Today I’m going to show you how to make a steampunk dollhouse!
After making both suitcase dollhouses and a haunted dollhouse, I was inspired to try a steampunk version. It’s easy enough to transform a thrift shop dollhouse or one that you already own into something Victorian sci-fi.
Here’s how!
Lately Goodwill’s prices have sky-rocketed (just like everyone else’s – can I get an amen?).
But I thought under $13 was perfectly acceptable for this very large and sturdy home.
It was in great shape, other than the bottom left corner which snagged on my car door as I tried to wrangle the whole thing in my backseat.
Ahem.
And there are some missing roof shingles. I thought about replacing them with popsicle sticks… but hey, a lot of people need their roof replaced. It gives it a sense of homey-ness, right?
The second set of stairs had come loose but that wasn’t a biggy.
A few trips to the following places: Hobby Lobby, the Dollar Tree, and Walmart gave me some great pieces to get started with. The blue paint was in perfectly fine condition but I felt like this house needed a yellow upgrade.
Hobby Lobby’s jewelry department had some killer markdowns in a real steampunk vibe, including some metal octopuses, owls, and a great little hot air balloon.
The paper for the walls was also from Hobby Lobby.
The acrylic paint I got from Walmart (they’re only .54 each! The metallic ones clocked in at .97. I know, big spender here!)
These cute little owl decals came from the Dollar Tree and the metallic paint went on easy and dried super fast.
The furniture also came from the Dollar Tree and I used the same metallic paint. The apothecary jars were from there as well!
These little clock discs came from Joanne Fabric where I stopped when I ran out of yellow paint and didn’t want to go all the way to Walmart.
They didn’t have the paint, but they had these, as well as the cute metal gears for the outside of the dollhouse. They were both marked down to a couple of dollars each.
The Dollar Tree had fairy lights and batteries so for $2 I lit up the attic floor. I Gorilla glued the box in an unobtrusive spot where you can still reach the on/off switch and can replace batteries.
This little room turned out cute! The stripey “wallpaper” was a great accent to the steampunk cat that I simply printed out from the internet and framed in a Dollar Tree frame. The rug was a sticker decal from there as well.
There is another steampunk image framed here but it’s hard to see it from here. I figured a little human being playing with it would be able to see it though!
What do you think? Was I right about the yellow? I think it turned out super cute.
I could have kept going with the décor, etc, but I didn’t want to spend too much and I felt like the new owner could have fun putting their own spin on it.
Now it just needs a little Victorian family to move in!
