All Things Mini Miniatures Forum - wonderful gathering place for miniatures enthusiasts to share their projects, ask questions and make new friends!

CITY Craft Biz Advice Group  A positive group setting for individuals who are or would like to become business owners and sell an artistic or creative based products where everyone can share ideas and experiences how to find and research business related information, brainstorm on ideas and the occasional tax question.

CITY-MiniScenery-For all types of mini sceneries, landscaping for dollhouses or other mini scenes. Water features, fountains, ponds, waterfalls, flowers, trees, grass, bushes, using paper, dried real flowers, clay or live plants in miniature gardens, scenes and settings.

Cottage Industry Miniatures Trade Association - CIMTA A not-for-profit organization run partially by volunteers whose regular membership is limited to handcrafters of dollhouse miniatures through the use of trade shows, supporting member activities, public relations work with collectors, and hobbyists for the assistance of the Retailer, educational seminars, newsletters, advertising and other methods.

Custom Doll House Miniatures - CDHM

CDHM.org brings together the collector and artisan to appreciate the world of original, one-of-a-kind miniatures. Here you can see the creativity of the Artisans, buy directly from them or contact them to negotiate a custom piece.

International Guild of Miniature Artisans - IGMA Organization dedicated to promoting miniatures as an art form, recognizing quality miniature artistry, and encouraging new artists.

Lakeland Miniature Guild Lakeland Florida

MiniThreads_CITY - Another fine CITY Family group. If you love scale miniatures and needlework of all kinds you will love this group where you will find people who do scale, knitting, crochet, tatting, bobbin lace, quilting, needlepoint, cross stitch and more

Miniature Collectors Club  -Very friendly  [Yahoo Group] place to share hints, tips, advice, tutorials make friends, participate in group swaps and projects. Chat online Monday night at 8:00 pm EST

National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts-NAME The organization that brings into one family all who love miniature dollhouse furniture, miniature dollhouses, and the artistry and craftsmanship of all things small.

NEW ZEALAND ASSOCIATION OF MINIATURE ENTHUSIASTS NZAME Organizes a convention every two years and publishes a magazine twice a year. Renowned miniaturist David Edwards who originally hails from New Zealand contributes a regular column of maker profiles and workshop tips. Web site http://www.nzame.org

Russian Association of Dollhouses & Miniatures Masters
Association of Russian Miniaturists.

Finding a Miniature Club
Suggestions to help you find a community of fellow miniaturists online or face to face

For more CITY [Creative Indulgence Totally Yours] family of groups

CLICK HERE NOW

Small Stuff Digest - One of the best and most informative collector and artisan run digest on the internet.

If you have or know of a miniature mailing list or newsletter publications please contact us

Miniature Museums

Heritage Museum in Omaha, Nebraska

Miniature Museum of Greater St. Louis

Museums of Miniature Houses

Toy & Miniature Museum Kansas City

World of Miniatures Org - A listing of miniature museums throughout the United States.

American Miniaturist - Show Date Calendar

Columbus Miniaturist Society

Delaware Toy & Miniature Museum

Good Sam Showcase

IMA Independent Miniature Artists

Leeds Dollhouse Fair - Organized by Doreen Jeffries the Leeds Dolls House Fair (fondly referred to by almost everybody as the Pudsey Fair!) since 1982. This is the longest running British dolls house fair organized by the same person, in the same venue.
 

Philadelphia Miniaturia

The London Dollshouse Festival - This three day Festival is held annually in May at Kensington Town Hall, London, and attracts leading exhibitors from the UK and overseas. It includes an inspirational exhibition of completed dollhouses and room boxes.
Web site

Tom Bishop Productions Miniature Shows - 2007 Show Schedule Calendar

Miniatures Calendar
Monthly calendar of events for miniatures and collectibles including dollhouses, model and die cast vehicles, model trains, boats, military miniatures and toy soldiers and other miniature collectibles.

Attending a Miniature Show Know Before You Go
Tips to prepare for attendance at a miniature show to help you enjoy and get the most out of the experience.

American Miniaturist - Monthly miniature magazine. Recent events have caused us to no longer link to nor be in support of this publication. No further comment will be spoken.

Dollhouse & Miniature Scene - British magazine featuring dolls' houses and miniatures.

