DIY American Girl Doll Treadmill

DIY Doll Treadmill

Supplies I used:  cardboard, craft foam,  washi tape, duct tape, rollers from Dollar Tree and printables.

Measurements: Platform: 11” L x 5” W       Front poles:  11” H x 1” W

I cut out notches in the 2 front corners so that I would have more space to glue for durability.

For the handlebars you can be creative.  At first I was looking for a hard headband or anything that I could bend, then I found these curlers I had purchased last year.  I united 2 of them for the length.

I cut my 2 square front side bars and covered them with silver tape.

I then glued on my black craft foam to the top.

Then glued on the side front poles.

I covered my handlebars with black duct tape.

Printed out my printable and glued it onto craft foam so that it would bend and I could glue it on.

Then glued it on.

Added some washi tape and some Proform printables.

Ready to work out!!!

My DIY Lea Clark's Rainforest House

This is a short tutorial on how I put together Lea’s rain forest hut.  I took pictures along the way and I get so involved and get to a point that I forget to take pictures of some of the steps.  Here it goes….Supplies: (3) ½” foam board, bamboo poles, scrapbook paper, hot glue gun, E6000 glue, for roof I used placemats, I trimmed with a natural fiber trim, wood dowels, round and 1 square one.

I first cut my boards, I could not use up the total space that original AG house had so I cut my back wall at 20” wide x 26” high, floor 20” wide x 19” deep.  Short side walls 8” wide x 26” high.  Again, these measurements are for the space that I have allotted. 

I marked my holes for the front bamboo poles and carefully poked tiny holes so that I could punch the poles through.  I cut my bamboo poles to 29” which would allow a couple of inches below the floor as the AG one is.

I then put my scrapbook flooring down.

I placed some hose washers up from the bottom onto the bamboo poles to keep the foam board from slipping.

I finished putting on the scrapbook paper to the back and side walls.  I used double face tape.

I cut 3 extra pieces of bamboo for extra feet for the flooring, 2 for each back corner and one for the front middle.

I then glued my side walls onto the back wall and onto the floor.  You can also see that I punched 2 round holes on the top corners of the back wall which will take the bamboo poles which are part of the roof.

I now have glued on the rest of the roof which are the 2 pieces of bamboo going from front to back and the one if front going side to side.

Just a note here, that before I glued on the 2 side poles on the top sides I put my curtains on first then glued.

I now have to assemble the roof.  First a piece of bamboo going from the front middle to the back middle.  Then I cut 4 small pieces of bamboo to go from the middle roof pole to the side top poles of the house.  The darker pole pictured is the one that runs in the middle from front to back.

Here are 2 of the 4 side roof poles.

I then tied some jute onto the corner joints. (optional)

Here is trim that I used (just happened upon to some natural fiber trim) and some placemats for the roof.

After I glued on the trim, I glued on the placemats.

So here is the house so far…..

So now onto the front railing which I cut some thinner bamboo that I had and painted to match the other and also the loft bed for which I cut some dowels and painted them a beige color then put on some wood stain which is what I had on hand.  I used crayon to color in some bamboo lines on the dowels.  That idea I got from a fellow member here, Jacqueline Santiago and I thank her for that.  I think the pictures are self explanatory.

   

I cut 2 pieces of a square dowel to use for the support of the bed.  I inserted 2 screws and measured so that they wouldn’t protrude outside of the walls and inserted them also with a dab of glue into each side wall.  (I won’t be moving my bed down)

For the actual bed I used another piece of the foam board and glued on the side railing.

Another view of installed bed.

Here is completed hut up to this point.  Now I need to add accessories.  Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

  

How To Make American Girl Samantha's Gazebo

From the moment Samantha's new items were revealed this year I fell in love with all of it.  Now being on the practical side, I knew that I would attempt to recreate what I could, and here is how I put together the "infamous" gazebo.

I started with a small plan and just figured out what I needed in supplies as I went along. I purchased pvc pipes from Home Depot already pre-cut into 2 ft. pieces.  Then I proceeded to cover them with white duct tape.  I chose to wrap them in duct tape because from prior experience if they are painted the paint easily gets chipped.

I purchased wood rectangular strips from Michaels to use for the 4 sections of plastic decor in between the posts and painted them white.

I measured and cut these wood strips by just using a visual measurement of pictures I had seen.  The plastic mesh I also purchased from Michaels by the yarn area.  I think it is for rug hooking.

I then sandwiched the mesh in between 2 wood pieces on each end.  I did this for the remaining other 3 sections.  Please note that 2 out of the 4 sections are a different height.

For the base and top I used 2 pieces of foam board and first marked a circle measuring 24" in diameter then marked it to cut into an octagon shape.  On each corner of the shape I traced, measured and cut a hole for each pvc pipe.

Before placing the pipes, I glued down scrapbook paper.  

Here you see the wood strips with mesh that I then glued on to the pvc pipe with hot glue.

 I cut foam board for the shelving to use on 2 of the mesh and wood pieces.

Here I have covered the little piece of shelving with scrapbook paper and glued it on top of the mesh piece.  I also cut out a pattern on the mesh to give it some distinction.  If I were to do this over, and I could, I would use a plastic basket from the Dollar store and cut it apart and use that instead of this mesh piece I used.  

This beautiful scrolled wood frame is perfect for the detailing for around the top of each opening in the gazebo.

I used 2 frames and cut each one into 4 pieces then painted them white.

Here I have attached the piece of frame and also I purchased this "large food umbrella" from Amazon to give the top of the gazebo some detail.

I then put a piece of duct tape at each opening, top and bottom, to prevent the foam board from slipping.

I finished this right before Easter and placed my decorations.  I love the way it turned out.  Don't be afraid to tackle a project that you are in love with.  I couldn't be happier.  This will be a part of my collection for years to come.

I purchased a string of patio umbrella lighting and placed it around the top for this finishing touch that makes it again, so special.  If you have any questions, just let me know.  

Happy AG Crafting !