In an effort to spread Christmas cheer throughout the year, I decided to post these pics from a mini holiday doll scene I set up last year. 

The house is a toy barn I found at a yard sale. The fireplace, bench, and chest are all from Fisher Price (purchased at a thrift store). The tree was from the Dollar Store, and I just decorated the scene with little odds and ends. 

Now is a great time to start looking out for great holiday finds at thrift and discount stores. Have a very merry day!

As I strolled through the toy aisle at Walmart today, I saw some super cute Barbie items to enhance doll play. My girls don't play much with Barbies, but many of these accessories would be perfect for mini dolls, especially the new Our Generation modern minis. 

This Girl Scout Barbie doll was my absolute favorite. She comes in blond or brunette, and she's all decked out in her uniform (Barbiefied with plenty of pink, of course) and ready to sell everyone's favorite cookies!

My daughter has been a Girl scout for 4 years, and I think she would adore this set. Barbie's uniform even matches my daughter's, since she's a Junior this year. I love the tiny cookie boxes and the bag. Isn't Barbie a little too old to be a girl scout, though? Maybe she's just a really enthusiastic cookie mom. Anyway, the background and accessories would work great for AG or OG mini dolls or other dolls with a younger look.

At under $15, I think this set has great play value, if you can manage not to lose those adorable but ultra-tiny cookie boxes. I really may have to purchase this one.

There were several small accessory sets, including a glam microwave, glam breakfast tray, and glam vacuum set. The food sets are neat because the tray has little grooves you can fit the other pieces into so they don't fall off and get lost. The microwave comes with popcorn and pizza, and the breakfast set has a tea kettle, strawberry pancakes, and heart-shaped waffles. The little utensils are especially made for Barbie to hold. The cleaning set was kind of cute, but who really plays vacuuming with Barbies? Maybe if I had a "glam" pink vacuum I would clean more. 

These larger sets are great for recreating scenes from the hilarious Life in the Dreamhouse series, and they would also work great for other mini dolls. The camping set has two dolls, along with a campfire and sleeping bag and a few smaller accessories.I really love the Tiki set. It has a little snack hut with a stool, drinks, and a volleyball for lots of beach fun. The tropical background on the box is very nice. It comes with Skipper, but I can't tell if the Chelsea is an actual doll or just a picture. These sets are about $25 each, and there were several other sets as well, including a bicycle, a clubhouse, and a school set. If you need ideas to enhance your small-scale doll play, head on over to Walmart and check out these fun sets!

Today is my birthday, and Saige made me breakfast! Unfortunately, she will have to be in the kitchen all day to make enough of those eggs to fill me up! They are the perfect size for my mini dolls, though. I assembled this quick table from a cup, a paper plate, and a doily.The eggs, plates, sign, and place mats are from the wonderful breakfast kit I got as a prize from Doll Diaries. This set is so cute, and it works for mini dolls or full sized dolls. You can purchase it from the DD Etsy shop here.

Here is my completed bedroom for my boy doll, Emmett. The back-drop is just a 
presentation board from the dollar store. I covered it with wood-grain contact paper
and decorative tape for a border. Let's take a look at some of the finishing touches. 

This trinket shelf is my favorite part of the room. I used the box from a wooden magnet 
toy and affixed it to the wall with sturdy tape. It is strong enough to hold, but it can still be
removed to change the look. The decorations include sports erasers, a Lego mini-fig,
three ninja nesting dolls, a small car, some kind of springy bird toy (not sure where that
came from), and a small transformer. 

I love doll pieces that are functional as well as decorative, so I wanted to make a dresser that can really be used for storage (but without the hassle of real drawers that pull out). This dresser has a flip-top that opens to store items inside the box. I also found a great tutorial from My Froggy Stuff for making a dresser with a hole in the back to stash stuff inside. I made the drawers look more 3-D by wrapping pieces of cardboard in contact paper rather than using flat scrapbook paper. 

Materials:

• 1 cardboard box the size you want your dresser to be
  
• 1 extra box or pieces of thin cardboard
  
• 1 roll of wood-grain contact paper (or sheets of scrapbook paper)
  
• Strong double-sided adhesive or glue gun
  
• Craft beads
• Thin magnets (I got mine from a phone book!)

