Craft a Shoebox Bed for Barbie

Support list:

• One shoe box for 10″ or 11″ or 12″ doll
• Scrapbook paper or wrapping paper
• white school glue
• Scrap lace for a bed duster
• Hot glue gun and hot glue
• masking tape
• cardboard scrap
• Sculpey oven clay (optional)
• Two-tone brown acrylic paint (for the headboard)
• Handkerchief or scrap fabrics for bedding
• Cotton batting for pillow stuffing
• Batting on a cotton sheet (optional) to quilt the doll
• Lace and other concepts (optional)
• 1 chenille stem (to attach the headboard to the bed)
• Wood dowels and beads (optional)
• mod podge

How to craft a shoebox bed:

On the left, is my wrapped shoebox. The paper on the cap looks like a blue checkered gingham sheet. The blue plaid casing below won’t show up much, once I stick on the dust ruffle. Well that’s the start of my doll bed headboard. Cardboard clippings pasted together and then press down with heavy books to prevent the construction from warping. be seen I also actually punched and screwed the two holes on each end of the headboard Thread the chenille stem through these holes to show you what this would look like. You can use a file Wire or tape to hold the headboard in place if you like.

To make this vintage craft for 10-12 inch dolls, you will need a clean, sturdy shoebox. Next, screw the lid and bottom of the box on separately, using white school glue to permanently adhere the decorative papers. The inside of the box can be used to store bedding for your doll when she is not being played with.

Measure one narrow end of a shoe box to cut a matching headboard pattern from scrap cardboard. You can see in the pictures that I gave my doll’s headboard a bow. This headboard example is approximately nine inches long. I traced around my paper template for the headboard six times on scrap cardboard and then glued all six pieces together. Press down on the cardboard with a stack of white books that the white glue dries. This will prevent your headboard from warping.

Once the cardboard is dry, wrap it with masking tape. Don’t forget to wrap the edges, too. Support the headboard against the edge of your shoebox and mark where you will make the two holes near the center of the side by side shoebox. This is where you will place a chenille stem wire through the inside of the box to hold the headboard in place.

Make these two holes with a hammer and nail. Look at the image below, right.

On the left, visually see the height of the headboard compared to the length of the shoebox. It’s so long how long The bed is made with a faux carving that I added to it and it will still be seen above the doll pillow and bedding. To the right, see the chenille stem sticking through two headboard holes inside the shoebox. These ends are twisted together to hold it firmly in place on doll mattresses.

My version of this shoebox doll bed was made with the box part facing up and the lid fitting neatly over the top. Not all shoebox beds are made this way; But I prefer it so that the mattress can be stored inside the game when not in use.

On the left, see I’ve glued a double layer of lace lace around three sides of my shoebox. Well now you can see what the fake “duster” looks like with the mattress topper in place.

When gluing the sticky duster around the bottom of the box, make sure it is touching the floor and that you don’t wrap it around the end where the headboard is attached to the shoe box. Real bed dusting doesn’t stick around the tip as headboards or footboards are used on beds too! This omission ensures that the earthy ruffle will hang neatly and not gather where it can’t be seen. Lace can also be expensive and you don’t want to glue it where it isn’t necessarily needed.

On the left, oven clay, is glued to the face of the headboard over the pillow setting. Gets Your design is near the top so it appears once you make the bed. I used a molded set of bumble Bees and a beehive for my version of the “Carved Maple Headboard.” Well you can see that I am Wood dowels have been added to each side of the headboard and beads on top to mimic antiques Headboards that were popular in the Victorian era.

On the left, a pillow case with an embroidered handkerchief. Well, a fashionista propped up in bed.

I pressed to decorate my doll’s headboard Sculpey Clay in a mold of a beehive and three different sizes of honey bees. You can skip this step if you don’t have a template for it. Or you can choose a different template with whatever theme you want for your own version of this doll bed.

The clay decorations are baked according to the directions on the packaging of the clay. Let the finished clay cool completely and then stick your sculpted pieces to the front of the headboard. After these are dry, you’ll be ready to add more decorative items such as: decals and edging on both sides of the headboard. This is an optional decoration however.

Now paint the headboard with a dark brown acrylic and let everything dry. Finally, use a light brown to accentuate the clay design a little, with dry bristles. This will make your clay ornaments look like they’re carved in wood! clear application mod podge to seal.

Our shoebox crib bedding has been created using vintage tissue and fabric. Blue and pink roses Violets and white flowers appear in the printed canvas; The embroidery includes a lavender ribbon And violets wrapped in wreaths.

Bed ashtray and spread decorated with old-fashioned white lace.

To sew the pillow, cut two rectangles of fabric that measure 7″ x 4 1/2″, then put right sides together and straight stitch around three sides. Turn the pillow right sides out and stuff it with a little cotton batting. Then stitch the open ends together. If you are making a bed that is wider than our standard 6″ x 11 1/2″ version, you may want to make two pillows.

To sew a bedspread similar to ours, you will need to purchase an old handkerchief. Sew it together with a fabric backing using the same methods as for the pillows. After the small fitted sheet is turned inside out, stuff the pocket with cotton batting and stitch the hole together. Trim the bedding with lace if you like. I also covered the doll’s bed pillow with an old-fashioned pillowcase made from another embroidered handkerchief. This bed looks like something reminiscent of the antique furnishings inside my grandmother’s bedroom from my childhood a long time ago…

Above you can see that the bedding and the doll fit inside a shoebox with a lid on top Easy to store.

On the left, our doll is standing by the bed, handmade just for her. Right, the doll is lying down.