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A COUPLE have built a wooden dollhouse that they are auctioning off to raise money for Ukraine.

Jane Gardener and Paul Nash, of Blacklands Lane, Benson, spent four weeks building a white, two-storey dollhouse which they have decided to raffle off.

The couple built the house as a hobby in their spare time but decided it was too big to keep and wanted to raffle it off for a good cause.

The dollhouse took about four weeks to make

Mrs Gardener, 64, said: “A couple of months ago a friend asked Paul if he could make a house for her granddaughter for her birthday.

“It was the first one he ever made, as he’s a cabinet maker by trade, and we had quite a lot of fun finding the bits on the internet for it.

“As soon as we were done we were dead keen to do another one. We spent quite a bit of money on this one and didn’t know what to do with it so we decided to raise money for Ukraine.

“We can’t keep it as it's too big and we have do have three grandchildren but they’re all boys.”

The house includes a kitchen with mini wine glasses, a pink bedroom, a Christmas tree, a blue bathroom and more.

Mr Nash, 64, said it was challenging building something on a smaller scale but it was “good fun”.

“It was totally different,” he said. “Everything is about 12 times smaller. It was fun thinking outside the box as well such as using toothpaste lids for flowers pots.”

The flower pots are toothpaste lids

The wood for the dollhouse was donated from Castle House Joinery, a carpentry company in Wallingford where Mr Nash works.

Mrs Gardener, who is a receptionist at Imogen Dental in Wallingford, added: “We had some challenges such as trying to screw the hinges on the door looking through a magnifying glass as it’s so tiny.

The couple built the house in their spare time

“I also found that painting the inside with a normal paint brush didn’t work as the handle was too big but we thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The couple plan to make one more dollhouse together but have no plans with what to do with it yet.

“It was something we could do together,” said Mrs Gardener. “It has been a labour of love and we will be sad to see it go”.

The dollhouse, which is 800mm by 600mm, is on display at the couple’s house and they hope to raise £1,000 in total.

Raffle tickets, which cost £1 each, can be bought from 1 Blacklands Road in Benson. The draw will take place on Tuesday, May 31.

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