Instructions:

1. Cut a large piece of contact paper and wrap the box like a present. (I left mine open at the top and then cut the contact paper to fold over the flaps so they could still open.)
2. Cut a cardboard rectangle slightly larger than the top of the dresser. Wrap it in contact paper and firmly attach it to one of the top flaps. Attach a thin magnet to the underside of the dresser top and another to the opposite box flap to hold the dresser closed.
3. Cut out cardboard rectangles the size you want the drawers to be. 
4. Cover each drawer in contact paper and firmly attach to the front of the dresser.
5. Attach beads to the front for drawer handles. (I used sticky tack to put the beads on so they can easily be changed for different styles. Be sure to glue securely if your dresser will be used around small children, though.)
6. Cover the top of the dresser with a small piece of fabric and knick-knacks  to suit your doll.

* For an easier variation (which I discovered after completing mine, of course) is to cover both ends of the box and glue the top down all the way, Then just cut a small hole in the back to access the inside of the box for storage. 

Doll beds can be so expensive, but with a little imagination, you can easily find things around the house to make your own. This wooden frame was used to hold glass canisters in my kitchen. It even has a built-in headboard and foot-board. For the mattress, I used a foam knee board for gardening (from the dollar store). Then I wrapped it in fabric and placed it on top of the frame. I folded a small flannel receiving blanket in half for the top. For the pillow, I used a cloth bag and a mini pillow from a doll pet set. I just put the pillow into the bag and then folded the end of the bag back into itself until it made a nice rectangle. 

A bedside table is one of the easiest pieces of doll furniture to make. Just take a candle holder or cup and flip it over. Then tape your foam circle onto the flat surface. To make it more sturdy, layer several foam circles or attach the foam to a circle of cardboard first. Try different shapes like stars, hearts, or cars, I decorated my table with this cute glow-in-the-dark mini lamp, also from the dollar store.

When I got my first AG mini doll, Felicity, I set out to find some cheap furniture for her, so I turned to Pinterest and looked up Printable Dollhouse Furniture. I was not disappointed! Here is one of the pieces I found, which is from a set of vintage postcards with art by W.H. Ellam.
     You can find more of these pieces on TuckDB.org, a free online database of antique postcards published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. The images are now in the public domain and free to use as you wish. Click on the pictures below to get the full-sized versions from the Tuck DB website. Be sure to look around for more vintage printables for your dolls. Click on the Full Sized Image link in the upper right-hand corner and save to your computer.

Here are some more links for printing or making miniature dollhouse furniture:

• The AG Minis of Snickerdoodle Street: This is my absolute favorite mini-doll blog. Under the Mini Furniture tab, you'll find printables and tutorials for making your own inexpensive furniture. Check out the Printables and Scenes and Setting sections too.
  
• Small Stuff's Print Minis: This great site has lots of free printables for your dollhouse, including posters, furniture, wallpaper, and more. 

Hi, mini Saige here. I'm excited to show you my new house. Come on in!

I have my own kitchen, bedroom, and a little attic.

The kitchen is not very exciting, but I am making some yummy spaghetti for dinner.

Here is my bedroom with all my favorite things. We made these paper lanterns at the art program we started at Grandma Mimi's care center.

Mimi's friend Louis taught me how to make this dream catcher. See that cute squirrel outside my window?

I love to play with my dollhouse and toy horses.

Of course, my favorite thing to do in my room is art!

Here is my latest painting of Mimi's horses.

The attic is really small, but there's lots of cool stuff up here. sometimes I like to just lie up here and daydream. 
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll visit me again soon!
Love, Saige

NOTES:

The house is from T.S. Shure. It is called Daisy Residence, and it came with a bunch of wooden Daisy Girls dolls with magnetic clothing. My daughter got the set for Christmas several years ago, but it is still available from T.S. Shure and Amazon, along with some other cute wooden magnet sets that would go well with the mini dolls. 

The doll is Mini Saige from American Girl, sold at Sam's Club with two paperback books.

The art easel, palette, and sketch book all come from the Samantha Parkington paper doll book from American Girl. It is still on sale for $5 at their website, along with some other historical paper doll sets. 

Mini Caroline is practicing to perform the U.S. National Anthem at Camp Doll Diaries this week. The Star Spangled Banner has special meaning to her since it was written in her time period, during the War of 1812.She is holding a mini flag cupcake pick and posing next to an early-model flag, which came from a Betsy Ross dress-up set.The stage was really easy to make. I just used a wooden box from an old puzzle. I turned it upside down and stapled some fancy ribbon around the sides. Then I attached two thin dowels and ran a piece of ribbon across the top, tying the ribbon to the dowels and letting the ends hang down. For the final touch, I stuck on some foam star stickers, which I got on clearance at Rite Aid last year.