DIY Fold & Store Doll School

8/26/2020

If your girl is into 18 inch dolls I'm sure you're thrilled that she enjoys such wholesome and inspiring toys. But with all of her doll's adorable accessories comes some serious storage needs.

Can you believe this doll school is made out of gift boxes and gives us a place to play with and store a desk, stool, bookshelf, globe, chemistry cart, and more?

What's even better is that this fold and go box costs under $20 to make, far less than a name brand doll room.

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You will need:

2 Kraft Gift Boxes
Paint
Brushes
Knife
Duck Tape (that matches paint)
Makeup Wedge Sponge
Clear Coat Spray Paint
Mod Podge
Felt
Velcro
Decorative Paper (for floor)
2 Small Paper Mache Boxes
Strong Craft Glue
Hot Glue Gun and Stick
Large Letter Stickers

Here's how to make it...

Step 1
Paint the inside of both boxes.

Tip: Save the boxes' lids for other craft projects. They make a great panel for wall art.

Step 2
Paint the outside of both boxes.

Tip: Decide which edge will be the bottom on each piece and mark it. One edge was flatter for me and therefore made a better bottom because it wasn't wobbly. I did not bother painting the bottoms.

Step 3
Tape the insides together.

To do this, start by laying the boxes down next to one another to clearly see how they will be hinged together. Cut a strip of Duck Tape about an inch longer than the boxes. You do not need excess tape at the top. Carefully apply half of it, length wise, to the inside edge of one box.

Then carefully pull the rest of the Duck tape over onto the other box, making sure to get a nice, tight application. Use your sharp knife to cut off the excess tape at the bottom.

Step 4
Repeat step three on the outside of the boxes with them closed up.

Tip: To make the outside nice and strong I first put a piece down the middle and then layered a piece to the left and then another piece to the right.

Step 5
Use a makeup wedge sponge to paint on a brick pattern.

Perhaps you would prefer to use wrapping paper or decorative paper and Modge Podge to decorate the box. The sky is the limit!

Step 6
Draw the doors with a pencil then paint them on.

Step 7
I used real Black Eyed Susan flowers from our home to stamp on some flowers around all of the sides. I hand painted on the stems and leaves.

Step 8
Spray paint the outside of the boxes to seal each side.

I did about four good, even layers. I had intended to use a clear glossy coat, but the store was out so, I could only get a clear matte. I took that as God's way of telling me matte was best and it worked well for me.

I did not spray paint the bottom sides. Instead, I painted on two layers of Mod Podge to seal the bottoms.

Step 9
Cut two 2 inch long pieces of Velcro. The Velcro I used was a little under 1 inch in width. Use hot glue to apply the bottom piece of Velcro to the left box.

Step 10
Cut two 1 inch x 4 inch pieces of felt. Attach the top piece of Velcro to the bottom piece of Velcro and then hot glue it to a piece of felt. Close the boxes together and apply hot glue to the other side of felt. Press it down onto the opposite box to create your closure. Repeat so that you have two closures. I use Super Glue Gel to apply a button on each of our closures for extra cuteness.

I used marble printed scrapbook paper and Mod Podge to create the floor.
The chalkboard was glued down with Super Glue Gel.
I glued the two small boxes together to make a bookshelf, then I glued it down to the floor with hot glue.
On the front of the box I used alphabet stickers and Mod Podge to label it School. I also used Mod Podge to apply the glitter foam bell.

I picked up the adorable alphabet washi tape at Target this back to school season.

The vintage tree illustration I found over at The Navage Patch. I highly recommend heading over there to check out their printables gallery. It's full of sensational free art for your home. Works well for dolls too!

The periodic table came with the Our Generation chemistry set.

You can download the others at the bottom of the post.

I made the clock myself out of a watercolor wheel I had made for a previous project. The Dollar Tree also sells learning clocks that would be great for a doll school.

This chemistry cart by Our Generation was the entire inspiration for this school box. After my daughter's birthday she asked to go shopping for her doll, Abigail, and adored this chemistry set (mostly because of Mr. Skelly there). I didn't want to just throw it all in the typical plastic storage container and I definitely didn't want it scattered on the floor. My creative brain quickly started coming up with fun ways to incorporate even more learning.

Of course we had to have a globe. My daughter loves finding places on her globe and I knew she would be thrilled for her doll to have one too. I found this perfect pink globe at Hobby Lobby.