Take two cardboard boxes

by Joan Key

Don’t be put off by the length of this project you can come into it at whatever level you choose. It can be made as shown and treated as a good trial run to test how you are going to take to the world of miniatures, or my hope is that adults and children will work on it together. You can find the You Will Need list at the foot of the article.

The whole procedure could be simplified by gluing together two small cardboard boxes, or more, and letting children use their imagination. The furniture could be bought. Cardboard boxes are free from the supermarkets; wallpaper samples for walls and floors are also free from DIY stores. Most of us have emulsion paint left over from full scale decorating, or sample pots are cheap.

My only expenditure was 50p for the bedroom wallpaper and a few pounds for banister newel posts and turned spindles. Any DIY or craft orientated household will have the rest.

If it goes wrong you can simply bin it and start again as I had to. Above all, have fun.

The idea for this project was sparked off by a week, a long time ago, at Marlborough Summer School on a papier-mache course taught by Julie Arkell. We used cardboard to start off some of our projects and my twelfth scale mind started adapting. You must accept it is not possible to get perfect results - there will almost certainly be some slightly bumpy areas, but the overall effect should be acceptable to most people.

The first project I attempted when I got home was a larger house made using boxes that some bathroom cabinets arrived in - anyone who fits kitchens or bathrooms would be a good source of large, undamaged cardboard. I used one technique taught, which was to paste on several layers of torn squares of newspaper. All went well to start with - doors and windows were cut out and ‘stone’ edges of wrapped strips of card placed around windows and the front of the house. The inside was emulsioned, the outside had brick paper pasted on and then varnished.

Unfortunately, as more layers were added the whole thing started to bow and, although flattened under heavy weights each night, once the weights were removed the bowing gradually returned to the extent that I wasn’t happy with it. I had to start again which was a pity because I had used the Deco Granite stone effect paint and it was looking good.

The next attempt was on a more modest scale and is the one shown. If you are creating a larger house it would probably be a good idea to make two of the one shown to join together avoiding the need to paste and paint large pieces of card.

Glue together two sheets of cardboard and cut two sections 22in high x 12in wide.

You'll find diagrams at foot of page.

Mark off first room height at 9in and second room height at 8in. Mark centre point at top and cut the sloping roof from the outside marking for the second room to the centre.

Using wallpaper paste cover the edges of one of these pieces with strips of newspaper - use this one for the front. Try to keep this edging neat and even.

Emulsion a piece of embossed or woodchip wallpaper for the front of the house 10 ½ in x 22in. Allow to dry.

Cover enough .in strips of cardboard with newspaper to go around the edge of the front and the top and bottom of the windows. Glue in place and paint with darkish brown paint, including the sides.

When dry, paste sections of your emulsioned embossed paper to the front of the house, between the timbers. Wallpaper the inside of the front to match your intended room decorations. Weigh it down to keep flat whilst paste is drying.

When all wallpaper is dry, cut out windows and door. Cut out 4in strips of mount card, paint dark brown and cut to fit all round the edges of the windows and door opening to neaten. Glue in place. The strip will need to be ½in wide for the right hand side of the doorframe.

Windows

Cut some clear acrylic sheet slightly larger than the window openings. Criss-cross with a felt tip that writes on acrylic or plastic. If lines go wrong wipe off with methylated spirit and start again. Glue to the inside of the windows. Add ½ in strip of mount card to the bottom of each window, on the inside.

Door

Cut two pieces of mount card to fit into the doorway allowing for the door to open and close.

Glue together, enclosing the edge of a piece of tape, on one long side to act as the hinge.

Score the card at ½ in intervals from top to bottom.

Glue two ½ in wide pieces of mount card 1in from the top and bottom of the door. Trim to neaten if necessary. Paint dark brown, including the tape. The door will be hinged to the right hand side looking from the outside. Glue an 1/8 in wide strip of card to the centre of the top, bottom and left hand side of the doorframe. This will stop the door pushing right through.

Cut a ½in strip of mount card long enough to frame inside the door.

Cut to fit and paint brown. Working from the inside, put door into position, glue left hand side of doorframe in place, catching in the hinge all the way down. Frame the rest of the door.

You should now have an attractive front to your house, which will encourage you to keep going.

Rest of the house

Cut out two sides 17in x 9in and three pieces 12in x 9in for your ceilings and floors. Mark the height of the rooms on the inside of each of your side pieces. Stand sides on the back piece at each edge and glue in place.

Check floors, as they will probably need to be trimmed to obtain a good fit. Glue in place at the marked levels. This is where you will wish you had two pairs of hands but it can be done.

Cover all front edges neatly with paste newspaper strips. When dry emulsion all front edges white.

You can now start the interesting part - decorating. Use textured or small patterned papers as the cardboard indentations can show through your finished results. If any part is badly dented, cover with cereal box card before papering.

Ceilings

Emulsion lining paper or use an embossed paper. Cut to size, emulsion and paste in place when dry, allowing a small overlap at the side and back edges.

Walls

As for ceilings.

Floors

Cut cereal box card to size and paste your chosen floor paper to it. I already had a wood-coloured one which, when marked into planks at ½in intervals looked quite convincing. When dry check for fit and trim if necessary, then paste into place.

