Our Doll's Library Furnishings

Our American Girl Doll Library Furniture is finished at last! The stuffed labradoodle shown here is called Goldie.
Click here to see how you can also build a stone fireplace for your American Girl dolls just like ours.

This working clock that looks like an 18" grandfather clock in our doll collection is signed and dated;
 we found it at resale.

Left, our doll's library furnishings are made up of five large pieces: a rocking chair, a wingback chair,
 a tall bookcase, a stone fireplace and a working grandfather clock. I have also included a small rag rug
 (once a placemat) and a toy labradoodle. Right, is Skylar, Sophie's younger sister, who is holding a
 shamrock pillow and petting their family dog, Goldie.

Left, is a closer look at the 18" doll sized rocker with upholstered cushions, follow the link to see 
how I sewed these. Right, is Sophie browsing her books to find something to read I suppose.
 Go to the Doll's Bookcase Post to read about how we made the books.

Left is the comfy cozy wingback chair with two small pillows; follow the link to see the DIY. 
Right is Skylar wrestling Goldie on the rug in front of the fireplace.

Left, is Sophie trying out the rocking chair. Right is the fireplace mantle with a brass bowl of leaves
 and berries. Above it is a framed print that can be switched out easily, go here to see how it's done.

Our doll's library furnishings as seen from above.

Book Crafts for A Doll's Bookcase

Left, the bookcase stands empty, ready to fill with doll sized books. Right, a comparison in size
to one of our 18" American Girl dolls.  I love how this curio cabinet is in perfect scale to
our dolls. It looks just like a bookcase you might find in a traditional library or den.

       Above is a curio cabinet that I purchased from resale. It is plastic made to look like faux wood and it is the perfect size for our 18" dolls. The interior is lined with a velvet like red paper and there are small plastic finials at the top, faux "carved flowers" under the arches and false drawers at the bottom that include metal handles. All in all it's a pretty fancy bookcase for a doll!

Left, pretend books made from wrapped cardboard pieces and printed book covers cut from a magazine about books.
Center, are the nice miniature books made for American Girl Dolls. These come with actual printed stories on
 the inside. Right are faux books without pages. I simply cut cardboard shaped books and wrapped faux leather,
paper and vinyl around one spine and two sides. 

Book Crafts for A Doll's Bookcase:

• American Girl Bookshelf
• How to make doll books from iLove2Paint
• Minibooks - 2013
• One Inch Button Book
• Small Art Books
• Make a folding, miniature doll house book

How we like to organize books at our house:

• Heaviest books at the bottom of the bookcase, so that the bookcase remains stable. These usually include folios. Folios and medium sized heavy books are alternated in stacks and upright patterns
• Books for children on the second from the lowest shelf, so that these may be removed by children to look at freely.
• Books then organized under common topics: Bibles, History, Crafts and How To, Art History and Lesson Planning, Botany Interests and Gardening, Cookbooks and Juvenile Literature
• Small books are usually given a shelf of their own. This shelf is adjusted to keep the small books tightly packed. 
• Novels are are always filed together.
• Movies are given shelves of their own, most frequently at the top of the bookcase.

Different Ways to Organize Your Doll's Books:

• Organize by size, shape or color
• Organize by content, author or title
• Alphabetical Order
• Organize by alternative color patterns
• Organize spines out or inverted
• Stacked and Standing alternated
• Displayed with dust jackets
• All folios laying stacked and everything else standing upright
• Alternating with ornamental items, photos, clocks and keepsakes

Printable Clock Faces

Free clock faces with either Roman Numerals or regular number symbols.

       These printable clock faces may be used for clocks and watches, depending upon the crafts you are making. You will need to mark the center of the face and poke a hole through each print to insert clock hands or you can just draw these on if you prefer.

Upcycle A Box Into A Doll Bookcase

Left, shelves for books and a small vase and toy. Center, our
babysitter doll is taking good care of Barbie's son. He loves
 several bedtime stories before settling down for the night.
 Right, included on our bookshelf is a flat screen T.V.

       The simplest way to make a bookcase for a doll, is to upcycle a small box. If you choose to use a box without compartments, the work is a bit more detailed and I will include a project later with the instructions for that method.

       However, if you are lucky enough to find just the right box to use for a bookcase, you may not need to add the shelves on your own. Below is a prime example of a project such as this one. 

Adding cupboard doors to your bookcase is optional here. Simply cut rectangles from cardboard that
 fit neatly over the shelf openings. Cover them with decorative paper and hot glue on two beads for handles.
 Tape these in place with a durable duct tape and then cover the exposed areas with more decorative paper.

Supply List For The Bookcase:

• cardboard box
• cardboard box with compartments (optional)
• Mod Podge
• scissors
• decorative papers
• ruler
• white school glue
• a soft, clean paint brush for applying Mod Podge
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Clean off any dust or dirt that may have attached itself to the box.
2. Carefully measure and cut out decorative shapes that fit neatly into the compartments of the box.
3. Use a soft brush to cover each shelf with Mod Podge and then stick the papers down to the surfaces. 
4. Be careful to rub the surfaces with your clean, dry fingertips. Smoothing out the air bubbles that get trapped beneath the paper.
5. Then layer with the paint brush, another coat of Mod Podge on top of the new decorative papers.
6. Repeat this process for the outside of the box as well. 
7. I left the edges and some of the walls of my doll's bookcase their original color. You do not need to cover every surface of the bookcase if you don't want to change all of it. I found the original fuchsia appealing, so I chose a different set of papers to compliment some of the original color.

       You will probably need to fill your doll's bookcase with a few books and there are many ways to craft small volumes. I will demonstrate with photos below just one way to make miniature doll books for now...

Glue additional titles and decorations
to the outside of the doll book.

Supply List for Miniature Books:

• corrugated cardboard
• scrap magazine pages
• glue stick
• scissors

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut the cardboard into the size pieces you wish your books to be. You can estimate this by putting a few different sizes of cut cardboard squares into the hands of your dolls to determine the scale you want the books to be. Also make sure that the books are not too large for the doll's bookcase.
2. For this particular method of making a miniature book, you will only need to collect scrap magazine paper to cover the volumes with. 
3. Glue like sized cardboard squares side by side, leaving only a small gab so that the book will shut neatly on the shelf after it is finished. 
4. Now cut around both cardboard shapes leaving approximately 1/4 inch of paper around all four sides. 
5. Smear a bit of glue to each end and fold the magazine paper over the edges on top of the glue. Repeat this step around every side.
6. Now cut paper having words printed on it and glue it to the inside covers of the miniature book. The dolls will be able to open these small volumes and pretend to read the text. 
7. Glue additional titles and decorations to the outside of the doll book. Now you have a few books for the doll bookcase!

Left, glue like sized cardboard squares side by side, leaving only a small gab so that the book will shut
neatly on the shelf after it is finished. Center, Smear a bit of glue to each end and fold the magazine
 paper over the edges on top of the glue. Right, The dolls will be able to open these small volumes
and pretend to read the text.

More Ways To Make Tiny Books:

• Making of 'My Miniature World' miniature books
• Make a Book-Miniature Book Tutorial by Tanya