How to Make Doll Accessories for Barbies

It's easy to make personalized accessories for your Barbie doll by using an oven-baked polymer clay called Sculpey III. This clay comes in many different colors and is safe for children to play with. By following a few simple steps, you can create an endless amount of custom shoes, bracelets, purses and hats for your Barbie using this flexible clay.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wax paper
• Sculpey III (your color choices)
• Petroleum jelly
• Barbie doll
• Toothpick
• Wire or thin paper clip
• Tiny beads (your color choice)
• Oven
• Cookie sheet
• Aluminum foil
• Craft glue

Getting Started

1. Lay a large sheet of wax paper onto a table. This will protect the table surface from Sculpey residue and keep the clay smooth.

2. Take out a chunk of Sculpey and knead it in your hands, rolling it into a ball on the wax paper until it is warm and soft. This will make the clay more flexible and easier to manipulate.

3. Rub a very thin layer of petroleum jelly on the part of the Barbie's body where you will be molding the clay. Making shoes, hats, bracelets, purses and sunglasses will be easier to shape when molding them to the doll for a custom fit.

Making Accessories

4. Mold the Sculpey into the desired accessory. For shoes, mold Sculpey around the Barbie's foot for a custom fit. For bracelets, purses and sunglasses, test your creation on the doll before finishing.

5. Use a toothpick to create fine details in the accessories, such as floral patterns, illustrations, vertical or horizontal lines, or abstract shapes. Use your finger to smooth out any jagged edges.

6. Mold the Sculpey around the wire or thin paper clip for delicate accessories, like bracelets and purse handles. Earrings can be created by wrapping Sculpey around a loop of wire, leaving a 1/4-inch piece of wire sticking out to pierce the Barbie's ears.

7. If decorating your Barbie doll accessories with beads, make holes by pressing the beads into the clay, leaving an imprint. Remove the beads before baking.

Baking and Finishing

8. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

9. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place the accessories on it, at least 1 inch apart.

10. Place the cookie sheet with the accessories in the oven and allow to bake 15 minutes for every ¼ inch of clay thickness. Check on the accessories every five minutes.

11. Remove the accessories once they are fully baked and allow them to cool completely before touching. Press your fingernail on the bottom of your creation to see if it is fully baked; it should leave an impression but not pierce the clay.

12. Place a tiny dot of glue in the holes you created for your beads. Place the beads inside the holes and allow to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Add glitter glue, stickers or bows to finished Sculpey accessories for extra detail. Use hollowed-out Sculpey to create furniture for your Barbie. When creating hats for Barbie, cover the hair in plastic wrap and apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly to it; Sculpey will stick to the hair.
• Children should be supervised by an adult when creating and baking Sculpey Barbie accessories.

References

• Sculpey Official Website