DIY

Even if you’re not a skilled woodworker, you can build a DIY American Girl Doll bed! This is an easy doll bed tutorial for all skill levels.

My daughter’s fake American Girl (she’s the Target-brand knockoff, Our Generation), Cailyn, needed a place to rest her weary head! So I built her one!

Building a DIY American Girl Doll bed was such a fun project that saved me a lot of money!  (Doll beds on the American Girl website start at $150; this bed cost me under $20 to make!)  

Also, this is an awesome beginner woodworking / power tool project because I got really comfortable with my tools and cannot wait to build something else! Trust me that even if you’re a novice, you can build this 18 inch doll bed!

Supplies Needed to Build a DIY Doll Bed

Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission at no added cost to you if you purchase through them.  Please read my disclosure policy for more information.

• 1 x 2 lumber board (you’ll need 68″ minimum)
• Plywood project panel (you’ll cut down to approximately 21″ long x 10″ wide)
• 2 x wood balusters (each measuring at least 26″ in length)
• Pine lattice molding
• Circular Saw
• Impact Driver or Drill
• 1.25 inch wood screws (flat head, if possible)
• 1 inch wood screws (flat head, if possible)
• Wood glue
• 1.5″ Ball Knobs with Flat Bottoms
• Poster board

How to Build an American Girl Doll Bed

For this DIY 18 inch doll bed, I began by drawing a really rough sketch of my plan.  Can you tell I’ve never done this before?  (Note: don’t follow this plan.  I changed some of it along the way.)

After that, here’s how this project went down.  

Step One: Cut the Balusters

I started by cutting the little nubs off the end of the wood balusters. The balusters you purchase may look different than mine. That’s fine!

Next, I cut the balusters apart so that they each measured 13″ long.

Step Two: Cut the 1×2 lumber

After that, I cut my 1 x 2 lumber into four pieces: two 21″ long pieces and two 9″ long pieces.  

(I don’t recommend using paint buckets as sawhorses, but it was freezing outside and our sawhorses don’t fit in our tiny work room!)  

At first I was really scared to use a circular saw, but it was actually SUPER easy.  It has a laser on it, which made keeping a straight line simple, and it was so easy to use.  Plus I felt like a total bada** working this thing like a boss.

Once all the wood was cut, I measured where I wanted to screw the pieces together. 

Step Three: Put Together the Bed Frame

I drilled pilot holes and then used my new impact driver to begin putting it all together!  (Super relieved you can’t see my gray hairs in this extreme closeup.)

I started by attaching a side railing of the bed with the 1.25″ screw, and once that was in, I screwed the piece for the end of the bed onto the baluster (also using a 1.25″ screw).  

Notice how I offset the placement of the screws so that the side rail screw is lower than the screw for the piece at the end of the bed.  This was so that the screws wouldn’t hit each other in the baluster.

I repeated this process until the entire frame of the doll bed was complete.  

Step Four: Make the Bed Rails to Hold the Mattress

Then, I cut thin trim strips to just slightly shorter than the length of the side rails of the bed (approximately 20.5″ long).  These strips will be holding the bed’s base in place.

I fastened them to the inside side rails of the bed with the 1 inch screws, placing them about 1/4 of the way down the side rail. 

Step Five: Make the “Mattress”

Then, I measured the inside area of the bed so that I could cut the plywood base.  This was important because it wasn’t exactly equal on both ends.  (Hey, I’m no expert woodworker here!)

I cut a piece of poster board into the less-than-perfect rectangle shape, and then traced that onto the piece of plywood.  I cut that shape out with the circular saw and laid the plywood onto the attached trim strips with a thin layer of wood glue.  It fit perfectly!  (Sorry I forgot to photograph this step!)

Step Six: Add a Headboard

Then I decided that the bed needed a headboard.  (Well, truthfully, my daughter made this decision because she was worried her doll would fall out of bed.  I’m glad she spoke up because the bed definitely needed a headboard.)  

So, I measured the space in between the balusters at the front of the bed and cut a piece of left over 1×2 wood to that size (it was about 9 5/8″ wide).  I screwed it in to the balusters.

Step Seven: Add the Bed Post Balls

Finally, I used wood glue to attach the 1.5″ ball knobs to the balusters.  This was the finishing touch on my simple DIY American Girl Doll bed!  

Step Eight: Paint the DIY American Girl Doll Bed

After I gave the bed a coat of white paint and sewed some simple bedding in fabric that my daughter chose (she has good taste!), I put it in her room and was so happy that she LOVED it!  

I’m telling you that building this doll bed was the best way for me to get comfortable with some easy building projects.  

Plus, my daughter’s excitement over having a “real” bed for her doll made this whole thing worthwhile.

