Crafting Mom - Making An Ice Cave For Elsa!

My youngest loves Elsa from the Disney Frozen movies. She had so many of the Elsa doll variations and almost every other character that she could practically reenact the movies. So keep that in mind for a moment...

I like to watch crafting videos while working out on the elliptical. One of my favorites that I follow is MyFroggyStuff. Toya comes up with some of the most amazing doll ideas ever. She also has lots of free printables to use. One of her videos that I happened to watch recently was making a shoe box room. Great for those with less storage space, or even if you want to switch up quick photo ops. I had shelved that video on my Barbie list on YouTube for future reference. 

Now, let's get back to why I mention these two topics. I had decided to create an ice cave for Elsa in a shoe box! What prompted it? I 3D printed a light cover for our kitchen that is pineapple shaped and printed in glow-in-the-dark PLA. When I removed the printed piece, it had a really cool support that I also had to remove. I didn't want to throw it out though. Looked too cool! As I continued working on it, I noticed that it looked like a giant icicle chandelier. Light bulb!

As often as we have to buy shoes for someone in this house, I typically have at least one shoe box laying around here somewhere. And since we are all pretty tall (except the girls, they are kinda runts), we have big feet and get big boxes. They are actually perfect for 11.5 inch dolls. 

I chose the largest box we had. Then I pulled out some blue colored craft paper. That was used as the main background. I chose a light green with white polka dot print for the ceiling. The blue tiles from My Froggy Stuff printables for the floor. Why blue tiles? They look like ice blocks which make great bricks for the ice queen. 

I hot glued the chandelier to the ceiling on the one side. After creating the sides, I also hot glued the loose icicle pieces I had. I chose to glue them against the side walls so that her dolls wouldn't be knocking them out while they played.

All the paper I used on this was from scrapbook, crafting or a printable papers. On the side that opens, I use stationary that looked like a frozen branch and snow drifts.

It seemed like the perfect cave entrance! Above that, I put up an image of an ice cave opening. This was my oldest daughters favorite part. And finally, I added windows to the main 'room'. These were also from My Froggy Stuff printables. They reminded me of ice crystal ones. 

I thought of adding a throne later. Or maybe a bed. My Megabits says this is Elsa's private hang out. And yes, this Elsa is getting a makeover. I've given her new hair from yarn. Just need to get her outfit together.