Crafting A Doll Bed

Whenever Cloe comes for a visit we usually find time to do some kind of crafting. As we were going to play Barbies this morning the subject was raised that the dolls didn't have a bed big enough or long enough to lie in. So the decision was made to try and make a bed with what we had available to us on such a short notice.

Having just 8 X 11 paper as our only material on such a short notice I racked my brain to come up with the construction of a bed. Well a bed has four post and two rails to give it strength, so I rolled a sheet of paper in six separate cylinders, four for the post and two for the side rails. Once in figured how to tape them together, I assembled the bed. The bed still needed strength so I made two paper fans and used one for the headboard and the other for the foot board and a Styrofoam plate and covered the back of the headboard with a sheet of paper. This made it much more secured and the bed looked more like a bed. I also attached a sheet of paper over the side rails for the bottom of the bed. I was informed by Chloe that we needed to color the headboard so that the girls would want to sleep in the bed. I colored the headboard with pink and purple to make it more attractive.

We tried out the bed with a doll, but the weight of the doll made the bed sag, so I took off the sheet of paper attached to the rails and covered the rails with tape slats. One strip of tape over the rails and one under the rails and pressed them together and then replaced the sheet of paper over the tape. Now the bed was sturdy, pretty and ready for use.

I was almost excited as Chloe to think that with two heads together we could come up with a bed for her dolls. Chloe decided that it would be complete after she cut pillows from some dinner napkins and colored a sheet of paper for a bed spread.

We used tape to cover the posts on the bed to make it more finished looking. I tried to get her to let me color the bed brown, but was overruled by a six year old that girls wanted a white bed.

Now that  we have a completed bed she informed me that she needs another one.