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How to Make Doll Houses

A homemade dollhouse can not only provide hours of fun for little girls and boys, but can also be handed down for generations to family members. Construct a simple dollhouse from basic supplies by building one room at a time. Once you know how to make a room, you can build as many rooms for your dollhouse as you want. You can rearrange the dollhouse rooms as much as the child wants to change the look of the house.

Things You'll Need

1-inch plywood
Tape measure
Pencil
Saw
Cardboard
1-inch square wooden rod, 14 inches long
Hammer
Finishing nails
Sandpaper
Spray clear wood sealant

Instructions

- 1
  Measure and cut a back panel of 10-by-16 inches from the plywood. Also, cut two 10-by-10 inch sidepieces and an 11-by-16 inch floor panel. Set the floor panel aside.
- 2
  Measure and cut out a 3-by-7-inch piece of cardboard to use as a doorway template. Center the template along one edge of each of the sidepieces and trace the outline onto the wood. Cut out the doorway. Center the door template along one of the 16-inch long sides of the back panel. Trace and cut out the door.
- 3
  Hold the back panel upright with the bottom of the doorway facing up. Align a side panel with the back panel to form a corner. Hammer a finishing nail through the back panel and into the side panel every two inches.
- 4
  Set the other side panel on the other end of the back panel to form a second corner to the room. Align the edges and hammer finishing nails to connect them.
- 5
  Place your floor panel over the back and side panels, and align to make each edge flush. Nail finishing nails every two inches, skipping over the doorways, to secure the floor to the walls.
- 6
  Turn the room right side up and set it down on the floor panel. Slip the wooden rod in between the sideboards and bring it flush to the top front corners of the room. Nail two nails through the sides and into the rod on each side to hold it in place.
- 7
  Sand the entire room as smooth as possible on the inside and outside. Apply a clear coat of wood sealant to the entire room, inside and out, and allow the wood to dry for two hours or until it is no longer tacky. Add a second coat, if desired.
- 8
  Make as many rooms as desired to create the size house you want. The rooms can be stacked like a tower, placed side by side in a grid, or create individual houses.

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