Not gonna lie – I’m also really happy that I spent a fraction of what it would cost to buy a real American Girl doll bed!  

If you have a little girl or know someone who does, make them a doll bed!  If I could do this, so can you!  And please “pin” this post to share the idea!  

My house has many enormous, old radiators.  Slowly but surely I’ve been painting them to fix years of neglect (think chipping paint and/or rust spots), or poor paint color choices from previous owners (think mustard yellow).  

I can honestly say that, until recently, radiator painting was my LEAST FAVORITE JOB IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

But now I’ve finally figured out how to paint a radiator the easy way, and I am happy to pass along my tips to you!

Before I figured out how to paint radiators with the method I’m going to tell you about, I painted them by hand.  Each of the medium-sized radiators I brush painted took about a week of half-day painting sessions to complete.  

A week of stinky oil-based paint smell in my house, blocked off areas so that paint would not get smudged, and the mess that accompanies any painting job.

Needless to say, I was really dreading painting the radiators in my living room, which were gigantic yellow monstrosities.  Here’s one . . . 

And here’s the other. . . 

I figured that each of these yellow beasts would take me about two weeks to refinish.  And that’s why painting these radiators kept getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do list.

But now I know the SECRET of how to paint a radiator the easy way, and I am so glad to tell you that this method is life changing.  Seriously!

Supplies Needed to Paint a Radiator the Easy Way

Thank you to HomeRight for providing product used in this post.  The project and opinions are all my own.  Also, this post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

• The KEY to painting a radiator is a spray painter.  I am telling you that it makes all the difference in the world (and is MUCH cheaper than hiring a painter to tackle your radiators).  I used the HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer for the first radiator I refinished in this room, and the HomeRight Super Finish Max Sprayer for the second radiator I refinished in this room.  Both sprayers worked great for refinishing radiators, but you can read about why I liked the Finish Max Extra Fine Finish Sprayer more in the updated portion of this post near the end!
• 3M Advanced Masking Film
• Scotch Blue Painter’s Tape
• Spray Painting Mask (I wore a head sock like this; no joke.  I didn’t post a photo of myself in it because I looked a little bit like a murderer or a terrorist.)
• Rustoleum Metal Primer
• Rustoleum Protective Enamel (I used a Satin finish)
• Acetone (for thinning the oil-based paint to use in the sprayer)  (NOTE: if you use the HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer I talk about in the updated section of this post below, you will not need Acetone.)
• Mineral spirits (for cleaning up the sprayer once you’re finished)
• Wire brush
• TSP pre-paint cleaner
• Vacuum with hose extension or long feather dusters
• Recommended: lead paint testing kit

Instructions for How to Paint a Radiator

Before you do anything, make sure the radiator is turned off!  Painting radiators is a job best done in the spring or summer, when you’re not using them.

Step One: Remove Loose Paint

Begin by scraping any loose paint areas from the radiator by using the metal brush.  

VERY IMPORTANT:  YOUR RADIATOR COULD HAVE LEAD PAINT ON IT.  MAKE SURE TO USE ALL PROPER PRECAUTIONS BEFORE SCRAPING PAINT, AS INHALATION OF LEAD PAINT CAN HAVE SERIOUS HEALTH CONSEQUENCES.  TO LEARN MORE, PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK.

Step Two: Clean the Radiator

Next, clean the radiator like the Queen of England is coming to visit, and her butler will be giving the place a white glove inspection.  

Begin by vacuuming as much dust off of it as you can, and then washing it down with TSP.  Once it’s dry, dust it again.  I promise you, it will still be dirty.  

Step Three: Protect Surrounding Surfaces

After you’ve cleaned the radiator, protect the entire area around the radiator with the masking film.  Tape it everywhere.  The last thing you want is oil-based paint all over your walls or floors.  

The masking film is actually really easy to hang and goes up pretty quickly.  I told my kids it was our new curtains; they were not impressed.  

Step Four: Prime the Radiator

Once you have the entire area protected, set up your sprayer and thin the primer according to the manufacturer’s directions.  (NOTE: if you use the HomeRight Super Finish Max Sprayer I talk about in the updated section of this post below, you will not need to thin the primer.)  

Then spray the entire radiator with primer.  It will already look a million times better!

(TIP: If you’ve never before used the sprayer you’ll be using for this job, you should test it out on a piece of cardboard first.)

(TIP: Oil-based paint smells REALLY really bad.  Make sure you have the windows open and a fan going when you do this.)

Step Five: Paint the Radiator

Let the primer dry according to the manufacturer’s directions, and then spray the protective enamel on as the topcoat.  Smile at your spouse or significant other because you’re so happy with the way this project is going!  Seriously – you will not believe how much time you’re saving because of using the paint sprayer.