Dollhouse Miniatures - Monthly magazine featuring dollhouse miniatures. Previously known as Nutshell News. Website offers free printables. Recent events have caused us to no longer link to nor be in support of this publication. No further comment will be spoken.

Dolls House Nederland - Dutch monthly magazine with features and lots of projects.
 

Dollhouse World - British magazine featuring dolls' houses and miniatures.

Eggs Down Under - Monthly publication put out by a wonderful lady from OZ (Australia) who also is the publisher of the very informative and colorful Miniatures Down Under magazine publication. While some of the tips she includes in both of these publication may be the same or even similar there is a wealth of information you can see in this one you wont see in the other. I truly enjoyed this publication since I had not ever seen that you could do such things in miniature with an egg.

International Dolls House News - Long established bimonthly British magazine covering all aspects of the doll's house hobby and with a special interest in antique pieces. Now incorporated into Dolls House World.
 

Maison De Poupee (No website) - This French magazine is edited by the 'Club de la miniature Française' and includes both doll's houses and artist dolls. Ingeborg Reisser
9 Rue Poussin, 75016 Paris, France, Telephone (331) 45 20 90 60, Fax (331) 45 05 18.40
 

Miniaturas (No Website) - Spanish magazine featuring houses, artisans and collections, with projects and news. Miniaturas , Dept. de Subscripciones , Glorieta Pérez Cidón, 3 - 2°B , 28027 Madrid Spain, Tel y Fax: 34 / 91 320 92 51
 

Miniature Collectors - Monthly magazine featuring exceptional collections of miniatures.

Miniature Gazette - The official publication of NAME "National Associating of Miniature Enthusiasts" Published 6 times a year and always packed full of work projects, show information, Name shops, Houseparty/Convention Headlines and more.

Miniatures Down Under - Monthly magazine featuring lots of free to projects, shows in Australia as well as all inspiring things by some of the worlds most talented miniaturists. Here is a PDF sample of how wonderful it is. Lots of Free tutorials inside. MDU VOL 2 NO 5 Proudly produced by Dot Letch of "WillowTree Publications and Craft Supplies"

Small Stuff Miniature Digest -Online Newsletter & searchable database featuring all topics miniature.

The Craftsman Magazine - British magazine full of information and ideas for everyone interested in crafts.

The Doll's House Magazine (No Website)- British dolls' house magazine published by the Guild of Master Craftsman. Email christianeb@thegmcgroup.com

If you know of any good magazines or books on this subject

please do contact me.

Please Note* All of these tutorials are property of the artists who have created them, are copyrighted and may not be copied without the author's written permission unless otherwise offered for use from their websites.

144th Scale Miniature Toys - By Frances Armstrong (*Note Frances passed away Jan 2008)

1:48 Scale Bookcase & Books - By Never Done Miniatures site.

2007 Miniature Calendars - Another wonderful mini by Never Done Miniatures.

3D Candles - 3 dimensional candles for your dollhouse, roombox scenes.

3D Pictures - 3 dimensional pictures.

3D Tole Framed Picture - Like 3D pictures above only framed.

Assemble A Doll Kit - How to assemble a high neck doll onto a felt body.

Aunt Jemima Doll - Cute little doll looks just like Aunt Jemima from the syrup.

For More Great Miniatures to Make See our section Clay Minis 101

Rent Instructional HOW TO DVD's

Smartflix

Learn new Skills and Save Big Money!!!

Baby Booties - Make these cute tiny pair for your dollhouse baby. Complete with tiny printable pattern.

Baby Rattle - Very cute tiny rattles for your doll babies, and doll's babies.

Basic Flower making - A great place to start if you want to start making your own miniature flowers.

Beaded Tissue Box - Designer tissue box for your dollhouse.

Black Forest Cake - A miniaturized favorite for your dolls dollhouse, bakery or give as a wonderful forever birthday gift to anyone.

Bowl of Mixed Nuts - Just what every dollhouse needs to entertain.

Building a Roombox in a Gift Bag - The wonderfully talented "Fayzer" Fay Zerbolio from St. Luis, Mo.,  wrote instructions on how she does them. With her permission I created a word document and also a PDF file version so others could enjoy the instructions as she has so generously provided. *Feel free to use either or both versions of the instructions for our own personal non commercial use only. Linking to these instructions are allowed, but Distribution or providing them from your own groups, websites or otherwise is strictly forbidden without the express written permission from Fay herself and or tinycrafts.com.

