It's Earth Day tomorrow and I don't do nearly enough to help the environment (confession: there is probably a separate hole in the ozone layer just from my dry cleaning garbage) so I thought the least I could do was feature "green" items in my "Big Ticket, Little Ticket" feature— a feature I introduced months ago and never did again. Oops.
I'm going with ECO-FRIENDLY DOLLHOUSES because they sound like they can be used as an actual learning tool instead of say something like— reusable hemp diapers. Not to say anything bad about cloth diaper people. Just because I have no desire to reuse something that my daughter has shat on, doesn't mean that I don't admire this quality in other people.
Let's start with "The Big Ticket", a dollhouse that looks like it has more square footage than my apartment— Emerson House from Bianca Dada.
Emerson House will set you back $329 and that's without furniture. But no fear, you can buy a set for an additional $219. Either that or you can further enhance your green credentials by upcycling househould items into your dollhouse decor. For instance, an empty caviar tin would make an excellent coffee table and if you open up a Cartier watch box, you've got yourself a cushy little occasional chair.
It might all sound like a steep price to pay but if you've got a playdate with Shiloh and Zahara and you'd like them to run home and tell dad all about their environmentally and architecturally superior new friend, I suggest giving the kids something to brag about like Emerson House's sliding glass doors, solar panels, and recessed LED lights.
But if the Jolie-Pitt clan is not your thing, and you'd be more comfortable riding in the back of Toby Maguire's Prius with his daughter Ruby, then I'd suggest "The Middle Ticket", otherwise known as the Bamboo Sunshine Dollhouse by Hape Hape.
In addition to it's adorableness, the Sunshine Dollhouse has full-on eco-conscious credentials. It's made of natural and sustainable materials such as birch plywood and bamboo flooring plus it boasts a fully functional solar panel. I love it so much that I couldn't pass up the chance to showcase it, even though at $150, plus around $30 to fill each room with furniture, it's a pretty pricey alternative.
Which is why I'd also like to offer the Poor Man's Tobey Maguire Special, aka "The Little Ticket" in the form of Eco Home by Plan Toys.
This eco-friendly gem comes equipt with a wind turbine, solar panels, a water tank and an electric scooter all for the the low price of $56. Did I mention that it comes fully furnished? Architectural, environmental, and economical to boot. Perfect for C-list dads like Mario Lopez who want to do their part to save the planet too.
Ok. Now let's say you take environmental issues really seriously. And riding your hybrid car to board your private jet is just not going to cut it. You would prefer to hang out with people who advocate getting off the grid altogether like say— Woody Harrelson and his four-year-old daughter, Makani.
For you, I recommend "The Littlest Ticket"— a 100% Recycled Cardboard Doll House by Faber and Castell.
At just $20, you'll have to put the house together yourself but that's all part of the fun. Like composting! It comes with stickers, markers, and four sheets of cut-outs so your child can design the house of her dreams. Even "the packaging becomes part of the play experience". I'm not sure what that means. Maybe it means that Woody Harrelson can smoke it. Which is good, because I bet Woody would decorate a kickass dollhouse while he's stoned.
Editor's Note: I realized after I wrote this that all my kid references were girls. Of course, boys can play with dollhouses too. (Sissies!)
Emerson’s House looks amazing. Kinda like my dream house.
I love dollhouses and really think my sons would love one, too, if it were boyish enough. That top one looks about right. Did you say you needed my address?
My girls had so much fun with the cardboard one – decorating, etc…but they the cats attacked it. Kind of like a furry earthquake.
I want to live in Emerson’s house. That cardboard house? One of my kids would step on it, squashing our $20 after about 5 minutes.
Stopping by from SITS!
I love these options and the snark with which you write! Have a great day!
I really want to get the bamboo one for my kids, it is just SO cute. I wouldn’t mind vacationing in the first one (too many windows for living in). Neato post!
Laughing just picturing Woody rolling up a big playhouse doobie! Thanks for that. It’s hard to make me laugh before my first cup of coffee~
Wow, that first one is so chic! lolol
This is hysterical! And I didn’t even know Woody Harrelson HAD an off-the-grid kid. Or any kid at all. Lucky.
My daughter’s doll house is one made by my GREAT grandparents for my mother and her sister; passed down to me and my sister; and finally refurbished for my daughter.
I’m pretty sure the paint on the roof is poisonous.
We just tell her not to lick it.
Much.
It speaks volumes about me that I like the littlest ticket beat. But, like Play Doh, I’d be loathqento let my kids have it and screw up the stickers and the color with their amatuer skills. Losers.
“best” not “beat” sheesh. “loathe to” not, whatever the hell “loathqento” is. I’m iPad illiterate.
Right. For the free Emerson House giveaway? Already have your address from that “Trade Your Bad Diamonds in For Good Ones” exchange I did last week.
Yeah. Reason #4578 that I do not own cats. Right between I don’t want a litterbox in my bathroom and I don’t like cats.
I believe an environmentally conscious person would call the remains— kindling.
I love the bamboo one! I saw it fully furnished on Amazon for $500. Mazzy doesn’t really need to go to preschool, right?
Woody Harrelson’s got three daughters. You just know this wouldn’t be the first time he’s smoked a cardboard dollhouse.
Heirlooms are worth the potential health hazards they might cause our children.
I bet it’s really pretty.
I would go back and edit it for you but “loathqento” gave me my biggest laugh all day. I thought it was like a really extreme hatred that could only be expressed in Spanish.
i am in love with the brinca dada dollhouses, but of course i would never let my kids play with something so expensive!
i do also love the hape and plan toys houses, too. i guess i really am a low-rent kinda girl.
happy earth day!
Brinca dada makes another modern dollhouse that is even better than the Emerson House but there was nothing eco-friendly about it so I didn’t post it. I have to say though, from the pictures of them both, I thought they were going to be even more expensive.