Some Changes... and DIY Baby Doll Cribs!

Hi folks!  I’ve realized that I no longer want to confine myself to writing about the same topics over and over again because I’m worried I’ll eventually run out of things to say. So I’ve decided to use this as more of what I’m calling an “informative journal.”  This means I’ll use it to write about whatever fun things I’m doing, random thoughts I’m having, things I’ve learned about recently, or things I think someone reading this blog would like to learn about.  For example, I’ve been in an exceptionally crafty and creative mood lately, so you’ll probably be seeing some DIYs coming up.  Speaking of which, let’s get on with today’s post.

DIY Doll Cribs

The Easter Bunny brought the little princess her first “real” baby dolls this year. I’m calling them the first “real ones” because she does have a baby rag doll (that one is simply called “Baby”) that she sleeps with every naptime and every night. I think she feels these dolls look more like real babies than her beloved “Baby,” so they’re special. Funny story: when I was little and Baby Alive first came out, I picked out a black one. My grandmother asked me why I didn’t want one that looked like me and I said “she does. She has curly hair, too!” So I picked out a black baby and a white one from the Dollar Tree. It’s not too soon to teach tolerance, people! So we named them Finn and Rey after the Star Wars characters (yes, we're nerds).

The newest addition to our little one's toy family: Finn and Rey!

Since the Monday after Easter, she has kept up morning, naptime, and bedtime routines for Rey and Finn. She would lay them down on a pillow, give them goodnight kisses and tuck them in at night and naptime. She would then “wake them up” and do silly things like her daddy does to make her laugh. Since they’ve become a special part of her routine as well as a way to pretend and imitate daily interaction, I decided that they needed something more than a pillow to lay on at night. So I made them their very own cribs.  Although they were a little time-consuming, they were super easy to make and practically free. 

Here’s how I made them:

I used:

• A pack of 7.5-in craft sticks that I picked up at WalMart
• Some cardboard (use single-ply and glue it to double it up if you have to. I made the mistake of using corrugated cardboard, and it just ended up messier than I would have liked.)
• Hot glue gun
• Adhesive shelf liner in an espresso-colored wood pattern (to match her crib)
• Half a yard of white fabric
• Two “fat quarters” of patterned fabric

First I made the head- and foot-boards of the crib by gluing the craft sticks like this:

I used the sticks to measure the width of the cardboard that I would need. I then cut a piece to make the bottom of the crib, and two thinner pieces to make the top sides:

Then I glued the cardboard to the bottoms of the head- and foot-boards to make the bottom of the crib. I then glued the thinner pieces to the top of the head and footboards like this:

I then measured the distance between the bottom of the crib and the middle of the thin pieces of cardboard. I trimmed some craft sticks and used an old nail file to sand down the edges. I then used them to make the bars of the crib and glued them to the cardboard.

I covered the whole thing in strips of adhesive shelf liner.  You can paint it if you want, I just thought it would be cute if it matched her bed.

I am THE WORST at sewing, but I quickly threw together a mattress and pillow for each crib  with the white fabric, using the bottom of the crib to measure how much I needed. I then trimmed the fabric of the “fat quarters” to make a blanket.

For a cute touch, I put their names on each crib.

And there you have it: a cute (and cheap) place for your little one’s dolls to rest their heads at night. It takes a while, but since The Princess is a terror and breaks EVERYTHING, I’d rather she break something that was practically free.