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Upholstered American Girls Doll Bed Plans

Aloha!
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What do you do when it’s Friday night, and your 4-year-old has a birthday party to attend the next day, and you REALLY don’t want to make a trip to Wal-mart with all your kids–and your husband is busy (longest sentence ever)?  ðŸ™‚
You sort through  your scraps and build something, of course! 
I had both a 1×6 scrap and a 1×8 scrap, so I thought they would make the perfect headboard and footboard for an upholstered American Girls doll bed.
CUT LIST:
1×6 – 1@ 8″ long for footboard
1×8 – 1@ 8″ long for headboard
1×2 – 2@ 9″ long for headboard posts
       – 2@ 7.25″ long for footboard posts
       – 5@ 9.5″ long for slats
1×3 – 2@ 19″ long for side rails
Step 1)  Attach headboard posts to headboard by either using pocket screws and a jig or using 2.5″ screws and glue (I use this brand).
Step 2)  Do the same for the footboard pieces
Step 3)  Build your base using 1.5″ brad nails and wood glue. I chose to do 1×3’s on the siderails, so the mattress sits down inside the rails a bit.
Step 4) Upholster the headboard and footboard, but as you can see from this pic below, I was careful not to staple along the bottom quite yet since you will need to lift it up to attach them to the base. And upholster your side rails.
Step 5) Use 1.5″ wood screws and attach the headboard and footboard to your base. I think I did 5 screws on each end.

I wrote a tutorial HERE on how to make the boxed mattresses for the AG doll beds.

Since it was for my daughter’s friend, I let her dig through all my fabric and choose the upholstery, pillow fabrics, and bedding fabrics. I wasn’t loving all the black and white, but she insisted that’s what she wanted. And she chose just a basic soft felt fabric for the comforter and wouldn’t let me even put any trim on it! I had to practically beg her to let me give it the pink accent pillow. Ha!

You can see that as I was in a hurry to build, I didn’t measure my headboard and footboard pieces correctly, so my side rails are slightly inset. I like the look of the flush side rails, so that is how the plans are.

I’m happy to report that the bed was the hit of the party, and it’s become a favorite toy already. Can’t beat that! And it helped use up some of my scrap stash, and that always makes my husband happy!  Double win!

I wish I had a picture with the dolls, so you can see the size, but this it large. It’s built to fit an American Girl 18″ doll! So fun to give handmade gifts!

Here are the final dimensions:

Here are links to my doll bedding tutorials and other doll beds:

DIY Canopy Doll Bed
Doll Bedding – Jelly Roll Pillow
Doll Bedding – Small Button Pillow
Cheater Version – Farmhouse Doll Bed
How to Sew Boxed Cushions and Doll Mattresses

Aloha,

Charlie

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  1. Thank you for the tutorial for the lovely doll bed. It is on my to-do list for our granddaughter's. You have such great ideas and the tutorials to go with them.
    Hello from snowy Canada.

    Reply

  2. Oh I just love this!
    I have 3 Granddaughters and two nieces that just love the American Girl Dolls and I would love to make these for them!
    Thanks so much for sharing this…I am pinning and sharing this one!

    Reply

  6. I love this bed and from looking online I actually like this d.I.y bed, so I am going to attempt making this for my Bosses Daughter! Wish me luck.

    Reply

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