an old coffee table and padding and covering it to make a seat/bench and even adding a "skirt" to it that would match a boy or girl's room. The girls would be pleaded where the boys would hang straight.

Back a million years ago when I was a little girl, my Grandparents made my Sister and I furniture. My Sister and I had countless hours of fun playing house. They used the wood fruit crates, for the vanity, Grandpa, stood them on end, then used a thin piece of wood to make the top, and a short lip across the back of the top. Grandma made a skirt that was attached with the old time spring, across the front. They then made a vanity stool out of a nailkeg, complete with a cushion and skirt.
The couch was also a wood crate, not real comfortable but adorable, put the inside of the crate face down, attached a board to the back, then padded and upholstered the whole thing in red vinyl, complete with a matching footstool.
The doll bed was also a crate, with a headboard, Grandma made a mattress, and all the bedding. Sadly someone decided it would look great in their house and took it while we were in the process of moving. My Mother had saved this for years waiting for one of us girls to have a little girl, I only had it long enough for my Daughter to play with it just a few months, she's now 26, but I'm thinking, I should remake this for my Granddaughter.
At least they didn't take the wonderful memories of all the fun we had as Kids, and all the Love my Grandparents put in it.

militarymom
Marty

That was a great idea, it reminds me of a Christmas about 18 years ago when my daughter was first starting to play with barbies. She really wanted one of the barbie doll houses but I sure couldnt afford one, my best friend Peggy (who is gone now and I really miss) took a 4 shelf book case, cut it in half and put it together to make a 2 story (cube) barbie doll house. Her and I spent a month gathering up different things to put together, this was before I ever heard of t2t. The lamps were made from a medicine cup that we glued lace too, Peggy made the couch and love seat out of scrap materials. We got scrap carpet pieces from Tally Ally, the kitchen had outdoor carpet while the rest of the rooms had plush carpet. Just sitting here remembering just makes me cry we had a blast and her husband (usually a grouch and tightwad, sorry Jack) even got into it and insisted on buying new rollers to put it on. I painted the solid side to be the front of the house, and we took a small mirror out of a cosmetic box (square) and painted popsickle sticks to make the frame to hang in the front room. Anyway I still have the couch and loveseat and some of the mirrors and as for the barbie doll house that every girl in the neighborhood fell in love with, well its now painted with disney characters and serving as my grandsons book case. To sum it up several pieces of trash became TREASURES that will carry on through generations. Thanks Peggy we miss you!!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kerstmom,

I'm currently in the process of helping a friend make furnishings for a Barbie doll house that her husband is building.

I'm working on the bed.
Here's the mattress. I made it out of a piece of curbed antique satin drapes and a piece of a memory foam mattress topper.

Barbie Mattress

Here is a pic of the sheets and dust ruffle.

Barbie Sheets and Dust Ruffle

The comforter is a piece of white satin that one of my friends gave me. I embroidered the heart and the "B" on it with my embroidery machine. It's not finished yet. I still need to add some trim around the edges and make the pillow shams. I also need to fix it so that it hangs better at the bottom of the bed. I didn't make the bottom to the bed because my friend already made it. I just put the bed on top of a baggie box to take the picure.

Barbie Comforter

Here is a couch that I made, too. It's made out of two end corners of a cardboard box, cut to size and put together and upholstered. I still need to make the cushions.

Barbie Couch

Oh...and BTW, my name happens to be Peggy.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MsSippi,

hi peggy from yet a 3rd peggy! the items that you've created are just gorgeous and what a great friend you are!!!
kerstmom, what a beautiful story and memory of your dear friend.
true illustrations of what friendship is.