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

Shopping with Erin and Annabel

As you know, I bought the village shoe boutique when I went shopping, and You could see Annabel and Erin looking at the beautiful shoes with Daisy Fresian. So, this is a little story on how it all began ! 

:-D

It was early in the morning, and you could see the sun rising over the miles of green fields surrounding the remote village of cornwood. The time was seven o'clock, because after shopping, Annabel and Erin wanted to play ball with the other villagers (although not football, as they hated the big scary ball they used at practice) and that started at two after lunch. Then, after that, daisy would leave them with Erin's mother, May Mulberry, so they could play with their toys before Annabel went back home at six. 

the smell of a yummy breakfast wafted through the doors to the beds where Pixie, Paddock, Annabel, Felix and Jack-Jack slept.

"BREAKFAST BREAKFAST BREAKFAST!" Shouted Felix, eager to start the day and play games with the older children in the playground before heading to lower cornwood to the park to have a yummy picnic.

"Ohhhhhhh....." Moaned Pixie. She didn't share her brothers eagerness to start the day.

But pixie and paddock where lucky! They where aloud to sleep in for another hour before getting up. Jack-Jack was the youngest, so he got to sleep in for another half an hour before breakfast.

"Excited?" hornbull asked Annabel.

"Yes Daddy!" Squealed Annabel. Daisy handed her one of her baked breakfast berry muffins, and Annabel took a big bite! 

"Felix, ready to go and play?" Hornbull said eagerly.

"YES!" Felix squealed! 

After eating breakfast, Hornbull had headed of with Paddock and Felix, while Pixie and Jack-Jack went to the hamiltons to play with Emily and Peppa. 

Daisy was getting Annabel into some nice clothes while she equipped herself with a pretty bag Annabel had picked out for her.

Before they started to shop, they knocked on the Mulberry's door to pick up Erin. 

Elma let them in and they sat down and had a quick cup of tea while they chatted about nursery, the price of food, and Mr. Periwinkles amazing vegetables.

"I expect i will pick up some of Kate's cookies while out today." daisy predicted.

"She makes the best!" Elma agreed. 

"Ooh, look at the time! Come on Annabel and Erin, we should probably head out if you want to play ball at two!"

The first shop they headed to was the dress shop, as Annabel and Erin loved the little nick-nacks they sold 

"Hello Daisy, how are you?" Zoe asked.

"I'm very good thankyou, this shop, as always, is beautiful!" 

"Thankyou so much, please, have a look at our latest styles!"

"Did you do the wedding dress?" Daisy questioned, amazed at the detail.

"I wish I could say I did, but it was Matilda Billabong and Camelia Periwinkle. They have such skill"

Annabel found a pretty tiara, but it was really expensive, and Zoe said she could pick it up again in sale week, so Daisy decided to get it then instead for a reasonable price.

When they left, they met Matilda, who was panting.

"Oh, hello Daisy. " 

"Hello Matilda, are you ok?"

"Yes, but I am 15 minutes late!"

"Zoe won't mind. don't worry." 

"Ok, but I have to go now, bye! " and with that, Matilda swung through the door to the dress shop.

They next went to the shoe shop, as Daisy was stacked on groceries and there was no time anyway.

Erin found some pretty ruby red slippers, and she loved them!

Daisy found some pretty sandals, but she had a whole stash of shoes at home! So she paid for Erin's shoes, and then she took them to the rides. 

"Are we go into the choo-choo train now?" Asked Daisy.

"Yes!" Annabel squealed! 

Daisy loaded them on to the train, and off they went! 

They went around the whole of higher cornwood, and when they got back, it was time for ball!

Luckily, football practice was over, and it was time to play ball! 

Afterwards, Erin and Annabel where exhausted, so Daisy dropped them off at Erin's with May Mulberry, as she was back from the grocers.

They played for quite awhile with Erin's toys, then they looked at picture books before a yummy feast of tomato soup and cake. 

When all the freisians sat around the table for supper before bed ( jack-Jack was fast asleep :) zzzzz)

Pixie said, "did you have a good day?" 

Annabel squealed "it was AMAZING!"

I hope you enjoyed this story, and I have to say it was really heavy with the words, but I hope you loved it nonetheless. 

You comments are always appreciated! Love, Emily xxxxxxx