Dollhouse DIY: Magnetic Playscale Diaorama

Looking for a dollhouse/studio that:

• lets you express your style?
• is great for photography?
• is easy to store?

Here’s a product from Cleabella called “Room With a View”. It’s a magnetic scene system to display and photograph 1:4 or 1:6 (playscale) dolls. A starter kit includes metallic folding background walls, a fabric floor rug and your first set of magnetic ‘mix-and-match wallpaper’ panels.

You can then add more mix-and-match wallpaper or panelling, and magnetic wall accessories such as windows, doors, faux bookshelves and framed pictures. The catch is- it’s expensive. But read on for my DIY tip!

For more flexibility you can buy blank magnetic panels and design your own background. That’s how Michael Williams created his stylish set piece, featured here on our blog and pictured below. Michael explains on his Flickr site how he scanned in the wallpaper design from some fabric and printed it on a large scale Epsom printer. He also printed the parquet hardwood floor. Visit Michael’s flickr set for more details: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mawphoto/sets/72157603894831644/

…and here’s my crafty DIY tip- as they say, “make of it what you will”. You can buy paint with iron filings which magnets will stick to.  You can get A4 sized printable magnet sheets from Officeworks, and larger magnets should be available at printers and signwriters.  And finally-you can cut out pictures you like from magazines, such as accessories, paintings, posters, views through windows. Then glue them on to those magnets you always get in the letterbox- you know, the ones that advertise the 24-hour plumbing service. Now that’s real DIY, and it’s free!