Bunny Box - Makes for a cute Easter basket or just for the bunny lover, doll who loves bunnies etc..

Casting Real Bricks - How nice would it be to build a dollhouse of all bricks and or embellish the houses you have, make real pavers and planter boxes in miniature and other concrete related things for your dolls house.

Cat Scratching Post - Make this basic post for your dollhouse kitty!

Ceiling Lights From Beads - Another wonderful Danish made instruction tutorial on how to create your own miniature lights from jewelry making beads. Translate the Language

Childs Chairs - Pattern supplied for now only, instructions to follow.... none as of yet posted.

Chocolates from Polymer Clay - Nice tutorial on making miniature chocolates boxed for mini gift giving.

Clay Miniature Animals - Kerri Pajutee takes you through her step-by-step process from beginning to end on how to create a realistic miniature of your beloved pet. From the creating of the animal body and base foundation to preparing and applying realistic looking fur. Kerri has free downloadable PDF files of her wonderful tutorials. Her completed animals are truly a must see.

Computer Desk - Make a Miniature Computer Desk for your dolls house.

Computer Mouse - Make A Miniature Computer Mouse 1-Inch Scale

Corkboard - Quick and easy corkboard.

Curtain - 1" X 1" Folded Curtain. This tutorial has been translated from its original language Dutch to English using Babel fish for your convenience. If you would like to see it in its original Dutch language click here.

Cut rectangular (wall) openings - By Mini Mansion

Cracked Open Egg - Make this adorable miniature broken egg. Its a cracked egg shell with the yolk out but not broken or make the yolk broken, its your choice. The results are amazing.

Deserts - "Your Just Deserts" - Make Éclairs, Strawberry Shortcake & Nanoimo Bars. Sweet treats for your mini dollhouse dolls and roombox bakeries  by Kim Bulback.

Dollhouse for a Dollhouse 1:144th scale - Never Done Miniatures guides you on creating a cute 1" scale dollhouse for your doll's house by Kim Bulback.

Easy & Quick Miniature Area Rug - Like it says, Easy & Quick

Egg Carton Bricks - Building materials for walls or floors. Learn how to get that real look of bricks using egg cartons.

Egg Carton Bricks and Stones - Flag stones, bricks, and walls, wonderful tutorial with links to even more wonderful tutorials for using those cardboard egg cartons.

Fancy Dress Form - Another wonderful lesson on how to create a wonderful accessory for your minis.  Wait to you see how wonderful these dress forms look when complete. STUNNING!!!

Fast & East Plants - Victoria Mainland MiniLand presents a illustrated tutorial on how to make your own miniature plants and trees. Miniaturist Sue Vining along with the help of Carol Jones taking the images puts together a very easy and understandable guide on the subject.

Faux Bronze Miniature Sculpture - 10 minute project

Finch Feeder - Miniature feeder for your dolls finches and or other birds.

Finishing Rough Furniture - Sue Vining teaches these simple to use methods for taking rough unfinished pieces of furniture and making them ready to display into your miniature scene.

Florescent Fixture and Bulb - Kathie's Minis gives you free tutorial on creating a realistic looking florescent Light Fixture including the bulbs. ( non working light)

For More Great Miniatures to Make See our section Clay Minis 101

Folded Shirts - Mishelly's Zoo Make a mini folded shirt

Fountain - Make a miniature fountain for your dollhouse, garden or other mini scene.

French Milled Soaps - Also makes great candies

Garland Christmas Tree - Kathie's Minis gives you free tutorial on creating a Christmas Tree Garland

Gift Bag Roombox - Instructions on how to create your own by Roz Weitzman ©1998

Gladiolus Flowers - Wonderful mini paper and floral tape flowers.

Glue Glass - Make some glue glass miniatures for your dollhouse or other doll's accessories.

Hats - 4 different styles of hats to create.

Hirst Arts Fantasy Architecture, Inc. - Tips and Tricks Index.

How To Make an Orchid - A Workshop done by Saskia

How To Make a Plum Pudding - A Workshop By Saskia

Humming Bird Feeder - Just like the Finch feeder but the same ones you would see for hummingbirds. Nicely done easy to do.

