Turn a Cardboard Box Into a Doll Clothes Closet

Supplies: 

Cardboard box with flap(s) 

Dowels, pipe cleaners, or coffee stirrers 

Cloth or decorative paper 

Glue 

Tiny boxes (optional) 

Push pins (optional)

What is a little girl supposed to do with her doll's clothes and accessories? Shove them into a box? In a paper sack? Hmm, let's go with the box. But don't have the clothes and things just stuffed in there; turn the box into a nice doll closet. A cardboard box makes a handy doll closet that will hold hanging clothes, fashion accessories, and so much more.

The ideal box for making a doll closet is one that has a single flap, or double flaps, which meet in the middle. The flap(s) act as the door(s) to the closet. A cardboard box isn't that attractive as a closet so it's nice to paint it, cover it with cloth, or even do rubber stamps to decorate it.

Inside the doll closet, you can create rods to hang small clothes, tiny bins to hold folded belongings, and shelves to hold shoes and other accessories. Design the inside of the closet as you want it to be. Start out by lining the inside of the box - and the flaps - to make the box look more like a closet. Just glue cloth or decorative paper on the inside of the box, the floor, the ceiling, and all.

You can make dowels for the closet in several different ways. Poke holes on the sides of the closet and use pipe cleaners as the dowels. Twist the ends of the pipe cleaners and push them against the sides of the closet to secure. Another choice is to use small-diameter dowels to hold the clothes. Even something like coffee stirrers can become dowels for a doll's closet. Just glue them across the width of the closet.

If you hang one or two dowels at the top of the closet you still have room for small bins and drawers. It's really easy to make a drawer set when tiny boxes make the drawers. Shelves can be small boxes with their bottoms glued against the back of the closet. Bins can be boxes without lids - or with their lids.

For jewelry and such, push pins on the inside of the door(s) can hold them in place. With little boxes, push pins, and small dowels, you can make a nice doll closet for your little girl's playtime. She'll never know that you didn't purchase it - unless you want her to know. The closet is actually quite impressive when you take the time to do a really nice job with it.