The Recycled Dollhouse

Barbie is a big deal in my family. We had massive boxes filled to the brim with every Barbie accessory you could dream of. She dated a doll from New Kids on the Block, her mom was a beat up Gem doll, she sat on Waffle Block furniture, and she had a ton of pets- ones that didn't have huge eyes and bobble heads. But the things I cherished most were the homemade Barbie clothes my grandmother and I would craft. I still have the mauve dress with green trim we sewed especially for my Pocahontas doll. My inspiration behind my newest project, though, was my papa. He was a master crafter who had two daughters and oodles of granddaughters to build things for. He built my aunt a massive, gorgeous Barbie house. We're talking towel rods, real wallpaper- the works.

During my pregnancy with my daughter, I made a rule that nobody could buy her a Barbie until after I had purchased her first one. Every girl remembers her first Barbie (mine was Ariel and I still have her, minus a leg) and I wanted it to be perfect. I searched high and low and finally found her in August. Bella will receive her on Christmas. But then Barbie needed a place to live, right? I priced houses- all clocked in well over $100. No thanks! So I gave myself a challenge. I had to make the house from completely recycled materials or from things I already had. I was not allowed to buy a single thing, aside from the massive amounts of glue sticks for my glue gun. My initial plan was to build it from a light wood but could not find enough of the same type and nobody was keen on donating it. I did not have the right tools for what I could find, either. County Market was kind enough to donate banana boxes, and I had been saving up small boxes from my recycling bin for the furniture. This was my hoard and basic outline.

 I learned a lot of valuable lessons from this project.

1. I can't cut a straight line.

2. I can't measure properly.

3. You need both those skills to successfully make a dollhouse.

I started this project a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I just finished... 5 days before Christmas. By far and away the biggest, most stressful project I have ever done. I had my moments where I really thought I would just give up and shell out the $100+ for the dollhouse. But the end result turned out better than I could've expected it to. 

 I realize the house is quite slim, so I opted for foam board on the lower levels, which I sneakily weighed down. If you can't tell, this house is huge. Bella's head doesn't even reach the top and it would do some damage if it fell on her. I would also like to fashion some sort of anchor system but am still in the brainstorming stage for that.

We had to have a Pet Room. My mother recently found all of our old Barbie pets and gave them to Bella. Right now, they sleep in an old shopping basket so we're excited to give them real beds!

This is Barbie's bedroom. I would like to add more to the dresser, perhaps some little cosmetics and brushes and such. I love the throw on her bed. I took the decal from an old baby shirt and attached it to tie-dyed material. It says, "Love Our Planet", which I found fitting for a recycled project like this.

Along with Barbie, Bella will be getting a little Kelly doll. The curtains in this room mean so much to me. As I mentioned, my grandmother and I sewed a lot. I learned everything I know about sewing from her and she is why I much prefer hand-sewing to a machine. My grandma had a porch full of boxes and bags crammed with old material scraps. Going through those boxes was my favorite part when creating something new. The curtains are the last remaining scrap of material I have from my grandmother. I've held on to it for at least the last decade, waiting for the perfect project to use it on.

I had a lot of fun with the living room. I purposely made it look like a 70's throwback because we had hand-me-down furniture from my aunts. The inflatable green and yellow Barbie couch? This is my homage to it.

The kitchen. 'Nough said.

I wanted the pets to have a place to run around, so they got a fenced in yard. In an earlier picture, you'll notice it is white. I made it double-sided so the animals could either run around in the grass or trudge through some snow.

I had so much fun making this, despite it being a pain in my butt. I would absolutely do it again. I did limit myself by only allowing the use of things I already had (and I'll say it's a damn good thing I'm a craft hoarder, otherwise this would not be possible.) Bella hasn't seen it completely finished or with all the furniture yet, as I'm leaving it set up for her on Christmas morning. Obviously I couldn't hide such a huge project from her so she has been under the impression that this is for my sister. My 28-year-old sister. Yeah, I totally know this is the last time I can pull off a lie like that... I'm so excited to bust out some Barbies and play in this house with my little girl. I even have the original Waffle Blocks bagged up and ready to go.