How to Make a Magnetic Doll House Binder

Does your daughter or granddaughter love doll houses? Worried that a doll house might take up too much space? Well learn How to Make a Magnetic Doll House Binder with this cute tutorial from Maureen Wilson. This house will only take up about 1 inch of room! This makes a great project for family vacations or a trip to grandma's house.

paper doll house

Materials:

Binder with clear vinyl cover
Magnetic sheets (3)
Contact paper
Printed dolls (see links at bottom)
Zippered binder pouch
Plastic sheet protectors
Printed backgrounds -or-
Magazines / Scrapbook paper

Video:

Instructions:

To start, you'll need to print some paper dolls. My favorites are these cute Disney-inspired dolls, designed by Cory Jensen (http://cor104.deviantart.com/gallery/). Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella are available for free download . I've also included a list of other cute paper doll links.
Begin by cutting out the dolls. It doesn't have to be precise, just cut off the excess paper. You should laminate your dolls for durability, or cover them front and back in clear Contact paper. Then cut closely around the paper dolls.
You'll also need a few magnetic sheets. I used three total. Adhere the paper dolls to the magnetic sheet and cut out. Trim two magnetic sheets and slide into the front and back cover of a binder. The binder will need to have the clear vinyl pocket cover.
Now we need to make the front cover look like a house for your dolls. I found a website that shows close-ups of animated movies (http://www.animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com/). Printing these out is a fast way to make your dollhouse binder. You could also tear pictures of pretty rooms out of a home decorating magazine. Or, you can design your own from scratch, using scrapbook paper. These are easy to swap out.
Slide these pages into the front of the binder, over the magnetic sheets. You can store spare room pictures inside clear page protectors within the binder.
To make the clothes stick, add magnet strips to both the character and the clothing. You could also use self-adhesive Velcro tabs.
To use, fold the binder backwards. Your characters should stick to the background. Store the magnetic pieces within a zippered binder pouch.
With this project, you're not just limited to princesses! How about a pet shop, or a construction site?