Crafts for Kids: Oatmeal Box Doll Cradle

If you have little girl, chances are you have baby dolls scattered about. Why not give those dolls a nice cradle to lay in! You can make beautiful baby doll cradles out of oatmeal boxes. The roundness of the canister lets your little girl rock her babies to sleep!

To make this baby doll cradle, you will need a large size empty oatmeal box and a good pair of scissors or a craft knife. You will also need craft supplies to decorate the cradle.

Mom or dad will need to cut the oatmeal box. Use this image as a guide for how to cut. It's best to draw your cutting line first. You can make the cleanest cut with a craft knife, but be careful. If you don't have a knife, use a good pair of sharp scissors.

After the box is cut, it's time to decorate the cradle. You can make the decorating as simple or as elaborate as you want. The cradle can be painted or you can cover it with paper or fabric. Then you can decorate the cradle with ribbons, bows, buttons, lace or whatever craft supplies you have on hand. You can also paint decorations directly on the cradle. You can see an image of a decorated cradle here.

When the cradle is finished, you will need some blankets and a pillow for your doll. A hand towel makes an nice blanket. And you can use a matching washcloth for the pillow. Just fold the washcloth in thirds and fill the center with cotton balls. Then tie off the ends of the pillow with ribbon to hold it closed.

You can use this same method to make a smaller cradle using a small oatmeal box. If you want a very small cradle, you can use a salt box. Miniature cradles can be made using empty toilet paper rolls. All you have to do is cut the tube to size then cover each end with paper, then cut the cradle shape.

Making cradles is a fun activity to do at any child's party, especially a slumber party or tea party for little girls. Just make sure you have all the cradles cut ahead of time, then just set out the craft supplies and let the the party guests decorate! Let them take home their cradle as a nice party favor gift.

Source for the image links: www.enchantedlearning.com