Valentine’s Day is a fun holiday to celebrate with family and friends. My kids especially love celebrating V-day. What’s not to love?? My kids often get to make homemade Valentines, bake cookies and eat chocolate. Some years my daughter Kiera sets up a Valentine’s Day post office to receive and mail Valentines to our family. Valentine’s Day is a fun holiday to celebrate with stuffed animals and dolls too. My girls had a blast helping me to create these American Girl mailboxes for sending Valentines to their dolls. Easily use our printable template to make Valentine’s Day mailboxes for your own dolls!
It’s fun to make American Girl doll accessories! We love everything about the American Girl doll collection. Looking for other AG ideas? See our other crafty projects and American Girl doll reviews here.
Cut Out the Mailbox Template
To make an American Girl doll mailbox, first print off the mailbox template. Easily use our printable template to cut out the mailbox shape, using cardstock or thin cardboard. You could even cut up a cereal box, which is a great cardboard thickness for these doll mailboxes. Make sure to carefully cut out all the tabs and angles on the mailbox template, which are necessary to put the mailbox together.
Printable Doll Mailbox Template
To use our printable doll mailbox template, right click on the printable and “save image as”.
Glue on Printed Paper
Next, cover the cardboard mailbox shape with colored cardstock or patterned scrapbook paper. If you used a cardboard cereal box, glue the patterned paper on the printed side of the cardboard. The light gray side of the cardboard will be the inside of the mailbox. Alternatively, you can glue white paper on the inside of the mailbox to create a cleaner look. To minimize rippling, use rubber cement to glue the paper onto the cardboard mailbox shape.
Put the Mailbox Together
Next, it’s time to create the doll mailbox. Bend the tabs on the mailbox template shape inward. Fold the ends of the mailbox up and fold the dome top of the mailbox over. Attach the fold-over top section to the base of the mailbox, by gluing the fold-over top edge to the tab at the base. This action will create the mailbox dome. Use a hot glue gun to glue the closed end of the mailbox in place, using the tabs.
Fold the tabs and ends of the doll mailbox inward. Use the straight edge of a butter knife to make straight and even creases. The tabs on the mailbox are important for gluing the doll mailbox together.
Next, fold the top of the mailbox over something round, such as a small rolling pin or jar. This will create the mailbox curved top. You can also carefully curve the top over using your fingers. The cardboard may crease in some places, but as long as the curve is even the mailbox will look great.
Next, glue the fold-over curved top to the tab at the base of the mailbox. Use hot glue to assemble the doll mailbox quickly. Hot glue dries quickly and holds paper securely in place.
Finally, close up the end of the mailbox opposite of the door. Use hot glue to attach the end of the mailbox to the top, using the tabs. Two tabs will attach to the inside of the mailbox end, and the top tab will attach beneath the mailbox curved top.
The other end of the mailbox will be the door that can open and close.
Decorate the Doll Mailbox
Finally, you can decorate the mailbox! Add a mailbox flag that can go up and down, using a paper fastener. Glue on a ribbon loop and insert a paper fastener into the door to close the door of the mailbox. Glue on edging, add stickers and even add your doll’s name. You can make these American Girl doll mailboxes Valentine’s Day-themed with heart stickers and lacy edging. Alternatively, you could create a classic design for your doll mailbox, so your doll can receive mail any time of the year.
Make American Girl Doll Valentines
Tiny, adorable doll-sized Valentines are also so fun to make! Create post cards by gluing tiny photos from a magazine onto cardstock rectangles. Make notecards with miniature stickers and a cheerful message inside. You can even create tiny envelopes and add a teeny-tiny stamp. Valentines Day is a really fun opportunity to make some cute American Girl doll Valentines and mailboxes for your dolls!
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My girls made Valentines for their American Girl dolls Luciana Vega, Blaire Wilson and Abigail (TrulyMe) dolls. Once I created the doll mailbox template, we had a lot of fun working together to put these doll mailboxes together!
Did you enjoy using this American Girl mailbox printable template! Please leave us a comment below and let us know your craft project turned out.
Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 3 kids in beautiful Coeur d’Alane, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, DIY projects, photography, homeschooling my kids, traveling, and serving people. I’ve previously worked as a graphic designer, web designer, journalist and barista. I started Create. Play. Travel. to share some of our creative projects and family adventures. I hope you enjoy the highlights of our creative family life!
