Barbie's House...Warning...Long...Lots of Pictures!

Happy Friday to you! Ever since I mentioned to Jessica the Barbie sized dollhouse I made, she's been asking me when I was going to find it and set it up. It was out in our shed and I wasn't sure just where Steve stored all the pieces. Today I decided to bite the bullet and drag it out. WOW, did it bring back memories.

ETA: Link to pattern book

I did a Google Search and found the book I used to make this house, just in case anyone was interested.

First off, this is my first ever attempt at working with plastic canvas. How's that for undertaking a huge task? LOL I actually got the base done in 1993, and was working on it when I met Steve. I remember show him the plans for it and him saying something like...I'll bet I could wire it for lights (he's an electrical engineer). This was when we first met and started dating. My thought was...how do you know we are going to be seeing each other that long? LOL How many years later is it? And no the house was never wired for lights. Maybe now he'll think about doing it.

I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on creating the house in 1993, you know with those things called working and dating taking up my time? Anyway, flash forward to August, 1994, well...more like the Fall of '94. I had moved to Colorado...my mom had died. I'd returned from CA after helping my dad out. I didn't have a job and didn't really know anyone but Steve. I was new to subbing and not getting a lot of calls. I had a lot of time on my hands. So, creating the house became my therapy in dealing with all the huge changes going on at that time. Each room/area was done in sections. There are eight of them. When you break it down like that it doesn't seem so daunting!

So anyway, enough chatter...I set it up this morning and thought I'd share it.

Welcome to the Barbie house. I'm not going to enlarge them, since I took a lot of pictures. You can click on it to see it larger, if you want.

This is the exterior of the house. I've put a Barbie doll there to give you more perspective. I think you can see the sections/rooms. I thought the detail of adding the chimney on the outside was very cool.

Here we have the hallway...complete with a Grandfather clock and carpet on the stairs. The doll can walk from the bedroom across the hall on top to the bathroom.

This is the living room.All that you see in here with the exception of a few accessories is handmade...the doors on the hutch open! I think I need to start shopping for some more accessories to complete the interior, don't you? LOL Oops, the picture fell off the wall...need to fix that!

Barbie's kitchen comes complete with a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, trash compacter and table. All the doors open here! Sorry about the doll's hair...Amy gave her a haircut at some point...I think EVERY little girl has done that to a doll or two! That doll and outfit are mine from my childhood.

Obviously, this is the bedroom. Jessica said Barbie was going to bed while she was at school. The dress is one of mine from childhood.  I took two shots so you can see the vanity. Those drawers in the chest of drawers...they open, as does the closet. There's even a bar for hanging up clothes in there. LOL

And every house needs a bathroom, right? I had a baggie of accessories that go with the house, but some of them got lost, I think. There's a tube of toothpaste and some floss on the counter. I used to have a little "Playboy" tucked by the toilet, to humor Steve who thought that was hysterical. Maybe it's a good thing the girls won't see that. LOL The faucets are the bendy straws and beads.

There's even a small attic. I had a trunk for it, but it wasn't in with the rest of the house. I'm sure it has to be in the shed somewhere, but it'd be like looking for a needle in a haystack!

I made this way before the girls came along. I just thought it was really neat when I saw the book that had the instructions...which I still have somewhere...I didn't come up with this on my own. You all think I'm so creative...well if copying others' stuff is creative, in some way maybe I am. I don't come up with ideas on my own. I do know I can follow directions pretty well. That's about it.

I can and will say I am very proud of this house and am very glad I have girls so it can be put to some use...other than as a place for the cat to park herself (which she used to do when I had it on display years ago...she'd curl up in the living room or the kitchen area). LOL I bought a folding table to set it on and it used to be in the corner where this computer that I am typing on currently resides.

Thanks for coming along on the tour. Amy has no clue I pulled this out...she's gonna be surprised after school today! hee, hee.

Oh, the van is fine. It was done when I called. They were just really busy and hadn't called to let me know yet. Yea! No more brake light coming on.

One more thing...the girls have their Valentine's parties today. They wanted store-bought ones, so that made things a little easier on me. But get this...Amy just wanted me to drop her off. She didn't think I needed to come to the actual party this morning. Sniff, sniff...she's growing up! Actually, I'm okay with it...I know there were times when I would rather NOT have my mom around, too. It's all good. She needs to feel independent. I'm going to Jessica's though. Hers is at the end of the day. Speaking of which, I'd better sign off so I can finish up what I need to before heading out.

Hope you have a great day!

Jeanne