Young crafters will always make workrooms of their bedrooms, and of the rest of the house as well, for that matter. With a little imagination and work, you can make a bedroom for your child that strikes the right balance between creativity and chaos; one that lets a child's imagination take wing.

Canopy How-To
Fabric quantity depends on bed size and whether the canopy will touch the floor. For a twin bed, use four 8-foot-long pieces of 45-inch-wide cotton voile.

1. Sew long sides of two pieces of fabric together; then repeat with remaining two pieces. Sew 1/2-inch hems on long sides and 1-inch hems on tops and bottoms. Sew the loop side of a Velcro strip along top hem of each panel.

2. To make platform: Staple white canvas to a 20-inch square of 1-inch plywood. Glue hook side of Velcro to square's edge. Screw two 8-inch-long two-by-fours to the ceiling side by side. Attach plywood to two-by-fours with screws and Finnish washers; paint hardware white. Find midpoint of one Velcroed hem; attach top center of one fabric panel to center of plywood edge that faces the headboard. Then attach ends of hem to the centers of the plywood sides, and smooth against sides to the corners of plywood (1). Pleat canopy on headboard side (2). Repeat for footboard.

Potato-Stamped Walls
To make the stamps: For petals, cut about a quarter off a long potato lengthwise. Make four cuts about 1/2 inch deep in an angled cross-hatch, as shown. Cut off the outer sections to reveal a diamond in the center. Round the diamond's corners to make a petal.

For flower center, cross-hatch perpendicular cuts in a smaller potato, trim to reveal a square in the center, and round the corners to make a circle. Pat dry with paper towels. To paint (below): Place some latex paint on a palette, dab with potato stamp, and drag toward you to get rid of excess paint; press steadily and firmly onto wall. Kids can stamp flowers on lower part of the wall. Practice a bit first on a hidden part of the wall.

Floral Lampshade
Fold a 1-inch-wide ribbon or some bias tape in half lengthwise, and glue it to the top and bottom edges of a lampshade of your choosing. Glue fabric flowers, with their nubs, onto the shade, fully covering it from the top to the bottom.

Craft Closet Apron
Cut each of two panels of cotton to fit across half of bookcase (add about 5 inches to each for pleats and hems). Hem all sides. Sew two evenly spaced 1-inch box pleats at the top of each panel; sew a 1-inch-wide ribbon across the tops, 1 inch down. Make buttonholes on the outer edges of each panel, through the ribbon. Attach four screws to the front of the top shelf, one on each side and two in the center, and hang panels; glue button to the head of each screw to finish.