Introduction to Collecting of Dolls House Miniatures How to decide whether you want a collection for a display box, a dolls house, or a showcase. Information on how to plan your collection for the best effect.

Jack In-The-Box - Compliments Mishelly's Zoo. Cute little Jack in the Box that's easy to make.

Jell-O Gelatin Snack Packs - Created by me Cre8. Create a miniature 6 pack of snack packs of Strawberry/cherry, Lemon/Lime, Orange and Lime Jell-O for your 1:12 miniature dolls house scene, grocery store or picnic.

Knitted Baby Cape - Free Pattern by Anja Riemens to create your dollhouse baby a hooded cape.

Leaf Lettuce - Miniature realistic looking lettuce leaves.

Leeks - By Angie Scarr

Light Fixture - Make this light fixture and a waste paper basket from a coffee creamer container.

Make Perfect Ribbons & Bows - Easy way to make tiny bows all the same size.

Make Silk Ribbon Rosebuds - By Joy & John Parker of Swallowhill Miniatures

Mini Mansion's Makeover task list and why one needs it - Feel free to use this list for your own dollhouse makeover and learn from someone who already learned from their own mistakes the hard way. Now with this list you know what steps to take first come complete the task of renovating your dollhouse without the hassles and issues one might face if not followed exactly.

Matchstick Box Shop - Make this wonderful little store inside a matchbox by Frances Armstrong )*Note Frances Passed Away January 2008)

Matchstick Garden Bench - Jo takes you on a detailed tour of how to create your own garden bench complete with planter box and plants.

Magnifying Glass - Very cute project that's easy to create and easy to find materials to make it.

Make a Dolls House Scale Miniature Cabin Front Porch Display Shelf
Make a miniature cabin front porch in 1:12 or dolls house scale. This beginner's project is constructed as a display shelf which can be hung on a wall. The materials used are lightweight, and the space and backdrop allow for a wide range of dolls house or miniature collections to be showcased.

Make a Miniature Light House - About.com's Lesley Shepard shows you step-by-step how to make this mini light house with a working light from LED and beads.

Make Your Own Miniature Christmas Book - By Saskia

Make Your Own Miniature Ginger Bread Man Book - By Saskiea

Making The Desert Water Bag - Another wonderful Wanna In El Paso tutorial.

Marbleizing Painting technique - An easy guide with images showing you to mix paints to achieve a marbleized effect for your mini projects, furniture etc..

Micro Miniature Pom-Pom Snowman - Carol Jones shows you how to create a miniature snow man. Detailed images make it easy to do.

Miniature Feathers - Learn some tips on making miniature feathers from large feathers by Beth Lane.

Miniature Hats - Millinery in Miniature By Cynthia Howe

Miniature Plant Stand - Detailed  images show you how to create a miniature plant stand from start to finish. Not allot of text instructions with this one, but still from the same Danish crafter who brought to you the Spiral Staircase instructions. Translate the Language

Miniature Realty Resources - Lots of links, hits, tips and things you may not yet to find here on TinyCrafts.

Mini Stained Glass Iris Flower - Very good, can be used to make all sorts of other patterns from images.

Mini Suitcase - Mishelly's Zoo

Molded Ball Mask -  By Dorothy Haw and Abigail's Fantasy

More Miniature Tips - Just what the DIY miniaturist in you needs. From Dollhouses on A Shoestring. Rugs, cakes, cupcakes, pie slices, Danish, ice cream sundaes, serving dishes, lamps, window shades, rocking horse, waste paper basket.

Nail Polish Flowers - These are not your average mini flowers, they look so real!

Needlepoint Pillow - Learn how to make this miniatures needle pointed pillow by Kim Bulback.

For More Great Miniatures to Make See our section Clay Minis 101

NoraJean.com - A wealth of information, how to instruction and testing of both the positive and negative with polymer clay. This site is Terrific! Great for ay beginner just getting started working with clay, or even for those who feel they are the most experienced. You never know what you will learn for Nora Jean AKA NJ.

Ogopogo Sea Monster Beach Toy - Make this toy from Fimo or other favorite modeling clay for your mini beach scene by Kim.

Old Fashioned Kitchen Stove - Same Danish artist creates an old fashioned stove very realistic and detailed in every way. Not what I would consider your beginners project but certainly interesting to see step by step how it was created. Translate the Language

Orange Blossom Cake - Another yummy Miniature treat by Donna Eckel of Raggedy D's Dollhouse Miniatures.

