Saturday, March 28th, 2009...1:23 pm
Midlothian Bookworms Gingerboard House in Richmond Times Dispatch
Who says fun has to cost a lot? Children use their imagination to make their world come alive!
The Midlothian Bookworms (the Midlothian library staff) built a fully furnished gingerboard dollhouse entirely from recycled materials for the upcoming Fool For Art festival. Beginning with a cardboard box, file folders and packing tape, a two-story townhouse was created for little people adventures.
Everything in the fully furnished dollhouse is recycled, repurposed, or reused. Penny the doll sits on modular furniture created out of cosmetic boxes covered with fabric scraps. Her television is a Jell-O box and a newspaper advertisement. Handmade rugs are knitted from recycled yarn scraps. Penny and her dog Pupcake sleep on a canopy bed made from a perfume box covered with scrap fabric, a doily, and Popsicle sticks. A powder puff makes a lovely pillow.
The dollhouse was recently featured in the Richmond Times-Dispatch Home and Garden section with other creative upcycling projects from college teams.
Purchase this dollhouse-123 Library Lane-at the Fool For Art silent auction April 18, 2009.
12 Comments
October 30th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
The Dollhouse sounds great – its always nice to see art instead of landfill!
March 30th, 2010 at 5:54 am
After a visit to the Philippines and staying with friends who happen to have 12 to 23 children in their home at any given time I noticed how un-spoilt children can easily entertain themselves with the simplest of things.
I saw how children entertained themselves for hours with a simple pair of flip flops.
The skipping rope was put to daily use and just chasing one another was always on the agenda.
The thing is not one of the 20 plus children ever had a special toy at all yet they seemed to be much happier than the children of Sydney Australia that I’ve become a custom to.
The moral of this is to never spoil your child and they will be fine.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:19 am
So true. When I was a child I didn’t need anything more than my imagination to entertain myself.
I remember how when I was 8 I would take my dads old movie soundtracks from 007 and recreate the movies for my family members. (poor mom and dad lol). Good memories of simpler times.
I would’ve loved a full sized ginger bread house as a kid. Fun stuff
November 15th, 2010 at 8:51 am
I love your idea of recreating 007 with only the soundtrack as a guide! I remember staging complicated (and poorly executed!) plays and dances for my family with my sister. Somehow my parents survived too.
Thanks for commenting!
December 17th, 2010 at 3:25 am
So true. When I was a child I didn’t need anything more than my imagination to entertain myself.
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:12 pm
The Dollhouse is very interesting theme. It is nice to see art instead of landfill!
March 24th, 2011 at 9:52 am
The Dollhouse was fun to make too! Thanks for the comment.
June 8th, 2011 at 5:26 am
The dollhouse is very interesting.
its look is really awesome. thanks
for sharing with us.
November 1st, 2011 at 1:30 pm
this is a great way to teach kids how to recycle and in the same time have fun.
November 2nd, 2011 at 7:59 am
This is a great story. It´s nice to hear that some children has such an imagination to build a fully furnished house out recycled materials. It is great in two ways. On one hand it´s a sign that recycling is important. On the other hand it is a nice project for them. They can show the people what is possible if you try to give your best and have a good imagination. Great work.
November 23rd, 2011 at 8:41 am
Recycled materials are good in fighting to decrease the carbon emmissions. I’m glad that this kids are helping the environment on there own small way. Imagination is the key to help make this planet a better one. Thanks for this post.
March 6th, 2012 at 12:24 am
Building a doll house out of recycled material today may inspire a kid to build a real house out of recycled material tomorrow.
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