Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Our School Classroom UPDATED

About 2 years ago when we first started the dollhouse and were planning out the rooms, my oldest daughter Ava knew she definitely wanted two rooms; a bakery and a classroom.  

I kept my eye out for little school supplies, mini notebooks and basically anything that I thought would look good in a classroom and casually after a few months we finished the classroom and were thrilled with the results:


But 2 years later, and the classroom was starting to go stale.  We hadn't really done much to it and I could tell by the lack of playtime it got that she was getting bored with it.  

That obviously meant one thing, it was time to spruce it up!




As you can see, the bones of the room didn't change.  Same overall setup and we kept the cube bookshelf, teachers desk, trash barrels, american flag and students desk all the same.

But we added a few more big pieces that hold lots of new details that I think really make a big impact on how fun the room is.  
So get comfortable b/c theres LOTS of little details in this room, and I'm going to tell you where I got everything!


First are these bookcases.  These are actually drawer organizers I found at TJMaxx. 
They're the perfect size for all our mini books.  They remind me of ikea bookcases.  



All the books on here are real books except for the ones on the top right which are blank page notebooks covered in scrapbook paper (will touch on that in another post).  

The blue binder is from Molly's school set and the green binder came with a retired AG backpack set.  
The antibacterial wipes on the bottom shelf are real wipes that came as a keychain.  Walmart maybe?  
The pink and orange boxes are paper mache boxes that they have at all the craft stores that I covered with scrapbook paper.

The alphabet border is from the AG school set and the clock is a real working clock from Hobby Lobby.  

The flag was found at a random store around the 4th of July.


Next we added 2 more of those TJMaxx drawer organizers turned on their side and 2 diy floating bookshelves to house more books and a few science items.


All the books on the floating shelf are from AG.  

The mammal skull came in a tube with other various skulls from Michaels.  I added the stand.  I'll be making a few more and I'll share some more detailed photos on those in a later post.

The dino skeleton is from Michaels in one of those fossil dig kits.  

The corked jars are from Michaels as well and they have various Gemstones in them.




The plant, thats from target.  Fish tank = Michaels. 






The mini scrapbook paper pad is from Michaels.  So cute right?!  

The mini colored pencils came in a coloring kit in the dollar section at ACMoore.    

Mini crayon boxes are images printed and folded.  Love that!

The 3 pattered notebooks are more of the scrapbook covered books I mentioned from the other bookshelf.  

And the 4 books are post it holders from ebay.  Go China!




The two paint pallets are from Michaels.  

Paint brushes, paint tubes and drawing pad are all from AG Saige's paint set.  

The four paint sets on the bottom shelf are from Party city and the mini crayons are from ACMoore in another one of those art kits in the dollar section.




More mini books from ebay.  Tape dispenser and yellow lined paper pads are from Party City.

Flash cards from AG Molly's school set.

Mini mason jars are from ACMoore.  Originally with gold lids that I painted.  The mini tags are from Hobby Lobby.




Stapler from Five Below.  

Scissors from various OG sets.  

Ruler from Kit's school set.  

Mini mechanical pencils from various AG sets.

Two larger books are more of those mini post it books and the thinner books are notebooks both from ebay.




Bags both AG.  Green one is obviously Lanie's.


We've got some fun stuff stored under the school desks as well.


Laptop came with Lanie's bag. Various AG notebooks, folders etc.  Pencil case came with the desk.



The apple Macbook is a compact mirror from ebay.  And more AG notebooks and folders.




The geode we had.  Magnifying glass is from Hobby Lobby.  The glass really magnifies, it's metal and it has some weight to it.  Love mini stuff that feels real.

Gemstone card another ebay Gem.  (See what I did there? Me so funny)  Moving on.



This may be my favorite item in the school.  The Ant Farm.  

This was a fun little diy project.  And super cheap too.  For us, it actually didn't cost anything, but even if you were to buy supplies, they're pretty minimal.  Perfect for our nature girl Lanie!




Found our smallest unused plain frame which happened to be 3x5.  Spray painted it green.  Took a wooden paint stirrer stick and cut it to size for the base.  Sprayed it green and glued it on with some wood glue.  Cut the farm scene out of some green cardstock.  And now the fun part, the ant trails.  Just some coarkboard cut to size with some trails cut out by hand.  And lastly, ants cut out of black cardstock.  Viola.  Doll sized ant farm.    




I'm pretty sure I've never seen an AG sized ant farm in any of the school rooms I've seen on Pinterest, youtube, etc and we love to have a little something unique in each room and for this room, I think this is it.


Another new addition is the chalkboard from Hobby Lobby.  Much more substantial then the white board we had previously. Bunting is diy and the little poster I just came across on Pinterest.





Another one of the original large storage pieces is this wall cube box from Michaels.



