What a clothespeg can do

My growing family of Clothespeg dolls needed a place to live, and some furniture!  The room box is a wine crate that I purchased from this Etsy seller:

The Crate People

The crate was advertised as 13" x 11" by 8" deep.  It actually measured 7" deep, but still works fine.   They have a tremendous selection of crates.  The one I bought is actually nicely finished inside; not rough at all.  It could be painted or stained, or simply sealed with varnish (not a bad idea).

But of course, a roombox needs furniture, and all of the furniture in this box was made with clothespegs and wooden plaques.  If you cannot find plaques the right size, balsa or basswood sheets are very easy to cut and readily available at your local craft store.

The Bed:

The bed was made with a single plaque 6 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide; four flat clothespegs, and  four popsicle sticks.

Cut one leg off of each flat clothespeg, and make sure the distance from the head of the peg to the point you cut off is the same distance on each peg, and nice and flat.  The plaque will rest on this 'ledge' , and the remaining leg of the peg will be the posters for a nice, four poster bed.

Use the popsicle sticks to make the headboard (three sticks cut to size) and the footboard (one stick cut to size).  Glue the plaque to the clothespegs, let dry, then glue the popsicle sticks to the head posters and the foot posters.  After all is dry, stain or paint your bed, then antique it if you like with antiquing medium, or make a very light wash with burnt umber paint and a lot of water (thank you for this tip, Jenny!)

The mattress is a piece of Warm&Natural cotton batting, folded in thirds and sewn together on the back side, then quilted with French knots.

The Table:

The table is made with the same size plaque as was used for the bed, two spring clip clothespins, and four popsicle sticks.

Separate the spring clips so you have four table legs.  For a Hitty size table (good for dolls 5 to 6 1/2 inches tall) cut 1/2 inch off of the slender end of the table legs; make sure your four legs are the same length.  This also makes gluing the legs to the table supports more stable.

Cut two of the popsicle sticks so the are about 1/4" from each short edge of the table top (about 2" long), and glue two legs to each of these.  After these assemblies are dry, glue them to the short ends of the table top, then glue the long popsicle stick to the table leg and the bottom of the table on either side.  Let this sit upside down until dry.

Paint or stain your table, then antique or not.

The Chairs:

Each chair is made with four flat clothespegs, one 2" by 3" plaque, cut in half (one plaque will make two chair seats), and one popsicle stick.

Cut both legs off of two of the clothespegs for the front legs, and one leg off of the other two pegs for the back legs and the back vertical supports.  Cut the plaque in half so that you have two seats that are 2" x 1/1/2 ";  glue the front legs to the bottom of the chair seat.  Let this dry a bit, then glue the plaque into the back legs, letting the 'ledge' created when you cut off one leg hold the back of the seat.

Let this dry, then cut one popsicle stick to make two slats for the back of the chair and glue in place to the back of the vertical supports.   This chair could be made into a bench with a longer seat; it could also have an upholstered seat by putting a bit of batting on the seat then pulling fabric around this and gluing to the underside of the chair seat.

Paint or stain as desired, and antique or not.  You now have a full suite of furniture for your doll.

Occasional tables can be made with wood bobbins and wood scraps; a pegboard could be made with a popsicle stick and a 3/16" dowel rod.   Cut the dowel into 3/8" lengths and glue into holes drilled in the popsicle stick.

The wall quilt and the bed quilts are from some Gail Wilson projects I did several years ago.  The tea set on the table is a set of charms from Michael's, but I had to borrow a tea pot :-)  The rug was made by a dear friend several years ago, and the jug, basin, and chamber pot are bits of pottery I had about.

I plan to add a peg rack for hanging clothes, and maybe a tiny cross stitch sampler.  But for now, Ruby PegHitty and Daisy PegHitty are quite happy to take tea :-)

A couple of other Peg's found a place to explore in my fairy garden...

Ivy Peg (in the ivy dress), and Lily Peg, with the bunny, spending time in the fairy garden;  I hope you enjoy the day as much as they are :-)