Once the entire radiator is sufficiently covered, clean the paint sprayer like the Queen’s butler will also be giving it the white glove inspection.  Prepare yourself that it will be a pain, simply because you’ve used oil-based paint for your radiator painting project, and oil-based paint is chronically frustrating and time consuming to clean up.  

Still, even though the clean up process is a bit involved, the entire project can be completed in less than a day, which is SO MUCH FASTER than hand brushing a radiator.

The finish is SO smooth (unlike the finish on the radiators that I hand brushed), and I am thrilled with the result!  I vow to NEVER paint a radiator by hand again.  Never.

Thank goodness the mustard yellow radiator paint is gone!  

I still have one of the radiators in my living room left to paint, but I’ll get that done in the next month or so.  I wanted to make sure this method actually worked before I tackled both of the yellow beasts at once!

Update: Radiator Painting with HomeRight Super Finish Max Sprayer

Although I planned to spray paint that second radiator last fall, I didn’t get around to it before we turned the heat back on.  It all worked out in the end, however, because HomeRight came out with a new version of the Finish Max Sprayer, the HomeRight Super Finish Max Sprayer, which has a few more features that made radiator painting even easier than when I originally wrote this post!

The feature I liked best about this new version of the sprayer is that I didn’t have to thin the primer, and I only thinned the radiator paint a tiny bit (and just as a precaution).  

I don’t even think thinning the paint was necessary; I only thinned it a little because I still had acetone left from the radiator I spray painted last year.  Not having to thin the paint and do straining tests to see if it will work in the sprayer was a huge timesaver!

I also really liked that this new version of the sprayer has a flow control dial built right in, so I could easily adjust the amount of paint coming out of the sprayer depending on which part of the radiator I was working on.  

The Super Finish Max Sprayer also comes with different nozzles and air caps so it can be used on a wide array of projects like cabinets, furniture, fences, decks, and more.  (I most recently used it to paint my oak kitchen cabinets!)

I took my yellow radiator from this . . .

to this . . . 

even faster than I did the first time around.

I cannot emphasize how much easier the the HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer and the HomeRight Super Finish Sprayer made this job.  Anyone who knows me heard me complain about hand painting my radiators in the past.  I promise that all anyone’s heard about this project is how wonderfully easy it was!  

If you have any radiators to paint in your home, I absolutely recommend that you use this approach to paint them – do not hand paint them.  You will want to pull your hair out!  

The patterned cement tile look is still going strong, but not everyone can go ripping out their tile to get the look.  Because of that, I figured out how to stencil fireplace tile to give my hearth a new look at a fraction of the price!  And, this process also works to stencil fireplace tile surrounds.  

Let me show you how I gave my plain Jane fireplace tile a faux cement tile look at a fraction of the price!

The Fireplace Tile Before Stenciling

Here’s the BEFORE photo – as you can see, the tile was a solid color.  Nothing too exciting at all.  It’s original to the house (built in 1927), and was super dingy with random black marks all over it.  (And just so you all know and don’t leave me a comment that I could burn my house down by painting the hearth tile since it’s flush with the fire box, the fireplace doesn’t work.)  

Check out this post to see how I painted the marble fireplace hearth in my new home!

Supplies Needed to Stencil Fireplace Tile

Thank you to Royal Design Studio for sponsoring this post. The project and opinions are all my own.  Also, this post contains affiliate links for your convenience; please click here to see my full disclosure policy.

Here are the supplies I used for this stenciled fireplace makeover:

• TSP (Trisodium Phosphate)
• Rubber gloves
• Sponge
• Painters tape
• Royal Design Studio Mediterranean Tile Stencil Set
• Spray adhesive
• Chalk paint
• Small foam roller
• Polycrylic

How to Stencil Fireplace Tile Hearths and Surrounds

The hardest part about stenciling tile is having patience! It’s important to do the right prep work and allow each tile to dry before moving on to another, or you might smear the paint!  You’ll see what I mean later on.

Step One: Clean the Fireplace Tile

I started by giving my tile a hardcore cleaning with TSP (Trisodium Phosphate), which is a special cleaning agent that you should use before painting things that are really dirty, like a dingy fireplace hearth that was covered in old ash and grime.  When cleaning with TSP, you definitely want to wear rubber gloves.

After I scrubbed and scrubbed, a lot of the disgustingness came off (thank goodness), and I was embarrassed that I hadn’t cleaned that tile sooner.  Shame.

I let the tile sit overnight to dry, just to make sure it was SUPER DUPER dry.  

Step Two: Tape Off a Tile

Then the next day, I got down to business.  I started by using this painter’s tape to tape off the grout of one tile.  

