I wanted nothing more than to give Emily a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas. But even that one present would have exceeded our Christmas budget for her. So I got creative!
She had this bookcase in her room, the shelves were heaped with junk. She took little care in keeping the shelves organized and they were just a mess. One day I went on a pretend rampage, and emptied the shelves off, organizing the "junk" into piles to keep, put away, throw away etc... When I was done, she no longer needed the shelves, so I took them down to the basement and got to work!
This was an ongoing project that spanned several months, but I'm IN LOVE with the results!
This was a super old, pressed board book shelf. We got it used, 10+ years ago. It was still sturdy, but really ugly! I gave the exterior a good sanding and a couple coats of spray paint primer. Then I gave it another couple coats of "mocha" colored chalkboard paint.
I used scrapbook paper for the wall paper and mod podge to apply it. The flooring is faux wood linoleum squares, purchased from Home Depot. for flooring and wallpaper: $7.80!
The window is also scrapbook paper, cardstock trim, with fabric and ribbon hot glued for the curtains. You can see the "chair rail" in the back is simple ribbon as well.
I picked up this decorative mirror at Dollar Tree and glued fur around it. Notice the "crown molding" on the top! (only this level got crown molding, the other levels were too uneven)
The TV and fireplace were printed up, cut out and mod-podged right onto the wall. The area rug was some silky, furry, fabric I had. I cut out a square, did a zig zag stitch around the edges to keep it from fraying/shedding, then hot glued anti skid rug underlay to the bottom. The clock is another modge-podge job. I found a wood pendant at a craft store, spray painted it, and modge-podged it on. You can't tell in this picture, but I also Photoshopped Emily's name onto the clock face before I printed it up.
Once it was all assembled it was time for the fun part... Decorating!
I think I love the table the most! It was a decorative mirror, glued to a candlestick holder, both from Dollar Tree! $2 Barbie table! The stools are made from decorative gift boxes, also from the dollar tree. I "upholstered" the top and duct taped the bottom. The bench in the back was confiscated from Emily's Barbie collection.
I sat and waited for weeks for inspiration to hit me for how to make a kitchen.... finally it hit me! Someone was selling a bunch of used Barbie furniture online for $10, Kitchen and Fridge included! I was not at all disappointed to not have to make my own!
The sectional couch was made out of duct tape and cereal boxes. I didn't really follow any type of pattern. I just used a barbie to make sure she would be able to sit in it properly. The throw pillows are made out of some extra flannel I had laying around. The chest on the floor was purchased from a craft store and spray painted, I figured she could use them for storage for all the little barbie parts.
A view of the other end of the living room. The lounge chair came with my online acquisition, the stool/end table was another piece from Emily's Barbie collection. and the silver stool is another decorative gift box, untouched.
Barbie's bed was made out of a cereal box, duct tape and 4 pencils for the bed posts.
I whipped up the blanket and pillow with fabric scraps.
The baby bed was another unfinished wood piece that I got at a craft store, spray painted and made some bedding for it, with scraps.
And the last furniture piece I "created" was this shelving unit. It's a simple bead storage box, lid removed and spray painted.
And... the big reveal! She was thrilled! She has been playing with it non stop and keeps telling me thank you for making it.
And that's it! I easily spent under $40 on the whole project. Way cheaper than Barbie's Dream House. When I was little I used the bottom two shelves of my bookcase for my Barbie's house. It wasn't nearly as fancy as this, but I had had endless hours of fun playing with it. I hope has as much fun playing with it as I did making it!
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