1 INCH SCALE DOLLHOUSE INTERIOR DOOR AND JAMB TUTORIAL - How to make a 1 inch scale dollhouse interior door and jamb from mat board.

I thought I would show you how to make a simple interior door and jamb from mat board.

I took the opening measurement from the Hobby Builder's catalog so this door is standard for today's dollhouses.

Once you have learned the method you can make doors of different dimensions.

I have bought lots of books from Dover Publishers.com.  This book is very good for doors and windows.  It doesn't give measurements but the ideas are great.

Some examples of the pages.

I will begin with the jamb or the frame in which the door sets.
The Hobby Builder's catalog listed the opening as 3" wide, 7" high and 3/8" deep.
Cut strips of mat board 3/8" wide.  Cut at least 40".

I am going to be using yellow carpenter's glue through out this tutorial.

Cut 4 pieces of the mat board 7" long, that's in the picture above.

Glue two pieces together and glue another two pieces together.

You now have two pieces 7" long that are double thickness of mat board.

Cut from the mat board 3 pieces 2 3/4" long.

Glue two of these pieces together. Leave the third piece for later.

Cut 1/8" wide strips from mat board, at least 20".

Measure and mark on the doubled strips of mat board the center, 3/16" from either side.

Glue the 1/8" wide strip along the line. There will be 3/16" left on one side.

This is called the "stop".  It stops the door so it only swings one way.

Here are the three pieces of the jamb with the stop glued on.  There are two sides and one top.


Pay attention to how I have this laid out.

With your craft knife cut off 1/8" of the stop at the top of one side.



Do the same thing with the other side.

This is what the top of the side should look like after you've made the cut.

I am holding the top of the jamb in my hand.  The side in on the table.  The top fits down onto the side.  The stop should line up all around.

I have the sides glued to the top.  Do you see that the sides are covering the ends of the top?

Look at the stop, it is lined up all around.

Now, for the third piece of 3/8" wide mat board you set aside earlier, this is the bottom of the jamb or threshold.
Measure and mark the center, then mark 1/8" away from that.

Use your craft knife to cut on the marks.  Cut 1/16" deep.

This is the threshold with the cuts made.

Use 220 grit sand paper to round off the long edges of the threshold.

Glue the threshold to the bottom of the jamb.  The stop is in the openings you cut out.

Showing another view of the threshold.

Please let this dry.

I measured the inside of the jamb for the measurement of the door.  I left a little play, that's carpenter talk for extra space between the door and jamb.

This measurement is 2 11/16" x 6 3/4". Cut this from mat board.

This is my cut sheet.  I've drawn the door in 1 inch scale and then measured what I need to cut.

You will notice I've got my 3/8" measurements together then I've got an oddball 3/4" measurement and then the 9/16" measurements are together.
If you are using a table saw or mat cutting system this makes it easy to follow.  Set the width once and make those cuts and move onto the next one. You will have all your strips cut to width.  All you will have to do is measure for the length and cut.

I've got my 3/8" strips cut.

I've cut 4 of the 3/8" strips 6 3/4" long and glued them along the sides of the door.  I've done this to both sides of the door.

Although I have the length written down I usually just dry fit and mark with a pencil where I need to cut for length.

I will do this for the rest of the door, both sides.

I use my square and craft knife to cut the strips to length.

I've got a 3/8" strip at the top, 3/4" strip in the lower middle and a 9/16" strip at the bottom.  I do this for both sides.

Just a word here, this would make a fine door right now if you want.

I am dry fitting and marking for the center pieces, they are from 3/8" strips.

I've got the center strips glued in, both sides.

I want to show you something.

Do you see the two pencil marks on the top strip?

I am measuring for the center.

This is an old carpenter's trick, the old carpenter being my husband, HA!

You don't have to divide fractions.

I'm using a scrap of mat board.

Lay your ruler down, it's length is between the 1/16 and 1/8 inch marks.

Make a pencil mark at what looks to be over half to you.  Remember the measurement, mine is 1 11/16".

I am measuring from the left side.

Now, I've rotated the mat board and I am measuring from the other side, 1 11/16".  I've made a pencil mark.

You should be able the "eye" the center without measuring.

Use 220 grit sand paper to round off the square edges of the mat board. Don't do the outside edges of the door just the inside of the rectangles you made with the strips.

Just a note here, this makes a fine door right now.

To imitate the raised panels we will cut from the 9/16" wide strips of mat board 4 pieces 3 1/4" long and 4 pieces 1 1/4" long.

Use 220 grit sand paper to round off all 4 sides of these pieces.

After you have rounded off the edges glue these pieces into the center of the rectangles of the door, both sides.

I've got the door just setting in the jamb.



I am using scrap mat board from a framer.  Got a good buy on some large pieces for $3.00 and $5.00 a piece. They were discontinued colors.  Last time I bought a piece from Michael's it was $15.00!

Going to make the trim for the jamb.

Cut from mat board a few pieces, enough for both sides of the door, a fat 1/8" wide and 5/16" wide.

Glue the fat 1/8" strip to one side of the 5/16" strip.

Use 220 grit sand paper to round off the the edges of the strips.

I use The Chopper for my mitres.

I've made the first cut.

I have no trick for you in cutting mitres, I am sorry.  It's all in the measuring, measure twice, cut once.

Glue the trim onto the jamb, on the outside piece of mat board.  Leave the inside piece showing, that's called the reveal.  That's why I doubled the mat board on the jamb so we would  have something to glue to, even if it is a single piece of 1/16" thick piece of mat board.  The jamb is going to be glued into a door opening.

