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Do you remember how Christmas wasn’t that long ago?* Doesn’t it feel like it was months ago?* Wow.*
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Well, our 5 year old got a big girl doll from Santa.* (Nope, not an American Girl doll……..but a cheaper version.* Madame Alexander.)* Anyway, Santa brought some clothes and some hangers but his elves must have run out of wood because they didn’t bring her a bed or an armoire to store her clothing.* Not a bit of worry here little elves, I completely understand you* must have been busy. And my daughter didn’t wonder why there was nothing to hang her hangers on.* No biggee.
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By the way,
have you seen the price of doll furniture?* It’s robbery.* I couldn’t stomach the thought of buying an armoire with a few drawers for close to $80 and then a bed for another $40-$50.* Really?* But because I didn’t have time to make her anything before Christmas, her doll just hasn’t had anywhere to sleep or store her clothes.* Until now.
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Because I bought this bare wooden shelf (for $5 at Hobby Lobby), added a dowel, painted it,and turned it into
a bed/clothing storage for her doll Ella.* (Yeah, my daughter’s name is Elli and her doll’s name is Ella.* Go figure.)
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And because it was originally a shelf,
it hangs on the wall…….nice and out of the way.*
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It actually sits right above my daughter’s bed.*
She loves having her close.)
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Ella can sit from her little perch during the day while not being played with……..and then be layed down to sleep at night.
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And with a few scraps from the stash, Ella has
a little blanket and pillow to sleep with.*
Lucky thing.* Just don’t go asking for a mattress pad or anything……..because that’s where your luck runs out.
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(The blanket is just a mini version of
this one.)
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After adding the hanger rod (
aka the dowel), I added
fabric covered buttons to each end, to keep any of the doll accessories from sliding off.* And to help polish off each end of the dowel.
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Oh my word,
I thought baby human hangers were cute……until I got baby doll hangers. These things are itty bitty mini.* And perfect.
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The outcome?* A dolly success.* My little girl loves it and she already told me that Ella loves it too.* Oh good.
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Now just think, you could hang one of these anywhere.*
Above a bookshelf, by the toy bins, in a toy room, near the closet, anywhere.* And if you have a doll that lives in your house that comes with even 2 or 3 extra outfits, you totally understand the crazy mess of doll clothes strewn everywhere.* So make it fun and let your little girl keep her doll things all together and organized.*
And off the stinkin’ floor.
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Ready to make one?
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Supplies Needed:- A wooden shelf that is big enough to fit your doll that also has two vertical supports underneath.
- A wooden dowel, thick enough to hold your doll hangers.
- Doll hangers (I found mine here. 10 for $5.95.)
- Hot glue
- Power Drill
- Sand Paper
- Paint
- Fabric Button Cover Kit, 2 bigger than your dowel circumference are needed (just like these here)
- a piece of scrap fabric to cover the button covers
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First of all, there are probably many shelves that would work for this project.* I found this bare wooden shelf at Hobby Lobby.* They always have things on sale for 50% off.* If they don’t have what you want on sale, wait a week or two.* So this shelf was originally $10 but I got it on sale for $5.* It measures about 20 inches long and about 7 inches deep.* Perfect for the standard 18 inch dolls (American Girl Dolls and the knock offs).
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First, I cut my dowel to be slightly shorter than the width of the shelf.
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Then I used a large drill bit and drilled holes in the vertical supports underneath the shelf top.* Be sure that you drill them in a good spot so that your hanger can fit up and over the dowel.* And also that the hole isn’t too far back so that the hanger hits the wall and can’t hang straight.* (Hold your hanger up and measure before drilling.)
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Then, with a smaller drill bit, Idrilled out little holes on both ends of the dowel for my button cover backs to fit into.
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Then I slid the dowel through the holes in the shelf, used a bit of hot glue to secure the dowel in place (wood glue would work great too) and then sanded the entire shelf to smooth down the rough spots.* (If your shelf wasn’t a bare raw shelf to begin with, you won’t need to sand it.)* Then I pained the entire shelf white, with some leftover interior paint from
this project.*
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Then I let the shelf completely dry for a day.
(Spray paint would work too.* And would dry faster.)
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Next, I covered 2 button covers with some fabric.* (Same as the ones used
here.)
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And then inserted the back nub (with a little hot glue) into the holes I made at each end of the dowel.
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And then hung the whole shelf/bed on the wall.
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And that’s it.
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A quick and simple bed/clothing storage for my daughter’s 18 inch doll.
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Yay for finally finishing something that was meant for Christmas.* Blame it on the elves.
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This post is sponsored by:
Turn a shelf into a Doll Bed with Clothing Storage (for 18 inch dolls)
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