Can I be six again?

Photo courtesy of and taken by Leanne at See the Woods and the Trees.

Following the Craftzine Twitter feed has never disappointed me, and paid off once again with this genius idea from See the Woods and the Trees, linked to this morning. Leanne helped her daughter make a four room dollhouse using reclaimed catalog pages and some cardboard. The result is so cute that it makes me want to have a toddler of my own just to have a socially-acceptable excuse to play with it.

I think it could be made even more eco-friendly by using old cereal boxes or somesuch reused material as the walls. Want a second story? Place another layer of cardboard on top of the first floor, then make another level. (This gives you the chance to paste a floor down, too.)

Best of all, since the dollhouse folds up, it doesn't have to take up a lot of room when it's put away. You could have dozens of setups ready for mixing and matching, and only use a few inches of bookshelf space to store it all.

Excellent news!

Etsy is reporting that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has granted a one-year stay for enforcement of the CPSIA rules to review the issues that have been raised by small businesses.

This is fanfreakingtastic news for both small businesses that create items for children and for families that want to buy high-quality, unique, and natural toys and clothes for their kids. Keep up on what further work needs to be done to make sure the exemptions are granted in the next year, but today I think we can give ourselves a pat on the back for all the letters we've written and calls we've made that have helped this day arrive. Hooray!