Monday, May 2, 2011

Doll House Project: Traditional Wooden House

Two weeks ago I gave a preview of a project my husband was working on. I thought by the time I post about it, it will be 'finished', according to how I wanted it. Apparently, for my husband, it was already finished and refuses to let me touch it (aaarrggghh!!!). 

This is his 'finished' project:
It's a doll house made in the style of traditional wooden houses you will see in rural parts of the Philippines. It's also made from colored popsicle sticks... hence, the color (my husband said there weren't any unpainted popsicle sticks in the supermarket when he bought them). My husband built this from memory, from the house their ranch hands built in the cattle ranch his grandfather used to own when he was a little boy.

I have a photo of an actual house that looks like this from their farm in the southern Philippines but I can't find it. So I Googled around and found this image from Lonely Planet:
Philippine Traditional Wooden House (image from Lonely Planet)
This is how most houses in rural provinces in the Philippines look like. And in case you're wondering about bathrooms, some of these houses have basic bathrooms with a toilet bowl that flushes (though some require you to pour a bucket of water for it to flush). I said 'some'... not all.

I wanted to paint it to consider it 'finished' but Andrea seems to like it colorful so my husband won't let me touch it further.

Here are more photos of the doll house:
View of the side of the house.
View of the back and the kitchen/dining area.
See the counter in the kitchen area?
Chicken coop at the bottom of the house.
Those are skewer sticks used to cover the bottom of the house and the kitchen area. These houses are usually built on stilts and the bottom of the house can be used for storage, or used as an area for the pets. We're planning to get small plastic chickens for this doll house.

The roof can be removed to give access to the rooms inside.
Just 2 small rooms inside, the kitchen area, and the balcony.
Here's the thing. This house wasn't built to scale for any of Andrea's dolls so we're having a hard time thinking of furniture that will fit inside. My husband made a few furniture using popsicle sticks but they were too big for the house. Right now, Andrea seems to enjoy removing the roof and putting her small dolls inside.
And to give my husband credit, the house is still standing in spite of Andrea playing with it everyday (hooray for glue gun and glue sticks!). When she gets a little bigger, we'll get her a bigger doll house.

I'm linking up to the following link parties:
Free for All at Young and Crafty | K.I.S.S. at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming | Not Baaad Sundays at Lamb Around | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Made With Love Monday at Sew Chatty | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | A Round Tuit at Crafting My Way to Success | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Amaze Me Monday at Dittle Dattle | DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Manic Monday Link Party at Sew Happy Geek | Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Tuesday To-do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Will See It Wednesday at Fabric Bows and More | Share the Wealth Wednesday at Laugh, Love, and Craft | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman | A Marvelous Mess at Marvelously Messy | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge | Friday Favorites with Inspiring Creations | Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty HomeWeekend Wrapup Party at Tatertots and Jello |

28 comments:

lisbonlioness said...

SQUEE! This is the coolest doll house I have ever seen.
I love the original houses (thanks for the info on plumbing, I actually WAS wondering!), and your uber- talented hubby totally nailed it.
I wish I could have one *dream* No wonder your little princess likes it so much.

Korrie@RedHenHome said...

Oh, that's so cute! I love that the design has "meaning" for your family.
Thanks for visiting Red Hen Home!

Life in Rehab said...

I had to click on that colorful little house...we're color fanatics over here, and that's just too sweet!

Jill said...

Oh WOW! That is an adorable house! Your bushand is very talented- amazing he did it all from memory!
Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
Hope you have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

Shauna said...

Wow, that is gorgeous! My girls would LOVE this neat doll house.
Shauna
myshaenoel.blogspot.com

Kitty Deschanel said...

What fun colors! I would have loved to have a doll house like this growing up. Heck, I'd love to have one like this now! I see it going very nicely with some plastic palm trees and a teenie tiny hammock :)

Rachel // Maybe Matilda said...

Oh my goodness, your doll house is incredible! I love it! I would have gone crazy over that as a little girl. It looks like fun, and I love the bright colors you chose for it!

Rachel @ Maybe Matilda

annies home said...

beautiful love the wonderous colors

needle and nest said...

Oh my goodness, that doll house is AMAZING! Kudos to your hubby!

Unknown said...

Love it!! I, too, am a huge fan of making buildings from Popsicle sticks....last summer a made a rabbit hutch and I recently made a bird cage. SO fun!! I would love it if you would link this up to my Marvelous Mess party....each week I pick one project to feature on my sidebar for a week!! Here is the link: http://marvelouslymessy.blogspot.com/2011/05/marvelous-mess-11.html

Janelle said...

Thank you for all the wonderful comments. I showed your comments to my husband last night (you know, since it's his project) and though he didn't say anything (he doesn't really say much) I noticed he was trying hard to hide a smile ;)

Anonymous said...

This is so great!

Rebecca @ My Girlish Whims said...

this is so cool! definitely a unique doll house, so fun that its not the typical Victorian style. Turned out awesome!

Thanks for linking up to Your Whims Wednesday!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Janelle - this house is adorable! Thanks again for linking to the Sunday Showcase - I greatly appreciate it. I have featured this today as well. Hope you are enjoying your week ~ Stephanie Lynn
www.bystephanielynn.com

Handy Man, Crafty Woman said...

That is so adorable!!

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

Very clever idea! The bright colors and unique design immediately caught my eye. What fun for your daughter!

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

You mentioned that you weren't quite sure what dolls could fit in the house.

Here's a site that has a lot of free patterns for little gnome dolls and dollhouse accessories that might be the right size.

http://weefolkart.com/content/free-patterns-gallery

Ticia said...

Maybe match boxes for furniture? That and peg dolls for the toys?

PC said...

Oh! This looks just like the 'kampung house' in my childhood place...and your hubby is an very talented architect!

Janelle said...

Thank you for all the great suggestions! I think hubby will have some work to do for that house this weekend ;)

Garden Lily said...

That's beautiful, and I like the fun colours better than the "traditional" look.

SewHappyGeek said...

Hey, I am featuring this today on Feature Friday with SewHappyGeek! Come get a button if you like!

Anonymous said...

that is an amazing doll house! I love the colors actually :) thanks so much for linking to handmade tuesdays at ladybug blessings! www.ladybug-blessings.com

nicolette {momnivores dilemma} said...

Love the removable roof!

Thanks for linking to Creative Juice. Hope to see you back again this week...

Mrs. Kelley Dibble said...

Loooooove this little house! Andrea's going to enjoy it for hours, days, weeks and years to come. Papa should build her a larger one in which he can fill it with Filipino-style furnishings. ~Kelley

Susan (Between Naps On The Porch.net) said...

So cute! Love the colors he painted it.

anderson said...

i have read your blog story, its very tremendous writing skills saw in your blog, just keep writing for us

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