HUGE Custom Shelf for Mini Dolls

[ebeth1984]

I am so excited! My husband built me a shelf unit to hold my enormous collection of Mini's, their pets, and some Ponies/Horses that I want to display with them. Its my birthday present (even though my bday was Aug 9th) and its *exactly* what I wanted! We looked everywhere for something pre-made and bought several things that didn't end up working out...Matchbox Car displays, Silverware Drawer Inserts, and Junk Drawer Organizers. All of them were just meh...they worked for some dolls but not all, or had some shelves I couldn't use. We finally took all that stuff back and bought wood to construct the display of my dreams!

We finished gluing all the shelf dividers in last night and tonight I will glue in scrapbook paper backgrounds for every "area." I was going to wait to post until its all done but I'm too excited. The unit has 15 shelves that will hold 16 dolls and their pets per shelf...for a grand total of 240 Mini's! When I did the math last night, I looked at my husband, threw my arms in the air and said, "This means I get to BUY ALL THE DOLLS!" In his typical snarky way, he looked back at me and said lovingly, "You already have them all. Its a small army. They're planning to take over while we sleep." (For the record, I DON'T have them ALL. There's like 15 that I don't have. LOL)

I will post a pic of the shelf in its current state when I get home, and then I'll take one when all the paper backgrounds are glued in, and another when its mounted and loaded with all my girls. I am SO thrilled about this. Beyond thrilled. Can't wait to share with y'all!

[bananasmom]

Wow, sounds amazing!! Can't wait to see this!! #LalaloopsyDreamShelf

[ebeth1984]

#buyallthedolls for the #lalaloopsydreamshelf
LMBO!!!

[lalaloops79]

I'm excited to see the picture as well. It's been a struggle for me to decide on the best way to display my minis. My husband put up a display idea from pinterest for the large dolls. It's funny our husbands feel the same way about our collections. If he sees a shopping bag or box he says what dolls did you get now!?! Lol

[ebeth1984]

Here is the shelf - I just moved it inside and now I'm going to cut all the background papers

[bananasmom]

OMG, it's amazing!!!!! So excited to see it decorated with the backgrounds!!

[lalaloops79]

That's pretty awesome! What kind of materials did you guys use. My husband was turning that kind of a shelf into some major technical project,lol.

[ebeth1984]

The back is thin plywood - the sides are two pieces of $9 finish board from the trim section at Lowes (where all the baseboards are - this style was called lattice but it's just plain flat boards) and the shelves/dividers are really thin plywood. It's entirely glued together. No nails whatsoever. The edges are wood and the shelves/dividers I quickly coated with white before gluing in. I'm almost done with the backgrounds and then it will finally be time to put all my girls in place! I sorted them into ziploc bags WEEKS ago so I'm thrilled to get them outta there!

[ebeth1984]

Paper backgrounds are innnn!!!!

[lalaloops79]

Fantastic job! Thanks for the details. I didn't think I needed all the nails and screws my husband was trying to use.

[ebeth1984]

Mounted on the wall and loaded with all my Mini's...it was dark by the time I finished so I had no good light. I'll take another one tomorrow.

[ebeth1984]

Here's a better pic. I am so in love with my display!!!

[lalaloops79]

I showed my husband your shelf. He really liked it. My dilemma is pretty much all of my minis are in boxes.

[adisbuela]

WOW!!! I absolutely LOVE it!!

[ebeth1984]

Sept 10, 2016 11:55:41 GMT -5 lalaloops79 said:

I showed my husband your shelf. He really liked it. My dilemma is pretty much all of my minis are in boxes.

All you'd have to do then is just extend the height to accommodate the boxes! I have two shelves that are taller than the rest to accommodate my dolls that stand (i.e. Mermaids, wacky hatter, etc.) Depending on the size of your collection, you may need two units, but it would totally work for boxed dolls. My unit is 28" wide and has 15 shelves - 13 are 13" high and 2 are 4" high. You could easily modify this to meet your needs, and with boxed dolls, it would actually be easier! Lay them out on the floor in an arrangement that you like and start measuring around them. I did that but it was tough with the dolls out of the boxes. Good luck! I would love to see what you make if you make a shelf!

[bananasmom]

Wow!!! This turned out sew adorable!! Lala-love it!!

[holly]

This is great! Well done! =)