Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Thrifty Dollhouse Miniature Mattress!

My sister is the thrifter of the family, and she spends an exorbitant amount of time filtering through garbage and junk to discover treasures. She is lucky, or more observant, or some combination of these two traits; for, when I attempt to go on treasure hunts of my own, the results are more often than not... fruitless.


Although I am far less skilled in this department, my sister, Auntie A, has a generous heart, and many times she brings magnificent second-hand treasures to our door including such finds as the following: a wooden workbench, several wooden dollhouses, a fairy cottage, a dollhouse wardrobe, kitsch cat figurines, and a set of cat-themed, Russian Matryoshka nesting dolls! 




After being the recipient or "mother-to-the-recipients" of Auntie A's thrift gifts, I decided it was time to give it another try.  On Monday, I rolled the dice and, with the Caveman in tow, headed out second-hand shopping at a location that was highly recommended by the thrifting queen herself... and... Success! 



The Caveman and I indeed found treasure!  We brought home a miniature brass cradle bed in need of a mattress, a solid wooden dump truck, and a bag of small wooden blocks.


At our house, the Caveman became absorbed in a game of loading and dumping wooden blocks, while I set to work to create a mattressy something for the toy cradle.  


I settled on a cardboard restaurant coaster from a stack that Mister insisted we pocket during our last dining out experience, and I cut it into two rectangles the perfect size to create a base for the bed.


I then raided my sewing cabinet and cut a swatch of a scrap of quilted fabric 1/4" bigger than my coaster boards on all sides.  



Next for glue. Lazily, I used the Dreamer's bottle of white glue and glued the fabric to one coaster, tucked in the sides, and glued the other coaster board on top. 


I set the mattress board under a book to dry then inserted it into the cradle--perfect fit! 


Now we know that hunting for treasure is just as rewarding as searching for earthworms...



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