DIY Barbie's Bohemian Bed

        This bed for eleven to twelve inch doll bodies looks much more difficult to make than it actually is. The decorative ''carved'' looking boarders are made with doilies layered together with glue. The upholstery is paper mache, not real fabric, so that it is easier for young crafters to work with. The results can be stunning if you are selective when purchasing the tissue and scrapbook papers to coordinate!

       I chose to use a tissue paper printed with a red and silver arabesque design. The doilies were discovered at a resale shop. These were probably intended to dress up a table for St. Valentines Day. The resulting bed definitely has a Bohemian-like flavor; just the sort of thing that Barbie or many of her friends would prefer in an eccentric looking townhouse.

       Read all of the instructions before beginning one of these on your own. I've included many photographs below for reference. Once you look at these carefully, I think you will understand how simple the design is.

 

Left, the blanket for our Barbie-sized Bohemian bed is
made from a recycled crochet sweater backed with
red satin. Right, you can see a doll lounging in bed.

Supply List:

• a package of multiple paper doilies
• scrap cardboard
• wood 1'' x 9'' x 13''
  
• masking tape
• white school glue
• decorative scrapbook papers
• one small can of spray paint to coordinate with paper
• Mod Podge
• decorative tissue paper
• plain white tissue paper
• twine
• fancy laces/trims
• fabric scraps for blanket and pillows

 Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut wood scrap into two sides 9'' long and two more sides 13'' long. 
2. Cut cardboard to fit inside of this rectangular shaped bed. Glue it all together to reinforce the platform.
3. Cut, glue and reinforce the platform with additional cardboard as needed.
4. For the headboard, cut and stack the doilies with thin layers of glue between. Removing the interior papers to create a edge piece only. You will also be cutting a portion of the doilies away at the bottom to create a straight bottom edge. See the photos below.
5. Do the same for the footboard only make it smaller.
6. Take the stacked and glued doilies and trace around these on top of cardboard to give both the head and footboards backing. Extend the lower cardboard cuts approximately five inches longer than the doily cuts. 
7. The mattress frame is glued between the headboard and footboard, just beneath the doily cut-outs. What is left below the mattress frame becomes the footing for the bed.
8. Take the bed outside, set it on newsprint or inside of a box and spray paint the doily elements. Let it dry.
   
9. Use layers of masking tape and decoupage papers to finish off the exposed cardboard around the painted doily elements. I originally did this in the reverse because I did not yet know how I wanted the bed to look. However, it is best to spray paint first so that you will have less work to do in the end.
10. Now it is time to craft the ''tufted'' parts of the headboard and footboard. Crush the plain white tissue paper into ''pillow'' like shell shape. Glue these in place with white glue and finish the outside surfaces with masking tape. You can observe below that I also glued a twine between each section of the shell to hold them in place while I worked, and also did all of my tufting on additional cardboard scraps that fit inside of the cut-outs beneath the doily pieces. 
11. Decoupage the tufted paper inserts made to look like upholstery using fancier tissue paper. 
12. Glue these pieces in the holes cut-out beneath the doilies. 
13. Brush on Mod Podge to finish all paper surfaces. 
14. Cut lengths of lace trim to glue along the sides of the bed. These will mimic dusters for the bed.
15. The decorative paper on top of the platform mimics sheeting for the bed.
16. Cut and sew a fancy blanket and pillows for the bed. I cut an old sweater for this Barbie-sized bed and backed it with red satin scraps. 
17. I chose to use the same method to make tiny decorative pillows in red and white. Sew lace trims on top of red felt or wool squares.

Left, the platform for the bed, headboard and footboard prior to gluing all three components 
together. Right, detailed photo of stacked and glued doilies. 

The 10 - 12 inch doll bed from multiple angles.

See the decorative scrapbook paper used to represent the sheets on the bed.

Detailed photos of the spray paint applications.

Above, you can see how I shaped the inside tufted tissue paper to look like a
seashell design.

The bed's dusters are permanently attached along the sides with hot glue. I used red satin
 and decorative lace panels to make these.

Detailed photos of lace pillows and coverlet for the bed linens.

The bed completed without linens.

More Lovely Linens for Barbie:

• Barbie's purple and blue striped comforter set with knitted afghan
• Floral kerchief, checkered sheets and blue plaid duster for Barbie's Carved Bumble Bee Headboard