Bee's Homemade American Girl Canopy Bed

As part of the summer reading program, our library is having a "What Can You Do With a Box" contest, to coordinate with their "Get Creative at the Library" theme. I asked my husband to help Bee with this project, because she wanted to make a replica of her contest-winning, pink Cadillac Escalade model, and this seemed far beyond the scope of my artistic ability.

After giving it some thought, my husband said, "Maybe I should ask Bee if she wants to make a canopy bed for Sarah (her American Girl doll) instead. Then she wouldn't have to spend 81 bucks."

Of course, Bee was thrilled with this idea, so my husband went out to his shop to survey his materials. Last night, he and Bee completed their project:


My husband glued egg crate foam to the top of a muffler box to make the mattress. Then he and Bee covered the entire thing with a silky, lavender material remnant, which my husband plucked out of a garage sale free box yesterday. He even had enough material leftover to make a matching pillow. They also had some pieces of vinyl, trimmed from the custom-made vertical blinds in our living room. I suggested that they make a "picket fence" headboard with them, because I had seen a picture of something similar in one of my "Country Living" magazines.

In addition to the pillow, my husband helped Bee stitch the edges of a remnant of swirly purple material, leftover from a project that I attempted (unsuccessfully) a few months ago, to make a top sheet. He used the same material to make the canopy cover, and I scalloped the edges with a scissors and a scrapbooking template. My husband made the canopy frame out of a piece of cardboard, mounted to some 20-inch pieces of 3/8-inch automotive fuel line, leftover from his car restoration project. He cut slits in the cardboard base with a utility knife so he could push the poles through.

I wrapped decorative ribbon around the canopy poles, and hot glued bows to the corners of the canopy top, to dress it up a bit. I also gave Bee a fancy, lacy doll blanket to use as a quilt.

Bee just couldn't be happier with her new doll bed. Last night she said, "Why should I buy an $81 doll bed when we can make one at home for free?"

I told her, "Well, that's Mom and Dad's philosophy for pretty much everything!"