If you follow us on Instagram, you may have caught a glimpse of our office dog, Phoebe! Since she spends so much time with us, we decided that she deserved a good bed to sleep in while we work tirelessly to get you the best stencils on the market. This little lady only weighs 6 lbs, and she needed something special. 

We found that this bed made for dolls would be the perfect size for Phoebe. But this simple pine structure needed a little stencil action to make it good enough for Stencil Stop’s little princess. 

Here are the materials you’ll need to make your own dog bed:

• Gothic Letter Alphabet Stencil Set
• 2 x 2” Star Stencil
• IKEA Duktig Doll Bed
• A wood stain of your choice
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrush
• Pencil 
• A rag 
• Latex gloves

This DIY is so simple, and you can use any stencils you please. Our alphabet kits are very versatile and can be used in many ways, such as for bullet journaling or sign-making.

How to make a custom dog bed:

1). Stain or paint the wood base

We chose to paint our base with a subtle wood stain in order to give the wood an extra layer of protection as well as make the grain pop. If you’ve never stained anything before, it’s easy!

When staining, you want to make sure to use latex gloves. Stain is sticky and messy! First, dust off your wood to make sure there are no stray fibers. Then, dip your rag in the stain and rub it into the wood, going with the grain. There should be no extra pools of liquid anywhere, it should all absorb evenly if rubbed on well. 

Let dry for the suggested amount of time on the can. 

2). Trace letters onto the head of the bed

Gothic letters are often extremely difficult to draw freehand, which is why a stencil is so helpful! Due to the level of detail and small size, we decided to go with tracing and painting the letters to get the most amount of detail. It’s easy! Just place your stencil one letter at a time and trace. 

3). Paint in the letters

We mixed up some purple acrylic paint and got to work filling in the tracings from the stencil. Take it slow and use a small brush for the best results. 

4). Final touches

We used a makeup sponge and extra paint to dab a star onto the foot of the bed. Check out this tutorial for the best methods of doing that!

5). Assemble the bed

Put the bed together according to IKEA’s instructions. We made sure to put the head of the bed with Phoebe’s name at the top and the star at the foot.  

This bed came with some linens and we used another IKEA cushion to make it extra comfy. 

High five for a job well done!

Needless to say, Phoebe loves it! This is a great project if you have a small dog or cat and want to spoil them a little.