How to Decorate a Barbie House

Decorating a Barbie house is fun and inexpensive. The results you can create with your time and effort will be well received.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ribbons
• Aleene's Tacky Glue
• Sewing Needles
• Threads
• Wallpaper
• Cotton Swabs
• Cotton Swabs
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Flannel Cloth
• Barbie Accessories
• Barbie Furniture
• Barbie Houses

1. Purchase thin, indoor-outdoor carpeting and cut it to fit each room. Glue the carpet down.

2. Use leftover wallpaper to cover the interior walls. Wallpaper can simply be glued instead of wetting it.

3. Measure windows for curtain sizes. Cut scraps of material or pieces of old curtains to size and sew hems around edges. Glue curtains along tops of window and tie back with pieces of ribbon or lace. Some glue may be needed along the sides of the curtains to keep them in place.

4. Cut more material to size to make bedspreads and tablecloths.

5. Find pictures in catalogs and magazines. Catalogs that show pictures of framed art are perfect. Cut out the art and glue directly to the wall, or glue to a piece of cardboard and hang on Barbie's wall. Look also for pictures of wreaths and floral arrangements.

6. Use cut and sewn heavy cloth to make throw rugs, or crochet or knit some rugs.

7. Make pillows from scraps of old sheets. Cut a piece of material twice the size you want the pillow to be. Fold it over and make seams on two more sides. Turn it inside out and fill with cotton balls or batting. Sew closed the last remaining side.

8. Create matching sheets from the same material.

9. Construct blankets from lightweight flannel.

10. Look for Barbie-brand accessories and dishes, food, flowers, electronics and miniatures created for other dollhouse dolls.

Tips & Warnings

• Accessories can also be "stolen" from things such as the Fisher Price dollhouse set, which a girl who is collecting Barbie may have outgrown.
• Don't worry about making everything picture perfect. The creativity and love you put into it are what's important.

[jenstewart]

on 7/4/2009 Great information! if you want more information check out www.crazyforbarbie.com or www.crazyforbarbieblog.com
these are such great ideas!

[michellem1212]

on 10/16/2008 I went to a wallpaper store and asked if they had any outdated books. They asked what I wanted it for and I told them to make a doll house for my daughter. They just gave me 3 wall paper books. PLENTY of wall paper (and floor covering) material for free!

on 9/16/2006 I find that scrapbooking paper is scaled perfectly for Barbie's house. To apply it to the wall I use spray-on adhesive. Balsa wood strips available at craft stores make great chair rail trim and baseboards. A lot of the velor type upholstery fabrics are great for carpeting Barbie's house, again I use the spray adhesive to get it into place. I found inexpensive picture frames, painted them, removed the cardboard backing and used them for window frames.

on 9/13/2006 I used to have a doll's house, which was decorated entirely for free, by going to a decorating shop and getting paint and fabric samples. Mostly there will be enough paint or fabric in a sample for at least one room (and my doll's house was fairly big). Sometimes there is a charge, but usually there isn't and it's never very much anyway.

on 6/30/2006 I once decorated a Barbie house for my daughter for Christmas by making it a replica of our full size house. I used leftover paint to paint her bedroom and scanned and shrunk her border and wallpaper so that it matched perfectly. I did the same for each room. We have since moved, and although she misses the old house, she still has a piece of it.