Have you met our friend Juliette Rabbit? Juliette is quite a thoughtful bunny – she likes to gather pine needles from the trees next to her house, and make little pine needle sachet pillows to share with her friends so their laundry can smell fresh and good. Owing to her artistic nature, Juliette also has a finely honed aesthetic sensibility and an appreciation for the eccentric. She can oftentimes be found sitting quietly beside the pond and studying the pond life for inspiration in her china painting. Of course, when Phoebe Fawn skips up and asks if she is game for a round of Frog Ball, Juliette will happily hop to her feet and be just as loud and silly as her other animal friends.
One afternoon not long ago, Juliette returned to her cottage from a productive day of pond-gazing. She looked around her front room – which was relatively tidy aside from her china-painting supplies – and said to herself, “I would like to have a comfy daybed to put under my window. I believe that is just what this space needs.” Juliette pondered how her daybed should look, and decided on a white frame with a wildflower-printed cushion in cool tones. Serene!
This blog post will teach you how to make a comfy daybed for your Hazel Village friends out of a cardboard box. We created a pattern that you can use, which is designed for the dimensions of a Hazel Village one-doll box – that is, the box in which we will pack up your order if you purchase a single doll or animal (and maybe some doll clothing to dress them up in). Our shipping boxes are 100% recycled and recyclable, so their environmental impact is already low, but repurposing your box as a delightful item of dolly furniture is a wonderful way to practice sustainability. If you would like to try this craft but you don’t have a one-doll box handy, you can still use our pattern as inspiration to create your own daybed out of any shoebox.
A Hazel Village 1-doll shipping box or a similar-size shoebox
Craft glue
Mod Podge
Paint
Scissors
A paintbrush
A pencil
A ruler
Fabric
Stuffing
Needle & thread
Embroidery floss (optional)
Part One: Making the Bed
First things first, open up your package and greet your new Hazel Village friend. Once they are settled in and ready to help you craft, you can get started by peeling the shipping label and packing tape off the box. Don't forget that our custom-printed paper packing tape is recyclable!
Disassemble the box and lay it out flat. The side panels are held in place with a tab that notches into the bottom of the box – if you have any difficulty taking it apart, place the box on your table and press down on the inside bottom near each end to help pop the side tabs free. Print out your Daybed Pattern and cut out each piece.
Next, cut off the top and sides of the box as shown in the photo below. (Make sure NOT to cut off the 4 cardboard tabs that are on either side of the front and back panels.)
Set aside the pieces you cut off and flip the box so that it is facedown. Tape your pattern pieces in place, then trace around the top edges with your pencil.
Now it's time to cut out the shape of your daybed. Depending on how old you are, you may want to ask an adult to help you with this part. (On the opposite end, if you are an experienced crafter and you happen to have an X-Acto knife, you can use that to cut precise lines.)
Cutting curves into cardboard can be a little bit tricky because cardboard is stronger than paper, so it will squeeze your scissors and make it harder to turn them at an angle while you cut. Fortunately, we have a handy tip to share with you that will make it easier.
Before you cut along the pattern line, snip slits or triangle shapes from the edge of the box up to the pencil mark. This will help decrease the tension of the cardboard on your scissors and make it easier to cut along the curve.
You may also find it easier to cut along the line in many small snips rather than one long snip. Just work at your own pace, and don't worry about trying to make it perfect. If you find yourself becoming frustrated with this step, know that you can adjust our pattern however you would like. For example, you could opt for a more angular design to simplify things. Juliette Rabbit says that rectangles are one of her favorite shapes – very wise.
When you have cut out all four sides of your daybed, fold it back up so that you can glue it together. Check to make sure that the tips of each corner line up neatly, and trim them to match if need be. You will also need to trim down the inside tabs of the box so that they are hidden.
Glue the inside tabs to each side to assemble your daybed. You will need to hold them in place for a few minutes while the glue sets. During this time you can sing a little ditty: Juliette recommends "Froggy's Shanty" from her friend Phoebe's book of Firefly Ball Songs. Once the glue was starting to set, we used some masking tape to hold the box together while it dried.
Next, use the extra cardboard that you had set aside to trace the LEG pattern piece four times. Make sure to mark the placement of each fold line and use your ruler to re-draw them onto the cardboard.
Cut out each leg and fold along the lines. Here is our best tip for folding cardboard neatly: place the edge of your ruler on top of the fold line and press down, then lift the cardboard edge. This will make a very tidy fold!
Place your ruler flat on top of the folded cardboard and press down. This will help make the fold more tight so it won't unbend.
When you have cut out and folded each leg, glue them in place on the bottom corners of your box. Tape the glued legs temporarily in place.
This is a good time to take a break while you wait for your daybed to dry. Juliette recommends fixing a tasty snack, such as a slice of buttered toast with juneberry jelly.
Once the glue has dried and you have removed any tape, it's time to paint over your daybed with a layer of Mod Podge. This will fill up the gaps along the edges of the cardboard to create a more nicely finished edge. It will also help to give the whole box a uniform surface texture before you paint it. We added a second layer of Mod Podge just along the edges and on the side seams. If you don't have Mod Podge you could use some lightly watered down craft glue, or just skip this step and go straight to painting.
When the Mod Podge has dried, your daybed is ready for paint! We recommend thinking about what colors your woodland friend would enjoy. For example, Phoebe Fawn's favorite color is purple.
Part Two: Making the Cushion
No daybed would be complete without a comfy cushion upon which to lounge! Cut out the pattern along the solid lines, then trace its shape onto fabric and cut 2 pieces.
Using your ruler and a pencil, chalk, or embroidery marker, refer to the dashed lines of the pattern and copy them onto your fabric. These guidelines will help you keep your stitches straight and your seam allowance even. (Seam allowance is the space between the stitches and the fabric edge.)
Place the two fabric pieces on top of each other with right sides together. This means the sides of the fabric that you want to face outward on the finished cushion should be facing inward.
Use a backstitch to sew the fabric together along 3 sides. If you don't know the backstitch, here's a quick video tutorial to learn! (You could also quickly sew these seams with a sewing machine if you have one.)
When you come to the last side, sew either end but leave a gap of an inch or two in the middle. You will use this gap to turn the cushion inside out (but not quite yet!)
Because of the square cutouts, the four corners of your cushion will be left open. Pull the fabric sides apart at the corners and pinch the opening closed, then stitch along the edge to close it off. This may be a little confusing, but we hope the video below will help.
Repeat this on all four corners. Your cushion should now look something like an empty pillowcase.
Turn the cushion inside out and fill it with stuffing, then sew the opening closed using a ladder stitch. Learn the ladder stitch here!
Now it is time to add the tufts, which will elevate this cushion to hitherto unseen levels of splendiferous comfort. Use a pencil to poke through each hole marked on your cushion pattern. Then place the pattern on top of the cushion and mark the location of each hole. The embroidery pen we used will disappear with water – if you are using a regular pen or pencil, make sure to only mark a small dot so that you can hide it with a stitch.
We used embroidery floss to sew the tufts, but you can also just use regular sewing thread. On each spot you marked, sew directly through the cushion from bottom to top and back down.
Pull the thread tight on the bottom side of the cushion, then tie a knot. This creates the tufted texture.
Once all the tufts are sewn, you are done!
Did you make this craft at home? Send us a photo or tag us on social media @hazelvillage! Questions? Email us at hello@hazelvillage.com.