Theres a few of the same things on there but we added lots more like the glitter bottles, wooden letter stamps & washi tape (Michaels), jars with dice, dominos and colored mini clothes pins (Hobby Lobby), neon clay & mini crayons (Amazon) and a bunch more mini books (AG.)  The plastic bins on the bottom have jute string, crayons, clips & extra mini tape dispensers.



Another classroom favorite is the 3D lunch tray stickers.  Perfect size for the desks and the pieces can all come off and be switched around.  I got mine at Michaels but I've seen them at all the other big chain craft stores as well.



Look how detailed they are.











































The lunch tray stickers also came with this School Lunchtime sticker which was perfect for above the lunch menu I made.











































Here's some of the subject the class is studying.  The calendar came from Michaels, butterfly chart from the AG school set.  All other images found through google.


More mini hardcover books.  This ocean life set is from Amazon.  Pink handle basket from Hobby Lobby.


I love a set of anything.  But a set of mini hardcover books?  Swoon.



With the soft spot I have for mini books, collecting all the AG school textbooks was a must.


One of the fun little school project my Ava & I put together were specimens for the "students" to explore.  Here's Mia checking them out.


Most of the little critters are from Michaels.  Some we had on hand.  The clear acrylic boxes came from Hobby Lobby.  It's one of our favorite setups.  So cute right?!  



And when the desk isn't filled with specimens, it looks similar to this.  Globe is a christmas ornament.




I think that covers EVERYTHING. Or almost everything.  The details of a doll room are def my favorite and this room has lots, which is probably why it's one of my most loved rooms.


  

22 comments:

  1. What an amazing room. All those little details are what makes it so special! Can't wait to see the rest of your dollhouse and hopefully some tutorials.

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    1. Yes!! I love all of this stuff and it seems so cool but I have been doing stuff from American girl ideas. Here's the link,https://www.americangirlideas.com/. You should definitely try it out !!!

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    2. Same person who wrote the AGI comment. Can you make you tube videos or somthing like that and post it here? Can you also make like a haul of what your doing???

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  2. I love everything!!! And thank you for detailing each item! Did you get the mini mason jars from AC Moore recently?? I must have some!!

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    1. Thanks! We purchased them within the past 2 months but I saw them there as recently as last week. They're on the end cap hanging on a pegboard.

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  3. Wow what great work from the detail to the photography! Would love to see a picture of the house and yor layout of the rooms!( have seen u in the ag FB groups too. Thanks for sharing

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  4. Can you post the seller that you purchased the mini post it note books from on eBay. Can't can't seem to find them.

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    1. You can find them here! http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2-pcs-lot-Korean-material-Escolar-lovely-note-paper-stationery-stickers-stationery-papeleria-school-supplies-notebook/32306461800.html

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  5. I cannot believe the detail of this classroom. It is absolutely darling! My daughter is asking for the newest desks from AG. So your classroom has become my inspiration. I was just wondering where at Michael's you found the cubby that's on the wall?

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  6. I love all your mini books so much. Can you tell me what the approximate dimensions of the books are, and what kinds of search terms you use on eBay and other sites in order to find them? I'm at a loss on how to find them!

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  7. Oh my gosh! That is amazing! You have such talent for finding doll-sized items! I am in the middle of a classroom scene myself and this is such an inspiration to me. Thank you!
    -Laney
    Delaneysdesigns.blogspot.com

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  8. I absolutely adore that room and have been trying to accomplish the same thing( minus a few details) and I am having trouble. What should I do?

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  10. That's adorable! I love it!
    ~kaitlynrh1~ from Kaits AG Crafts

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  11. Beautiful! It's clear that this was a labor of love. Could you please tell me where you got the microscope? Target and AG have stopped selling theirs and I cannot find one elsewhere.

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  12. Your doll house has been such an inspiration for our own. I am currently working on our classroom and am building a teacher's table like yours since the one you have is no longer available on Etsy. I can't seem to figure out the dimensions. Could you please tell me what they are? Thank you so much! I would love to send you pictures if you'd like!

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  13. Where is the lab table from?

    Really love it by the way! My daughter has requested that we start building our own classroom now.

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  14. Hi, I want to know what the soft spot for the mini textbooks is because I want to buy them

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  15. Perfection! Where did you get the plastic bins that hold jute, crayons, etc?

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  16. Excellent scene! I can't believe I haven't seen this before. Thanks for all the photos and details. The ant farm is brilliant!

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  17. I have to thank you for all of your absolutely inspiring work and ideas, just terrific. I found you through Totally Rudy's website, which is sadly no longer functioning now. I'm making a school from when my brothers and sisters and I were growing up with an AG doll to represent each of us. Although we were born over a 16 year period, our dolls are all the same age - more fun that way. I've been making things for nearly a year and your classroom has given me several new and really fun ideas. Many thanks for your pictures and for sharing them with all of us. You and Rudy have added a lot of fun to my days!

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