Step Three: Stencil the Fireplace Tile

Next, I studied the contents of my Mediterranean Tile Set from Royal Design Studio and decided which of the four patterns included in the set I wanted to use on my fireplace hearth.  While I loved all of the options included (and could have used all of them in this project), I ultimately settled on the one I did because it goes best with my home’s style and era!  

Once the decision was made, I gave the back of the stencil a light spray of this spray adhesive.

I pressed the stencil into place on the tile and made sure that all of the edges were firmly on the tile.  

Then I mixed up a batch of these ivory and white chalky finish paints (only because I didn’t have enough of one color), and applied a light coat over the stencil with a tiny foam roller.  

Once that first coat of paint dried, I applied another light coat.  Before the second coat was completely dry, I removed the stencil from the tile.  (In my experience, it’s easier to remove the stencil before the paint is totally dry because it comes off cleaner and there’s less of a chance of removing paint than when the paint is dry.)

Step Four: Repeat the Process

I repeated the taping, spray adhesive application, and rolling process across all of the tiles.  I had to work on the tiles in a random order because I had to be careful about placing tape on or too close to fresh paint.  

I made sure to stencil all of the regularly shaped tiles first, and then I moved on to the trickier ones in the corners.  For some of them I simply had to bend my stencil and press it into place where it wouldn’t lie flat.  

On the parts of the design that I couldn’t use my foam roller, I drew in the design with a pencil on the tile and free painted those spots with a small artist’s brush.

And then, for the really tricky tiles that were not square or rectangular, I cut the stencil to fit.  

When I needed the stencil that had been cut for another tricky tile, I just pressed the pieces back together and onto the tile.  It worked like a charm, but I am so glad I saved the cutting until it was absolutely necessary.

Step Five: Seal the Stenciled Tiles

I let the painted fireplace tiles sit overnight to fully dry, and then I applied three coats of matte finish polycrylic over them to ensure that they will be durable and properly sealed.  

The Completed Stenciled Fireplace Makeover

And then my fireplace tile looked so refreshed!  

I am absolutely in love with the finished product, and could not be happier that I have the trendy cement tile look in my home as a result of stenciling my fireplace tile.  

I think this stenciled tile fireplace makeover was a huge success!  Although I loved the look of my fireplace before, I am even more in love with it now.  The subtle character the stenciled tile adds brings it up a notch, in my opinion.

If you want to get the cement tile look for less or want to add some pattern to plain or ugly fireplace tile, I definitely recommend checking out Royal Design Studio’s tile stencil kits and giving your tile a makeover, too!  

And if you enjoyed this post and think you might give stenciled tile a try in your home, please make sure to pin this post for later!  

 

-Bre

Sometimes when I’m at a place like Home Depot or Lowe’s, I wander around and look at stuff that I have no need for (oftentimes because I have no idea what the things I’m looking at actually are).  Because of this, I can look at objects these places sell and think of ways to use them that aren’t their intended uses (like in my Pipe Strap Kitchen Art and Trim Corner Pumpkins).  Kind of a blessing and a curse, I think!  So it’s no surprise that when I spotted some pretty ceiling medallions at Home Depot, I immediately decided to turn one into into a ceiling medallion mirror.  It was a simple project that turned out really pretty!

Supplies Needed to Make a Ceiling Medallion Mirror

Some of the links included here are affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.  Also, thank you to DecoArt for providing the paint I used in this project!

• 10″ Ceiling Medallion (I purchased this one)
• Chalky Finish Paint in this color and this color
• Foam paint brush
• Super adhesive glue (I love this kind!)
• Round craft mirror
• Display Easel (for tabletop display) or 3M Command Strips (for hanging)

How to Make a Ceiling Medallion Mirror

If you’re going for a vintage or antique look, begin by painting your ceiling medallion with a dark color of chalky finish paint.  I used this color and painted the entire medallion.  

Once the paint dried, I lightly applied a top coat of chalky paint in this color.  I did not paint it on as thick as the darker base coat, because I wanted some of that gray paint to show through.  

Once the top coat of paint dried, I flipped the medallion over and put this glue all around the opening in the center of the medallion.  Then I gently pressed my craft mirror into place over the glue and I let the whole thing dry according to the directions on the glue.  

And that was it!  Super easy and quick, but very pretty nonetheless!  

Ceiling medallions come in many sizes, so you could make as large of a mirror as you want or need!  Before buying a medallion, however, I’d recommend that you make sure you can purchase a round craft mirror in the size of the medallion’s center opening.  

I plan to hang this little mirror up in my basement bathroom.  I think it will look perfect in there!

-Bre