DIY Barbie Bed

My girl has discovered the wonderful world of Barbies. It was kind of by accident, and started after she got a Barbie-sized Princess Anna doll. Soon after, she received word that there may or may not be a treasure chest of my old Barbies in my parents' attic (there is, but shhhh, don't tell her yet). Then when Chad's mom and sister were visiting last month we went to the toy store and her aunt bought her a Barbie bathroom set and doll that she had to have.

The decision between the bathroom set and the bedroom set was a bit complicated, and while she certainly didn't have buyer's remorse she pretty much has not stopped talking about the Barbie bed ever since. She regularly reminds me that she would like Santa Claus to bring her the bed for Christmas.

Well, Santa Claus did a little research and quickly discovered that the Barbie bed (and any related knock offs) were, not surprisingly, overpriced. As in, to the tune of $30--granted, this included a dresser and lamp, but still. That's too much money for a bed for a 12" doll. So I took matters into my own hands and made one out of a shoebox and some fabric scraps. Behold.

I started with an empty women's shoe box and lid (perfect size for Barbie), some fabric pieces large enough to cover the outsides of the box and the lid (coordinating prints), and a stapler. Yep, I just stapled the fabric right to the box and did a little creative folding to cover the staples.

I covered the outside of the box and stapled the fabric in place to the top inside edge--folding the fabric around it like gift wrap. I did the same for the lid, except I put a layer of stuffing on top first before covering with the fabric, to give Barbie a little bit of a softer mattress. After covering and stapling the fabric to the lid, I put the lid on the box--which covered the staples. This way the lid can still be taken off and used for storing any of Barbies clothes or accessories.

It still needed something, so I decided to add a headboard. I cut off the flap of a cardboard box I found in our recycling bin (I was determined to keep this a no cost project) and then cut rounded corners at the top. I covered it with the same pink gingham fabric as the "mattress" and then stapled the whole thing directly onto the box. You can see staples on this piece, but they're on the back so I'm not too worried about it. Charlotte won't care, and if it ends up going inside a dollhouse that part will be against a wall anyway.

The next step was more fun: bedding! Barbie needed a comforter and some pillows, naturally. I cut two pieces of fabric 15"X12" and sewed them right sides together, leaving a small opening, turned it right side out and then top stitched. Then I made two pillows out of the gingham (cut 4 rectangles 4.5"X3.5", sew, turn, stuff with a small amount of fiberfill, stitch closed) and one larger, decorative pillow out of another scrap. Does Barbie need a decorative pillow on her bed? No. But I was having fun making pillows so there you have it.

Not to brag, but I think this looks way better than any plastic bed that I could have bought her in the store. She will be a very happy little girl on Christmas morning. And the best part? It was free. Free, and very fun to make! I might tackle living room furniture next...

~Stacy

Baby Doll Sleeping Bag (w/Matching Big Girl Pillowcase!)

I recently got this fabric for my birthday after having my eye on it for a long time:

It's Michael Miller Retro Candy Shop and I think it is just the cutest. I just had no idea what to make with it! I finally decided on a pillowcase for my girl to take when she goes camping (she and her Daddy love camping so now she'll have a special pillowcase just for that. Totally unnecessary, but fun nevertheless).

I goofed a bit on the pillowcase and did not take the direction of the print into account, so the cute little candy shop kids are sideways. I decided not to care too much about this oversight since it is, after all, a pillowcase for camping.

Have you ever made a pillowcase before? If not, it's one the fastest and easiest project you can make. I used this tutorial, but there are hundreds of them out there.

I had some fabric leftover, so I got creative and made a tiny sleeping bag for her baby Stella doll. I just cut out two rectangles of coordinating red fabric and sandwiched a piece of cotton batting in between. I quilted some vertical rows on there, then sewed two pieces of the candy shop fabric on top (wrong sides together, cut about 5" shorter, to create the sleeping bag look). I added some packaged bias tape around all the raw edges and it was good to go.

Two projects done in under an hour? That's my kind of sewing!

Year of Handmades

I try to take at least one photo of everything I make. Sometimes these turn into blog posts, sometimes not, but I am always surprised at how many things I make over the course of a year--especially when I feel like it's been such a long time since I've made anything!

I scoured my photo archives and pulled out everything I could find from 2013, so now I present to you the 2013 Year of Handmades:

 This is, without a doubt, a record for me. I'm not sure if I'll break it in 2014, but seeing as my Christmas wish list included about 90% fabric I will sure try :)

Happy Holidays, and thanks for reading!

DIY Doll Bed

Am I the only person who has noticed an overuse of "DIY"? It's not a verb (i.e. "Just DIY it!" doesn't make sense). If you're not sure what I'm talking about then just peruse Pinterest for 3 seconds and you'll see what I mean...thought I do love Pinterest dearly. Anyhow, let's talk about, yes, a DIY doll bed!

