I've been wanting a playhouse for Shaelyn for a while. She is in that stage where she's starting to play make-believe, and more importantly loves having hiding places for herself and all her toys, and I figured a playhouse would fit the bill for both. Since they are a little pricey brand new, it was the main item that enticed me to go to my first and last consignment sale, as well as check places like Craig's List. No such luck. My mom offered to get her a playhouse as a "Grammy Present", but then my friend Di blogged about the most adorable little playhouse that she made for her daughter. Within the same week of reading her blog, Michael cleaned out the garage and wanted to throw away all our huge boxes (like the t.v. and computer monitor box) that we've had for 7 years and moved 3 times with. Normally I would have let him, but I immediately had the idea to create my own playhouse for Shaelyn. Having just finished the quiet book, I was itching for another crafting project, and this one seemed just right.
It only took me one night to construct the house, using packing tape and an exacto knife. At first I was only going to use the t.v. box for the main part of the house and the computer box for the roof, but then I realized that once she got in the house, all she'd be able to do was to walk in, turn around, and walk back out. So I decided to combine the two boxes to make a long and skinny house - you know, a ranch style home. Since the boxes were slightly different sizes, this created a minor challenge, but I busted out my awesome geometry skills and made it work.
I cut plenty of windows and left part of the roof exposed, because once I put the roof on, the inside of the house was pretty dark. I originally cut the door to be full-sized, but Shaelyn had played with a friend's playhouse that had a 1/2 door, and it seemed easier for the kids to open and shut, so I decided to copy the idea. After watching her play with the house and get frustrated that the door drug on the floor, I cut about 1/2 an inch off the bottom of the door to allow it to swing freely. I also originally scored the door to swing inward (as you can see above), but that was a stupid idea. Once the door was inside the house, there wasn't a lot of room for her to walk in. Plus, she wanted the door to swing out and would get very frustrated when it wouldn't. But because it was already scored on the outside of the house to swing inward, I couldn't score it on the inside of the house, or it would have cut the door completely off. Solution: I stripped the top layer of cardboard off the front of the house, about a 1/2 inch from the "hinge" of the door all the way up to the hinge itself. Then the door could swing out and didn't have the cardboard bending back on itself. Now the door swings both ways, which works better anyway.
The next morning might have been Christmas morning for how excited I was for Shaelyn to wake up and come downstairs. She was very excited to see the house and immediately wanted to play in it. Sorry the video is so dark and grainy - but you can get the idea: Next step: Mod Podge. My friend Carrie had taught us a fun card-making class for Mother's Day at church, and she had a bunch of pretty scrapbook paper left over that she said I could have. I was going to decorate the house in wrapping paper, but the scrapbook paper is so much prettier and gives the house a kindergarten-decoupage-project feel. It looks sophisticated, and yet something that Shaelyn possibly could have done. I love it. I decided to do a blue color scheme for the house, red for the door (so it's like our real house's front door) and black for the roof. I moved the family room around a little so that the area behind our couch is now a mini playroom for Shaelyn, and I put her playhouse in one corner of her play area. 
I even decoupaged a box to make a bench for her to sit on while inside her house.
Clara came over and helped Shaelyn break in the house once it was finished and put in it's permanent spot in the room:I left the inside of the house plain cardboard on purpose, so that Shaelyn could decorate the walls with her artwork. This is now one of her favorite activities - "painting" her walls: Total cost for the house: $10 (the price of the gigantic bottle of Mod Podge I bought). The house is such a success, even Maggie loves it:
Now I plan on making a play kitchen (sink and stove) to in the play area too. (I'm so trying to be like Di on this one...). Thanks for the great idea Di! It was fun for me to make and way fun for Shaelyn to play in!
