Friday, January 13, 2012

Re-purposing Everyday Household Items into Doll Furniture

When I first started thinking about making furniture for my daughters' dolls, I wanted to start with items that already had a basic structure and then re-purpose and redesign them for the dolls.  I looked all around my house for items that I could turn into doll furniture with a little Duck tape and some creativity.  I was able to find quite a few items that worked out nicely as additions to our doll room once I had given them a "dolly inspired makeover."
Front view of kitchen cart re-purposed into a triple decker bunk bed.

Side view of bed.
Wooden tissue box re-purposed into a couch.
Coffee can re-purposed into a stool/storage container.
Baby wipe container re-purposed into storage ottoman (via Karen mom of Three's Craft Blog).  I used duck tape instead of fabric.
Large box re-purposed into storage cubbies for doll items.
End table re-purposed into a doll"dorm room" and storage area.
Two end tables re-purposed into the structure for our Doll Salon.  Also, the salon station is a re-purposed mini storage drawer with a mirror attached (with crazy glue.)  Underneath the salon is a bath caddy that has been re-purposed to hold other salon items.

These projects are all affordable and a great alternative to spending money on doll furniture.  Just take a look around your house, and I am sure you will find a few items that could be made-over into creations for your dolls.  Also, I great place to look for cheap items to re-purpose are thrift stores.  Just browse the isles and use your creativity!

4 comments:

  1. wow you have made so many things! how do you have enough room for all the bigger furniture items you've made? do you have a play room? i would love to see a post of photos of all the rooms that you have set up for the dolls. :) thanks for sharing all your ideas! ps my fav is the triple bunk bed from the kitchen cart...so cute!

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  2. Lissy, Hi! Thank you for commenting. We turned one of our daughters' bedrooms into a "Doll Room." They have the entire basement level of our house and they didn't really want to sleep in separate rooms, so we decided it would make more sense to make one of the rooms a doll room. If you check out my page "Doll Room" at the top of my blog, you will be able to see pictures of most of the doll room and the different houses, rooms, etc. I am actually working on creating my youngest daughter a little doll house for her doll Molly this weekend using a Princess play tent she got for Christmas and making some additional furniture for her. ( I already made her a bed, and am working on another couch for her.) I will be posting pics of that when I finish.
    Again, thank you for reading and commenting. I am so glad that you are enjoying my ideas. If you ever make anything and would like to share a picture, I would love to post it. :)

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    1. oooohhhh i seee!! that is so kewl! you are such a good mom! i've always dreamed of some day i having a whole room for dolls! ps i saw the princess tent doll house-- that was a great idea! i bet she loves crawling in there and having a little space all her own to play in :)

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    2. Thank you. Yes, she was quite excited to have a house for Molly. She was so happy about her room rearrangement that when my husband came home from work she was saying, "Look Daddy! See my tent, my bed, look my dolls!" And so on. She will be super excited to show her sisters when they come home tomorrow too.

      Your little rooms you have set up for your dolls are cute, too! I love the pictures! My two year old was looking at them today with me and saw your AG Rebecca doll. She loves her and wants to get her, hence that is why my Madame Alexander doll's name is Rebecca.

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