If you have a toddler like mine who loves to play dress-up but get tired of all the poofy dresses taking up vital closet space, then this DIY is for you! Our daughter’s room is fairly big but has a tiny closet. This doesn’t make much sense to me but whatever. The point is, Ellie is CONSTANTLY playing dress-up! The day starts out with one dress and then we end with a fifth or sixth dress. She asks multiple times a day if I could help get one (or six) out of her closet and honestly I get tired of doing it. Plus when she is done with one, it gets thrown in the floor and she’s back asking me to get another one out.
I have come up with the perfect solution! A cute and functional dress-up rack! it will actually serve a few different purposes. One, it will clear out room in her closet. Two, now Little Miss can get out her own pretty dresses. Three, this is a good way to teach her how to hang her own clothes back up instead of throwing on the floor! Plus it’s super adorable!
Let’s begin!
Supplies:
- 4 6 ft. 1x2s
- 1 1 in. wood rod (length of choice)
- 1 yard of Rope or thicker string
- 2 1/2 in. wood screws
- Wood glue
- Painters tape
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Yarn (color of choice)
- Paint (color of choice)
- Drill
- Drill bit
- Wood spade drill bit
- Miter Saw
- Brad Nailer (optional)
Directions:
- The first thing is to decide how tall the “teepee” ends should be. I decided to cut mine down to 63 inches with my miter saw. Once all four are cut to the length you want, turn the angle on the base of your miter saw to 22.5. Cut the ends of all four 1x2s at that angle. The sides with the cut angle will be the bottom legs of the rack.
- Measure 12 inches down from the top of your 1x2s and mark. These are marking where your rod will go. This next part is optional but I think it makes the rod a tad more sturdy. Take two of the 1x2s, drill with a spade bit the same size around as your rod, a circular indention (I used a 1″ rod so I used a 1″ spade bit). The two 1x2s that you predrill the indention for your rod will be the inner legs of the rack so be sure the bottom part of the legs are angled correctly for the base.
- Once you have your legs marked for the rod and the pre-drill indentions, make an X with the 1x2s at the 12inch mark. You should have 2 sets. This is where I used my nail gun and secured the 1x2s in place. You can see this below.
- Use wood glue on the ends of the rod. Attach the rod to both inner legs with a 2 1/2 inch wood screw. **I asked my husband to hold the rod on my 1×2 while I drilled my screw through.
- You now have a clothes rack! At this point, you could stop here but if you want to continue, take some painters tape and wrap around where the 1x2s meet to make the X. This is how you will get your clean paint line.
- With your color of choice paint the top of your teepee legs all the way to the tape. I painted 2 coats and then remove the tape.
- While your paint is drying, drill holes with your drill bit into each leg 24 inches up from the bottom. After your holes are drilled, take your sandpaper and sand the legs down a tad to get rid of any splinters. Now take your rope and push it through the holes. Tie knots on both ends. Make sure the rope is pulled tight on each side and that both sets of legs are the same distance apart.
- After your paint has dried, take your yarn and start wrapping around the part where your legs and rod meet. Wrap as many times around as you like, but enough that it covers any nail marks or screws.
- Annnnnnnd VOILA! You are done!!
This DIY took maybe only an hour and a half to complete. Such a cute little project for your little and a great way to display all their pretty princess dresses! please leave in the comments any questions you may have and let me know what you think of this DIY!
