My oldest daughter asked me to make a dog house for her American Girl dog "Sugar". With her birthday just around the corner, how could I say no? Here's how I did it with some scrap from the garage.

Tools & Materials

Wood
Saw
Glue
Clamps
Paint & brush
Lotsof glitter

Step 1: Design

I told my daughter to draw the dog house for me. Then I measured her dog and determined a good scale. A lot of the design was done by feel but I measured the final product and drew up some actual blueprints. Check the size of your dog versus the dimensions here. I made another one later for my youngest daughter and it needed to be a little bit larger.

Step 2: Cut

I used wood from an old wine box for the build. The thickness was just right and the soft pine cuts easy. I used a 3.5" hole saw for the arch in the doorway. Everything else was cut with a hand saw and cleaned up with a belt sander. The hardest part was finding wood that was flat and free of cracks.

Step 3: Assemble

All of the pieces were simply glued together. I glued the front and back to one side and clamped. When that was dry I glued in the other side. The roof was glued on last. I doubt the thin soft pine will hold nails or staples without splitting.

Step 4: Paint and Decorate

I used the same acrylic paint to decorate the dog house that my daughter used to paint the picture. To attach the glitter I just dusted them on while the paint was wet. They stuck just fine. I finished it off with some colorful bubble stickers with her dog's name. I left the inside unpainted to show the origins of the wood. I think the wine box motif inside is kind of cool. My daughters love them and their dogs are well sheltered now.