DIY Lea’s Rainforest House

The DIY Rainforest Dollhouse is finally done! Whew! Seriously, whew. I will be honest, this is the second one we made because the first wasn’t a good enough match.  As with all of our American Girl replicas, we like to keep them as close to the original as possible. We love seeing your tweaks, but we want to provide clean plans that give you the same measurements as American Girl. There was one thing I really didn’t like in the AG hut, and that was the window. So that was one thing we did nix. We weren’t a fan of it, but if you really want a window scene, I suggest using a picture frame and just hang it in to place. Also, you might notice one thing missing. The table and chair. Not to fear, that’s is coming soon.  Please read the entire post, watch the video and feel free to ask questions if I forgot to mention something!

**Update**

A lot of people have asked about the birds from the AG Hut and Fruit Stand.  There are some awesome birds that are a close match on Amazon. They don’t have the clutched claw, so they can’t stand on the bamboo, but they are still very close.

Toucan

Macaw

Parrot

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Printables:

Lea’s Hut Floor Printables x 6 if using standard 8.5″x11″ paper

Shower Wall Bottom

Shower Wall Top

Cut List:

House:

• 1 – 1/2’’ MDF @ 22 1/2’’ x 17’’ – Rainforest House Floor – Follow Diagram for Floor Holes
• 2 – 1/2’’ MDF @ 25 1/2’’ x 8 ‘’ – Rainforest House Side Walls
• 1 – 1/2’’ MDF @ 25 1/2’’ x 22 1/2’’ – Rainforest House Back Wall – Follow Diagram for Back Wall Holes
• 2 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 2 1/2’’ x 1 3/4’’ – Front Leg Supports
• 4 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 3 3/4’’ x 1 1/2’’ – Back Legs – I put 2 together to get the correct dimensions.
• 2 – 1’’ Dowels @ 29 3/4’’ – Front Legs
• 1 – 3/4’’ Dowel @ 19 3/4’’ – Upper Middle Support
• 2 – 3/4’’ Dowels @ 15 1/2’’ – Upper Side Supports
• 1 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 1’’ x 3/4’’ – Upper Back Roof Support Holder – Follow Diagram for more detail
• 1 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 3 3/8’’ – Upper Front Roof Support
• 1 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 2 3/4’’ – Upper Back Roof Support
• 1 – 3/4’’ Dowel @ 16 5/8’’ – Top Roof Support
• 4 – 1/4’’ MDF @ 6 3/4’’ x 3/4’’ – Bed Supports
• 2 – 1/4’’ MDF @ 6 1/8’’ x 1 3/4’’ – Rainforest Wall Shelves – Follow Diagram for exact measurements
• 2 – 1/2’’ MDF @ 4’’ x 1/2’’ – Rainforest Wall Shelf Support
• 4 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 3 5/8’’ – Top and Bottom of Railing
• 4 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 7 3/4’’ – Middle Railing

Bed:

• 1 – 1/4’’ MDF @ 20 5/8’’ x 6 3/8’’ – Mattress Support
• 5 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 21 3/8’’ – Side Bed Support & Large Bed Rail Supports
• 5 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 1’’ – Small Bed Rail Support – See Diagram for more detail
• 2 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 6 3/8’’ – Top & Bottom Bed Rails

Folding Roof:

• 1 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 21’’ x 2’’ – Center Roof Beam – each side needs to be cut 16° off square
• 2 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 21’’ x 3/4’’ – Sides of Center Roof Beam
• 2 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 19 7/16’’ x 3/4’’ – Middle Roof Arm Support
• 2 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 18 7/8’’ x 3/4’’ – Outer Roof Arm Support
• 2 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 13 1/2’’ – Front Roof Angled Dowels
• 4 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 13 3/8’’ – Back Roof Dowels

Outdoor Shower:

• 1 – 1/4’’ MDF @ 14 3/4’’ x 7’’

Curtain Rods:

• 2 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 1’’ – Dowel goes into Front leg 1/2’’
• 2 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 9’’

Shopping List:

• 1 – 1/4’’ MDF @ 2’ x 2’
• 1 – 1/2’’ MDF @ 4’ x 8’
• 1 – 3/4’’ MDF @ 2’ x 2’
• 1 – 1’’ Dowel @ 5’
• 1 – 3/4” Dowel @ 6′
• 6 – 3/8’’ Dowel @ 4′
• 2 – Piano Hinges

Step 1:

Attach the rainforest walls to the rainforest floor.

