How to Craft 18" Doll Casserole Dishes

Above, doll cornbread in a casserole dish.
Below doll brownies drizzled with dark 
chocolate colored puff paint.

       You can make doll sized casserole dishes from many different types of recycled cardboard and or plastic containers.  Just be sure that these containers are clean and that they may be easy to cut apart using the tools that you have at home. Parents may need to help their children cut apart plastic containers safely. 

"A casserole is a kind of large, deep pan or bowl used for cooking a variety of dishes in the oven; it is also a category of foods cooked in such a vessel. To distinguish the two uses, the pan can be called a "casserole dish" or "casserole pan," whereas the food is simply "a casserole." The same pan is often used both for cooking and for serving."

       I used the square casserole dish for doll cornbread and then the rectangular casserole dish for doll sized brownies. Both brownies and cornbread were very popular items included in many American Girl doll baking sets. If you need to replace a lost or damaged casserole tray of these two popular doll foods it is easy to do; just follow the craft instructions below!

Recycled bottles and small boxes

Supply List:

• recycled plastic bottles or very small recycled cardboard boxes
• masking tape
• white school glue
• acrylic paints and/or decorative papers
• Mod Podge
• plastic wrap 
• paper mache pulp
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Measure from the bottom of a small medicine box up each side approximately 1/2".
2. Connect these dots with a line around the outside of the box on all four sides.
3. Cut out the shallow or deep casserole shaped box.
4. Mask all of the sides and bottom using masking tape before decoupaging the dolly dishes with decorative or plain paper. Layering with white school glue. 
5. For the final layer, use Mod Podge to craft a nice, neatly finished surface.
6. You may add handles using wire or paper. Attach two of these on opposite sides of two ends of the faux dishes.
7. I also cut decorative elements from a metal tape to highlight the bottoms of the rectangular casseroles. (see pictures below)
   

Here you can see the process for making the square casserole dish from a recycled
box. Left cut and shape the size of casserole dish. Cover it with masking tape.
Center, layer decorative papers and white school glue. Right, line the inside of the box
 with plastic wrap and then firmly push paper mache pulp inside. Cut the pieces with a
plastic knife and let the pulp dry for approximately  48 hrs.

After removing the plastic wrap, paint the cornbread several shades of golden yellow and seal
with Mod Podge. I also shaped simple wire handles for this casserole dish and hot glued
these to opposite sides of the dish for decorative accents.

Adding Cornbread to Our Square Casserole Dish: After lining each casserole with plastic wrap on the interior bottom and walls, I pressed paper mache pulp neatly inside the casserole dish, made slices with a toothpick, let it harden and then painted it a cornbread yellow. Remove the plastic covering once the paper mache has hardened; this could take many days.

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Above, I followed the same steps as above to make a casserole dish of brownies for our dolls.

Adding Brownies to Our Rectangular Casserole Dish:  After lining the brownie casserole with plastic wrap on the interior bottom and walls, I pressed paper mache pulp neatly inside the casserole dish, made slices with a toothpick, let it harden, remove the plastic wrap and then painted it a chocolatey brown with puff paint icing.

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