This lovely wicker furniture set was repurposed/up-cycled from…

…this chair.

It is covered in cute wicker detail!

Just the right size for your 18″ doll.

All set for tea.

This is not just for looks!  It is sturdy and functional!

Now would you like to see the transformation?

To start off, here is the inspiration.  The vintage, miniature, wicker, fan back chair.

Cool, really cool.  I remember my aunt had one of the full size versions in her living room in the 80’s.  It seemed like a giant throne to me.  Cool then, cool now!

Now, I don’t know what’s going on but almost every time I go to the thrift store I see one of these mini versions.  Oh, usually 16″ tall.

I picked up one over a year ago and thought maybe it could be dressed up into a royal throne for a doll in her princess costume.  My reservation was that they were a little tall, the seat averaging 7″ high.  For our 18″ dolls that’s high, especially if you set it next to other doll furniture.

So when I delved into the project, my hunch was confirmed, the seat starts at about table height.  Hmm, table height…

With some garden pruners in hand I separated the “table” from the chair.

Now one chair could be repurposed and up-cycled into a two piece wicker furniture set.

Here is the new seat.  A simple basket that’s going to get a new life as the seat of a dolly chair.

Attach the chair back to it’s new base with some white wire.

Just to temporarily hold things in place.

Take off the extra length of the arms.

Here’s where things are happening!  Yes!  It’s going to work!

Now to rewire to the underside of the seat.

That’s better.

Now to clean things up and make sure there is no dust on all the little pieces of wicker.

Wire cutters work well to take off the little stray pieces.

Into the cardboard box spray paint chamber.

Prime and paint in thin coats.

I kind of like the whitewashed wicker look.  I’ll have to leave it this color for the next time, but today I want to see bright fresh white wicker.

Time to do a few repairs before I add the final coat and touch up.  It used to have some sort of wicker tie across the back that was falling off so I replaced it with white wire.

Now for the last repair, to secure the chair back to the seat AND cover up it’s rough transition.   You can see that need in the photo above pretty well.  From afar things look done and this is where I gave you a sneak peak.

To do this repair I am going to use the illusive raffia that managed to sneak out of my basket at Walmart and delay the project.

I caught up with the sneaky stuff and braided it into a 5 strand braid.  If you don’t know how, follow the simple tutorial here.

Then I tried the 5 strand braid on the dolls’ hair, daughters’ hair and my hair, too fun!

Back to the raffia, I braided it long enough to go around the seat.

After priming and painting, I positioned it for it’s purpose, to secure and cover.

And with a little hot glue accomplished just that.

All the way around!

Just a little touch up paint finished it off!

Now for the fun part!

A whimsical white wicker set for your dolls!

Ready for display or play!