Growing on the Farm: I'm a Barbie Girl

It all started with a certain little girl asking for a Barbie house for her 5th birthday. I didn't want to buy the actual Barbie Dreamhouse (for so many reasons). I just couldn't do it.

But it gave me an idea. Could I create my own Barbie Dreamhouse that actually looks amazing, lasts longer, and is drenched in our own personality? Pinterest told me that I could.

I found this dollhouse bookshelf on Amazon and purchased it with my Amazon credit. I chose this shelf because it fit in the space in Myla's room, it was tall enough for Barbies to stand in, and I liked the variety of sizes for the rooms.

Next step was finding furniture. My plan was to buy a couple knockoff brand sets to repurpose, craft together our own custom furniture, and find a few pieces on Etsy. Ashton came with me one day to Hobby Lobby and we were able to train our minds to start seeing everything in the lens of a Barbie house. We came up with some pretty cool things that you'll see as you scroll.

I found this set on Amazon and gave it a major facelift with spray paint.

I basically spray painted everything either black or gold and it made a world of a difference.

I used scrapbook paper for the floor and put contact paper over top of it to keep it in place and in good shape. The wall mirrors are stickers that I found in the scrapbook aisle. The bathmat is a simple doily, and the plant is a napkin ring with fake greenery cut off of a spray I had. I attempted to make a blanket or rug with some yarn, but it turned out way too chunky; Myla thought it would make a perfect dog bed, so that's what it became.

Next was the bedroom:

I started with this napkin holder from Hobby Lobby that I thought would make a perfect bed frame. Then came a board and foam piece both found at Hobby Lobby. (No, I am not being sponsored by Hobby Lobby. I will make zero money from name dropping them a million times in this post.)

I cut up an old pillowcase for the sheet and bought some fabric scraps to make the bedspread.

The pillows turned out so cute and they were so simple. A foam chunk, ribbon, and hot glue... Hello, adorable little pillow!

You can find so many wood pieces at Hobby Lobby and I was able to craft together some cheap furniture with hot glue and spray paint.

The wallpaper is adhesive vinyl, the couch and shoe shelf were repurposed from another set (pictured later), and the couch was spray painted.

The next stop on the home tour is the nursery.

Adhesive vinyl for wallpaper, spray painted the chair, pillow, and lamp from another knockoff set, rug is a coaster, crib and dresser are from Etsy, and the ottoman was a wood piece from Hobby Lobby that I spray painted. The ottoman doubles as a toy chest and it's the sweetest touch.

Next we visit the living room.

Here's the two sets I bought on Amazon to use. (You'll notice the aqua couch ended up gold for the bedroom, one pink shell chair was painted white for the nursery, and we took apart the coffee table from the set above and used it as the shoe shelf in the bedroom.)

Small frames found in the scrapbook aisle at HobLob. Added some reflective paper behind and created mirrors.

I spray painted the furniture black and used textured scrapbook paper for the rug.

I bought the fireplace from Hobby Lobby in the dollhouse section. The fireplace ended up being one of my favorite additions. The wood decor is a coaster and the greenery was all found in the scrapbook aisle.

That brings us to the kitchen.

Knockoff set + paint markers = a whole new look

Flooring is adhesive vinyl. James made an island out of the marble piece from the napkin holder/bed frame. I didn't take any pictures of it because by the time James finished it, Myla had the entire place rearranged. So you can just imagine a marble island with black metal legs. It fits against the pink wall or can be pulled out to the center of the kitchen.

Funny story about the island - I forgot to tell James how tall to make it, so by the time I remembered to mention it, he had already welded the pieces together. He made it 3" tall. Yes, three. Barbies are 11.5" tall. I told him it was WAY too short. I measured 3" on a Barbie and it was at their knees. We laughed and then I told him closer to 6" but I didn't actually look at 6" on the Barbie. It turned out to be a little too tall, but we went with it because it's for a Barbie house and whatever.

The final room ended up probably being my favorite. It's simple and sweet and I could live there. Welcome to the dining room.

The wooden decor on the wall are the rest of the coaster set (seen on the fireplace). The chandelier is a napkin ring hung by a chain. The chairs were super cheap on Amazon when I bought them. I think they've gone up in price since then. The plates were checker pieces, the trashcan in the corner is a napkin ring, and the milk can was in the spring section at Hobby Lobby. I added some greenery from the scrapbook section to the milk can and a little for the table. The rug was a fabric scrap. The table started as random wooden pieces from HobLob. Added a little hot glue and some spray paint and turned it into a super classy table.