DIY Cottage Apartments for your Sylvanians

Hi everyone! This is a good DIY to do when you need more room for your figures. Imagine them Without a home!! I needed to make two houses, but only Had enough plot for one . So , I thought to myself, what could I make? AHHH. Two houses that look like one! One on top of the other!

I had started this post, and was blogging it along the way but blogger deleted it. Oops. Luckily I didn't get too far.

*******IT IS VITAL THAT IT IS TAKEN IN ACCOUNT THAT I HAVE USED WALLPAPER FROM http://www.jennifersprintables.com/ AND TAKE NO CREDIT FOR ANY OF THEIR WORK> THESE ARE DISPLAYED WITH A *. ******

(YOU CAN VISIT http://www.jennifersprintables.com/ FOR FREE DOLLHOUSE PRINTABLES)

You will need: 

FOR THE HOUSE

Two average size shoeboxes, a knife to cut, scissors to cut, hot glue gun, glue stick, wallpaper, some spare scrap cardboard, paint

FOR BEDDING AND FURNITURE

scrap cardboard, paint, fabric, sewing equip. Sticks, e.c.t

This is how far I got, I've cut out windows and doors on the bottom floor and wallpapered the inside.  

As you can see, I've added windows, doors, shutters, over hangs, flower basket holders, flower box, thin chimney and a door handle.

The inside has three walls wallpapered* with red thin and fat stripes, and one wall being the feature with a floral pattern (please ignore my bad wallpaper skills)  and also a cute fireplace. 

I glued the lid of the larger shoebox to the bottom of the smaller shoebox aswell, to make it easier

Now once you have done all that ^ (cutting doors and windows out, wallpapered the first floor, e.c.t ) you should have something like this to deal with.

The "first" thing to do now is to make this decision: 

How many figures are you housing? 

On the bottom floor,I'm housing five soon-to-be-revealed figures, two adults and three babies (guess in the comments below!!) . On the top floor, I'm housing the Fresian grandparents and their hedgehog baby. 

Since I don't think a whole shoebox is appropriate for three figures, I've done this. 

I've cut the top shoebox so there is three quarters left and then made a door On a new wall and given them balcony space.if you are housing another big family, you can leave it and skip these steps.

Now, cut out some cardboard to make a ladder and some safety rails for your balcony.

Start hot glue gunning your balcony rails , making sure you leave no gaps.

Now, add windows with flower boxes and shutters with overhangs, add as many as you please!

The next step is wallpapering the inside. For the wallpaper*, I used hot glue, but for the card, I used a regular glue stick. 

Then you must roof it. Cut out some cardboard that overhangs the sides by 2 cm, and then fold it like I have, to give it shape. Then cut out some sides to match. You can add windows if you want! Don't glue on the roof , however. Add slots if needed to keep it on, but you want to be able to remove it to play with the inside. 

Now, you've finished the cardboard mould. You have the option to paper mâché, but I thought it didn't really need it, as it already had shape. So I'm going to paint it. 

I went with burgundy windows, doors, balcony and roof with gold detail and then cream walls. I thought this was quite wintery, and also a very cosy design. (To make it like a summer house, you could have blue  windowsills e.c.t and white coloured walls!!) 

I painted the windows and all, and let it dry overnight before I painted the walls and added detail such as patterns. But I didn't let that time go to waste! I started designing and making furniture. Infact , I did a short DIY for Yankee candles which I uploaded in Sunday for you to check out !!! 

I decided to stick with tutorials by other people. 

I got my sofa tutorial from Kyra's blog: http://aeternumsomnium.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/tutorial-how-to-make-sofa.html

And ideas from others.

I made two cots, one to accommodate 3 babies and the other to accommodate 1. 

how to make a cot out of a mini matchbox:

You will need: one mini  matchbox, lace, fabric, glue gun. Scissors.

1.  Take out the matches of your matchbox, and use the inside. Put some padding in the bottom of the matchbox.

2. Then , wrap some fabric around the box to make it look more aesthetically pleasing.

3. Choose some more fabric , and trace around the matchbox. It's important to do it with the white fabric on, so its the right shape and size. Cut it out for an oval shape. 

4. Stick the fabric on to the sides of your matchbox.

5. Stick on your lace and other decorations, it's complete !

Now we are going to get creative. If you don't want to stick something to your house, get a stick of cardboard, wood or anything else, and stick it to the back of your crib. Then, ontop of said stick, stick another "stick" going out wards. 

Gather some fabric and stick on lace, flowers e.c.t,

Glue gun the fabric to your "stick" or "rod"

That's my finished product! 

Now let's get on to the finished outside of the house: 

I made a ladder using two panels of sticks and 5 mini panels, and glued them all together! 

I really love the front THE MOST! 

I have little signs painted, the top says "keepers cottage" and is pointing to the ladder, to show it's upstairs. The bottom sign says " love cottage". 

 I haven't put in the flowers just yet, I'm still trying to figure that one out! 

But now for the insides, which I have furnished with furnishings made by myself:

The fresian grandparents will be delighted to see their new cosy home,with cot and fold out bed! They have a closet for Daisy's old clothes, too.

The new mystery family of five will love their new room! With a jumbo cot made from a Lush pot and a fold out sofa bed, aswell as a tiled fireplace, this place is a dream!

They will also love their hand made corner unit, Yankee candles, pots and fruit bowls.

CREDIT FOR WALLPAPER:
click on me to visit http://www.jennifersprintables.com/
Thankyou to http://www.jennifersprintables.com/ for the free wallpaper, I found it very useful :)

I hope you enjoyed this lengthy DIY! I will introduce you to the new family on their arrival, and I'm hoping deeply that they will love their new homes! thankyou for being so patient with my late arrival of this post! 

Lots of love as always, Emily xxxxxx