For Christmas this year, the kids received (among other things!) dolls. I was told shortly after Thanksgiving that they’d need something to sleep in (why a cardboard box wouldn’t do, I have no idea). I got the dimensions and some design ideas off an Internet site selling these things and got to work.
The real beauty of these (in my opinion), is that they were constructed entirely from scrap and pieces of wood lying around the shop. Nothing makes me happier than to find a use for pieces of wood that I’ve been saving for years just because “I might need them someday.” The spindles are actually bamboo skewers.
The joinery is mostly mortise and tenon. I threw in some sheetrocks screws at major stress points after considering that these might not get the gentlest treatment. I was aiming for a relatlvely elegant look, so I kept the dimensions of the lumber relatively slim. I began to regret this after completing the beds when a friend of mine told me he had built something similar for his granddaughter’s doll only to discover that the kid spent more time in the bed than the doll.
I hadn’t considered that possibility, but it was too late now — the beds were built and Christmas was only a few days away.
My wife provided the finishing touch that really made them look elegant — mattresses, sheets, a pillow and a blanked that matched what the kids had on their “real” beds.
They went over well, although as predicted, the two-year-old quickly climbed into his. I held my breath, but nothing broke.