Tenney’s Stage: DIY Guitar Stand & DIY Rug

I have one last DIY American Girl Tenney Grant stage post for you today.  Today I will share with you how to make a stage rug and what I used as our guitar and banjo stands.  The rug is super easy and a great project for kids of all ages.  I will also share what I used for our microphone and tambourine.  This has been a super fun series!  Thanks so much for joining in on the fun!  For my previous posts in this series see here: http://brandyshappyhome.com/the-doll-room/tenneys-stage/ .

Pictured below is the guitar stand that comes with the American Girl Tenney Stage.  I love it!  I wish it would have been available with Tenney’s guitar.  We do not have Tenney’s guitar as of yet.  Our aqua guitar is from Our Generation.  I think with some flower stickers the OG guitar would look very close to Tenney’s but my daughters did not want stickers on their guitar.

Since the AG guitar stand is only available if you purchase the entire pricey stage I knew I would have to come up with an alternative.  And I did!  And what’s great when you find a DIY version is that you can have more than one!

I used a 5 inch clear plastic easel (plate holder).  I have used these easels for years and they work great on all kinds of doll crafts and displays.  You can find them here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003CTSIG4/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A31HFZ35RJX8XO

Some of my little easels have very stiff hinges and can hold any position.  However, some are a bit loser.  *If this happens…here’s a tip…use a piece of scotch tape to keep your desired position in place.

Pictured below is the AG rug that comes with Tenney’s stage.  It is very pretty!

Here is our DIY version.  You could also use a patterned felt if desired.  My daughters and I decided on a plain felt.  The scene started to look too “busy” with the patterned felt since we had a patterned rose wall.  A standard size piece of felt makes a great doll sized rug.

Below are the steps to make the rug fringe.

1.  Pick your rug shape and cut from felt.  I have used this technique to make dollhouse rugs in various shapes: circles, ovals, and rectangles.

2. Using a small tip scissor I punctured a hole large enough to get my hook in it.

3. I used a small crochet hook.  You could use a small loom hook from bracelet making.  I pushed the hook through the hole. (I had previously cut several pieces of yarn.  Each piece has to be long enough for you to loop over your fingers.  I would say most of my pieces were around 5 inches.)  I attached a piece of yarn around the hook.

4.  The yarn was pulled through to form a loop.

5.  The open end of the yarn was slipped through the loop.

6.  Then yarn ends were then pulled tight to close the loop.   These steps were repeated until the row was completed.  Then, with scissors I trimmed all edges of yarn to even lengths to complete the rug.

Pictured below is the microphone and tambourine that comes with the AG Tenney stage.

We reused our American Girl Melody microphone.  My daughters and I love this microphone…so much so that we bought two!  It has buttons when pushed that has applause! This microphone is available as a separate purchase and we found the price reasonable.

We also recycled American Girl Melody’s tambourine.  This tambourine comes with the Melody microphone pictured above!

Well…that’s a wrap!  Logan stayed after the concert to help Tenney load up her guitar and banjo into her gig bags!  My daughters and I are so in love with these adorable gig bags!

I purchased these bags from the Lemon Bay Doll Company,  https://lemonbaydoll.com/.  Each bag comes with sheet music for the Tennessee Waltz and the East Tennessee Blues.

Craft on!