12 Everyday Household Items You Can Turn Into Dollhouse Miniatures

One of the most fun parts of making dollhouse miniatures is realizing that miniature supplies are hiding everywhere. Before you throw away a bottle cap, scrap of cardboard, bit of packaging, or broken piece of jewelry, take a second look.

In 1:12 scale, an ordinary household object can become something completely different. A tiny piece of plastic might become a serving bowl. A bead could become the base of a lamp. A scrap of pretty fabric may be just large enough for a miniature pillow.

Once you start looking at everyday objects with a miniaturist's eye, it's difficult to stop!

Here are 12 things worth checking around your house before heading to the craft store.

1. Bottle Caps and Small Lids

Bottle caps, toothpaste caps, cosmetic lids, and other small plastic or metal lids are miniature-making treasures.

Depending on their shape, they can become flowerpots, wastebaskets, bowls, lampshades, buckets, trays, or bases for miniature lamps and tables.

Don't worry about the original color. A little paint, paper, fabric, or decorative trim can completely disguise what the object used to be.

2. Cardboard Packaging

Cereal boxes, cracker boxes, tissue boxes, and other lightweight cardboard packaging are perfect for 1:12 scale projects.

Use the cardboard for miniature books, boxes, signs, picture frames, storage containers, food packages, and small pieces of furniture.

The printed side can usually be hidden inside your project, leaving the plain side ready to paint or cover with decorative paper.

3. Toothpicks

A box of toothpicks is practically a miniature lumberyard.

They can become furniture legs, handles, curtain rods, garden stakes, railings, ladders, shelves, picture frames, crates, and architectural trim.

Cut, sand, stain, or paint them and there's very little left to suggest that they started life as toothpicks.

4. Fabric Scraps

Never throw away a pretty fabric scrap simply because it's too small for another sewing project. In a dollhouse, a few inches of fabric can go a long way.

Use scraps to make miniature pillows, curtains, bedding, tablecloths, rugs, dish towels, napkins, upholstery, and folded linens.

Save small pieces of lace and ribbon too. What looks like a tiny leftover in real life can be several feet of material in 1:12 scale.

5. Buttons

Before tossing old clothing, check the buttons.

Flat buttons can become plates, trays, clocks, wall decorations, or tabletops. Decorative buttons can sometimes be transformed into ornate accessories, frames, or architectural details.

Vintage metal buttons are especially interesting because their intricate designs can look completely different when used in a miniature setting.

6. Beads and Broken Jewelry

That broken necklace at the back of a drawer might contain dozens of miniature possibilities.

Beads can become perfume bottles, lamp bases, jars, knobs, finials, candlesticks, flower vases, and decorative accessories.

Earring backs, charms, chains, and jewelry findings are worth saving too. Combining several unrelated pieces can produce a surprisingly convincing miniature object.

7. Clear Plastic Packaging

Clear plastic packaging is one of those things most of us throw away without a second thought.

Look for flat sections that can become miniature window glass, picture-frame glazing, tabletops, shower doors, or display cases.

And don't overlook molded areas. Small bubbles and indentations can sometimes become dishes, bowls, trays, or containers.

In fact, you'll see a particularly clever example of this in the first video below.

8. Drinking Straws

Paper and plastic straws are inexpensive miniature building materials.

Cut into small sections, they can become pipes, containers, vases, curtain rods, columns, handles, or structural pieces.

Clear straws can be particularly useful when you want something that resembles glass or transparent tubing.

9. Paper Clips, Twist Ties and Thin Wire

A little wire can solve all sorts of miniature-making problems.

Use it for tiny clothes hangers, hooks, handles, plant stands, curtain hardware, basket handles, garden accessories, or decorative metalwork.

Plastic-coated paper clips can be especially useful because the colored coating can sometimes become part of the finished miniature.

10. Paper Towel and Toilet Paper Rolls

Don't underestimate the humble cardboard tube.

Cut one open and flatten it and you have free lightweight craft cardboard. Leave it curved and you have material for baskets, containers, buckets, architectural pieces, and anything else that needs a rounded shape.

Because it's so easy to cut, it's also a good material for experimenting with an idea before using more expensive supplies.

11. Egg Cartons

Cardboard egg cartons have interesting shapes and a wonderfully rough texture.

Cut apart the individual sections to experiment with miniature planters, bowls, baskets, pots, and other containers.

The flatter portions can also be used whenever you need a textured surface for a rustic or aged miniature project.

12. Everyday Odds and Ends

This may actually be the most useful category of all.

Look at pen parts, empty cosmetic containers, tiny caps, disposable packaging, old game pieces, coffee stirrers, broken toys, small hardware, ribbon spools, and other little objects before throwing them away.

Instead of asking, "What is this?" ask:

"What could this be in 1:12 scale?"

That's when miniature making gets really interesting.

Watch Trash Become 1:12 Scale Miniatures

Sometimes it's much easier to understand this idea when you actually watch someone transform an ordinary object.

These two tutorials from Joanne's Minis are specifically for 1:12 scale dollhouse miniatures and show just how differently a miniaturist can look at everyday objects.

Turn Medicine Packaging Into Miniature Bowls

In this clever trash-to-treasure project, the clear blister packaging from over-the-counter medicine becomes a set of tiny 1:12 scale bowls.

It's a perfect example of why molded plastic packaging deserves a second look before it goes into the trash.

Turn an Electrical Wire Nut Into a Miniature Milkshake

Here's another wonderfully unexpected transformation. An ordinary electrical wire nut becomes the basis for a 1:12 scale milkshake, with a plastic-coated paper clip used to make the tiny straw.

Once you see projects like this, you'll probably start looking at the contents of your junk drawer very differently!

Make Yourself a Miniature "Maybe Box"

Here's a simple habit that can save both money and trips to the craft store.

Keep a small box or divided container near your craft supplies for objects that have miniature potential.

You don't need to save everything. Keep only the particularly promising pieces—interesting caps, tiny beads, unusual packaging, short pieces of wire, pretty fabric scraps, little bits of trim, and anything else that makes you think, "I could make something out of that."

Then when you need a tiny accessory for a room, look through your box before buying something new.

Look at the Shape, Not the Object

That's really the secret to turning everyday objects into convincing dollhouse miniatures.

A bottle cap doesn't have to remain a bottle cap. Turn it upside down and it might be a flowerpot.

A bead doesn't have to look like jewelry. Add another bead and a tiny shade and suddenly it's a table lamp.

A clear plastic bubble from a package doesn't have to be trash. Trim it carefully and it might become a bowl.

The more miniatures you make, the easier it becomes to spot these possibilities.

Tiny Details Make a Dollhouse Feel Like Home

The little things are often what make a miniature room feel believable—a flowerpot on a windowsill, books stacked beside a chair, a kitchen towel, a little bowl on the table, or a sign hanging on the wall.

And those finishing touches don't necessarily have to come from a miniature store.

Sometimes they're already sitting in your kitchen drawer, sewing basket, recycling bin, or junk drawer just waiting for you to see them differently.

The smallest details can add so much personality to a miniature room. Click the image above to browse my handmade dollhouse signs and see the designs currently available.

 

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