Other Crafts: Super Easy Lego Table & Doll Bed

Other Crafts!  These two were super simple and a hit with the kids.  These are what I like to call Weekday Projects- I can do them on a weekday afternoon, start to finish with little to no direction.

LEGO TABLE

My friend Holly, who is quite crafty herself, mentioned the existence of such a thing a couple of weeks ago and how expensive they could be.  So I got home and Googled it and found she was totally right.  Outrageously expensive.  $250 outrageous.  But, I also discovered a bunch of DIY Lego tables that looked awesome.  Really awesome.  Most of them required power tools and a whole bunch of space once it was complete to store it and I wasn't up for either of those.  I needed easy and small.  So I took matters into my own hands and made this in less then 15 minutes. 

I know better then to move blocks during construction so this photo is candid. It's a big surface with a small footprint.

Not difficult in the least.  I used museum putty (to avoid both math and glue) to secure the Lego base plates to the top of a Target Ikea "Lack" knock-off table and my son was THRILLED.  Big Mommy points for me!  The museum putty is really stuck in case it strikes you as flimsy.  The plates don't lift or move at all and if I ever wanted to I could remove them.  My word of advice is one that only became obvious once I started piecing the plates together- they need a bit of space between them, ever so slight, so that legos will fit across the plates evenly and lock like they are supposed to lock.  The best way to get the distance right is to attach a block across them as a guide while you're puttying up the plates.  Since my table was white and I used white museum putty you can't really see it between them- if you had a different color table you could always use clear museum gel instead. Or really commit and use glue.

if you look close you can see the slight, very necessary gap between the plates.

Cost:  $39.11 (each of the base plates were $6.53 which is really a form of Danish terrorism, right?)

Verdict:  Legos are the most amazing quiet time toy ever.  Should have made this a year ago.


DOLL BED

Abby has been wanting one forever but I couldn't find one that was the right size or that wasn't made of plastic or plywood.  Even those I did find were way too expensive.  $78 for a doll bed and blanket, plus tax and shipping?  And I have to put it together? I kept putting off buying her one.  So when I saw this bright green solid wood Ikea doll bed for $10 I snatched it right up. 

It was violently green.  Brain searing green.  Radioactive frog green.  GREEN-GREEN.  Like greener then my startling green bathroom.

A bit of spray paint (Krylon this time, seems to work as well as the Rust-o-leum for a small project and is cheaper) makes it pink.  I'm still not doing great at the spray painting.  I did go back and fix this because it was just too drippy for me. 

not cute

much better.

I then used an extra flat sheet from my daughters' linens to make a doll duvet set to match her room.  I took foam I was going to make a dog bed with to make a mattress and covered it with white cotton as a "sheet".

Cost:  $10 for the bed, $4.99 for the spray paint, everything else I had on hand already.  Took me probably an hour to paint, sew and stuff everything.  If you are curious you can buy the doll bed at Ikea un-painted for $20, no mattress. 

Verdict:  Super fun!  My daughter loves that it matches her bedding and I love that it didn't cost me a fortune and isn't plasticky.

Linkys: