DIY: Mini Melody's Bed

Beforever Character Melody Ellison represents a time of great change in American history when African Americans united together for equal rights. So, in honor of black history month (last month), I'm going to show you how I made Melody's bed for a mini American girl doll.

Follow the instructions in this You Tube video to make Melody's bed from the 1960s.  The directions are also printed below in this blog.

Comment and subscribe to enter a GIVEAWAY to win a Mini Melody Ellison doll!   After viewing this video, subscribe to this channel and leave a comment saying which mini bed craft tutorial you'd like to see me do next, and which one you'd most like to try crafting for yourself! From those who subscribe and comment, a winner will be chosen to receive a Mini Melody Ellison doll!  (Note:  in order for me to see you've subscribed, your list of subscriptions must be set to public, not kept private, on your you tube account privacy settings).

How to Make American Girl Melody Ellison's bed from the 1960s. 

I begin by making the base using stacked pieces of cardboard or paperboard, wrapped in brown scrapbook paper that measure 8 inches by 4.5 inches for the platform, and 1 inch by 4.5 inches for the legs.

Then I begin to make the headboard of her bed. Cut, stack, and glue together pieces of paperboard to form the lower portion of the headboard so that it measures 2.5 inches tall when stacked onto the base of the bed.

Then, form the sides of the headboard in the same way. They should measure 4.75 inches tall by 1.5 inches wide. Form the back of the headboard in the same way and it should measure 2.5 inches tall by 4.5 inches wide, and it should be glued in between the two side pieces.

Now, form a lid to be the shelf on her headboard.

Cover a piece of paperboard with scrapbook paper to be the back of the headboard. This should measure 4.75 inches tall by 4.5 inches wide.

Now, form the top of the headboard by cutting a piece of paperboard and bending down about ¼ inch of one side. Cover with paper and glue onto the top.

Now, cut two pieces of paperboard for the sliding doors that measure 1 ¼ inches by 1 ¾ inches. Cover them with paper.

You may want to cover another piece of paperboard with scrapbook paper and glue them on the front and sides, just to clean up the look a little bit.

Then, cut, stack, and glue strips of paperboard, scrapbook paper, or cardstock that measure 1/8 of in inch wide and 4 1/8 inches long scrapbook paper, or cardstock to glue inside at the bottom and top of the headboard shelf. Leave a little space so that the doors can slide back and forth along the track this creates. I used the same scrapbook paper that I used to cover the rest of the bed pieces because it was thick like cardstock.

Now, fit the doors into place in the track created by the stacks of 1/8 wide paper, and glue on the top of the headboard.

Glue on beads to be the door pulls, and your bed is complete! Now you can make a mattress, pillow, and blanket! Check out my tutorial for crocheting Mini Melody's blanket!

Overall, I like how the bed turned out, but if I were to do it again, I think I would build it out of stacked paperboard, and paint it instead of covering it with paper. I think the paper covered method ended up looking sloppier than my projects where I painted the paperboard, such as Caroline's bed and the bouquet bed.