How to Make a Doll Restaurant - the Walls

My niece's Monster High dolls needed somewhere to hang out and go out on dates. So I made her a restaurant and we're calling it Lola's Bistro. Their grand opening will be next week.

Materials Needed

• 22" x 14" x !4" cardboard box
• scraps of cardboard
• white glue
• paper mache
• styrofoam 
• paint
• wallpaper

Fold in the flaps of  your box, add more layers of cardboard to all sides, this will make it strong and when you add the paper mache, the cardboard won't warp, warping starts when the cardboard is really wet, so keep a fan on the box and don't make your paper mache mixture too watery.

I added a patio to the restaurant.

I added a back bench for seating in the restaurant.

Styrofoam and a long piece of cardboard for the back of the bench.

 

Now paper mache all of it.

Urgh, the patio warped...and it warped really bad...not useable, despite my best efforts it still warped, I think it was because it was a long piece of cardboard, I should have broken it up into smaller sections.


Solution:
I removed the patio by cutting if off with a knife, removed the flooring section and kept the side walls, I still have my patio and actually works out better because this will make it easier to store it. I will post pictures of the patio by the weekend.

 I like to paint everything white, more like a blank slate, then I try to get inspired on how to decorate by the things I find. Not sure what to do yet in this picture.

Then I found this awesome wallpaper. I wanted something simple. We want to hang viewers artwork in the restaurant, so we didn't want it to look too busy. We want the art to stand out.

Check out my post on the floors. I didn't paint it this time, I .... I'll tell you later :)
Got to go now, back to my real job.

Please subscribe or join my blog and you won't miss the final reveal.

Oh yah, I gotta say it.... please vote for me :) for top 100 doll sites...we're at currently no.4 but go back and forth alot from 5th to 4th. 

Thank you for all you have joined and subscribed. You inspire me to start and finish my crafts. I love making these crafts for my niece and I love sharing them with you. Thank you so much for your comments.

Ginger :)

Dollhouse Contest

I am so excited, I just entered the First Annual Undersized Urbanite Dollhouse Contest.

http://www.littlevictorian.com/p/dollhouse-contest.html

This will motivate me to finish the dollhouse, I've been working on other crafts for the Monster High school house and our Skull Academy web series. Plus of course I also run my own business and try to sneak in one-two hours on my crafts and blogs everyday but I do leave my Sunday's for crafting.

Still so much to finish on the dollhouse, the kitchen and bathroom, furniture for all the bedrooms, a garden. I love it! I have made about six or seven dollhouses and this one is my favourite and its not even finished so I'm excited about finishing it and sharing it with you.

I have until May 2013...whew, gives me plenty of time. I am still trying to find time for my ebook on how to build these dollhouses, plus I have other projects I want to complete first.

I hope you will all vote for me once house is done.

Thank you.

 

Have a great day!
Thank you for subscribing and joining my blog. Please send me pics of your dollhouses, I would love to post them here.

Oh yah, I have to ask again, please vote for our site for 'top 100 doll sites' above.

Thank you so much!
:)

How to Bling UP your Old Barbie Car

The Vamp sisters Draculaura and Draculily got a big surprise this past week on our web show 'Skull Academy', a blinged up car from their father Dracula.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• Barbie Car
• Gem stickers

I found this old Barbie car at Value Village for only $2. Perfect for the Monster High dolls.
But it wasn't fancy enough for the Vamp sisters Draculaura & Draculily, so I blinged it up.
I bought these awesome strips of gem stickers from Dollarama, $2 a pack. These are so easy to use but hard to find at all stores, they go really fast.

First I cut out a paper heart shape, taped it to the hood of the car and then surrounded it with the gems.
Once I had my heart shape I removed the paper heart and filled in the heart with more gems.

 Then I added more bling all around the car, I tried to balance it out so it looks evenly distributed with gems. I used bigger gems for headlights.

There is a crack in the window so I covered it with another heart of gems.

  

I wanted to remove anything that say's Barbie on the car, so I gave the sisters a personalized license plate.

Dracula, their father use to call them his 'little vamp's'.

 

 Please send us pics of your blinged up old cars and we would love to share them with our viewers.

One more thing, please vote for us for 'top 100 doll sites' above on the right.
Thank you :)

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR WINNERS!
We want to thank everyone who subscribed and joined our channels. You will be entered in all future giveaways, there will be another one starting soon for some cool fashions for your dolls.
Plus there will be more chances to win, by commenting and sharing!

THANK YOU :)

tailsofthesea - from Kansas

Elana Gilbert - from New York
LivandMonsterHigh - from England
Thenewmhrules1234 - from Florida
theneatthingsinlife - from Tennessee

Your laptops will be mailed to you soon, I will keep you posted.

GingerLola2011

VOTE FOR US!
Please vote for us, top right side above for "top 100 doll sites", we are
currently no.5.... help us get to no.3, we're not greedy, 3 is good :)
 
Thank you so much!
YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!

Sneak a Peak at our new doll restaurant!

Hi everyone, I am almost finished the new restaurant, it will set the scene for alot of 'Skull Academy' dramatic moments. The new restaurant will be called 'Lola's Bistro' it is a casual hangout with some elegant touches, I think so anyways. I will be putting together a tutorial video once its all done and posting on our YouTube channel and here as well.

Still waiting for viewers to send in their art. We got a few already that we will be hanging, but please keep sending scans of your art. We can also use them for dorm rooms and the school. We want you to feel like you're apart of Skull Academy.

Here is a few pictures, just finished the door this past weekend and I love it, I love that it fit in the spot it was meant for, barely but it fits...I haven't taken any pictures yet if it being done...enough said, here are the pics...

