How I Turned an Old Dollhouse Into an Elf on the Shelf House

I love our Elf on the Shelf.

Our Elf on the Shelf House

I don't need a tutorial- I just want to see what you bought.

I do not love waking up every morning in December to discover that apparently Elf decided the night before that dumping flour across my kitchen counter was going to be hilarious. 😂

For years, our elf's antics happened all over the house. Which was magical for the kids... and usually meant one more mess for me to clean up during an already very busy month.

So eventually I had an idea:

What if the elf had his OWN house to destroy?

And thus, the Elf House was born.

Bonus- it functions as a gorgeous decor piece!

It has honestly become one of my absolute favorite parts of December.

The Elf Can Make a Mess—in His Own House!

I renovated a wooden dollhouse specifically for our elf, and now most of his December shenanigans happen inside it.

He can make a ridiculous mess. He can decorate. He can get into things. He can throw a party. He can do whatever weird thing I come up with at 10:47 PM...

and none of it takes over my actual house.

Even better, the kids have completely taken ownership of his little home.

They write him notes and leave them inside. They rearrange furniture so he has somewhere comfortable to sleep. They've made him his own Christmas tree and even put tiny presents underneath it.

It's become this little world that grows throughout December, and I think I enjoy seeing what the kids add to it almost as much as they enjoy seeing what the elf did overnight.

You Definitely Don't Need an Elf to Make One

This is actually the second wooden dollhouse I've renovated, and they're such a fun project.

So even if Elf on the Shelf isn't your thing, you can use this exact process to turn an inexpensive or secondhand wooden dollhouse into something your kids can actually play with year-round.

And you absolutely do not need to buy miniature dollhouse versions of everything.

A lot of my favorite details are made from inexpensive craft supplies—or random things I found around the house.

I've linked the products I used throughout this post so you can recreate the parts you like without having to hunt everything down yourself.

Step 1: Prime EVERYTHING

This is always my first step.

And because I am not interested in spending three days carefully brushing primer into 900 tiny dollhouse corners, I use a $5 spray primer. 😂

I spray the entire thing at once.

If I'm going for a bright, light house, I'll usually prime everything white.

If I want something moodier, I'll start with black or another dark base.

This immediately gives you a blank slate and makes all of the mismatched wood and finishes feel like one cohesive house.

Step 2: Give Every Room Some Personality

This is where it starts getting fun.

You can absolutely buy miniature wallpaper, but you don't need to.

I've used a combination of:

• Paint

• Peel-and-stick wallpaper

• Wrapping paper + glue sticks

• Hand-painted designs that LOOK like wallpaper

For most rooms, I actually love painting the walls myself. Little stripes, scallops, florals, checks or simple repeating patterns can make plain dollhouse walls look completely different.

And because it's a dollhouse, it does not need to be perfect.

For floors, one of my favorite tricks is peel-and-stick wallpaper that looks like wood flooring. Cut it to size, stick it down and suddenly the room looks finished.

Step 3: Add Accent Walls

This is one of the easiest ways to make a dollhouse look surprisingly custom.

I found tiny, thin pieces of wood on Amazon that can actually be cut with scissors.

You can use them just like you would use trim or paneling in a real house—vertical slats, board-and-batten-style walls, little wood accent walls, etc.

A little glue + paint and it looks like you spent considerably more time on it than you actually did. 😂

Step 4: Make a Popsicle-Stick Roof

This might be one of my favorite transformations.

I use regular popsicle/craft sticks as shingles.

Cut them as needed, layer them across the roof and attach everything with hot glue. You can leave them natural, stain them or paint the entire roof afterward depending on the look you're going for.

It adds SO much character to a basic wooden dollhouse.

Step 5: Make Your Own Light Fixtures

This is where you get to start looking at random household objects and thinking:

Could that be a chandelier? 😂

I've made miniature light fixtures out of things like:

• Christmas ornaments

• Bottle or container lids

• Small craft pieces

• Beads

• Random little objects I already had

  
  

Don't worry about what something currently looks like.

Spray paint is your friend.

A random plastic lid might look ridiculous in your hand and completely believable as a little black pendant light once it's painted and hanging from the ceiling.

Step 6: Add REAL Lights

This is the part that makes the whole thing magical at night.

For individual rooms, I use small battery-operated pop-it LED lights and hot glue them to the ceiling.

Instant overhead lighting.

I also weave battery-operated LED string lights throughout the house for extra Christmas magic.

Turn the lights off in the room, light up the dollhouse and suddenly it feels like the elf genuinely has his own tiny home.

Don't Overthink the Furniture

You can absolutely buy miniature furniture—and there are some adorable options.

But part of the fun is letting the house evolve.

Our kids move things around, make things for the elf and add their own decorations.

That's especially true at Christmas.

They made him a Christmas tree. They put presents underneath it. They leave him notes. They make sure he has somewhere to sleep.

I could make the entire thing perfectly styled myself, but honestly, their additions are what make me love it so much.

And Now the Elf Stays Contained 🙌

This was originally just my solution to Elf on the Shelf destroying my house.

Instead of waking up to toilet paper everywhere or some elaborate mess across the kitchen, I can create an entire ridiculous elf scene inside a dollhouse.

The kids still get the surprise.

The elf still gets to be mischievous.

I don't have to clean my kitchen afterward.

Everybody wins. 😂

But somewhere along the way, it became more than that.

The kids interact with his house all December. They make things for him. They write him letters. They check on his tiny Christmas tree. They make sure he has somewhere cozy to sleep.

And now, when we pull the Elf House out each year, it genuinely feels like the beginning of Christmas.

If You Want to Make Your Own

You absolutely don't have to recreate mine exactly.

Find a wooden dollhouse you love—or grab a secondhand one that needs some serious help—and treat it like you're renovating a real house in miniature.

Prime it.

Paint it.

Wallpaper it.

Add some wood.

Make ridiculous tiny light fixtures out of things that were never intended to be light fixtures.

And don't worry about making it perfect.

Whether you're creating a dollhouse for everyday play or trying to contain an elf who has apparently made it his December mission to destroy your home, the fun is in making it your own.

And if it means the Elf on the Shelf can wreak havoc in his house instead of mine?

Even better. 🎄😂