One of my favorite things about working on my dollhouse projects is finding ways to replicate mundane, everyday things in a tiny scale.  And what is more everyday than the newspaper? Keep your dollhouse residents up-to-date on local and world events by fashioning your own itty-bitty periodicals.  If you have a printer and some Mod Podge, you have everything you need to make this project, and it’s so very easy!

Project estimate:

  • Newspaper image, free
  • Paper, on hand
  • Mod Podge, on hand

Total:  Free!

First you need to find a picture of the front page of a newspaper.  I found mine via a Google image search; try searching for the name of the paper you want plus the words “front page,” such as “USA Today front page” or “New York Times front page.”  Save the image file to your computer and resize it to be 1 1/2 inches wide, then print it out.  Make sure you print it far enough into the page so that there is at least a 1 1/2 inch margin to the left of the image.

When you cut out the image, cut a the paper twice as wide as the picture (3 inches) so that there is a blank space to the left of the image.  Fold the paper in half and crease well.

Cut a second piece of paper the same size as the piece with the newspaper image.  Crease this piece of paper as well.  You will use this piece as interior pages for the paper, giving it a little more bulk and making it look more realistic.

Slip the blank piece of paper inside the printed piece, then fold both in half together and crease.  It should be starting to look like a newspaper!  You can leave it folded like this, or you can fold it in half again before you seal it.

Seal the paper with Mod Podge.  Pinch the newspaper shut so that all of the pages lay flat, then brush a coat of Mod Podge around the edges to hold everything in place.  Continue to add coats of Mod Podge over the entire newspaper until you are satisfied with the coverage.  (I usually Mod Podge my paper miniatures until then sound like they are made of plastic if you drop them on the table!)

Once the Mod Podge cures completely, you may want to seal it with some clear acrylic spray to prevent it from becoming tacky in high humidity.  The dolls will never be out-of-the-loop again!

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