I don’t have a lot of know-how in building doll furniture so I put together this simple wall shelf for Courtney’s bedroom with a few pieces of craft wood, stain and Loctite to hold it all together. I wouldn’t recommend putting anything heavy on it but for delicate doll decor, it has worked out really great!
What you will need:
- 5″x7″ craft wood plaque for the base
- Assorted craft wood for the walls and shelf (1/8″ to 1/4″ in thickness)
- Shaker Pegs (7/32″ (1/2″x1″)) for the shelf hooks
- Wood stain (I used Minwax in Puritan Pine)
- Superglue (Loctite)
- Paint (optional for painting a design)
- Hand saw (for cutting the wood pieces)
- Sandpaper
- Hanging hardware
All cutting with the saw should be done with adult supervision. The wood plaque I purchased came from Hobby Lobby in the craft wood section. It is flat on one side and tapers in on the other. The flat side is the back of the shelf and the tapered side is the front. In the bag of assorted craft wood that I purchased, I had thin pieces that were about an 1″ wide. I wanted the walls to come out further so I had to put two together to get the desired width of the walls. If you have a stock of scrap wood, I’m always a fan of using what you have around. So to begin, I marked 4 pieces 6 5/16″ long which is the height of the inside of the tapered part of the plaque. To get the length of the shelves, place the long pieces along the tapered edges of the plaque and measure in between them. Mark 4 pieces that length. Mine measured 3 27/32″.
I used a manual hand saw to cut the pieces.
With the Loctite, I started by gluing the walls first. Be very careful with the glue and apply a very light layer directly along the edge that you want to glue. Wood stain will not adhere properly where the glue is. Hold in place for 20-30 seconds until the piece is set.
Next, mark where you want your shelves to go. Whether you want them to be even or if you want a taller and a shorter shelf. I placed 2 shelves evenly with room at the bottom for the pegs.
Since I wanted the shelves and walls to come out further, I had to build up another layer by gluing the remaining pieces on top of the pieces already in place.
Glue the shelf pieces on and if needed, you can take a little sandpaper and knock off any rough edges. Glue the pegs in place. You can also drill out a spot and set them in, but the glue worked just fine as well.
Now that the shelf is assembled, stain it. Once the stain was dry, I painted a heart at the top with the same mint color that I painted the dollhouse room in to give the appearance that the heart is cut out of the wood.
I actually had a shelf just like this growing up. Once all the stain and paint is dry, you will need to figure how you will hang the shelf. My dollhouse room is wood so I glued a small picture hanging hardware piece to the back and hammered a nail in to the wall of the dollhouse room.
Once your shelf is in place, decorate it!