Oranges - By Angie Scarr

Ornamental Trees Made With Polymer Clay - Trees made from Fimo By Sue Heaser

Painting Porcelain Pieces - John Parker of Swallowhill Miniatures shows you how.

Palette Generator - A very useful tool that allows you to upload a photo and it generates a coordinating color palette. Great for web design, choosing coordinating colors for clay beads, image transfers and other things with clay.

Paint Roses on a Mirror with a Toothpick - Carol Jones takes you step by step on a wonderful lesson on how to make painted roses with leaves and all on tiny miniature mirrors and accessorize your mini scene.

Pansies From Affordable Punches - By Alice Buerkle

Paper Dolls - Print and Cut Out Dolls

Perfume Bottles - By Renaissance of  House of Maktub

Piano Pattern - No instructions yet, just the pattern. For some that's all they will need.

Pipe Cleaner Teddies - How to make them!

Pizza - Make this yummy looking miniature pizza from Raggedy D's Donna Eckel.

Plastic Shopping Bags - Kathie's Minis gives you free tutorial on creating a realistic plastic shopping bag, the kind you get now days in the supermarket with the handles. Excellent tutorial and a must have for many mini scenes.

Poseable doll made with clay - Easy to follow step by step instructions with a template to use as a guide.

Purse- Miniature Tube/Capsule Purse - Cre8 has cre8ted an online tutorial on how to create a miniature tube/capsule purse for your dolls, dolls dollhouse scene and or maybe you wish to create a doll's accessory shop for hats, purses and shoes. Can be adapted for use with many designs and patterned fabrics, materials and embellishments.

Reshape those Inexpensive Plastic Skeletons - By Alice Zinn

Rework a Resin Hat - Hattery Flattery by Wanna in El Paso

RoomBags - Making a roombox from a Gift Bag.

Rubber Duck, A Fern and Needle-persons box of stuff - A few minis to make from one place by Kim.

Shower Stall - How To Make A Miniature Shower Stall For Your Dollhouse

Slate Roof - Another wonderful how to guide from Carol Jones of Victoria MiniLand. When a kit comes with an imprinted roof you can shingle over it or make it look like slate.

Slippers - No Miniature doll should be without these for their feet. Carol Jones shows you Step-by-step images on how to create a pair for every doll in your house.

Spiral Staircase - Excellent instructions on how to build your own miniature spiral staircase. This tutorial in in Danish but it has detailed images as step by step diagrams and looks simple to use. Translate the Language

Stockings and Slippers - Stockings and slippers for ladies, girls and regency men if you desire.

Stone Slab Steps - Mini Mansion tutorial with images.

Stained Glass - Another wonderful how to guide by Sue Vining. She clearly shows you step by step how to create stunning and realistic stained glass panes for your next mini project or kit. GET FREE STAINED GLASS PATTERN HERE, MORE STAINED GLASS PATTERNS HERE, EVEN MORE STAINED GLASS

Suitcases - 1:12 [1 inch] scale suitcases. Another good miniature tutorial by Never Done Miniatures.

Sweet Corn - By Angie Scarr

Tavern Wench - Makes this doll from a tutorial by Marsha Mees of Sassy Mini Dolls

Thatching a Roof - A lesson by Tom

The Geranium Project - Mini Mansion creator made this wonderful tutorial for making your own geranium plant

This to That - Because people have a need to glue things to other things

Tiffany Lamp - Create a tiny miniature tiffany style lamp. Step-by-step  images by Lorrie!

Tiny Beaded Santa - Carol Jones shows you how to create a tiny little beaded Santa clause. Detailed pictures show you step-by-step.

Tiny Teddy Bear - By Dorothy Haw and Abigail's Fantasy complete how to with pattern.

Tips for Applying and Finishing Cedar Shake Roofs - Ina class by Peter Dawson through Victoria MiniLand and offered free online learn how to apply and finish your next projects cedar shake style roof.

Toilet Tissue Rolls - Never Done Miniatures provides you with a step-by-step image guided tutorial on making toilet paper rolls for your dolls bathrooms. 1:12, 1:24 & 1:48 scale directions.