Picture rails and skirting board

Emulsion ¼ in and ½ in strips of card and glue into place after all papering has been done. Don’t forget to leave gaps in your skirting for fitting doors and fireplaces.

Roof

Cut two pieces of double cardboard slightly larger than needed to cover each side of your roof.

Hinge in the centre with a piece of old sheet glued across the join, on the inside.

On two pieces of cereal box card, draw lines 1in apart. Cut strips of the card 14in wide in the opposite direction to the lines you have already drawn.

You should now have strips of card 14in wide with markings at 1in intervals along their length. Snip into these marking for 1in. Cover your roof cardboard with these tiles, overlapping each strip, starting from the bottom.

For the top point of the roof cut two more strips of card about 1in wide, the length of the roof. Score lightly down the centre of each of these strips and glue top ½ in of each strip together. Draw small curves or use pinking shears to cut a shape along the top of the glued section. Glue this to the top of the roof.

Paint your tiles with several shades of red, blending in well and making sure you get the paint into the cut sections but try not to obliterate the cuts or you will lose the tile effect.

Bedroom furnishings

Fireplace

Cut pieces from pattern, as indicated. Glue the two pieces of (3) together, trimming edges level. Glue front (1) and two sides of (2) together and add top. (3).

Cut (4) from thin black card and score as shown. Pull sides forward gently - use the edge of a table to help with the bending.

Decorate front (1) with strips of embossed wallpaper and squares of card. Emulsion.

Glue (4) in place as fireback.

Cut a piece of mount card for the hearth, slightly larger than the made up fireplace. Emulsion, sponge with diluted coloured paint and add a few pencil lines to look like veins. Varnish.

Glue fireplace to hearth.

Stick a strip of gold cake decorating trim to a piece of card. You may need to use double- sided sticky tape for this. Add a gold bead to the centre and glue into the grate.

Paint a scrap of newspaper black. When dry, screw up and glue into the grate. Add some red glitter glue to look like a fire, or pieces of red sweet paper.

Glue fireplace to one of the walls.

Bedroom door

Cut door from pattern. Glue to a larger piece of mount card. Score at ½ in intervals from top to bottom of the door. Add ½in wide strips of mount card to top and two sides.

Add further ½ in strips to door as shown in diagram. Trim all edges level. Emulsion. When dry, add a tiny square of thin black card and centre the door knob on this. A bead or top of a paper clip can be used for the handle.

Light shade

Table tennis balls can be cut with sharp scissors. Sandpaper any ragged edges. Remove black writing with acetone.

Using the type of felt tip that writes on plastic draw a pattern on the half table tennis ball. Fill in shapes with coloured felt tips.

Make a hole in the centre top with a hot needle. Glue jewellery finding with a central hole over this. Knot a piece of fairly thick thread and pass it through a large eyed needle. Pass thread up from the inside of the ball through the jewellery finding and then another jewellery finding. Secure thread with a knot and glue it and jewellery finding to the centre of a ceiling rose or straight on to the ceiling.

Bed

Cut bed-head and foot from pattern (1). Glue a newel post to each side making the head and foot of each bed. Cut two ½ in x 6 ½ in strips of card (2) and glue to each side of (1) about 1½in from the floor level. Cut a base 6in by just over 3in wide and glue across the two pieces of (2). Emulsion. If you do not have turned newel posts use 4in square pieces of wood, approximately 3½in long.

Decorate with flowers. Add bedclothes. The bedspread shown was made from strips of cotton lace machined together and hemmed along cut edges.

Wardrobe

Cut pieces from pattern. Glue top (3), bottom (3), sides (2), front (1), and back (1) together. Add 3in wide strips of card around edges and two pieces at centre. Punch out some circles of card with a paper punch and use as handles or use beads or proper handles. Paint and decorate with flowers.

Chest

As for wardrobe but adding strips of card for doors and drawers, plus handles.

Potty

Cut a circle of Fimo and shape around a .in marble. Add a handle, flatten bottom of potty slightly, bake, and remove from marble whilst still warm.

Sandpaper level, if necessary. Decorate with flowers and varnish.

The photographs and clock are made of pieces from the junk box.

The photos are from magazines, and the flowers are made from Fimo and are placed in a bead pot.

The linen basket is a cardboard tube, covered with embroidery canvas, with a cylinder of material glued into the top. The top of the material is hemmed and has a drawstring threaded through.

The bible is a book-sized piece of white Fimo, with a thin layer of black Fimo wrapped around and across, indented on the front. The corners are turned up slightly to give a tattered appearance. Bake.

Colour in the cross with gold paint or felt tip and smear gold on the edges of the pages. The pictures are cut from a magazine and glued to mount card.

Bedroom curtains

Cut a strip of wood the same width as your window and 1in wide. Cut a strip of curtain material 14in wide and pleat in the large size pleater using alternate ridges. Spray with starch or brush with diluted PVA glue. Dry.

Glue a further strip of material slightly narrower than 14in to the back of the pleats. Remove carefully when dry and press the pleats flat.

