Comments on: How to Organize Barbie Clothes and Accessories

on 3/15/2008 I agree that kids aren't the ones who do the organizing. My 8 year old keeps all of her Barbie "stuff" in a suitcase that sits beside the tall shelf she uses as an apartment with furniture. The suitcase has a few small containers in it for the tiny things she actually wants to keep track of.

on 11/7/2007 In response to the idiot IHaveAHeadache on 10/19/2007, GET A LIFE! You don't have to be a child to have a hobby, you idiot. You must be one of those anal people who are not in touch with the child within. Childlike qualities are not the same as childish, and you are obviously childish and anal to come up with such a mean spirited comment. Oh by the way - don't let my comments to you make you go away angry. JUST GO AWAY! IDIOT!

on 10/19/2007 Are you people all retarded? Barbie clothes separated by evening wear and playwear!? Barbie shoes separated by color!? WHY!!! Kids are going to be playing with these things! KIDS! NOT YOU! Kids are NEVER going to keep all this insane organization straight! Put it all in one little drawer and let them PLAY! They are children...let THEM have fun, let THEM play. All the stress over what shoe goes in which separated compartment and in which drawer takes all the fun out of their play time AND makes it harder for THEM to clean up. What's the point of giving them something to house THEIR toys if YOU have to organize it each night? OH MY GOD you are all retarded! I can't get over your stupidity!

on 9/14/2006 I needed a way to hang many long and full skirted Barbie gowns plus some long coats. I found a men's belt (or neck tie) holder at a thrift store for .25 cents, but you can purchase one at any discount store---the best ones are rubber-coated metal. This handy holder has 10 hooks and you could easily double or triple the number of items hung on it. I used my vintage hard plastic hangers to hang each item but I would recommend the newer clip style suitable for any strapless fashions. Once I'd filled the belt holder with doll clothes, I then placed a clear plastic bag over the top hook of the belt holder and then secured it underneath with a twist tie or your choice of fastener. Then I hang the doll clothes in my closet.

I use the bag for three reasons: 1. I live in the dusty desert. 2. The bag still secures the clothing just in case anything should be knocked off the hook. 3. I'm able to easily see and retrieve the fashions that I want.

on 1/23/2006 Try using shoe organizers that hang over the back of the door. Use stick on hooks to hang them on the wall. Each opening is designed to hold one shoe, but work perfect for one doll.
Put the clothes, shoes, etc., in small plastic baggies and they also fit neatly into the pouches.
Some organizers are plastic, but they have cloth ones also. The cloth ones are great to decorate with the basic kids art supplies and a hot glue gun. Let you kids add there own touch.
These are also great for clothing accessories and other small toys. These also work great on the back of a pantry door for baggies, garbage bags and other miscellaneous kitchen things.

on 12/19/2005 Things we used - all from WalMart:
*I bought several large, oblong plastic storage bins (13"x9"x9"). The Sterlite brand. They are clear with white plastic lids and are in the organizer section for clothing and shoes.
*Then I bought GladWare food containers that have the clear blue lids. You can get these in so many different sizes and shapes, but we chose Mini Rounds (1/2 cup size). You get 8 to a pack.

*Cubby hole kitchen organizer that sits atop a hutch. The kitchen organizer with cubby holes is the top part of a cabinet hutch type set (white with cubby holes being light wood color). We just took the top and put it to use as Barbie storage.

ORGANIZING:
Put all of the Barbie shoes in several of the Mini Round containers; purses in another; etc. Then all of the tiny containers went inside the large oblong Sterlite bins.

All of the Barbie clothes lay perfectly inside the oblong containers on their own. You can separate out the different types for each container.
You can do the same with accessories for the Barbie house too. The Sterlite containers are large enough to hold Barbie furniture stuff really nice.

Then the oblong bins fit perfectly inside a kitchen organizer that has 9 cubby holes that can hold 2 bins each. We bought all of this stuff at WalMart.

on 12/8/2005 As a child I used wooden jewelry boxes to organize my Barbie accessories. I used the upright box (used to hang necklaces) as a china cabinet and the type with the drawers as a dresser. Not only were they a great way to organize Barbie's things, they helped to beautifully furnish her house!

on 11/22/2005 As a child, I would use the little hangers that men's socks come on as hangers for Barbie's clothes.

on 11/22/2005 My favorite organizing "tool" for organizing my TONS of Barbie clothes and accessories are Hefty One Zip clear plastic bags in every size. They come in 1 and 2 gallon, quart and sandwich sizes. (Whenever possible, get them in the "freezer" version because the plastic is thicker and more durable than the regular ones.) I also prefer Hefty One Zip bags over any other brands because the zippers hold up much better with constant use.

First I take all of one type of item, such as shoes, and group them by color. Then I pick out the bag that will best accommodate that particular size pile. I do this with each color's pile. (Sometimes for small piles I'll use snack size baggies or craft store bead/button size that are about 2 by 3 inches.) After each color has its own small bag, I put all the small bags into one larger bag--usually a gallon or 2 gallon size bag. (The less writing or other printing on the bag the better. Otherwise it just blocks your vision when you are looking to see something particular inside.)

Then I go on to the next category such as "Tops" and divide them by color or type, such as sweaters, small knits, cottons, long sleeved, etc. They also can be divided by colors but it is more difficult because most have 2 or more colors in each of them.

I divide dresses by gowns, party dresses, everyday/work dresses, Sunday best dresses, etc.

Coats are divided by indoor jackets, outdoor jackets, short coats, long coats, etc.

Pants are divided up by long pants, capri pants, shorts, flashy/glittery clubbing pants and pants with exact matching tops or pant sets.

Purses are primarily divided up by color just as the shoes are.

Other accessories are divided into perfumes, make-up, jewelry, belts, and hair items. Each category goes into smaller bags and then all the smaller bags are put into one very large bag called "accessories."

The larger bags are hard to find sometimes, but I know the 2 gallon Hefty One Zips are always available at Target. I also use the plastic zipper bags that pillow cases and shams come in as well as sheets and comforters. They work quite well. Also, a chain of stores called Organized Living have a good variety of bags as well. If I really get desperate, I go to Staples, Office Max or Sams Club and buy the thickest CLEAR office or shredding trash bags they have and instead of zipping them shut, I tie them shut. The important thing is that the bags are CLEAR so they never need labeling. The contents showing through are all the "labels" you need.

One other great organizing tool I have found is using very large fishing tackle boxes. (The bigger the better!) I use one as my sewing kit and it's wonderful--not to mention a whole lot cheaper than something you would buy at a fabric or craft store!

on 11/22/2005 The craft store is a great place to get storage boxes for Barbie's accessories. The small compartmentalized 'floss' boxes are fantastic for shoes, purses, hats, etc. And there are also plastic boxes that you can choose the size of the compartment (usually with the sewing or stamping things). These work well for clothes and bigger acessories like tack for horses.

on 11/22/2005 I usually use thin wires to make clothe hangers for my Barbie's clothing becuase the wire is malleble and I can twist different shapes or patterns to fit the piece of clothing. However this might not be suitable for younger kids. I also make tiny shoe racks from cereal boxes, using only half of it, the other half to cut into tiny pieces to create compartments for the shoes. Any additional space, I will glue ice-cream sticks to the top so that I can hang my Barbie clothes on my home-made hangers. These tips are particularly useful when we are tight on budget or looking for something or of the ordinary.