DIY Smurf – Lets Party!

By Starr Durrant

Everyone loves a good party and who can resist a Smurf! Everything in this project other than the house was made from things I found at the Edmonton Reuse Centre , Thrift stores and garage sales.

THE INSPIRATION
I was inspired by the Smurf I purchased in a bag of miscellaneous from a garage sale and that’s where the project began. Instantly it reminded me of my own daughter back in the day who loved to put on parties for her dolls and I decided that given the Smurf is holding a gift, this might be the way to go.

THE DISPLAY UNIT
These display boxes are available at a number of craft and department stores. You could also use a box, crate, suitcase or build one from foam board.

DOLL HOUSE AND TINY DOLLS
The miniature little red doll house is an old Christmas wooden ornament. I had this kicking around but I’ve seen ones similar at the dollar store during Christmas season. I didn’t have to do anything more than glue it down, can it get any easier? The tiny dolls are worry dolls, my favorite element. What are worry dolls? Well, they are teeny tiny dolls that come in a little basket that you stick under your pillow; before you go to sleep, you pass on your worries to the dolls and let them work it out while you snooze peacefully, or that’s what they claim. Again, something I’ve had in my box of “This or That” waiting to be reused. These may not be so easy to find but if you wanted to make your own, use two tiny pieces of a tooth pick and glue together like a little stick man, wrap in some fabric for clothes and add a bead to the top for a head.

SHELVING UNIT
The cabinet is made from cardboard, a box lid and decorated in fabric, paper and ribbon. I filled the shelves with some tiny dolls I found in a package at the Edmonton Reuse Centre, they are colorful and adorable. The purple doll is sitting on a miniature chair that I bought years ago. It was brown metal so I painted it pink and am thrilled it finally has a home!  Another great addition to the shelves is the little doll house also from the  Edmonton Reuse Centre that I painted pink as well. The bear is cut out from a card that I glued to a decorated hair spray lid.

TABLE AND CHAIR
The table is the lid to a box, it was already pink with stripes so a perfect find! I added some doweling for legs and a bit of ribbon for trim and it’s good to go. The chairs where a bit more challenging. I used stiff cardboard covered in pink DUCK tape and bent into shape. I then used toothpicks for the legs. The issue here was with stability when I tried to glue the toothpicks to the underside of the chair so I glued one end of each chair leg into a bead and then I had a bigger surface to glue to the chair. I added some plastic balloons that I was fortunate enough to find in the same bag of miscellaneous that the Smurf was in and that added to the party ambiance.

Gifts
No party is complete without presents! Cut erasers into small pieces and wrap!

Party On!