Craft a Miniature Ironing Board And Iron

This table top ironing board and miniature iron are handmade especially for our
 12 inch dolls.

       I chose to make the type of ironing board you can put on top of a table in order to save space inside of my doll's utility room. The ironing board fits perfectly inside the utility room cupboard. 

       Chose a fun looking felt for your ironing board cover! Our ironing board is covered with a hot pink, bright yellow and white floral print.

Supply List:

• scraps of felt, the top layer should be attractive
• cardboard
• white school glue
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• three beads of equal size

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First cut out the shape you would like your doll's ironing board to be from a thick piece of cardboard.
2. Now lay the cardboard cut out on top of thick felt and trace around the shape with a soft lead pencil. Cut the felt shape out. Both the cardboard pattern and the thick felt should be the same size and shape. Glue one of them on top of the other using white school glue.
3. Now position the ironing board shape with the cardboard facing up on top of the decorative felt fabric that will be the finished top surface of your ironing board. The decorative felt needs to be turned with it's best side against the surface you are working on. Cut this felt leaving approximately 1/4" excess around the entire ironing board shape. Clip the edges if needed.
4. Now use a hot glue gun to paste the decorative fabric around the edges of your cardboard cut-out. This process may be a bit messy, but it will get covered up in step 5.
5. Cut a piece of felt to match the size of your doll's ironing board and glue this to the it's backside. Trim the edges if you need to and then hot glue the tree beads to the three corners of your ironing board to act as legs.
6. Turn over the ironing board to reveal it's decorative, finished surface.
   

       Now that your ironing board is finished you can make a tiny iron that your doll can use with it. Below is a list of supplies and step-by-step directions to describe this process. 

Supply List for The Iron:

• Sculpey oven bake clay
• acrylic paints
• tiny brushes
• cotton twine for the iron's electrical cord
• one tiny metallic bead 
• aluminum foil tap
• a toothpick for shaping the clay

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Sculpt the basic shapes photographed below. 
2. Set your oven at 270 degrees
3. Assemble the shapes and use a wooden toothpick to smooth away unwanted bumps and tears in the clay.
4. Prick the bottom of the iron to create steam holes.
5. Use the toothpick to prick a hole for the cord to be glued into the iron at it's base.
6. Bake the finished clay iron for approximately ten minutes in a 270 degree oven. Turn the oven off and allow it to cool along with your clay creation before removing it from the oven. This will help the clay to cure tougher. 
7. I positioned the iron on top of aluminum foil tape and then trimmed around the edge of the iron base leaving a slight amount of tape to fold over the edges of my miniature iron.
8. Then I pressed the foil tape firmly on the bottom of the iron to reveal the steam hole patterns on the bottom of the tiny appliance.
9. Then I painted the iron's buttons and sides using purple and blue acrylic paints.
10. Cut a length of cotton twine for the iron's cord. 
11. Tuck the twin along with some glue into the hole created for the cord.
12. You can knot it at the end with a small silver bead if you like.

Left, Assemble the shapes and use a wooden toothpick to smooth away unwanted bumps and tears in the clay.
 Center, Use the toothpick to prick a hole for the cord to be glued into the iron at it's base.  Center Right, I
pressed the foil tape firmly on the bottom of the iron to reveal the steam hole patterns on the bottom of the
 tiny appliance. Right, Then I painted the iron's buttons and sides using purple and blue acrylic paints.