Building A Doll Bed

If you have a grandchild (or in my case a friend with a granddaughter) they may have a dolly in need of a good bed to sleep in.  My friend got her granddaughter an American Girl doll and she has all the goodies and furniture to go with it, but at her house she had no furniture for the doll and no desire to buy another set as it is quite expensive.  We perused Facebook, eBay and looked around, but even used American Girl stuff is still a bit pricey.  I told her we should build something.

 

This box got pretty dirty in shipping so I wiped it down real well with a damp rag

It also had a bit of shipping damage which I fixed with a dab of glue

Of course, I’d decluttered my scrap wood so my garage was empty and to go to Home Depot and buy stuff, well we might as well just go get something off of Facebook at that point.  But what I did have in my garage were a few flattened delivery boxes from Amazon and Chewy that I’d save for “just in case”.

 

I cut off three of the upper flaps and taped down the flaps on the bottom

The two longer flaps were cut down and used to make the headboard

Score with a razor knife where you want your cut

Bend at the score line and then complete the cut

I decided to use the Chewy box to construct a doll bed by first wiping it off with a damp rag to remove any dust and putting it back together.  I taped the bottom of the box with some duct tape I had in my garage to make it good and sturdy.  I then cut off the two long side flaps and one of the short ends with a razor knife.  Once I had done that my friend could see where I was going with this.

 

After gluing the pieces onto the end for the headboard I
reinforced it with duct tape too

I reinforced all of the corners on the box with tape as well repaired any damaged spots with a dab of glue so I had really good surfaces.  Next I cut down the two longer pieces to the same length as the height of the box and the one remaining flap.  With glue I placed them vertically along the back of the bed to form a headboard.  I used hot glue to hold them in place while the regular glue dried as any type of clamping would’ve left dents in the cardboard.

 

I happened to have a roll of contact paper in my donation bag

I pulled a roll of Dollar Tree contact paper out of my donation bag in the garage and we covered the outside and inside of the box.  The nice thing about this contact paper is that it is repositionable so it made it an easy process without pulling any paper off of the cardboard when I needed to straighten it or remove an air bubble.  I did find it sticks fairly well, but mostly to itself so I overlapped my pieces just a bit so it would be nice and secure.  Then I went over all of the edges of the bed with clear packing tape so it would not only stay on really well, but also protect it from wear and tear.

 

We only had the one roll of contact paper but with a second roll
we will finish the inside of the bed

By the time all was said and done the little bed is quite sturdy.  A standard bed pillow is the perfect size to use for a mattress.  We tested it out with one I had in my guestroom.  I now plan to go through my fabric stash and make some bedding for this cute little bed and I will be posting more about that later.  Don’t you think this turned out cute?

 

I added duct tape along the edges as this
box wasn't as thick as the Chewy box

After my friend left I was inspired to try another idea I had swirling around in my head.  I used a standard size Amazon box, two rolls of wood grain contact paper and some tape to make a bassinette/Moses basket that is the perfect size for the American Girl Bitty Baby or any other baby doll for that matter.

 

I think it turned out pretty good
Might make a nifty little Christmas gift

I reinforced the bottom of the box along the seam of the flap with duct tape.  I also taped along the edges of flaps at the bottom inside the box.  With a little more cutting I trimmed the longer top flaps of the box so I left a piece the same width as one of the shorter flaps and removed the rest.  I left one short flap on the box like I did the bed and trimmed off the other one.

 

Now they just need some bedding

I taped the short pieces of the longer flaps to the one remaining short flap at the corners with duct tape.  Then I placed the short flap I’d cut off across the top and taped along the edges to form the bonnet of the bassinette.  With everything nice and secure I then covered the outside with contact paper and then the inside, all but the very bottom which will be covered with a pad.  As with the bed I went around all of the edges with clear packing tape to secure the contact paper, even along the bottom of the box.

 

Perhaps something like this?

I had a lot of fun with these two projects.  I think it turned out super cute, it was easy to build, even the contact paper was surprisingly easy to work with, and certainly economical.  The two rolls of contact paper and a roll of clear packing tape cost $3.75.  And, as with the bed, I’ll be making some bedding for this little bassinette.  I hope you will look forward to seeing that in an upcoming post.