Dressing Up for the Kiddos

After an unplanned, but much needed blogging break, I am back. I enjoyed this time just hanging out and playing with Halle. We did a lot of exploring and creating and I really needed to give myself that time away from the computer. I literally was not turning it on until after B and Halle went to bed and I was loving it... but did miss blogging.

Today I have a project completed by a friend of mine. She was inspired after seeing the dress up closet that Jen, of Rambling Renovators, created for her little girl. My friend sent along a great little tutorial and all of her photos, here's what she has to share...

My goal for this project was to  build a small dress up closet for my daughter's 3rd birthday, for $50 or less. Sure, I could have easily spent $75, $100, or possibly more - the options for products and ideas are endless, but let's be realistic: she's 3, and even though Princess is her favourite dress up costume right now, she's not likely to be as gentle as Snow White might be.

Step 1: So first I had to find a shelf. I would have preferred a dresser (there are some really beautiful one's on Pinterest made from dressers), but I really wanted this gift to be on a budget. So, off to Kijiji I went and found 2 of these small Billy Bookcases from Ikea for $5. YESSSSS!

Step 2: I started by removing one of the shelves, and I threw it into the second bookcase (that one's in the playroom holding all the new Christmas toys), and this is what I was left with...

Step 3A: Now, how to decorate it? This was a hard one for me. I didn't want it too "cute-sy" and I didn't want it too "princess-y" or too pink (though you'll see pink in it, it is her favourite colour, so it's hard not to have it). I wasn't really prepared to wallpaper the inside either (which would probably be most durable). I opted for plain white mactack (sticky shelf liner) from Canadian Tire for $5.99

Step 3B: Then, off I went to the Dollar Store. At Dollarama, I found these great wall decals/stickers that are removable too. This was great, because I kept moving them around. I don't even like birds, but I thought that these were pretty. Each sheet was $2, not too shabby. They didn't exactly match, but the colours did and they weren't all going to be side by side anyway.

Step 4: After cleaning the remaining shelf and reinforcing the backing, I put the white shelf liner on the back face of the shelf (the backing is only a cardboard, so it didn't look very nice. This gave it a much cleaner look). Next, my husband helped me install the closet rod that I bought at Canadian Tire for $9.99.

Step 5: Time for Decorating! Now that the inside was all cleaned up and the rod was in, it was time to put up my stickers.

Step 6: Storage! My daughter likes to accessorize when dressing up. Not so much in real like, but during dress up - watch out! Every crown, necklace, hat, is adorned. So, I needed some storage. I picked up these cute white plastic baskets from Dollarama for $2 each to put on the top shelf, and added some of my stickers to them. Then, I accessorized a canvas basket I had laying around (okay, I reorganized some things so that I could use it for this project!) by hot gluing some ribbon and a DIY felt flower around it (from my stash, so no cost there).

Step 7: The outside walls of the closet took some extra thought. I wanted them to have some useful storage, such as hooks to hang necklaces, hats and such. I couldn't decide on the best hook to use, so after some deliberation, I decided on some white plastic cabinet knobs from Rona fro $0.99 each (plastic in a playroom is always good too! Hubby gave me a refresher course on how to use the drill so I could install them). I then used the other wall stickers on the outside of the bookcase as well. Oh, and what dress up closet would be complete without a mirror!? (Hubby said "no!" because of glass, but I was determined to find one that would be suitable). This one is completely plastic, including the mirror itself, and only $1.50 from Dollarama. I used hot glue to attach some satin ribbon and felt backing (from my own stash).

So, here is the final product - my little monkey's dress up closet! It's nothing fancy, but I think it's pretty and I'm happy with how it turned out. 

Here's the cost break down...

Bookcase from Kijiji - $5

2 Small Baskets - $4

Wall Stickers - $4

Mirror - $1.50

Plastic Knobs - $0.99 x 4

Shelf Liner - $5.99

Closet Rod - $9.99

Grand Total: $34.44 + taxes

Buget & Goal Accomplished!

I want to say a big THANK YOU to my friend for sending along her project! I think this little closet looks so great, and I am positive that her little one must love it!

Have you been working on any projects for a little person in your life recently?