Glue the pleated strip to the pelmet, wrapping round the ends of the wood. Glue a folded strip of material to the top of the pelmet to hide the edges of the pleats and glue finished pelmet to the top of the window.

Pleat material to fit the rest of the window. Plait some embroidery thread to make tiebacks and glue all in place.

Ceiling roses

The ceiling roses for the bedroom and kitchen are both made in the same way. To make a mould, roll out Fimo to about 3in thick and cut a circle 2in approximately in diameter. Push a small strip of Fimo around the edge to make a lip. Indent circle with buttons and any other shapes that you have. Bake.

Use this as your mould pressing into it circles of white Fimo. You may need to dust with talc to obtain an easy release, or brush with water. Remove shapes from mould and bake. Emulsion to match your ceilings.

Kitchen

Details for making the stove were given in Issue 108 of DHW. The coalscuttle is from Ken Palmer’s pattern given for tinware but made in thin black card as he suggested. It is varnished and decorated with painted flowers.

Baking is as detailed in Angie Scarr’s new book ‘Making Miniature Food and Market Stalls’. The rocking chair is a Chrysnbon kit, the light half a table tennis ball, left plain and put together as described for the bedroom.

Dresser

Top part of dresser - Cut two pieces of (1) making one slightly larger than the other. Glue together, allowing larger piece to protrude at sides and front. Glue top (1), sides (2) and back (6) together. Insert a strip of shaped card (8) at the top. Glue 8in strips of card at shelf height and glue your shelves to these for extra strength.

Base of dresser - Glue top (5), sides (4) and base (7) together, keeping base 4in from the bottom. When dry glue this to the bottom part of the back (6). Add shaped card strip (9) the top of the front of the base. Emulsion. The one shown was emulsioned with cream and then colour washed with diluted green.

Kitchen table

Cut table top from pattern in mount card. Paint edges green.

Glue a piece of veneer to the top (or leave plain and emulsion the top). Glue spindles one at each corner, 4in in from the edges. Glue ½in strips of mount card between the spindle tops. Emulsion and colour wash.

Mark the table top with a few cup rings and splodges using acrylic paint.

The jars on the top shelf are made from beads and paper clips.

Card plates are covered with magazine cut outs. Jars on the second shelf are made from plastic siphoning tube, two with material tops and three with rounds of baked Fimo glued on.

Baking tins, coffee jug, etc., are a Chrysnbon kit and, although a little on the expensive side, they are very neat and attractive. The kettle is made from Fimo and garden wire.

The packet of flour is a scrap of white paper with blue lines drawn on and wrapped around a piece of foam core.

White containers on the dresser are pieces of dowelling covered with embossed wallpaper. The lids are the plastic caps used to cover screw heads. The towel over the back of the rocking chair is a piece of crepe bandage with felt tip lines drawn on, and the tea towels are white cotton lawn with blue lines drawn on.

The loft is filled with odds and ends from other projects; boxes made from card, rolls of wallpaper and cutouts from DHW. My little friend, Amber, made the mice in the attic.

The old lady is made from Puppenfimo using a Push Mould.

Front of the house

Glue a piece of cardboard the width of your house front and about 2½in wide along the front.

This gives a nice area to decorate and also stops the front falling forward.

The plaque is made from Fimo, using a cake decorating cutter, a stick-on number and a transfer. The path is sand mixed with PVA glue and the step a piece of Balsa wood, painted grey, with the centre worn down a bit with sandpaper. The dog is a miniature’s fair purchase and the flowers are made from bread dough, as detailed in a previous issue of DHW.

If you are still with me, congratulations! This project has taken me about 80 hours as it stands but don’t forget you can do it any way you choose.

You will need:

House:

Large, strong, cardboard boxes
PVA glue
Emulsion paint
Wallpaper samples
Cereal box card
Stanley or craft knife (keep this sharp)
Woodchip or embossed wallpaper
Acrylic sheet or packaging
Wallpaper paste
Newspaper
Mount card
Fireplace
Mount card
PVA glue
Emulsion paint
Thin black card
Red glitter glue or shiny red sweet wrappings
Embossed wallpaper
Varnish
Gold trim
Scrap of newspaper
Gold bead
Double sided sticky tape

Bedroom door
Mount card
Emulsion paint
PVA glue
Tiny piece thin black card
Door knob

Light shade
Half a table tennis ball
Black indelible felt tip
Coloured felt tips
Jewellery findings
Crochet thread
Needle

Bed
Mount card
Four newel posts – these are sold by doll’s house shops as part of staircase items
PVA glue
Emulsion paint
Coloured acrylic paints or felt tips

Wardrobe
Mount card
Acrylic paint or emulsion
PVA glue
Coloured paints

Potty
Fimo
Marble
Paint
Varnish

Bedroom curtains
Pretty pleater, if you have one
100% cotton material
Scrap of wood for the pelmet
Embroidery silks
PVA glue or spray starch

Dresser
Mount card
PVA glue
Card plates
Beads
Food
Thin card

Kitchen table
Four banister spindles for legs
Mount card
Scrap of wood strip flooring
Emulsion

DIAGRAMS: