This weekend, I went to my local Hallmark store to see the new Hallmark Keepsake Christmas ornaments for 2021. I bought a bunch that I’ll share later, but one of my favorites is the mini box of crayons. They’re the perfect size for Barbie and they look great with my 1:6 scale Barbie paper dolls! (Paper dolls are available to download from my Etsy shop.)
Yesterday, I received a surprise in the mail. One of my friends in France saw my blog post about feves and sent me some for my dioramas! They are so cute! Be sure and notice the Barbie mirror (it even says Barbie on the back) and the adorable little shoes. Thank you, Evelyne!
And in other mini news, I found some adorable brass picture frames on Etsy that are the perfect size for Barbie. I scaled down a Robert Best sketch and printed it on card stock and glued it to the back of the frame. Then I glued a couple brass earring drops on the back for the easel stand (I bent them in half with pliers). It’s a little pricey for me to make in bulk to sell in my shop, so here’s the shop info if you want to order a frame and make your own.
I did some cleaning and found a bunch more outdated Hankie Chic calendars. What better way to recycle than to use the photos from my calendars for Barbie’s house. So I’ve made some more table top framed Barbie photos to use in Barbie dioramas. And this time I made enough to share. These little pictures are available now in my Etsy shop.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1001280349/16-scale-barbie-portrait?ref=shop_home_active_1
I finally finished my flower shop. It all started with a Glitter Girls Sweet Shop. Almost every surface has been refurbished with paint or paper. The curtains are simply pieces of antique lace glued in place. I used scrapbook paper for wallpaper. The seat cushion is recovered with a scrap of fabric I had in my stash. The flower buckets are Solo cup shot glasses. Some raw brass stamped corners dress up the shelving unit. And the lollipop holder now holds stems of roses. The flowers are a combination of millinery flowers, paper, fabric, and clay that I’ve collected over the years. Now I need to figure out a backdrop for the shop … all of my usual backdrops are too small.
I’ve got a bit more done on the flower shop. I finally figured out what to do with signage in the lollipop holder and on the side of the building … which then led to me redoing the overhead sign to match. I’ve got a picture sitting in the frame where the flamingo was … haven’t decided if it’s permanent yet or not. Considering making that an oval clock. I also made tiny little tags for the flower buckets with the shop name. Still to do: wallpaper, curtains, and recover the cushion on the window seat.
I was so inspired by the brunbellebarbie.com Glitter Girls sweet shop transformation that I purchased a used sweet shop on eBay to refurbish myself. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent a couple hours a day cleaning, painting, and sealing virtually every surface. I was able to pull off the plastic wallpaper. One side was just on with double sided tape; the other side was glued on and left residue behind. So I am planning to wallpaper again when I can get to a store with a nice selection of scrapbook paper. Once the wallpaper is up, I also plan to add lace curtains.
I removed the flamingo bust and plan to replace it with a picture or sign. Still trying to decide what to do with the lollipop display.
I’ve decided to make this a flower shop instead of a sweet shop, since I have so many flowers. So I found some little red shot plastic glasses that I painted pink to use as flower buckets. For the shop sign, I used a wood plaque, random wood pieces, some scrapbook paper, and foam letters that I painted gold. I hope to finish the project in the next week. Stay tuned for more pictures.
This morning, I spent some time searching for other Barbie blogs. I got so caught up in one blog that I delayed breakfast for over an hour poring over her posts and awesome projects. I’m convinced Rieka can make anything! And most projects are made from Dollar Tree items and found objects. I was so inspired I had to visit Dollar Tree, Goodwill, and Walmart after breakfast!
I especially love how she customized a Glitter Girls sweet shop for Barbie. In fact after seeing what she did, I found a used sweet shop on eBay and ordered it to customize for my dolls!
Here’s a comparison of the original sweet shop to Rieka’s customized version.
Check out her blog at https://brunbellebarbie.com/
and her new Etsy shop at https://www.etsy.com/shop/brunbelledesigns/
You’ll be glad you did!
I’ve been publishing Hankie Chic calendars for several years now. But invariably I end up with a few leftovers at the end of the year. I can’t bear to throw them out, so I decided to use them for a craft project. The pictures are a really nice size to frame for Barbie dioramas. So I found some brass stamping jewelry findings on Etsy, frames in the scrapbooking section of my local craft store, and some earring dangles to bend and glue onto the frame for a support. Then I simply cut the pictures to size and glued everything in place (gotta love Gorilla Glue!).
A couple weeks ago, I found some discontinued Barbie print fabric in a fabric store. They only had 2 fat quarters on hand, so I bought them both and made some adorable 1:6 scale pillows for Barbie to enjoy. I made up the first 1/4 yard into 13 pillows, and I might get another 12 or so out of the other piece of fabric. So far, I haven’t been able to locate any more of this fabric, so these pillows are going to be a limited edition. Each pillow features either Barbie’s face, a Barbie fashion, or the Barbie logo on a purple background. Available now in my Etsy shop.
For a while now, I’ve been wanting to make a modern backdrop to show off my Jonathan Adler Barbie sofa. I wanted something textural and white. So I decided a white washed brick wall would be ideal. I looked at mini kiln fired bricks, but decided I didn’t want to spend that much money. I’d seen dollhouse photos on Pinterest that used cut up egg cartons for bricks. When I got a package that included pressed paper packing much like an egg carton, I decided to take the plunge.
I started with a 16” x 18” MDF board. I drew a grid on the board so I could easily glue my “bricks” on the wall in an orderly fashion. I cut a brick from the packing material and used that as a template to cut the rest of the bricks. I did use a heavy duty pair of scissors designed to cut cardboard, lightweight wood, and leather — definitely a good investment! But my hands did get tired of cutting bricks! So I decided to strategically place the bricks rather than cover the entire wall. Once all the bricks were glued down, i did several coats of white paint. I’m pretty pleased with the results.
