Doll Size Guitar (Dollar Tree Makeover)

 

Watch the video here.

I got a lot of really positive feedback on the last Dollar Tree makeover I did on this channel so I when I noticed these guitars at the store I decided to see what I can do with them.

My Dollar Tree had these over on the aisle with the card games and such. They had the style I got and also some other styles. They also had this shape in a couple of different colors. I chose this one because it reminded me more of just a classic guitar.

As far as size these are really good for our 18” dolls. The big thing that bothers me is that they only have 4 strings instead of 6. I did play around with another one off camera to try to figure out a way to add 2 more strings but so far I haven’t come up with an easy way to do that. So for now the dolls will just have 4 strings on their guitar.

Today we are going to focus on adding a strap to the guitar. To do that I decided to add a “button” to the body of the guitar for the strap to attach to. For this I first looked through my jewelry supplies and didn’t find anything. Then I decided to dig through my tool box. 

 

 

In there I found a package of mending plates that came with some screws. I looked online and found out they are called flat head screws. The ones in this package are fairly short (about ¾” long) and not too fat. I found a drill bit that was just a bit thinner also.

 

Then I marked the center of the end of the guitar and used the drill bit to just start a hole then carefully screwed the screw into the guitar just leaving the slopped part out. This way I have a “button” to hook the strap to.

 

Now that we have a way to hold the strap to the guitar we can start making the strap. I am going to start by creating the loop to go over the button we just added to the guitar. To do that cut a piece of embroidery thread a few inches long. Then add a small bead to the thread.

 

Now fold the thread in half, add some glue to the make the ends stay together into a stiff point (once dry you can even trim the hardened end to a better point) then slip the bead onto the ends to form a shape like this.

 

I know that looking at black on black makes it really hard to see the details so I made the same loop with light colored beads so you can better visualize what I am doing.

By moving the second bead up and down you can snug the loop to the button to help keep it in place.

To create the other end of the strap cut another piece of the embroidery thread a few inches long (probably about 4” or 5”) then fold it in half and tie a knot near the fold. This will help it to stay in place when we glue it by giving it a bit more surface area to catch the glue.

Now cut a piece of the ribbon 14 ½” long (my ribbon is 5/8” wide) then glue the two pieces we just created from the embroidery thread to each end. Be sure to have them glued to the same side of the ribbon. Let the glue dry.

 

 

Once dry add some more glue and fold the corners of the ribbon up to make a point covering the ends of the embroidery floss parts. Then use some small clamps to hold this in place until the glue dries.

 

Once the glue dries simply slip the loop over the button on the end of the guitar and snug the sliding bead up close to help it stay in place. I did make the loop on mine a bit on the small side so I do recommend you make a slightly larger loop when you make yours.

Then slip one of the ends of the floss on the other end of the strap under the strings up by the adjustment knobs and tie it in place.

 

And I think the dolls are going to have a lot of fun playing guitar. I love this one and I am so happy I noticed the guitars hanging the store.

I’m thinking about working on a guitar case for the dolls to too. Let me know if you would be interested in that also.

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.