DIY Office Supply for A Doll's Desk

       Small office supplies like pencils, notebooks, erasers, paper weights and tape dispensers not only look adorable sitting on the desktop of your doll's office furniture but also are appropriate in the backpacks of those dolls going back to school this fall. Make an abundant supply of these accessories so that the dolls won't fight over them!

Left, the tips of each pencil are painted black to imitate the lead. Center, the stems of
the pencils are colored with magic markers. Right, the erasers are painted pink.

       Our dolls keep plenty of sharpened pencils on hand at their desk. These can come in any color you like as long as you have the magic markers to color them in. 

       The supplies you need for this doll pencil craft include: wooden toothpicks, magic markers, silver tape and pink/black acrylic paints for the ends.

       To make the doll sized pencils trim the lengths of the toothpicks to size on the 'butt' end or flat end of each toothpick only, leaving the pointed end for the tip of the pencil. Then paint the tip black or grey for the lead part and paint the flat end pink for the eraser part. 

       Use magic markers to color the long stem part of each toothpick pencil and the silver tape to wrap between the painted eraser and length (stem) of the pencil.

Left are the journals unassembled. Right are the completed journals with tape binding and
 labels. With all the writing your doll does this school year, she will surely need a bright pink
 eraser or two to fix a few spelling mistakes!

       Every doll needs a blank journal or two to complete school essays and jot down notes for their final exams. The journals are made by stacking white printing paper, cutting it to size and folding the pages once down the center. Staple the pages inside the fold once. Craft a cover using decorative scrapbook paper and wrap the spine with black tape. Glue the white pages just inside the spine and allow these to dry completely. Then cut and attach with glue, a small white label for the cover so that the doll may identify the subject of her/his journal. 

       To make the pink erasers, simply shape these from oven-bake clay, bake, cool and paint with bubble-gum pink acrylic paints.

Left, flat sided marbles the size of penny found in the Family Dollar Store or a Dollar
General. Center, see the office supply displayed on our doll's office desk at home.
Right, see the finished paper weight, a picture of a star or perhaps a planet.

             Craft a doll sized paper weight to keep dolly's papers in place on breezy days! You will need the following supplies for this adorable desk accessory: magazine clippings, white school glue and  transparent, marbles with one flat side. 

See the shape of the cardboard tape dispenser,
 the cut toothpick and our metal bobbin.

       Simply place the marble on top of a magazine image, trace around the marble with a pencil or permanent ink pen and cut out the image to glue to the flat side of the marble. After the glue dries, your doll will see a lovely picture through the paper weight...

     To make a 18" doll sized tape dispenser you will need: scrap cardboard, masking tape, white school glue, one toothpick and an empty old thread bobbin. Thread bobbins may be metal or plastic -  either type will do for this craft.

       Look to see how the tape dispenser is shaped; see also that it is hollow so that the bobbin will fit snuggly between the cardboard walls of the dispenser. The dispenser is a basic rectangle with a slight arc shape cut from it's top side. Draw this shape out on a piece of cardboard cut four the exact same size, using your own template to trace around. Cut four more narrow pieces of cardboard to construct the narrower end pieces. Double up all of the sides to give the cardboard strength. Glue everything together as shown in the photos below. 

       Now cut two little niches opposite each other using a sharp tool. This is where you will insert the bobbin's toothpick 'pin.' The toothpick to be ever so slightly longer than the space between the dispenser's two longest walls.

       Paint the cardboard tape dispenser any color you would prefer. I painted ours bright, cherry red. Then I cut a tiny toothy cardboard tip to glue to the edge of my doll's tape dispenser. Let dry. 

       You can make the tape using real masking or Scotch tape. Cut long narrow lengths of it and twist it about the bobbin. Put the toothpick into the hole of the bobbin and insert it into the dispenser. Pull a length of the tape to the tip of the dispenser.

See "how" the dispenser is cut from cardboard and where to position the bobbin within.

The doll desk top tape dispenser is painted red and the bobbin is loaded up with real
masking tape for our dolls to use in school assignments or crafts.

• See more art supplies for dolls in a small cabinet here.