This year for Christmas I decided to give my four year old niece peg dolls. It’s a cute gift that’s great for her age and even better to entertain her while her mama takes care of their new baby. You can find my Peg Doll Tutorial Here.
Then while I was walking through a thrift store I saw a wooden cigar box for 50 cents. Wow. Pin balls started bouncing back and forth in my brain and before I knew it, I had the perfect Christmas gift for her.
I used Mod Podge to cover the cigar label on the front of the box with a cute design and then added a handle simply using my hot glue gun. The box was scratched up and I knew that I little girl would probably just add more scratches to it. So I did what any smart woman would do and I got out my sanding block to rough up the edges. One or two scratches just looks messed up but a ton of them screams vintage.
The back was just raw unfinished wood so again I got out my best friend, Mod Podge, and I covered it in paper with several coats of Mod Podge on top to preserve it.
So what do you do with this box you ask? Let’s open it and find out?
It’s a portable peg doll house. Using modpodge I made a living room, bedroom, and table area for the peg dolls to play in. Then because my sister has an outdoorsy family, I added a slide and pond with dock so the peg dolls can go fishing. (My brother in law is a marine biologist)
Shh… Grandma’s sleeping.
This will be a great gift that she can carry with her when my sister needs her to be quiet and entertained such as the baby’s doctor visits. The best part is that when you are done playing, just put the peg dolls inside, close it up and place it on a shelf. No little peg dolls on the floor for parents to step on in the middle of the night, just a compact cute adorable storage play system.
Aunt of the year award… here I come.. well until I forgot her birthday last week. Next Christmas might have to involve gold and chocolates.
*Edited- Now I have been told by my father that I did not miss her fourth birthday yet, I only missed her third because she is now three. Oh my .. I’m going to have to buy her a car, aren’t I? *
Such a cute idea. It reminds me of the project we did as a freshman in high school. We made a room from a box, and decorated it as if it were our own room at home.Then we dressed the room up as we wished it could be.It was a neat project.I remember it well.
Oh my gosh .. how darling! I am not at all craft, but I might have to tackle this for my toddler. She would love it, and I would love to reserve this for “on the go” times when we need something special to entertain her, like a restaurant or a coffee date with a friend. Thanks for a wonderful post!
I love it! Now I have another thing to put on my list of things to look for at the thrift store.
I like the new space! And the peg dolls. I made clothes pins nativity sets for my nieces and nephews over the holidays. In fact I made a lot of presents this year. But there will be no blog post about them since a) I was busy finishing them up to the 11th hour and no way did I have time to take pictures and b) a newborn and three toddlers give me more blogging material than I have time to put into print anyways.
I love this and cant wait to make one for my girls as just a special gift from mommy one day!! I made them homemade “happy meals” for lunch this week and made a doll out of old style clothes pin for their toy and they thought it was the best toy ever! I love it when they love something so simple and can appreciate the thougthfulness at such a young age too!
What a clever idea!!
How creative is that?! Fun idea. I’ve seen this done in a file folder, but this is so much cuter!
Thanks for auditioning on American Crafter! This is super cute- I’m on the lookout for a cigar box!