For Christmas this year we decided to make my youngest daughter a Doll Bed for her 18 inch dolls. She has an Our Generation Doll from Target that Santa brought for her last Christmas. This Christmas she wanted another doll so they could be friends. So Santa brought her a doll and we made a doll bed that can fit both of her dolls side by side.
I just LOVE how the bed turned out!! I love that it looks like a REAL bed. We used Anna White’s Farmhouse Doll Bed tutorial. We have used a few of her tutorials for various projects and they always turn out to be just what we want. If you haven’t visited Anna’s site you need too! She shares so many amazing DIY Building Projects. Here are the other Anna White Projects we have built if you are interested…
We followed her tutorial step by step but decided to add 2 extra inches to make the bed a little bit longer. We used MDF boards that had rounded edges to create a more distinctive pattern in the headboard and footboards (instead of a flatter edged pine board that Anna used).
My husband and son spent a couple of hours out in the garage secretly making this bed so that she wouldn’t see it. I love that the kids enjoy working on these projects with us. He was so excited for his little sister to see this on Christmas Morning! Doesn’t that make it so worth it?
The “mattress” is just a piece of an old 2 inch camping pad we had in our camping supplies. We just cut it to fit the size of the opening so that it fits snugly in the space. I found a tutorial here for making a boxed mattress cover that I was going to use, but I just ran out of time to make it…oopsie! I plan on making one here soon when I can so that it has a nice finish to it.
As you can see…I took the quick and easy way out so that it would be ready in time for Christmas Morning. Sometimes, you gotta do what works! I just safety pinned the material to the mattress. I know this won’t hold well for long so it will be nice to get the cover sewn.
I made the Doll Bed Quilt on Christmas “Adam” (you know…the day before Christmas Eve ;)) I started at 10:00 pm…haha! I will share the tutorial for it here soon. It really didn’t take me too long since it is not really “quilted”…just made to look that way!
I also made the pillows and the pillow covers with my two older daughters the next morning. They were excited to help out with this project too, and are getting to be better seamstresses than I am…which is not really too hard to do!
This is a pretty solid little piece of furniture…the cat thinks it is a pretty great spot for taking a nap too!
I LOVE this bed so much! I think I need an adult sized one…don’t you?
All of the materials you need to make this doll bed can be found at Lowes. This project was made as part of my work with Lowe’s as one of their Creative Ideas Bloggers.
Have you had a chance to sign up for Lowe’s Creative Ideas Magazine. It’s FREE and offers a bunch of DIY inspiration. Go ahead and connect with Lowes Creative Ideas to find a lot more fun and creative ideas.
*Disclosure–In accordance with the FTC Guidelines, I am disclosing that I received compensation from Lowe’s for my time and participation in the Lowe’s Creative Ideas Influencer Network. However, all opinions and statements are mine and mine alone.
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Lisa F. says
Oh my that is the cutest thing! My one and only baby girl just turned 22 and is stationed in Alaska but boy do I wish she were at the age of loving her Barbie’s and dolls I would have made that in a heartbeat! Love your ideas and this doll bed is great!
Maggie says
Wow that is just adorable! Everything about it – I bet your daughter loves it! And I love that your other kids helped make it. So sweet. What do you think of the Our Generation dolls? I have a three year old girl that I think would love a good quality doll companion soon…
Amy says
Thank you Maggie! We have really like the Our Generation Dolls. With three girls, American Girl dolls were a bit out of our price range. The Our Generation Dolls were a better solution for our family back then. They have held up really well and my girls have LOVED them. Their hair does get a bit tangled though and I have heard that American Girl Dolls hair is a lot better. We did however end up getting the youngest an American Girl doll for Christmas this year (the doll of the year) when they had a great deal on her. So I am interested to see how they compare. I can already tell that the hair truly is better. She has already spent hours playing with and styling her hair. I think if my girls were younger I would wait to save the expensive dolls for them when they are “gentler” and can care for them better…but that is just my own thought…
I made the same bed and it is wonderful!
I just love it!! Thanks for sharing!
My daughter just got a doll for Christmas and she loves it! A bed like this really helps the doll come to life in the mind of a little child! This bed turned out so cute!
really smart i have made 12 beds know a out of all i think yours is the best my kids love to play with og dolls
Amia- That is so great.