how to make a doll Ranch

Did you enjoy the day at the ranch with the girls,

dog and horses?

Wanna make your own?

(limited skills and supplies required!)

Final size: 31" wide, 29" high, 3.5" depth (folded)

Full fence length: almost 90"

Before building Miss C.'s ranch for her dolls,
I checked out what was available to purchase.
AG sells a nice stable

but it is not in my price range, and there seems to be little space for the horse and doll.
I also checked Etsy and search Google for images,
but I was not able to find what I was looking for.

I wanted to build something easy, cheap and taking little space while not in use,
(Miss C.'s room is very small)
and large enough so it would be fun to play with,
especially with friends, or multiple horses and dolls.

I started with Ana White' s tutorial for the fences,
and changed the dimension and added a large entrance,
large enough so that the doll can ride through it on a horse!
I decided to go with only 3 sides, so that it could make a small triangle,
a square with a wall, or just a large area like this in the grass.

So here is what I started with:
4 rulers from Lowe's (lattice would be better but I used what I had)
(if using ruler, send them!)
some 1 X 2, about 16-17 feet total
and a scrap piece of 1 X 4 (12 " long)
2 sets of hinges
glue, screws, nails.

Both sides were built the same way, they are 30" x 12".
 cut the 4 rulers at 30", keeping the 6" for the entrance.
cut 6 pieces of 1 X 2 at 12".
glue and nail the rulers to the 1 X 2 at 1.5" and 6.5" from the top.
Done with the sides!

For the entrance:
cut 2 pieces of 1 X 2 at 12" (short posts)
cut 2 pieces of 1 X 2 at 28" (long posts)
cut 1 piece of 1 X 2 at 18" (inside gate)
cut 1 piece of 1 X 2 at 23.5 "(over gate)
cut 1 piece of 1 X 4 at 12"

Glue and nail the left over rulers to the posts at the same level as the sides
pieces you just built at 1.5" and 6.5" from the top.

Glue and screw the 18" piece to 23.5" piece of 1 X 2, centering it
on the longer piece (I did it the wrong way on the picture, making it harder!)
Then attach the 2 boards to the 2 long posts with glue and screws.

(on the picture I just added the 23.5" board, then realized it was not sturdy enough,

then I added the 18" piece to reinforce the gate, totally worked!)

Before adding the hinges, attach a piece of 1 X 4 (12" long) on one side of the gate
with screws to the 1 X 2 to allow the all fence to fully open and close.
You can see it on the pictures below:

totally folded,                          first part unfolded,                         second part unfolded.

Then add the hinges, prim and paint.
It should fold nicely on itself for easy storage,
the depth is less than 4 inch!

(it stands on it own, the grass is just not that leveled!)

When opened there is a lot of space for many horses and dolls,
and little/big girls!

in action, with a very happy Miss C.!
One needs to be inside the ranch/fence to take care of horses.

Happy day!




Linking to :Funky Junk interiors