1/48 Miniature Dollhouse Size Tennis Court

Reuse a piece of cardboard and some basic craft materials to make a 1/48 size tennis court to accompany a standard 1/48 size miniature dollhouse. Good weekend project for kids who like tennis!

Supplies

• 2.5 ft. by 1.25 ft. piece of cardboard
• craft tape
• ruler
• pencil
• 2 pieces of green construction paper
• 1 mm wide nail art tape in white
• small pieces of oven-bake craft clay
• black and white embroidery floss
• glue gun

Step 1: Prepare the Court

Make the clearance area of the tennis court by wrapping the craft tape area the 2.5 ft. by 1.25 ft. piece of cardboard (1/48 of 120 x 60 ft.). The court itself, which is made of two pieces of green construction paper will go in the middle -- that is 3 in. (1/48th of 12 ft.) from the narrow sides, and 5.25 in. (1/48 of 21 ft.) from the wider edges.

Wrap long pieces of the tape around the cardboard, overlapping each piece of tape on the next one. Then glue the green construction paper in the center of the court (which is 1.625 ft. by 0.75 ft.).

Stick nail art tape to the perimeter of the court. Then use it to make the other lines of the court. Use a ruler an a pencil to mark lines for the singles sideline, the service line, and the center service line, adhering to readily available measurements online, and dividing them by 48, and converting feet to inches as needed.

Step 2: Create the Net

Use bits of over-bake clay to create the net posts. The standard size of net posts is 42 inches, 1/48 of which is 0.875 inches. The net posts are 2.5-3 inches in circumference, and 1/48 of 3 inches that is 0.0625 inches, or 0.159 cm. Use these dimensions as a guide for making the clay net posts (you only need a small amount of clay). You may want to make the circumference just a little bigger. Use a toothpick to poke a tiny hole at each end of the clay net posts.

Set up to create the net by taping a 6 in. piece of embroidery floss to a piece of cardboard or another surface. Then tie six 5 ft. pieces of floss to the piece using the lark's head knot. Start on the left side with the second thread and tie it together to the third one using two half knots. Keep going with the fourth thread, and so on, until you reach the right side. There will be one remaining thread—use it to start the same pattern in the opposite direction, moving from right to left. Begin again with the left side, and keep following this pattern until the "net" is 10 inches long. Tie a 10 inch piece of white embroidery thread to the 6 in. piece of black thread that you started with—this will go along the top of the net. Using a needle threader, tie the 6 in. piece of thread (with the "net" now on it) to the clay net post. Be careful, as small pieces of over-bake clay will break easily. Tie the ends of the net to another 6 in. piece of embroidery thread, and then tie this 6 in. piece to the other net post. Thread the white piece of embroidery thread in and out through the top of the net at about 1 in. intervals (an embroidery needle is useful here), and then tie it to the other end of the net.

Using a glue gun, glue the end posts 0.75 inches (1/48th of 3ft) from the sides of the tennis court into the clearance area. Let dry.

Your dollhouse now has a to-scale tennis court!