My little girl has been pretty clear about her Christmas wish list this year. On it are three items: a baby doll, a bed for the baby, and a doll house. That last one has been hiding in my closet now for over two months courtesy of FisherPrice.com, but the other two I'm still working on. Or rather, I was until just a few days ago when I finished #2 on the list: a bed for the baby.

I went to Joann's a couple weeks ago and found an unfinished wooden crate. It was not on sale, which meant I could use my 50% off coupon so it ended up costing $6. I knew I had white spray paint at home left over from another project and I planned on making bedding with fabric pieces I have in my stash. I also bought a package of large wooden ball knobs ($4) to glue onto the bottom of the crate to make it look a little more like a bed:

 I just used hot glue to stick the wooden knobs to the bottom then it was time to spray paint. I don't have photos of that step because it went poorly--the nozzle on the spray bottle broke, then the paint got drippy and the weather wasn't cooperating. Enter Plan B: hand paint it. I used some leftover no VOC interior satin latex paint I had from when I painted some wood trim in my living room. It took two coat, painted an hour apart, followed by a day for it to dry and set completely.

For the bedding, I ended up getting lucky and saving myself some time. I had a crib bumper from my daughter's crib that we ended up never using (since when it was made I didn't realize that crib bumpers can be a safety issue). I used the shortest piece and, as luck would have it, it fit almost perfectly around the inside of the bed.

For the "mattress", I just measured the bottom of the crate and made a pillow cover and stuffed it with Poly-fil. Nothing fancy.

The crate is pretty large and can hold most dolls--even American Girl dolls would fit just fine. Dolls and accessories are not cheap, and if you tried to purchase a wooden doll bed of this size it would likely cost at least $40-50 (much more for certain brands, like American Girl). This version cost $10 (if you needed to buy paint it would add about $7-8 extra) and a total of around two hours to make. So I guess what I'm saying is that in this case I'm not just Santa, but also one of his elves :)

Happy Crafting.

Charlotte Doll

I normally stay away from stuffed animal/doll type projects. I've just had too many attempts that have resulted in me getting frustrated and giving up, or making something that ends up looking totally ridiculous (maybe someday I'll tell the story of my attempt at making a stuffed elephant). But this week I tried again and I'm glad I did.

I grabbed this pattern at Joann's a few weeks ago when it was on sale for $1.00:

I thought it was super cute, looked easy enough, and I had all the supplies on hand to make the whole thing (how often does that happen??). It turns out that not all stuffed animal/doll patterns are created equal and this one is actually great! I thought the instructions were clear and simple and the project itself was relatively fast and easy. My only suggestion: make the arms about 1/4" wider than the pattern. Once you turn them right side out they're verrry narrow and therefore very difficult to stuff! I had to use a long, skinny screwdriver to get them stuffed all the way and turning them right side out was even a challenge.

I used leftover muslin for the body, felt scraps for the hair, and fabric scraps for the dress, cape and socks. The fabric is a mix of Marmalade by Bonnie & Camille (for the dress pleat and socks), Fig Tree (the red gingham cape) and a Michael Miller polka dot for the dress.

I might have to make her a couple of friends...

Happy Sewing!

Play Mailbox and a Fabric Envelope Tutorial

My little girl loves getting the mail, so when I was at Joann's a couple months ago and saw some cute play mailboxes on sale I grabbed one and hid it away until I had time to make some fabric "mail" to go with it.

The mailbox is not anything fancy--it's about 6 inches tall and 9 inches long with a plastic flag attached. It came in a bunch of colors (I chose mint green) and after a sale and a coupon it ended up costing about $2. I also bought a pre-painted wooden butterfly decoration for about 50 cents to stick on the side and jazz it up a little.

Here are the materials I used (not pictured: Velcro. I cut from a strip and sewed on, so you'll probably need about 10 inches total. Also not pictured here is a piece of felt used to create the "stamps").

For the fabric envelopes I just used scraps--as long as your scraps are at least 11"X6" you're good to go.

Start by ironing all of your fabric pieces, then cut each one into an 11"X6" rectangle.

Then fold that piece in half lengthwise, right sides together, and cut one end diagonally to make a point.

This step is optional, but it'll keep your envelope from fraying if you cut around all the edges with pinking shears. I just thought it looked cute :)

Next, fold the bottom edge up (the portion that was cut to a point is the top). Fold it up about 4 inches (or however far you need to fold to make sure the flap folds down over the top when you're done).

Then sew continuously around the outer edges, with about an 1/8" seam allowance.

Next, I cut two small pieces of Velcro and sewed them on the inside flap and outer center to form the "seal." I'd recommend sew on Velcro versus adhesive since the adhesive probably wouldn't stand up to repeatedly being opened/closed.

Then, just for fun, I made heart shaped "stamps" out of felt and sewed Velcro to those and the outer right edge of the envelope.

The last step was to make some "letters" that she could mail in her new envelopes. I found dry erase poster board (who knew such things exist??) and I cut them into 3.5"X5" rectangles. Now she can write letters with her dry erase markers and simply erase whenever she wants a fresh letter!

Who knew getting the mail could be so much fun?