I absolutely love working on kid rooms, big and small, because I feel like these spaces allow for so much whimsy and creativity. One of my very favorite themes is fairy tales; in fact, I love it so much that that was how I decorated my oldest daughter's nursery. I thought it would be fun to create a fairy tale travel dollhouse and one of the things I included was a crown canopy.
I think a canopy is a great way to add a fun detail to a bed or chair. I even used one in Lucy's big girl room makeover, and I kept the crown canopy when the room became Baylor's nursery. Creating a canopy for a dollhouse is super simple and only requires a couple materials.
Materials:
-mini embroidery hoop
-gauzy fabric
-gold glitter paper
Tools:
-small hand saw
-fabric scissors
-super glue
You can find mini embroidery hoops in the sewing section of Hobby Lobby. Start by using a small hand saw to cut off the piece sticking out that has the screw.
Cut the hoop in half with your hand saw (one side is already cut for you); you can make two canopies out of one hoop.
I forgot to take a picture of the next step, but it's super easy. Turn your gold glitter paper over, and draw a crown shape. You can free hand it or print out a crown shape to create a stencil, which is what I did. Just make sure the crown is as long as the length of your hoop half.
Add some glue to the outside of the hoop.
Wrap your paper around the hoop half, making sure it goes to the edges and lines up at the bottom. I used craft glue here instead of super glue to give myself time to reposition if needed. Craft glue takes longer to dry than super glue so I just used a clamp to gently hold the paper on until the glue dried.
While your glue dries, you can get the fabric ready. I use a sheer gauzy fabric for this, and you won't need much (check the remnant section first to see if you can find any scraps). Hold up the fabric where you plan to hang the canopy to figure out the length. I like to make the canopy long enough that it trails on the floor a bit.
Use fabric scissors to cut the fabric to size. I don't sew so mine has slight fraying on the cut edges, but it's really not too bad with a gauzy fabric.
I like to fold the fabric so it meets in the middle. By doing that, I can drape the fabric around the headboard.
Once the glue securing the crown to the hoop is dry, add a line of super glue to the inner side of the hoop.
This is the worst part, in my opinion. Gently place the fabric in the hoop. Be careful that the super glue does not soak through the fabric to make your fingers stick (I've done this many times). Although I hate using super glue here because it doesn't give me any time to reposition the fabric and my fingers often get stuck, I find the craft glue takes too long to dry and doesn't bond as well to a gauzy fabric.
Once the glue has set (this doesn't take long at all, you're ready to mount the canopy in the dollhouse. Apply a drop of super glue to each end of the hoop.
Carefully position your canopy where you want it to go (remember that you don't have reposition time with super glue so you have to get it right the first time). Gently press the canopy into place and hold for a few seconds until the super glue dries.
Sometimes, I feel like the canopy is too long once I have it in place. If that's the case, it's easy enough to pull out the fabric scissors and trim off the excess.
How darling is this sweet canopy? It adds so much character to an otherwise boring bed.
Here's a canopy I created for a child's bedroom in The Olivia Dollhouse. I just used the plain hoop without the crown and mounted the whole hoop to the roof with the white gauzy fabric glue along the entire so it would wrap around the bed.
Here's a canopy I created for the bathroom of The Lucy Dollhouse. Rather than using a mini embroidery hoop, I used a thin metal bangle and draped the fabric over the bangle and secured the canopy with floral wire and a small eyelet screw. I just love seeing this canopy wrapped around the gold clawfoot bathtub.
Here's another crown canopy I made for a set of nesting houses that was given as a baby shower gift. I love the canopy behind the cradle.
I would love to see if you try this tutorial, especially if you do a slightly different version. It's always fun to get new ideas. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @mini.adventures.co.