Tote Bag - With the new idea of making reusable tote bags and saving the environment and our landfills from the usual plastic ones you get at the grocery stores, why not make one for yourself, a few friends, some family members and while your at it, cut the pattern instructions down to scale to make one for your dolls and or dollhouse, store and or display.

Toy Soldiers - Very cute project

Tree Topper - Kathie's Minis gives you free tutorial on creating a Christmas tree top star.

Waste paper Basket - Make a waste paper basket & a light fixture from a coffee creamer container.

Wrong Way Witch - A wonderful tutorial by Sassy Mini Dolls. Check it out!

Yellow Rain Slicker - Adorable once completed, need I say more! Email author of this tutorial with an image of completed slicker to include with tutorial, Image thus far is not available!

For More Great Miniatures to Make See our section Clay Minis 101

 

Free Miniature Printables

About.Com's Miniature Site - All kinds of freebies here

Jims Dollhouse - Free Printable Miniatures. A huge site with lots of printies in many different scales to choose from.

Butterfly Dreams - How to make up Printables

Free Online Graph Paper

Create all kinds of graph, lined, rules, and other paper types and download in PDF format with an easy to use PDF Paper Generator, Its Neat!!!

Great Landscapes in Tile - Nice for Bathrooms, Kitchen or that faux decorative tile look.

If you are looking for fruit crate labels, old advertisements, seed collection packets, cigar labels or vintage canning labels, TheLabelMan.com offers a huge selection of high quality, genuine labels.

Laundry Products - Grocery & Laundry products to print out and create for your mini scenes.

Murals & Great Scenery - THE SITE YOU WANT TO SEE 1st!!! Those things you Want to see when you look out of your windows and doors. One of the best most breathtaking image sites I have seen. I have a mural of theirs as my desktop wallpaper now on my computer. I love them!!!

Nature and other photography - Wonderful images easily minimizeable that will not distort or take away from their intended beauty. From the Nature Photographers Online Magazine,

Printable Potting Table with Seed Starter - Mini Mansion Translate the Language

Stokesay Ware - Create a Blue Willow kitchen, includes a tutorial and printies.

Stone Murals in Tile - Great images for your mini kitchens, bathrooms, pool or pond side scenes.

Tile Heaven - Not meant to be a printies site but sure full of allot of wonderful images of tiles.

Treasure Chest Printable - Make your own mini treasure chest or a lift-the-flap 2D treasure chest.

Various sizes available in black and white or color, also with coins. Some may need to be adjusted for your scale needs.

Vintage Flooring - Cre8's own created version of vintage vinyl floor covering for your dolls house, roombox, diorama or other miniature scenes. You can also use them for wallpaper, scrapbook or other craft projects.

Weekend Cottage "Rebecca Farwell" hand designed printable of Caladium, Autumn and Ivy leaves. Gravel, butterflies and some decorative shopping bags. Dog portrait and carousel horses for nursery or decoupage use.

Cre8's FREE Printable Miniatures

These are printable paper projects I have made myself. They have not

been copied from any other group or website, and just the same

should not be downloaded for distribution or sale.

You can however link back to them here on my website.

Please tell your friends about Us.

 

Purchasable Printables & Kits

Dollhouse Wallpapers

Megan's Miniatures

Cakes, Candies, Flowers, Foods, Magic, Printies, Printables and More

The Craft Pack Company

Craft kits & Craft Supplies for your mini projects. Based in the UK

Ready to Fill

Click on the Dollhouse Shelves Above for Some

Wonderful Storage and Stackable Items

 

Choosing the right materials for the project...Which is right for me:

This is a big question that we get presented with all the time. With so many products on the market...you must be going crazy! I will explain the difference here:

Ruth's Hanky Panky Crafts is one of the best places I know

 to find the right paper punch for the job you need every time!

Reasonably priced items. International Sales Offered.

Accepts Visa, MasterCard Discover & PayPal.

Raggedy D's Miniatures, FL

1" scale foods, plants, porcelain dolls! I had the pleasure of meeting Donna

S P Miniatures

Dollhouse miniatures online catalog. Secure shopping.
Silver, porcelain, pottery, glass, furniture, and unique accessories.
Major credit cards accepted, worldwide shipping

Unique Book Set Boxes for Miniature Scenes

By Shannon Moore.

http://www.shannonsminis..com/minis.html 

Proud Member

Wiring your dollhouse and fitting it for lights can be a tedious task. Don't fear help is here.

