Exploring the humble cardboard box in 12th scale for Dolls House shops, attics and sheds.
I love to design detailed accessories that make a Dolls House look like someone really lives in it, the sort of random household things you maybe don't think of at first but that bring it all to life.
And in my own big house one of these things happens to be the ubiquitous cardboard box in all sizes and patterns.
Maybe not so individual these days now that most of the boxes lying around the house seem to be from Amazon. However, after extensive rummaging I have unearthed some of my private collection of vintage and modern packing boxes to illustrate the kind of variety you might find in older houses and different settings.
Perhaps in shops and garages, on shelves and in stockrooms. Lurking in attics and understairs cupboards or stacked neatly in a corner of a craftroom with a stash of material and cardboard. Possibly sagging damply in a shed with strange components of forgotten machines and rusty nails. Maybe ready for a charity shop or car boot, filled with antiquated ornaments and crumpled newspaper.
Clearly plenty of reasons you might want a simple brown box for your miniature setting and I’m sure you can think of many more.
In creating miniature boxes, I am not aiming to copy existing designs but rather to use universal elements and then to capture the essence of what the boxes might contain or the supplier “brand” to fit in with each setting.
So for example in a dressmaking or haberdashery shop, the bags and boxes that customers receive could be branded with the shop details; while shop deliveries will be from outside suppliers; perhaps a manufacturer providing superior quality scissors or larger cartons from a wholesaler importing fine materials.
In a domestic dollshouse setting there are more likely to be random product boxes with added labels or written information.
You can find a standard range of boxes supplied as flatpack items for easy postage in the utility section here on the website.
Or contact me if you are looking for a custom design to enhance your miniature settings.