DIY Performance Trunk/ Road Case for American Girl and Other 18" Dolls #OrientalTrading

Disclaimer: I received items to complete this project. All opinions are my own.

My Snapper loves to sing, dance, twirl, and tumble. Every time she sees a picture of 2017 DOTY Gabriela, she wants her play sets. Well, I'm not willing to spend that yet. I always try to find a more inexpensive alternative or find a way to make it myself. That is exactly what I did to make this!

Snapper already has headphones, a microphone, laptop, mp3 player, tablet, and more for her Allie. All we are missing is the trunk and drums. I'm fairly certain I can make both of those. I headed to Oriental Trading to see what I could come up with. I gave it a shot and I hope you like what I came up with. Snapper and Allie sure do! 

DIY Performance Trunk/ Road Case

I started out with a plain white box. Actually, a bathroom faucet came in it. I covered it in black tape. I started with black duct tape, but didn't like the way it was shiny so I actually ended up using Gaffer's tape, which is what photographers use so that there is no shine or glare from the tape. I had some on hand for paranormal invetigations

I then used shiny silver duct tape to trim all the edges and corners- this mocks the metal trim on road cases. 

Now it is time for the fun details!

I added her name with foam sticky letters and velcro dots for a closure. 

For a mirror in the lid, I used a bulletin board star cut out with a mirror finish. 

 

For the tray inside, I folded a pretty square paper plate and used the black tape to hold its shape. i left the bottom the pretty sprinkles to leave a pop of color with it. Don't forget the tech, crown, and unicorn horn.

Of course, we added some Oriental Trading feather boas for good measure. What entertainer doesn't need a boa?

My favorite detail of this entire project is the handles on the sides of the case. I put a square of silver duct tape for the background. I then took the silver metallic (Metallic Christmas Chenille Stems) pipe cleaners and looped them through a straw. Doing this allows them to move, but still be attached. I then used another strip of silver duct tape to secure the straw to the background. 

This was definitely a fun project. Snapper and Allie enjoyed it as well. Oriental Trading is my favorite place to browse craft supplies for ideas and they really came through this time!