You may remember that shortly before Christmas the girls became the proud owners of a beautiful, traditional dolls house that now takes pride of place in the brand new play room.
The dolls house has been used on and off by a series of teddy bears but it was looking a bit bare and lonely in there. For Christmas, Lara and Holly received a couple of Le Toy Van themed Budkins dolls and fairies who took up residence in the dolls house but it was still lacking character.
In my Christmas break I decided to teach Lara how to use the sewing machine. We knocked up a few set of curtains for the dolls house and a carpet or two made from old fabric scraps and curtain trimmings and this suddenly brought Lara's imagination to life... she wanted to furnish the entire house.
More recently we were lucky enough to be asked to review some of the wide range of wooden dolls house furniture available from the Big Game Hunters Dolls House website dollshouses.co.uk. And now the dolls house has really come alive.
The girls were sent a set of furniture for the living room - a Loganberry coloured lounge suite from Sugar Plum. Lara loved the fact that there was a television and even a surround sound system as it made it feel very much like our home. Immediately Lara started sitting the dolls down to watch television and was bossing the fairy children about!
We now also have a Sugar Plum dining room suite and a set of wooden Pink Bathroom furniture so the house is really coming along well.
I loved the fact that the Sugar Plum wooden furniture sets had addressed lots of the details. Lara had great fun deciding where to stick the arty pictures on the dining room and living room walls and spent quite some time arranging cookie jars on the sideboard!
Since we first set up the furniture in the dolls house both Lara and Holly have been in to play each morning. Holly's Happyland characters seem to have moved into the house. I love hearing Lara's voice boss her big sister around as they move the dolls throughout the different rooms. It will never cease to amaze me how creative their imaginations can be when left to their own devices.
You know, a dolls house is so far away from many of the other toys the girls have. It is simply crafted. Makes no noise (other than Lara's voice as she chatters on to herself and to Holly) and requires no batteries. And yet the value we get from it in terms of hours of play is endless. We love it... and I can well imagine a few more choice pieces of furniture being added to the dolls house over the coming months!
The dolls house has been used on and off by a series of teddy bears but it was looking a bit bare and lonely in there. For Christmas, Lara and Holly received a couple of Le Toy Van themed Budkins dolls and fairies who took up residence in the dolls house but it was still lacking character.
In my Christmas break I decided to teach Lara how to use the sewing machine. We knocked up a few set of curtains for the dolls house and a carpet or two made from old fabric scraps and curtain trimmings and this suddenly brought Lara's imagination to life... she wanted to furnish the entire house.
More recently we were lucky enough to be asked to review some of the wide range of wooden dolls house furniture available from the Big Game Hunters Dolls House website dollshouses.co.uk. And now the dolls house has really come alive.
The girls were sent a set of furniture for the living room - a Loganberry coloured lounge suite from Sugar Plum. Lara loved the fact that there was a television and even a surround sound system as it made it feel very much like our home. Immediately Lara started sitting the dolls down to watch television and was bossing the fairy children about!
We now also have a Sugar Plum dining room suite and a set of wooden Pink Bathroom furniture so the house is really coming along well.
I loved the fact that the Sugar Plum wooden furniture sets had addressed lots of the details. Lara had great fun deciding where to stick the arty pictures on the dining room and living room walls and spent quite some time arranging cookie jars on the sideboard!
Since we first set up the furniture in the dolls house both Lara and Holly have been in to play each morning. Holly's Happyland characters seem to have moved into the house. I love hearing Lara's voice boss her big sister around as they move the dolls throughout the different rooms. It will never cease to amaze me how creative their imaginations can be when left to their own devices.
You know, a dolls house is so far away from many of the other toys the girls have. It is simply crafted. Makes no noise (other than Lara's voice as she chatters on to herself and to Holly) and requires no batteries. And yet the value we get from it in terms of hours of play is endless. We love it... and I can well imagine a few more choice pieces of furniture being added to the dolls house over the coming months!
