Doll Background Tutorial

Several months ago I did a tutorial on my other blog on how to make a doll background or play set. I thought that I would post it here on this blog in case anyone missed it. I sometimes like to use these backgrounds when I take photos of my doll clothes that I sell on my Etsy shop but they are also great to use as doll rooms to play with. The great thing about these backgrounds is that you can fold them away under a bed and they don't take up a lot of space.

First you will need a big cardboard box or one of those cardboard display boards for school projects works nice too.

One big cardboard box will make two rooms. I just cut the tabs off and cut the box in half lengthwise.

Then once I have my cardboard box cut, (it would probably be easier if you just used a cardboard display then you wouldn't have to cut it) I can choose some pretty pieces of scrapbook paper to use as wallpaper. You could also cover it with some Contact paper if you like.

After I chose my paper, I can piece it together on my cardboard and glue it on with a glue stick. Make sure that the edges are glued down real good.

Next, I put a coordinating piece of scrapbook paper on the bottom half and glued it down. Then I made a little window at the top. I cut a scene out of a magazine and used a piece of construction paper as the window pane. I found that the magazine Southern Living has a lot of good pictures for scenery.

Here's an example of the background that I made.

And here is one of the sets that I made being used as a doll room.

I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. And maybe you might want to try one for yourself. They are really much more inexpensive than making a whole doll house.

DIY American Girl Doll House

My American Girl doll house is starting to take shape. It has come a long way from just being a couple of metal utility shelves. You see I've always wanted to have an AG doll house for my daughter (and also for myself) But the doll houses can get quite expensive and also I don't know anyone who is handy with woodworking. So I found this really great idea for an inexpensive way to make a doll house for American Girl dolls. I found the idea on Pinterest. If you follow me you will see the pin on one of my boards. Anyway I made my house from shelves that I bought from Lowes. The shelves are 72" h x 48" w x 18" d. Right now I have 2 but I may buy a third so that I can have some additional rooms. I have a kitchen on one of the bottom shelves, a living room and bath on another bottom shelf, and two bedrooms on the upper shelves. When you are buying shelves, make sure that you can adjust the shelves so that you can give the dolls plenty of headroom. It takes quite a bit of time to get your doll house in the shape that you want it. I have been working on my doll house for over a year now and it's still not done but it's looking better everyday. I have done a lot to it over the summer.

My kitchen. We got the kitchen set from Our Generation.

The kitchen area has a floor that was made from foam core board that was covered in Contact paper. The baking table is just a jewelry box that I painted white. I believe that I got the jewelry box from Micheals. The kitchen/dining area is not complete yet. I still need to get a table and chairs set. The living room right now only has a floor that is a carpet sample that I got from Walmart. They were about $2 each. I made the fireplace from a shoe box and covered it with paper that looks like brick. I got that idea from a tutorial on YouTube from Deena and Beena .

Inkpot is warming himself by the fire.

I made the wall of the living room from a big piece of cardboard and I glued scrapbook paper onto it for wallpaper. The neat thing about these shelves is that you can clip either cardboard or core foam board onto it to make a wall. I eventually will make a couch and chair for the living room with a pattern that I have from McCalls. The pattern no. is M6853 in case you are wondering. The bathroom is next to the living room. I used a piece of foam board to divide the two rooms. I made the floor from another piece of foam board and then I covered it with sample tiles that I got from the Home Depot. I got a few at a time because they don't really have a lot of them available and two I didn't want to just wipe them out of samples. When I had all of the tiles that I needed, I hot glued them onto the foam board. My shower is from an idea that I got watching a video from My Froggy Stuff . I used two wooden drawers from JoAnn fabrics, a wooden plaque from Walmart, and a paper clip holder that I ordered from Amazon. I painted the drawers and the plaque with some spray paint. I also used that same paint to paint the wall of Grace's room. I still need to add a mirror above the vanity and a few more things to add the finishing touches.

My bathroom floor made from sample floor tiles.

The second shelf is where I have the bedrooms. The first bedroom is Isabelle and Saige's room. I got a bunk bed from Amazon. The bedding that came with it was not what I wanted so I just made bedding for it. I made mattresses and bedding for it. I used a pattern by Stacy and Stella on Pixie Faire. I think that pillows for it are really cute. The carpet here is also samples from Walmart. I made the window from a tutorial by My Froggy Stuff. The lamp is from the Dollar Tree. I covered the lamp shade with scrapbook paper. I made my own pattern for the lamp shade. I had to raise one of the shelves a little higher than the other one because my daughter insisted that the dolls had to be able to sit up on the top bunk! The next bedroom is going to be Grace's room. I used a piece of foam board and spray painted it Blue Ocean Breeze by Krylon. Oh and Isabelle's wall is also made from foam board. I spray painted it also. The color is called Ballet Pink. Perfect for Isabelle! Her room is not quite finished yet. I still need a bed and some other additional items to make it complete. I found the picture frames from Hobby Lobby in the area where you find things for school lockers. I just cut a picture of one of the dolls and put it in the frame. Then I attached it to the wall with a piece of mounting tape. My daughter was playing with her dolls and she put sleeping bags in Grace's room since she didn't have a real bed in there.

This is Grace's room.

When I got up this morning it looked like the dolls had had a party last night. Because there were red Solo cups everywhere and Inkpot was eating the pizza out of the box! I just love it when my daughter enjoys playing with her dolls.

It looks like they were playing Hungry Hungry Hippos.