Craft a Doll Music Stand

The music stands are ready for
our 14" to 18" dolls to play with.

       We made harp shaped music stands for our doll's practice room inside the school. These are made from ordinary materials you can find around the house. 

       If you choose to make them from cardboard expect to sand and paint the surfaces several times in order to get the surfaces smooth and ready to paint! I suggest that you try foam board instead to avoid all the clean up around the edges.

Supply List:

• foam board or cardboard for the harp shaped tray
• tooth picks or skewers for the rails of the tray
• a printed pattern from below
• wood glue
• white school glue
• chopsticks
• masking tape
• hot glue and hot glue gun
• paint - Any color you wish for your music stand, I chose black.
• large plastic lid for the stand's base
• an Exacto knife will come in handy
• sharp scissors
• Mod Podge
• emery board for sanding between tight spaces 
• nail and hammer 
• one wooden popsicle stick per stand

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Download and print the pattern for the harp shaped tray below.
2. Cut out the print and trace around it on top of either foam board or cardboard.
3. Cut out the tray twice and use a bit of wood tacky glue to paste three or four skewers/toothpicks between the harp shaped cutouts. See the placement below.
4. If you do this part of the project with foam core it is easy enough to poke the rails into the foam and fill the gaps with glue. Let the tray rails dry completely.
5. Now stick the chop stick into a hole at the backside of the tray using tacky glue. I just used the tip of my scissors to make a hole. Position the chopstick at an angle and firmly adjust this stand's shaft, holding it in place with masking tape and tacky glue. This will need to dry over night. 
6. After this shaft dried on my project, I just left the tape on the chopstick and wrapped additional masking tape around and down onto the length of the chopstick. This does give the 'shaft' or chopstick a stronger connection to the tray.
7. Cut a wooden popsicle stick to fit at the bottom of the tray to hold sheet music. Glue this on with tacky white glue and let it dry. You can use masking tape to hold it in place while it's drying; this is easy enough to remove later if you wish.
8. You should layer cardboard inside the lid for the base to give it more weight. This weight will help the stand stay upright. Use glue between the layers of cardboard.
9. Now use a hammer and a small nail to punch a hole into a large recycled lid. Punch this hole through both the lid and all the way through the cardboard layers inside.
10. Fill the hole with tacky glue and push the chopstick with the tray attached at the opposite end deep into this hole. 
11. Check to see that the doll music stand can stay upright on it's own. Wait for the glue to dry. 
12. Paint the entire stand in the color of your choice.
13. Sand and reapply paint until the stand has a finished surface that you are satisfied with.
14. Apply Mode Podge to the painted surfaces to keep them durable.    

Here you can see our harp shaped trays in progress. These got a bit fussy in the end. I think you can
 avoid this by making yours from foam board and by using an Exacto knife. I went through the trouble
 of layering masking tape and decoupage on the harp trays to make them sturdier. However, I wouldn't
 repeat the process again. Too much fussiness! Just use foam board! I attached the stand with glue
 and tape inside a shallow hole that I made on the backside of the tray in the middle.

On the left, you can see that I hammered two holes into my layered cardboard and glued the chopsticks
 in place with tacky glue. I had to wait overnight for this glue to dry. You can avoid this wait by using
hot glue. I ran out of it so I resorted to tacky white glue. Then I painted the entire music stand(s)
using acrylic black paint.

Danny Boy Lyrics

Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side,
The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, I love you, love you so!

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me;
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!

by Fred. E. Weatherly

Printable doll sized sheet music of song, "Danny Boy" for play only.

Harp shaped template for a doll sized music stand.