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Creative use of foam and masonry fillers helped turn a basic dollhouse into a cheerful Christmas cottage.
- The project
- Before and after
- More Christmas project inspiration
- How to make a timber Christmas tree
- Other ideas for this festive season
The project
I love Christmas and also love a good dollhouse reno (you may have seen a few of my previous dollhouse builds and dollhouse renos on Workshop) so I decided to turn a cheap wooden dollhouse into a wintery Christmas cottage.
I started by giving the house a light sand. I had a tub of Polyfilla Exterior Masonry on hand so I thought I’d experiment with it and give the walls of the house some texture.
Surprisingly, this was super-easy to do. I used a scraper to apply it to the walls (I did one at a time) then before it dried I used a butter knife to carve in the bricks.
Once it had all dried and hardened (about 24 hours later) I painted it with a mix of black, brown and white acrylic paint. I watered down the paints so that I could easily blend the colours on the bricks before they dried to give it that "old brick" look.
I wanted the roof to look as if it was covered in snow. I wasn’t sure how to achieve this at first, until I went to Bunnings for a browse and brainstorm and I discovered expanding foam filler.
I did a practice run on a different surface first. It looked as if it would work well so I sprayed it onto the roof.
The foam looked quite messy at first but as it can be cut, sanded and painted I wasn’t too concerned.
Once it had completely hardened, I used a blade to shape it and give it a smoother look. Once I got the shape and feel I was happy with I then gave it a light sand to smooth it.
There were a couple sections that had large air bubbles but I just filled them with extra foam and then repeated the process of shaping with a blade and sanding to smooth.
I then painted it with three coats of white acrylic paint, leaving about six hours between coats.
The front door that originally came with the house was looking a little plain so I used a Stanley knife to carve in some detail.
Then I used watered-down black and brown paint to paint it, giving it that old and weathered look again.
Lastly, I cut some Balsa wood to make new window frames for the house.
I painted them white prior to gluing them to the house, and then used a mix of black, white and brown paint to give them a vintage look.
For a little something extra I also made snowmen using leftover foam.
I used a blade to cut them into shape and toothpicks to attach them, then painted them white and used black paint for the eyes, mouth and buttons.
For the noses I used a miniature carrot I had made from Play-Doh (originally for another dollhouse project).
While this project may seem complicated , it was relatively simple. Just a bit of patience was needed.
It was my first attempt at using expanding foam and masonry, and I will definitely be using them again in future projects.
My biggest tip would be to just take your time and practise on a different object or surface if you need to. The foam took me a bit to get the hang of, but I didn’t ruin the project in the process as I practised first on some cardboard.
Before and after
More Christmas project inspiration
Bunnings Workshop member AnitaP made Santa's reindeer and sleigh the centrepiece of her outdoor Christmas decorations.
Workshop member sburatto made a budget-friendly plywood Christmas tree.
How to make a timber Christmas tree
Create your own timber tree that will look great and last years with these step-by-step instructions: How to make a timber Christmas tree and How to make a dowel Christmas tree.
Other ideas for this festive season
Whatever your skill level, we can help with D.I.Y. projects to bring a personal touch to your Christmas decorating. Check out Bunnings D.I.Y. expert Mitchell's round-up of simple D.I.Y. decorations for the festive season or get expert advice from Adam Woodhams about How to install outdoor string lighting.
You'll also find plenty of inspiration in our collection of Bunnings Workshop members' own Festive decoration ideas.
Let us know if you need a hand with your own project. Start a discussion and tell us what you need.
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