DIY Modern Babydoll Crib Build Plans

This post shares my DIY modern babydoll crib build plans, including how I customized it using my Cricut Explore Air 2! This post is sponsored by Cricut.

Free DIY modern babydoll crib build plans

Hey guys! I am really excited to be sharing this project—to be honest, I put off building it for a while just because I wasn’t really jazzed about getting my plans together. I had a lot on my plate at the time and just kept knocking this down to the bottom of my to-do list. The lumber I bought for it just sat.

However, one night after Ramona went to bed I popped down to the garage to knock out the cuts. I kind of planned it as I cut, as with most projects 🙂 And before I knew it, I actually had the entire crib build in about an hour. Sometimes you just need to jump in, right?

Here it is—isn’t it cute? The angled legs help give this a nice modern look, but I wanted to make this piece extra special by adding some custom decals to the sides using my Cricut Explore Air 2. I definitely don’t have the talent or patience to paint something like this…so my Cricut was the perfect companion for this project.

I’d been eyeballing this cute woodland critters set in Design Space for a while just waiting for the perfect project to use it on. And when I saw the finished crib, it hit me—woodland critters! This was it! Add a few mushrooms and leaves and it’s a pretty cute scene.

Crib building supplies:

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• Lumber
• Miter saw
• Drill
• Nail gun and nails
• Wood glue
• Fine-grit sandpaper
• Wood filler
• Various bar clamps
• Safety gear

Crib customizing supplies:

• Cricut Explore Air 2
• This file in Design Space
• Cutting mat
• Black adhesive vinyl
• Weeding tool
• Transfer tape
• Black acrylic craft paint
• Painter’s tape and small brush

And here’s how to make a DIY modern babydoll crib!

Always take the proper precautions and safety measures before working with any tools or materials. Wear safety equipment and work with a professional to complete projects when necessary. Read my full terms of use and disclosure for more. Happy making and stay safe!

Step 1: Cut pieces and construct main frame

To download the free PDF printable build plans, sign up below 🙂 It will give you a link to ALL of my free printable woodworking plans!

First construct the main frame of the crib. This consists of the end caps and the four “stretcher railings” that connect the end caps. Note that there are pocket holes in this image, but I didn’t end up using the pocket holes.

Instead, I decided to use wood glue and a nail gun to construct the entire crib. Clamps helped a lot, especially during the beginning of construction! You can use pocket holes if you’d like—doesn’t really matter.

Step 2: Add base supports and crib bottom

Next I used wood glue and nails to attach the base supports on the bottom of the crib. Once I’d finished attaching those, I glued the crib bottom into place. The crib bottom is a thin piece of MDF I grabbed from my scrap wood pile.

You can use pretty much anything for this. It doesn’t have to be 1/4″ MDF as I’ve used. You could even use up some smaller wood scraps by doing slats instead of one piece.

Step 3: Add crib railings and legs

The crib is looking pretty solid! Now it’s time to finish off the structure. Add in the vertical crib railings on each side of the crib using wood glue and a nail gun.

Tip—if you wait to cut the vertical crib railings until this point, you can ensure that you get a perfect fit. If you cut everything in advance, you may risk positioning your horizontal rails in such a way that could leave a teeny tiny gap.

Cut the legs and apply using wood glue and nails. If you’re having trouble getting a good angle with your nail gun, you could also reinforce the glued legs by driving a single screw down through the top of the bottom horizontal railing into each leg.

Step 4: Patch holes and sand; paint crib bottom and legs black

Now it’s time to patch all of the nail holes (and in my case, the bum pocket holes I didn’t get up using, grrr) and sand. I used wood filler that goes on pink and turned to a natural tone so I knew exactly when I could sand.

Then I sanded the entire piece using fine-grit sandpaper by hand. I wiped down the entire piece and painted the crib bottom, as well as the legs, using black acrylic craft paint. Painter’s tape helps keep those lines crisp!

Step 5: Cut woodland critters decal for the DIY modern babydoll crib

Now for the fun part, making this crib look extra special by applying a custom woodland critter scene! You can use the exact setup I put together by logging in to Cricut Design Space and accessing the file here. (If you need to sign up for a Cricut Access account, you can do that here.)

There are a couple of different design setups in that file. You can choose the one you like best 🙂 I did a different one on each side of the crib!

I chose to use black vinyl for this and cut it on my Cricut Explore Air 2. You can use permanent or removable. I actually chose to use removable for this because it has a matte finish, whereas the permanent vinyl is glossy.

Another option if you prefer a matte finish is to use iron-on vinyl instead. Yes, you can use iron-on vinyl with wood! I have a post all about it, and it will hold up really well since you’re using melted glue to stick it on!

Step 6: Apply woodland critters decal using transfer tape

Since I was using regular ol’ vinyl, though, I needed to use transfer tape. I wanted to make sure everything transferred exactly where it should be, so I transferred the entire design at once. Using a brayer tool and flat scraper tool was helpful during this process.

I repeated this for the other side since I wanted a design on both sides. But I did two different designs on each side. One side is the cute hedgie and mushroom in two of the corners. The other is a deer and mushroom design. I have a few different designs in the Design Space file that you can grab!

Finished modern DIY babydoll crib

And that’s that! Doesn’t it add such a cute modern touch to this crib? I am in love. Now to hand it off to Ramona for some playing 🙂 It looks perfect with her modern DIY dollhouse and her dollhouse book shelving, both of which I made for her. (Oh, and check out the post about using my Cricut to make the rainbow wall decals too.)

Pin my free DIY modern babydoll crib build plans!