Introduction: With only two known methods of doll house wiring either copper tape and twin wire or use of a socket strip are the choices. Even though both methods are used often for dollhouse lighting many professional builders and shop owners will recommend the twin wire method best for the easiest of methods learned by beginner miniaturists.

Here I will try and teach you while I myself learn about all the various lighting types, wiring for lighting, choosing your lighting and adding power to your dollhouse

 

Cooper Tape Very thin strips of adhesive copper tape which conducts electricity all throughout your dollhouse. Two parallel lines of copper tape run around the walls of your dolls house forming a continuous loop. In the case of a front opening dollhouse it would be best to run the parallel tape lines around the back side of the doll's house.. Then you can attach the wires from each of the lights inside the dollhouse to the copper tape by drilling a tiny hole into the backside of the house and threading the wire through and soldering them on. Once properly wired and connected to your lights you can connect a transformer plug to the copper tape and your house should light up.  For those houses that are not front opening this tape can be run around the house and then hidden underneath floors and behind wallpaper. The reason this method is not the preferred one amongst miniaturists is because the copper tape can be corroded by adhesives and can break. Twin Wire This method utilizes a combination of wires, plugs and sockets to wire and connect lights into your dollhouse to a power source. This is thought to be a known easier method to modify, install, less likely to break and is less expensive than the use of copper tape Lights are first fitted into each room of your dollhouse. Normally lights will come with 60 cm (centimeters) of wire with a standard sized plug on one end. You either run the wire from each light to a single point in the house where you will decide to place your socket board or out through to the back of the house where your socket board may be attached. In a front opening house it is easy to attach a socket board to the back of the house and then drill a tiny hole in through the back of each of the rooms to then run your wires through. The plugs at the ends of each of the wires are then plugged into your socket board which is then attached to a transformer which is plugged into any normal household socket to supply your whole house with electric. Socket Strip The socket strip serves as the main supervisor of the houses wiring. With tiny holes along in which to plug your lights into. The wire at the very end of the socket board will be attached to a transformer which you can then plug into any household wall outlet. Socket boards come in a variety of sizes to accommodate large or small dollhouses, allowing for wiring with any number of plug sockets. These strips come with adhesive backs so they can be easily stuck to the back of your dollhouse.

Transformers Transformers are used to enable our household power supply into a power supply suitable for one that dollhouse wiring can handle. A 12 Volt transformer is considered standard. The number of bulbs you can run from a single transformer depends on the the value of "Watts" of the transformer. The watts are used to determine the number of bulbs you can run off a single transformer and not the number of lights. One three armed light counts are 3 bulbs, 5 light chandelier counts as 5 bulbs, etc. WATT BULBS 3 5 10 20 40 1 AMP 2 AMP 5 10 16 33 66 18 36 If you are using a large number of lights you should split them up balancing them out over two or more socket boards installed in your dollhouse wiring hub. You may also wish to consider using two transformers and two separate lighting circuits if you have a large dollhouse or your using allot of bulbs.   How to Tapewire a Dollhouse Here are the basic steps for lighting a dollhouse. Explains the use of tapewire for electrifying your dollhouse or roombox, how to install the tapewire, and how to make connections to lights.   Light a Front Open Type Dollhouse Another wonderful How 2 Guide with step-by-step images written and taught by Alex Zohar of Victoria MiniLand.   Using Brads or Eyelets to Make Electrical Connections in Your Dollhouse Using either brads or eyelets to make connections in tapewire in your dollhouse or miniature setting. Discusses the pros and cons of both brads and eyelets and make recommendations on when to use each one.

1st step in building a house for your doll with lighting is to decide on the location of the the lights. Will you have lights on the ceiling, walls, free standing or table lights. You do not have to buy all your lighting now but you do need to deicide on the number of lights you will be using and where you wish to situate them. The number of lights you will be using will determine the socket board and transformer you will use for your dollhouse lighting.

2nd Step is deciding on the lights for your dollhouse and then you can get your wiring and transformer. To determine what transformer you need you will have to count all the bulbs that will be used in your dollhouse. Again this is the exact number of bulbs and not the number of lights. So a 3 arm lamp with 3 separate bulbs would count as 3 bulbs not 1 light even though all 3 bulbs exist as one with one plug.

