If your children have been bugging you to get them a doll house or even just simply to spend more time playing with them, we have a fun craft for you that can “kill two birds with one stone.” That’s right, you can save money by helping your child build a dollhouse, barn or other project from stuff sitting around your home and spend time with them at the same time. Who knows, you might even have some fun yourself.

During the next few weeks we will be giving you ideas for each room so that you can have something as simple as one bedroom cabin to as luxurious as a castle built for a princess. Let’s get started with the house itself.

We have found that in general bigger is better! You will want to start out with the biggest empty box you can find, within reason of course. We suggest using a large refrigerator box and cutting off one of the long sides, leaving a “look-down-upon” feel.

Now that you have your frame, it is easy to put in doors, walls and even windows using scissors or box cutters. (Be sure to help your children with this step. You can even add paint, “wallpaper” and even siding by cutting out magazine clip-outs or craft paper and glue. You could also add windows and doors to rooms by the same “paste on” method. Walls of course can be added by using leftover box parts.

Making the walls snug, but not glued together will make them adjustable as well, adding even more fun and variety.

Now that you have the general idea of what you want to do, start gathering items. You can use anything from emptied perfume bottles, to buttons, to bottle caps. Scraps of fabric make good rugs and carpets. Egg cartons, q-tips, toothpicks, matchsticks and even paperclips can find a home in your homemade dollhouse. Just use your creativity.

Don’t forget the best part. When you are done, it is already mostly put away. It’s in a box! Just find a place to store it and you’ll be ready for when you want to pull it out again.