Step 2:

Attach the front leg supports. At this point there is not a hole yet.

Step 3:

Drill the hole through the floor and front leg supports. The 7/8” is from the left side of the house.

Step 4:

Drill the holes in the top back wall.

Step 5:

Add the back legs.

Step 6:

First drill the small holes for the front rails. Then add the front legs (dowels) and nail them into place through the supports.

Step 7:

Add the upper middle support (dowel) and upper side supports. Be sure to nail and glue the upper side supports into place through the top of the back wall and top of the side wall.

Step 8:

This is the Upper Back Roof Support Holder:) I used a 3/8” drill bit for the hole.

Step 9:

Attach the front and back roof support and then the top roof support. See diagram below.

Step 10:

Attach the bed supports.

Step 11:

Follow the diagram below to create the “leaf” shelf.

Step 12:

Add the shelf support to the leaf shelf.

Step 13:

Attach the shelves to the inside wall of the rainforest house.

Step 14:

Piece the railing together and then attach it into place. Glue and pin it.

Step 15:

Add the dowels to the mattress support. (bed)

Step 16:

Take the large bed rail support and nail into the small bed rail supports.

Step 17:

Flip the bed rail supports over and nail the large bed rail support into the side of the bed frame you made in step 15.

Step 18:

Add the top of the bed rail support. See diagram for reference.

Step 19:

Start by cutting each side of the center roof beam at 16 degrees off square. Next, dado the center of the roof beam as shown below. It needs to fit on to the roof support. Lastly, attach the hinges as shown below.

Step 20:

Drill the holes 1/4″ deep as shown in the diagram below. The first hole is at a slight angle and the last two are straight.

Step 21 A:

Repeat step 20 for the middle roof arm supports and the outer roof arm supports, only drill all the way through instead of just 1/4″ deep.

Step 21 B:

Insert your dowels into place, glue and pin.

Curtain Rods:

Shower:

Attach the shower board to the outside of the house. Before I put it on I painted the edges a teal to match the tile printable. I didn’t want to have to tape around it. Once on, I used mod podge to attach the printable. Brush on a thin layer, place on printable, then smooth. You will not get any wrinkles or bubbles! I didn’t do a top coat of mod podge, but you can if you want a glossy finish.

The shower head is a coat hook that I found at Home Depot for $5.98. I turned it upside down. The handle is a drawer pulled I picked out at Home Depot, I can’t remember the price. Maybe $2. I like this option because it is a great solid piece that will not be broken. I did have to cut the screws down. If you can’t cut screws, use shorter ones.

Basket:

This was found at Hobby Lobby regular price $4.99, on sale for $2.49. I added the ribbon with hot glue. This one is so much sturdier than the AG basket! Theirs is squishy and might just fall apart soon.

Roof:

For the roof I used burlap, folded over so it wasn’t too thin, and stapled it into the roof beams. I trimmed any excess off and then cut slits all the way around to make it look like the AG roof.

Bamboo Poles:

To make the knots in the poles I used hot glue. Just squirted a ring around the dowels. The paint color I used is a perfect match to AG. It is BEHR Ultra Glazed Pears. I took in the loft bed to make sure it matched perfectly!

Floor:

I printed out six sheets of the floor printables. I started from the back left, did the back row, and then did the front. The poles were already in place, so I used an X-Acto knife to help cut around them. Again, brush thin even layers of Mod Podge on and only do one sheet at a time.

Outer Wall:

I just used scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. I think I only used 8 sheets, but get 10 just to be safe. Same trick as before with the Mod Podge. Or, you can always just paint it.

HAVE FUN:

Enjoy this project. If you get stuck, come ask questions. When you make your own, feel free to come back and add your own tips to help others out! If you have little helpers around, let them help! It probably slowed me down a few times to let my crew help out, but they enjoyed it so much. And now it’s done!