Thursday 14 January 2016

DIY Doll house Bunk Bed


© Melissa Gaggiano

    There are many wonderful free DIY doll house furniture instructions available out there. Of course when I decided to built a cardboard bunk bed for my kids' doll house I wanted to construct it within one day. So rather than following one of the many gloriously detailed, fancy bunk beds, I came up with my own simple design, which I now offer to you.

What will you need?
  • boxing cardboard [preferably 4mm thick]
  • art knife
  • metal ruler
  • craft glue
  • paint


1. Cut out these pattern pieces on the cardboard.

2. Begin gluing the two ground supports to a mattress bottom piece. Allow to dry.

3. Turn mattress bottom piece sideways and glue to one side wall
[bottom supports to line up with side walls].
4. Glue second bottom mattress piece to side wall [closer to the top]. Allow to dry.

5. Glue second side wall to both bottom mattress pieces.
Ensure all pieces are pressed firmly together and allow to dry.

6. Glue the ladder to one side of the bed. Allow to dry.

7. Now you may choose to paint or draw on the bunk bed to decorate.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Pillow Doll

© Melissa Gaggiano
    On this seriously hot day I continue to play with my sample Posca pens. I experimented with making this pillow doll. She's kind of cute.

Tuesday 12 January 2016

The Posca Experience

© Melissa Gaggiano
    The other day I was gifted two Posca pens. Now for those uninitiated with Posca pens, apparently you can draw on practically any medium imaginable, because these text pens have paint inside. Consider. My. Mind. Blown.

    I tried out some illustration on fabric and very quickly concluded that these pens would improve my doll making practices exponentially. I might consider getting hold of a full range of these pens a bit further down the track.

Monday 11 January 2016

Monday Craft Session


    It's Monday. It's hot. Us good vampires are staying indoors, away from strong rays of the sun. Have been using the quietude for crafting with a bit of background Coraline.
    I worked with my eldest to make some presents for a friend and her kid. We worked together on hanging paper cranes, and I made a teddy bear.
    Now it's time to unleash the icy poles…

    So, how are you spending your Monday?

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Hey Mickey!

Ever wondered what it is like inside my mind? Well…

Fab Finds 18

    It's 2016! Can  you believe it? Well, let's get right down to it. My first fab finds for the new year…

1. Theatre of Dolls is a partnership of visual artists Frida Alvinzi and Raisa Veikkola. Although these ladies have been doing their performance art for a few years I have only just discovered them [thank you Pinterest]. They are story tellers and puppeteers all rolled into the one package, and sometimes they really are the one package as they have been known to incorporate their bodies into the one costume, which also acts as the stage [get your head around that if you can].
Theatre of Dolls

2. Photographer, Alexia Sinclair has done it again… Blown. My. Mind. She has produced another mind boggling detailed, heavenly series of photos titled The Golden Age. Alexia is an amazing hands on fine art photographer - she even makes the costumes herself. Check out The Golden Age.
© Alexia Sinclair

Monday 4 January 2016

Expecto Complete


    The Hogwarts-Gryffindor robes are now complete. I even made a special loop hidden within the robe for holding the wizard wands. The girls are mucho happy with their robes, now if they can only wait till the HP birthday party to wear these.

House of Gryffindor

Handmade Gryffindor badge by Melissa Gaggiano
    I finished making two Hogwarts robes on the weekend for my kids. But that wasn't enough; I wanted to make Gryffindor badges for the uniforms. So that is what I have been working on.

    The kids really appreciate the little details I put in. And they were extra surprised by this new development, because they didn't know that I was going to add the badges to the robes.

Saturday 2 January 2016

HP Mania

    We still have Harry Potter mania in this house. I don't mind though. Harry Potter is a relatively untapped source for the kids, so it makes a nice change to say… Frozen mania.


    The kids will be attending a HP themed party so today I began making basic Hogwarts robes [completely from scratch]. I finished making a robe for the youngest, and since that worked fine I shall repeat the design process tomorrow when I make a bigger robe for my eldest. After all that, if I have the patience, I might try making Gryffindor badges to go with the robes.

    In addition to all that I have almost finished putting together the birthday present for the host of 'said' birthday party. After I made the HP doll I also made a broom stick accessory.
Harry Potter doll making by Melissa Gaggiano