How to make a quick dollhouse picture frame using a tissue box pattern...

If you have ever seen this pattern on a box of tissues, it works great for some quick doll house picture frames!  Just trim out a square and cut a picture to fit in the center, glue, and you're done!

Don't throw out those holiday cards, candy wrappers, or old calendars - yet!

You can make some quick, cheap gilt (gold) doll house picture frames by saving foil candy wrappers!  Cut out a picture (a small rectangle from a holiday card works well, or else one of the small pictures from the back of an calendar or calendar envelope).  Glue the picture in the middle of the wrapper, and fold the edges up until the picture is framed!  That's it!  Here are step by step pictures:

eat the chocolate :)

  smooth out the foil

 glue the picture to the center of the foil and start folding in the edges... you can cut a little from the long side like you see in the picture so that you don't end up with so much "bulk" at the corners.

Keep folding in the sides...

Use a tiny bit of glue to secure each corner. 

You're done and ready to hang the pictures in your dollhouse!

Give your dollhouse (or real house) some fine art... compliments of Benjamin Art Design

These are brought to you by special permission, THANK YOU Ray Benjamin!  I have made them miniature sized here for you to use in your doll house, but you can purchase the originals.  They even ship internationally, so if you really like one of the pictures you can check their website (www.benjaminartdesign.com) to see if it is still available.  These are watercolors:

These pictures are drawings and a watercolor by Ray's daughter's, also used by special permission... THANK YOU!!

Remember, all of these special miniature doll house prints are for PERSONAL USE ONLY.  To buy the original, see the website mentioned above.  


For ideas on hanging pictures see our earlier post.

Print your own miniature framed pictures for your doll house

Here are some miniature framed pictures you can print yourself for your dollhouse (you can print them smaller if these are too large for what you need).  Plus I'll put two gif files in for those of you who would like to have an empty frame to insert your own picture in.  Personal use only, please.  Thanks!  For ideas on hanging pictures see our earlier post.

Ideas for hanging pictures in your dollhouse

Ideas for WHAT pictures to hang in your doll house:

* Small pictures from magazines

* Sometimes junk advertising mail has small pictures that work well.

* The thumbnail print sheet that come with your photo print order is a great spot to get tiny pictures that are personally yours. Plus they're picture quality and dollhouse sized!

* Calendar covers or backs often have thumbnail pictures that are excellent.

* For personal use you can print pictures from the web (make sure copyrights aren't an issue).

* Sites like Jim's Dollhouse Pages have doll house scale posters and pictures you can print.

Ideas for HOW to hang pictures in your dollhouse:

* Pasting a picture onto craft foam paper works well... choose a color of craft foam that matches the room. If the picture has a frame already printed around it, cut the craft foam even with the edge of the frame. If the picture has no frame around it, you can give any picture a framed / matted look by pasting the picture in the center of a piece of craft foam that is slightly larger than the picture.

* Give your picture a cardboard or thin wood backing

* Paste the picture straight on the wall, depending on the type of glue you use, this can be permanent. Rubber cement can be used, but it damages some surfaces.

* Small pieces of self-adhesive Velcro work well if you think the dollhouse recipient might like to switch pictures around for fun! Make sure you stick the Velcro at the same height throughout your house, then make sure the Velcro on the picture backs is stuck in the center. Then they can be switched around easily.

* There is some gum-like tacky stuff you can buy at the store for hanging posters etc. This can be used in dollhouses, but use it carefully. I have a dollhouse that has had it in it for over 10 years now, and it does leave a bit of a "grease" mark and peels off the paint or paper some. Personally, I don't plan on using it again, but it's an option.

Ideas for WHERE to hang pictures in your dolls house:

* According to an interior designer we know, the general rule of thumb is to hang pictures at eye level. For dollhouse scale, this would mean making sure the center of a picture is approximately 5 inches to 5.5 inches from the floor. Of course you have to take the room into consideration and adjust accordingly - if you have less than an 8 inch ceiling height, you'll want to hang the pictures a bit lower so it looks right.

Here is a living room showing some picture placements. The picture above the sofa is from the back of a calendar, the picture above the inn table is from a magazine's Wells Fargo advertisement, and the picture above the hutch is from Jim's Dollhouse Pages. The pictures are hung using the Velcro method mentioned above.