My mom always had a way of making Christmas magical when I was a child. My favorite memories are of her creating bonding moments. She always found a way to instill creativity in me, while we baked and decorated cookies together, or made homemade ornaments. She is much of the reason why I’m so passionate about crafts and art. I love making something from nothing, or looking outside the box. That’s where my creativity runs wild. I hope to pay it forward with my kids and make the holidays extra magical, as my mom did.
Recently, I had my son Everett work on a project with me – and it’s been a huge hit. Together we made a Christmas house out of an old doll house. It was such an enjoyable project for us to complete, I thought I would share it with you in hopes it will create a magical bonding moment for you as well this holiday season!
Here you go…
Holiday Dollhouse DIY
Step 1:
Find an old doll house. I was able to snag this Fischer Price doll house from a local Goodwill. I’ve seen many of these on Facebook Marketplace as well. Next, you want to spray paint the entire house inside and out with an antique white matte finish. (Primer would probably work just as well.) I used 2 cans of spray paint to make sure I covered it well.
Step 2:
After I let the spray paint dry, I added cheap acrylic paint to the details. For example, brown on the roof, floors and porch, brick red for the chimney and some evergreen tones to the windows. You can have fun with this and use your imagination. I added red detailing around the windows and a tiny bit of white on the decorative trim, but you can do whatever you like. Another idea is to create a gingerbread house design – it would be cute as well!
Tip: you might need two coats of acrylic paint to ensure full coverage.
Step 3:
Once the house is dry, you can add a bit more detail work to the roof and chimney. These can make it look like real snow or define the chimney bricks. Using a flat tip paint brush, make downward strokes on each brick. You almost want the brush to be dry, without much paint on it. Then dry brush the roof in downward strokes so the white will pop out on each shingle.
Step 4:
Let it snow! I used Mod Podge to glue fake snow onto the roof. You can find bags of snow at the craft store. Just glob the glue onto the roof and sprinkle the snow. I added some to each level of the house and the gables as well. There is even a bit of snow on the porch base and porch roof.
Step 5:
Now that you have the entire house painted, you can apply a clear coat to seal it in. I used a clear spray paint with a matte finish. You want to make sure it’s a matte finish instead of shiny or glossy. This will give it a softer look.
Step 6:
Deck the halls! This was ridiculously fun. I added fun, mini battery operated Christmas lights. I found a small set of vintage looking lights from Fleet Farm. I’ve seen these mini lights at craft stores as well. Then I used an old strand of garland for some greenery by cutting it into mini strips. The garland has wire in it, which makes it easy to bend and manipulate how I want it. I made miniature wreaths by bending it into a circle and adding a bow. I strung garland from the porch roof and twisted it around the railing.
Step 7:
Lastly, you can add Christmas miniatures for extra fun. I added a small tree and found a Disney holiday figure set.
Materials Needed:
Old doll house
2 cans of antique white spray paint (Matte Finish)
2 cans of clear spray paint (Matte finish)
Acrylic paints: Chocolate Brown, Evergreen Green, Brick Red, White – whatever inspires you!
Paint brushes (make sure one is flat tip)
Garland (make sure it’s on wire and can bend)
Ribbon for making bows
Glue gun
Fake Snow
Mod Podge
String of battery operated lights
Miniatures: People figures (mine are Disney), mini trees, any other decor you would like to include
Let’s get creating! Be sure to tag us on social media with your finished holiday houses!