I have the trim glued on.  Cut two of everything so you have trim for the other side of the door jamb. You will put that on after you have the door and jamb in the opening.

I used 180 grit sand paper to sand round one side of the door.  This makes it easier for the door to swing with a pin hinge.  The rounded side is the side that will have the pin hinge. That's all I use.  I haven't gotten to putting real hinges on, yet.

I have a small stash of these short thick brass pins, I don't know where I got them from.  You can use a straight pin or dollhouse nails for the hinge.

Putting the pins in is a little tricky.  Place the door into the jamb and mark on the door and jamb, have the marks line up.  You want to be 3 /32" from the edge of the door.  Your door is 3/16" thick, you want to have the pin in the middle of that.  Transfer the 3/32" mark to the top and bottom of the jamb and drill using a tiny drill bit.  You don't have to drill into the door, only through the top and bottom of the jamb.  The pin will go into the door pretty easily.

Insert your pins.  Don't worry if you don't succeed on the first try.  If you make too many attempts just put glue in the holes, let dry and try again tomorrow.

Tigger's on my table.


I hope you try this out.  I had this made in a couple of hours, that beats waiting for it being shipped.

Have fun, Expand on it, Make it better . . . . .

Just Keep Making Minis!

TTUL   Kris

P.S.  I added a picture showing one of the pins in the bottom of the jamb or threshold.  A pin goes in the top of the jamb, too.  The pins are inserted into the side of the door that you rounded off with sand paper.  I hope this helps a  little more.

1 INCH SCALE VINTAGE CARD STOCK CANISTER SET - How to make a 1 inch scale vintage canister set from card stock.

I saw this "how to" in a full size decorating magazine using a ready made canister, fabric and Modge Podge.  I thought it may be a quick project to do.
I am sure most of you know how to do what I am going to show but maybe we have some newcomers to the hobby that haven't seen it.
When I was researching vintage metal canisters on-line I saw so many I wanted to make, I could spend a year making one for each month there were so many!

The first thing you need are some dowels.  I used: 3/4 inch, 5/8 inch and 1/2 inch dowels for this tutorial.

Dowels are the easiest shape to find that are graduated in size.

When I was on-line I saw many canisters that used the largest diameter (3/4 inch) for all four canisters, they just graduated the height of the canisters.

From card stock cut 3 strips, 11/16 inch wide, 5/8 inch wide and 9/16 inch wide.

On another piece of card stock measure 1/16 inch away from the edge and draw a line.

I used a pair of scissors that cut a scalloped shape.  You don't have to have a shaped edge, the edge can be left plain or you can use other scissor shapes you might  have.

I used the line I drew to keep my width even all along the strip.

Set this aside for now.

Wrap the strips of card stock around the dowels, trim to overlap and glue.  I used yellow wood glue for this as I do for my paper projects.

I used the 1/2 inch dowel twice for two canisters that size.  Using a smaller dowel for the last canister seemed too small.

Make sure that the card stock isn't glued to the dowels, rotate the card stock to un-stick it.

After the glue has dried a bit I used sand paper to smooth the seam and take a little bit of the bulk away.

I used "Fruit Spray" by Mini Graphics wallpaper to cover the canisters.  You are probably saying, "Why don't you just use the wall paper and not the card stock?"  I wanted the canisters to be sturdier, maybe something a child could play with.

Cut strips from the wall paper the same widths as the canisters.

I used wood glue to glue the wall paper to the card stock canisters.  Rotate the canisters so that they are not glued to the dowels.

Apply glue to the bottom of the canister.

Set this down onto card stock and smooth the glue around the edge.  Let dry.  This is the bottom of the canister.

Apply glue stick to card stock and glue two layers together.

This is the glue stick I use.

Use a circle template to measure the diameter of the canisters with the card stock and wall paper on.

Draw circles on the doubled card stock for lids to fit the canisters.

You will notice I have four sizes drawn, I changed my mind about the largest canister and didn't use it.  It would be good for a cookie jar, it was 7/8 inch.

I am going to use button hole thread to create the rolled edge on the bottom of the canister.

I have a spool of sewing thread next to the button hole thread to show the difference.

Paint the button hole thread to match the background of your wallpaper.

After the paint is dry on the thread use tacky glue to glue it to the bottoms of the canisters.

Here I have the canisters, tops of lids and the scalloped strip of lip.

Use yellow carpenter's glue to glue the scalloped lip to the edge of the lid.

I use the carpenter's glue instead of tacky because the tacky doesn't firm up fast enough, it stays flexible and easy to move.  I don't want this piece coming off as I glue it on.

The lips are glued onto the lids.

Cut a strip of card stock 3/32 inch wide for the handles.

I cut the largest canister's handle 3/4 inches long, the next 5/8 inches long and the last two are 1/2 inch long.

I used my tweezers to turn the ends flat so that I could glue the strips to the lids.  I bent the strips over the handle of a paint brush to round them before I glued the handles on using carpenter's glue.

I made the lids removable, it's fun to have things work like the real thing. You don't have to.  You could glue the lids on just like the bottoms and glue the lip onto the canister.

I painted the lids red at least four times. I then used an acrylic varnish for shine. I gave the lids one coat of that and the canisters at least four coats.

Let the varnish dry before you set the lids on or the lids might stick.

I know this is an oldie but I think it's a goldie!








The weather is starting to warm up, save some time for minis and have a go at making the canister set.

If you have any questions please e-mail me at camceiling@frontiernet.net.

Please, send me photos of your finished tutorials, use the e-mail address above.

Have Fun, Expand On It, Make It Better . . . . .

Just Keep Making Minis!!

Kris