Doll Bed, Cute and on the CHEAP!

How many of you follow Ana-White.com (formerly called Knock Off Wood)? if you've never checked out this site, you have to click over. Ana posts complete building plans for furniture, many of them easy enough for beginners. Several months ago I built little dude's toddler bed using her plans. It was the first thing I had ever built and it was empowering! :)

Well, last week I mentioned to my husband that he should build our 5yr old a dolly bed for Christmas (a Maplea doll will be waiting for her under the tree this Christmas). I had searched out beds that fit Maplea and American Girl Dolls and they are expensive! $50-$60 plus! In my opinion too much to spend when we already spent quite a bit on the doll. By some strange coincidence, the very next day, Ana had the plans on her site for this dolly bed!

I was so excited, because this meant I could make it, and I did. It is imperfectly perfect, but I'll tell you this, this bed is sturdy! I can see my daughter playing with this and possibly her daughter. It was also really easy to make.
You'll never believe how much the wood for this bed cost me...

Can you see that? $5.94!! And, that is in Canadian even. I did make a small change. Ana's plans call for 2, 1X3's. You can't buy 1X3's here so I bought a 1X4 and cut it down. I also only needed one as it was 10 feet in length, not two.
I also smiled sweetly at the nice man that was helping me pick out my boards and asked if they might have a scrap of plywood lying around for the bottom of the bed. Maybe he had a daughter and thought it was sweet, but he found me a scrap for FREE.
$60 or $6? Not a hard choice! I bet this bed stands up to my children better than the $60!
 

One of the best things about making it yourself, besides saving a ton of money, is being able to make all of the little things to use on the bed.
I tried to make everything to scale. Little pillows, with pillowcases that can come off just like real ones. A real fitted sheet that also can be taken off and put back on (I made a couple so she can change them just like we do).
For the mattress I used a piece of 2 inch foam I found in the craft section of Walmart. Ana used a cut down kitchen chair cushion. This was the only other money I spent on this bed. I used fabric I already had, and leftover paint from something else.

The quilt is reversible so she has two blankets in one. This project is excellent for using up fat quarters or other small cuts of fabric you have laying around.

In photos this bed looks so small and cute, but is actually quite large. We don't yet have an 18 inch doll in our house, but here is Miss Corelle standing next to the bed. She is 16 inches tall and for reference is wearing a nightgown made with a pattern for American Girl Dolls.

This bed is probably large enough to fit two Americal Girl Dolls side by side.

Ladies, you really don't need to ask the men in your life to make this, you can totally do it!

This week I am going to post tutorials for the pillows, pillowcases, reversible quilt and fitted sheet. I might even add some decorative pillows to the bed as I still have some small scraps.

I can't wait for my daughter to open this Christmas morning! I'm thinking about making a second one with more of a boyish look for Little Dude. He has a tiger stuffie that I think could use a bed.