Locker Shelf Loftbed

Now that the new American Girl GOTY has a really cool loft bed, I knew my daughters would be asking for one.  My oldest daughter saw the picture online before McKenna was officially released and was very excited about the bed.  Personally, I love the loft bed!  I think it is quite adorable but at over $200, it is definitely out of our price range.

I began brainstorming some ideas of how to create a loft bed for my girls' dolls.  Granted, it would not be as elaborate as the one from American Girl.  However, I figured if I could get the basic idea and structure down, then we could always add to it later. 

On a trip to our local Walmart, I came across Locker shelves that were on clearance for $2.50 each.  I snagged a couple to use as the loft structure of the bed.  Later that evening, I took two of the locker shelves I had purchased and began experimenting with different boxes we had around the house (mostly left over from Christmas) to use as the mattress on the top of the bed.

We had a bunch of clothing gift boxes which fit pretty nicely into into the space on the shelf.  They are a little short for the doll to lie down so I added a box from our Xbox to use as a footer and storage chest.  Now, I needed to get to work on putting it all together.

The first thing I did was use black electrical tape to secure the two locker shelves to each other.  I taped the shelves together at various points on top and the legs in the center of the two shelves.  Besides duck tape, electrical tape is a favorite staple of mine.  It really comes in handy, it is stretchy and flexible, and it comes it a few different colors.

Next, I started working on the mattress.  I took the gift box and stuffed it with newspaper for firmness.  Then I taped the sides together.  For the top of the mattress, I used to pieces on foam (green and blue) and hot glued them to the box.  After that, I took purple duck tape and wrapped it around the sides of the box. 

The little footer made from the Xbox box was simpler.  Basically, I cut out an extra piece of it that was not needed which allowed the box to open and shut easier.  Then I taped the areas of the box where there were additional openings with duck tape to keep it together and also make it sturdier.  I covered up the Xbox label with star stickers.

To finish, I placed the mattress and footer on top of the shelves.  I also used one of my youngest daughter's fleece shirts that she no longer fit into to make a small throw for the bed and pockets from an old pair of jeans to make pillows.  Currently, I do not have a sewing machine which means I have to hand sew everything. 

We made the loft bed for my nine year old daughter's AG doll Mia.  Currently, my six year old daughter's AG doll Ruthie is using her sleepover set underneath the loft bed.  We may decide to make a small desk and shelf to place under the loft bed so that it can be more like McKenna's bed.  However, that will mean that Ruthie has to find a new bedroom. :)