A Proper Bed for a Princess

Making a "proper" bed for a true princess, can only mean one thing.

You will need one pea and lots and lots of mattresses.

We made our Princess and the Pea bed from popsicle sticks and fabric scraps.

(coffee stirrers, toothpicks and tongue depressors too.)

1. Build a simple base for the bed. Cut one popsicle stick in half,

so you have 2 equal pieces. Glue across the sticks.

2.Then add the full size sticks. We used 5 for ours.

3.Next, make your 4 bed posts by simply gluing 2 sticks together

for each post.

4. If you like, you can decorate them. We wanted them a little

"fancier" so we drew on the sticks once they dried, and colored

with marker.

5. Then get ready to attach the base to the posts. This is the trickiest part,

and requires the most patience.

6. We definitely suggest, using any props, or tricks to help hold the pieces

in place while the glue dries.  Tape, clothespins, old cell phones, empty tins.

Be creative, use what works!

7. Now you have a great start but it's a bit wobbly. So add braces in

the weak spots. We used cut up pieces of tongue depressor around the

base. Then coffee stirrers on the sides.

8. Dont' forget the pea! You must have one. (we used a shiny

pea-green bead.)

9. Next, pick through your fabric scraps, and find around 15 or so scraps.

Cut them roughly, 6 x 5", fold them horizontally, wrong sides out. Sew along 2

sides, creating a sort of mini pillowcase. 1/2" seem.

10. Turn them all inside out, and then use a very small amount of fluff

to stuff, you want them more flat than puffy. Little hands are a great help at this!

When finished, turn the inside edges in, and sew across the edge (roughly 1/4" seem) to close up the mattress.

You can handsew the closing for a more finished look.

11. Stack those mattresses up.

The kids noticed we needed a ladder too.

Made from coffee stirrers and toothpicks.

12.Find a potential princess, and test it out!

Goodnight, sleep tight!

***If you enjoyed this post and like tiny things, check our latest post

And you can make a cute and tiny scout sash. like this one.

Simple Dollhouse Sofas

It is incredibly easy and fun to make a sofa out of a sponge.
Here's how to do it:
  First, you will need

                    
(and some straight pins)






• Take a small kitchen sponge and cut an inch off the length.




(We tried a "wavy" sponge for this tutorial, which is just a little bit more work, than the straight sponge. You just have to be sure to pull the fabric tightly against the waved edge.)









•   Wrap this piece and the larger piece in the fabric of your choice. Use fabric glue or a hot glue gun to attach the fabric, using straight pins to hold it in place while the glue dries. Wrap it like a present. Trim excess fabric so it isn't bulky and try to tuck in edges so it lies as flat as possible against the sponge.

• Glue the smaller sponge, onto the large sponge, making a back for the couch. (at this point, it was easy for the 4 & 6 year old to really get involved. Glue and hold is a good job for them!) Let it set a few minutes to dry.

• We made feet out of wooden beads, stuck into the bottom of the sofa with straight pins and glue.   Glue the feet onto the big sponge piece.  
• We added "Rick Rack" to this couch, and some fancy trim to one (below) , but you could also leave a trim off completely. The fancy trim turned out to be a bit of a nuisance because it totally frays where it is cut and it is hard to glue down all the little loose pieces without having it show on the front of the sofa. If you use trim, you may want to use something that will cut with a neat edge, not something bulky and inclined to majorly unravel.

• Pillows- for such a tiny sofa we decided the pillows do not need stuffing. Just sewing two squares of felt together makes a cute, easy pillow.

                                 

                                                                       The fancy trimmed couch.

                                                  Looks pretty good, even if it's a little extra trouble.