Princess Sized

I have said this before: Kids grow too fast! Well, this was little AuBrynne grabbing a quick nap in her bed that is getting cramped for her little 3 year old body.

It was so very cute.  I used the bumper pad stuffing forms and quilt batting to create a good amount of padding.  Then I tufted with brown rectangular flat backed sequins. I loved it.  But, alas, she grows. And sleeps diagonal and horizontal in the bed.  There were many times I would peek in on her before I would go to bed, only to find her legs dangling off one side with her head dangling off the other side.  Or she would just get her pillow and blanket and move herself to the floor. I know most kids can be in a standard toddler bed for a while.  But she's tall, darn it!  I'm 5'11" and her other half is 6'7". She will probably pass me in height just as I did my mother, by 4 four inches...
So, I decided to make her a new bed.  But given the oddly narrow dimensions of her room, it presented a unique puzzle.  If you put a full sized bed in the room, you can barely walk around it. And there is not a closet in the room, so there is a closet system attached to one of the walls, further complicating things. Oh, and there is one electrical outlet in the room... Lovely, I know. 
Anyway, I happened to be catching up on some interwebs craft surfing.  I have a lengthy list of sites I like to visit when I can.  There is a terrific site called Knock-Off Wood, that is great about inspiring others to make their own furniture, rather than paying Pottery Barn and the like prices.  She puts plans together with necessary items and measurements, so you can make them yourself.  I saw the new day bed she made for her daughter Grace here, and decided that would be perfect-ish.  It would be perfect if it were twice the size... So, I modified the plans just a bit.  I made it with the mattress still going long ways.  But I added another toddler mattress next to it.  I assembled it the same way as Grace's.  I grabbed a full sized memory foam pad and put it on horizontally and cut off the extra inches and put on a set of full sized knit sheets the regular length-wise way, wrapping the end under and attaching the extra to elastic clips to the bottom end.  Works FABULOUSLY!  A twin sized mattlasse topper, horizontal and the bed is perfectly Princess Sized.  (AuBrynne thought of that one)
Anyway.  AuBrynne LOVES her bed now more than she did before.  And its actually pretty comfy even for the tall mommy to lay down with her when she wakes up in the middle of the night, rather than stowing away in my bed.  And when our cousin was here to visit, who is 5 and a half and 1 and a half inches taller than her, it was PERFECT!  They could both sleep in the bed.  And actually, my aunt even got in the lay down between them till they went to sleep!  Not something I do, but since she gets to see them so rarely... But anyways, it was big enough.
So, no more chatter.  Here are some pics.