Almost finished, I don't want to give away too much, please subscribe or join our blog so you won't miss the big reveal. The big reveal will be on our web show 'Skull Academy' on our YouTube channel: gingerlola2011

 

Please don't forget to vote for us for 'top 100 doll sites' above on 

the right hand side, we are currently number 4 woohoo  

(at the time of this post)....we don't win anything but its nice to 

be in the top 10.

Thank you :)

LAPTOP WINNERS !

Hi Everyone :)

The laptop winners have been chosen. I have just sent out emails to the winners. Winners who don't respond to us by November 12, 2012 to claim their prize will lose the prize and another name will be drawn, so its not over yet.

Once we receive all emails and YouTube names of the winners we will post the names here.

Thank you all so much for entering. Please keep subscribing, comment and sharing.
We are working on another draw right now and we will be picking more winners.
More details coming next week.

Have a great night!
GingerLola2011

Night Tables Redone

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well. We are giving away our laptop tomorrow and will be contacting and posting the winners here and on our Skull Academy blog. We are working on another giveaway with more winners and more chances to win. Stay tuned :)

I made these night tables for the dorm rooms awhile ago and used clothes pins for the legs, I used the narrow point to glue it to the block but it was really flimsy so I had to come up with something else.

before

after

I found these great little plastic forks at a discount dollar store, I don't have many silver ones left. I went back to the store to buy more, but there was no stock...I hope they re-order, I haven't found anything better to use for legs and decorating. Crossing my fingers :)

after

I used the clothes pins again but this time I glued them on the side of the block instead of under it.
It should hold alot better, so far so good. I may have to use the clothes pins for the restaurant chairs, can't find anything better and easy. The clothespins are the perfect size and are already cut, I just need to take them apart and paint them.

Thank you so much for subscribing and joining my blog. Please vote for 'top 100 doll sites' above. Thank you so much for your votes, I think you can vote more than once, so please keep on voting, we don't win anything but it's fun. Thank you!

Have a great week!

Awesome Fabric Find from Kijiji

I love Kijiji, but sometimes I forget its there, I'm looking around for cheap fabric, hard to find, plus I like to have good inventory of fabric because my decorating and fashion inspiration starts with the fabric.

 

 

Then I remembered, hey maybe someone on Kijiji is selling fabric, duh....and yes there was.
I met this very nice lady who had binders full of beautiful fabric, so I went through all of it and told myself to only pick 20. I don't really know what to use it for yet, but it will definitely be used. Maybe for some new fashions for the Monster High dolls and barbies, maybe some nice curtains or upholstery for the dollhouses. I can't wait to use them.


I want to welcome my new subscribers and members, thank you so much for joining. Please send me your comments and please take a quick second and vote up above for the fashion top 100 doll sites. I think you can vote whenever you visit the blog so please vote often, so far we're ranked at number 5 at the time of this post. Thank you so much for your votes.

GingerLola

LAPTOP GIVEAWAY!

Hey everyone, we hope you're all doing well.

We are extending our giveaway to this friday, we will be having the draw on Friday
and will notify you right away who our winners are.

There is still quite a few subscriptions that have not been verified,
so we're giving them a couple more days.

Thank you so much for subscribing.
We will be having another giveaway very soon.

Have a happy and safe halloween.

GingerLola

Lola's Fashion File no.1

 

 This outfit was made out of old leather gloves for the top and some fabric

we got from the dollar store plus tulle under the skirt. Very easy to make. 

We use velcro at the back to fasten the top and skirt.

 

 This outfit was made out of a pencil case I bought at Dollarama. Just cut holes for arms and 

added velcro to the back. A black ribbon for the belt.

 These two outfits were made from yarn and crocheted. I am no expert in crochet, only know of few knots and definitely not enough to give a tutorial on it. Draculaura's dress is from an old pair of jeans, with ribbon as a belt and beads to adorn it.

 Nefera's outfit - the vest is crochet with grey wool, the top is velvet and the skirt is from 

an old purse. Nothing is safe here I cut up purses, umbrellas, whatever I can find and destroy to make fashions for my nieces dolls or to use in the dollhouses as curtains, rugs, upholstery etc...

 

Draculily's outfit is one of our favourites, she'll probably be wearing this for awhile.

The skirt is material I found at a garage sale, I added tulle, ribbon and a bow to it, we love it.

The top is the bathing suit she came with, the vest is crochet yarn that I made, and the necklace is from my jewellery box, I will have to borrow it from her when I need it.

 

I got this beautiful boa from the dollar store, it was actually part of a dog toy. Can you believe it.

I go to the dollar store and walk the aisle and I try to think 'outside the box' and find items for the dolls and dollhouses. 

This is another favourite..Draculaura's white dress, crochet...I used an old fake diamond stud as a broach and a small piece of ribbon as the belt.

I hope you've enjoyed our doll fashions. Please vote for us 'fashion doll top 100' at the top of this page on the right hand side. Thank you so much for your votes.

I am working on new fashions for the dolls. So please subscribe or become a member.

Thank you...have a great day!

Please Vote for US!

Hey, we just added our site to the Fashion Doll Top 100, please vote for us...see banner on the top right!
Thank you.

More posts coming soon. Trying to get organized. I got some fabulous fabric from kijiji, plus some awesome finds from Value Village. I'll be sharing them this week...hopefully :)

Thank you
Have a great day!

Great Thrift Store Finds

Hi everyone, I want to welcome my new members and subscribers for joining my blog.
Thank you for subscribing and joining.

I passed by the thrift store this week and I found some really cool finds.

A new tub for a new Monster High doll condo or house I will be starting soon...I hope :)

Cost: 99 cents

 Not sure where I will use these shelves, maybe in one of the dorm rooms, the academy 

lounge or in the new condo or house... 

Cost: 99 cents