Despite the name, this craftalong is for all things miniature, no matter your scale or if it’s a full dolls house, a roombox, or even just a cute tiny thing you made to sit on your desk. All scales are welcome as long as it’s miniature, all craft types, all skill levels. Dolls optional.
In our former haunt this craftalong was started in 2011 by @Knickertwist, it’s archive can be found here.
We have a challenge to keep us busy during the current outbreak here. Everyone is welcome to participate, no fancy supplies or skills needed.
Notice:
I was going to wait until this list was perfectly and exhaustively done before I posted, but to get things rolling and so we can squee about the tiny things sooner, I’m posting this as is and editing more in-between naps. Hopefully, it will be mostly done within a day or two but there are always new things to add! I’ll make it prettier later. Onward!
Scale
Though I am of the opinion that scale is only as important as you make it in any given project, it helps to know a bit about it so the resources make a lick of sense. With few exceptions, scale is typically measured in inches, the most common scale is 1:12 which means one inch in real life equals twelve inches in the miniature (or, a foot). Here is a page explaining some of the most common ones.
You absolutely do not have to pick or stick to a common scale. Follow your heart! Or your doll, or your space, or your glasses prescription. Whatever suits you.
If you do feel like working to scale, I find this hobby calculator to be invaliable.
Resources
This is a list of resources for tips, tutorials, etc to help make your miniatures and maybe even provide some inspiration. It is by no means exhaustive, the internet is vast and miniature websites tend to hide in tiny nooks so if I have missed one you love, feel free to tell me and I’ll add it.
I’ve left off Pinterest because most of us know to go there, but also many of the image files have degraded from being saved and resaved and aren’t very high quality any more unless you can still click through to the source. However, definitely use it for ideas and have a browse. You never know, you might find some that works for you.
This is also primarily about free resources, though there are many excellent paid plans, printables, so on and so forth on places like etsy and your local dollhouse stores if you’re lucky enough to have one.
Houses
Almost anything can be made into a house or roombox, including literal boxes. If you are going to buy an actual house please do shop around as prices can vary drastically on the same items. I find this is especially true of those puzzle houses and the new kits that have come out of China in the last few years (always check Aliexpress and eBay when pricing those, in my experience, they trend cheaper than Amazon and certainly cheaper than the Etsy resellers but your mileage may vary by location and when you check so always check don’t rely on silly old me).
Please remember, too, you don’t need to buy anything to come and play. Make it out of boxes if that’s what you’ve got. Many a beautiful dollhouse or miniature scene has been.
- Popsicle Stick Dollhouse – A simple house made out of popsicle sticks.
- Jennifer’s Lets Build A Dollhouse - Instructions for building a Tudor-ish dollhouse.
- Haunted House Template – (PDF Warning) Templates for a cardboard haunted house.
- fun_and_craft – This whole youtube channel is full of simple to make dollhouses made with mostly cardboard and paper. Though they’re made in 1:6, you could easily scale the majority down to whatever size you need.
- MyFroggyStuff – Though she does a lot of toy unboxings, Froggy also does a lot of miniatures. My favourite house of hers is probably this foam board house but she has many other cool ones including this Mystery Shack from Gravity Falls. A lot of turning cereal boxes into rooms, also, if you look through the playlist.
- Little Glitter Houses – Tutorials and patterns for those Christmas houses that could be scaled up (or not!).
Printables
Printables, or more fondly called “printies” are things you can print at home or wherever you have access to a decent (preferably colour) printer. They’re great for filling up shops, decorating, wallpapering amongst other uses and are really handy to have.
- Jennifers Printables — Mostly wallpapers, but also has labels, groceries, toys and assorted things.
- CDHM — A variety of free printables in 1:12 scale. Seemingly mostly in older/Victorian styles.
- Small Stuff’s Print Mini – A variety of useful printables in a variety of scales.
- La Maison de Lauren — This is in French but it’s simple enough to navigate and has a lot of vintage style printables.
- Go Make Something — From art, to plates, to tree skirts and many things in-between. Some Americana style pieces.
- Hitty Doll Printables — These are a bit of an odd scale, made for the larger, hand carved Hitty dolls but should be easy enough to scale down. Includes a mixture of items in vintage styles.
Tutorials
- 1 Inch Minis By Kris – A truly wonderful place to look for detailed tutorials on how to make furniture for your tiny abodes.
- CDHM Tutorial List - Extensive, worth a browse.
- MyFroggyStuff - Again, but this time specifically her playlist on miniature items she has made outside of the house and room building videos. Usually made out of household items!
- The Square To Spare – Another youtube channel, this one is mostly modern style miniatures.
- SugarCharmShop – No longer posting but full of excellent tutorials for almost anything you could want to make.
- Bently House Minis – Lots of tutorials and such but especially of note is the Cardboard House series.