Now count the number of lights you will be using to determine how many plug sockets you require. The average socket board has 12 sockets so you may need to use more than one socket board. You can run more than one socket board from off of one single transformer.

You may want to consider if you are using a large number of lights is to use two separate lighting circuits, one for each side of your dollhouse. You can then use a lower watt transformer and fewer socket boards on each circuit lowering the probability of a fault occurring. If a fault does occur it will be much easier to pinpoint.

Your now ready to get your transformer, socket board and lights. You don't have to have all of the lights for your dollhouse at once but there are some things to remember.

Concentrate on one room of your dollhouse at a time. It is very important to light or plan where your lights are going to go before you decorate so you can cover any wires. By starting with one room at a time you can light it and decorate it then move into the next room later helping to spread the cost of the lighting out over time and still be able to enjoy the house while decorating and further planning it out.

Start with rooms from the lowest level of the house. If you are installing ceiling lights the wires will need to be covered but the flooring in the above room so it is important that you have the lighting in the room before you decorate the one above it.

Ceiling roses look quite attractive and can certainly complete a light fixture but these will need to be fitted before the light goes up so now would be a good time to purchase these. Ceilings should also be painted or decorated before the lights get fit.

3rd Step As soon as you have your socket board it is a great time to decide where it will be positioned on your house. This is the main brain of your dollhouse lighting system and needs to be placed where it is easily accessible. For front opening dollhouses the best place is usually on the back of the house positioned centrally towards the very bottom. Once you have done this stick your socket board to the dollhouse with the adhesive tape attached to the back. If the socket board did not come with this adhesive taped back already applied for you, you can install with double sided tape.

Now you can drill tiny holes in the dollhouse for the wires of each of the lights you wish to fit to pass through.

CHOOSING LIGHTING TYPES

Ceiling Lights

Required to run 2 holes. One through ceiling above and one through the back of the house where the wire will exit. Recommended you run wires along floors rather than ceilings as it is much easier to hide them.

To take a look at some ceiling lights Click Here

Wall Lights

Fitting lights to the rear wall of any room in a dollhouse is certainly the easiest to accomplish but should not be fitted until the wall has been papered. Then you drill a tiny hole directly under the wall lights to pass the wires out through to the back of the dollhouse and to your socket board.

For all other wall type lights begin fitted the wires should always exit from out through the nearest place on the rear wall and a tiny hole drilled as close to the floor as possible drilling if possible in a downward angle to attempt to disguise the hole a little more.

To take a look at some wall lights Click Here

Table Lamps & Standing Lamps 

These types of lights you can install after the room has been papered. The wire will trail from the light and let you move the light around the room just like a lamp in your own home now. Drilling a tiny exit hole for each of these lights at the base of the rear wall of your dollhouse you can cover the wire up with the flooring.

Take a look at some table lamps Click Here

See also

Drilling Holes

The holes you drill should only be slightly larger than the wires themselves. The smaller the hole you drill the neater it will look and the easier it will be to conceal.

Grooves -Valleys

Groves should be cute into the dollhouse for the wire to sit in if it is to trail down a wall or across a floor. Small V shaped grooves can be cut out with a chisel and sanded with a V shaped file. Never glue wire into a groove or fill the groove with anything as you may decide to move or get access to that wire later.

4th Step Now that you have all your holes drilled you need to position your lights. If you are using a ceiling rose remember to put these in place 1st sticking them down with wood or a good PVA glue.

You will have to remove the plug from from the light before you will be able to run the wire from them to their respective holes out the back of the dollhouse and to the socket board. To do this pull pit the 2 pins with a pair of pliers and pull on the wire and the plug should just slip right off. You can then successfully feed the wire through the holes and along the grooves you created.

Never use glue to adhere lights in place, instead use adhesive pad. You should use masking tape to hold wire in place along its route out through to the back of the house.

Now you can put back the plug. Feed the twin wire through the center hole in the plug and then feed one wire each into each of the two holes on either side of the plug being sure the end is bared. Refit the pins back into each hole.

5th Step  At this point go ahead and begin to plug each light into the socket board and clean up all the wires using making tape to tape them to the back side of the dollhouse.

Plug each light into the socket board and tidy up the wires by masking