Don't throw out that little wooden crate after you have eaten all the clementine oranges from it this winter. Sand the rough edges, then recycle it into a four-poster doll bed. Paint the wood with acrylic paint, available at craft stores. When the paint is dry, measure the bottom of the box, cut a section of foam from an old mattress pad and place it inside the box as a mattress. Cover the foam with a piece of flannel and tuck it under the foam securely. Make a pillow to fit between the raised "bedposts" at the head of your orange crate doll bed.
Make a doll crib that rocks--an activity that children find soothing. Turn an empty oatmeal box upside down so that the lid is on the bottom. Draw a line straight across the bottom of the box, then use a box cutter to cut through the line and down the length of the box on both sides--stopping when there are two or three inches of oatmeal box left. Leave the two or three inches on the box as the crib "hood." Make a cut straight across the curve of the box, connecting your two side cuts, and remove the cut part of the box to reveal a cradle shape. Remove the oatmeal box lid and apply liquid glue to the top outer rim of the box, then replace the lid. Let the glued lid dry. Paint the little cradle or cover it with construction paper, then glue on felt pieces or bits of lace to decorate it.
Remove the lid from a cardboard shoe box and cut a four- or five-inch notch from the center of each end to resemble the feet of the bed. Glue the top of the lid to the bottom of the shoebox and allow the glue to dry. Cut a six- or seven-inch notch from the center of both sides of the shoebox. Paint the box with a shiny bright-colored acrylic paint--blue and red are popular with boys and doll cribs painted in these colors encourage them to join in the doll care games without immersing themselves in too much pink and lace. Find some doll bedding in primary colors--a square cut from an old T-shirt or a piece of a child's discarded bedroom curtain--to fit inside the shoe box crib.