Doll Display Shelf - Fantasy Style!

Okay, I've been watching My Froggy Stuff again. This time, she had the brilliant idea to create a doll shelf to display a couple dolls by using a frame. You can check out her video HERE. So.... I decided to make one of my own.

And I have to admit, I think it came out beautifully! I see myself making another one. Though I would tweak it some more. Like make the railing taller, for instance. And give it a different theme. You get the point though. So let us take a walk through the steps, then watch a video where I show you my design elements!

Decide a theme

I chose something medieval. Fantasy style. Because why not?

I had thought about a Fallout version, with a vault door, but I was having trouble coming up with the right design. Maybe next time.

I think this weird frame got a great new life. What about you? I'll stop talking and show you now. Enjoy!

A 1/6 Scale Store to Make Life Size Ones Jealous!

Barbie shops. Often. Right? But where does she go? How does she come home loaded with new items? She goes to the store of my imagination, of course! I have put together a store box room to allow Barbie to shop to her hearts content. But it also serves a practical use. This store of mine holds my minis. Neat and orderly! Walk through the steps with me, and I will show you how I created this room. 

Do you watch My Froggy Stuff on YouTube? No? You are missing out! That lady is super talented. My husband says even crazy to some degree, as her builds are SOOOOO DETAILED! There are things she will build that I'm thinking... Nope. Not necessary. But I keep watching, because more times than not she makes something that I'm thrilled with. She has a ton of printables on her blog that you can find HERE. For this project, I used the Target wall background under the Shops and Stuff list. It will take you to her Google document list where you can print those out for free.

I glued those to foamboard that were cut to create a 3-sided room box. On the right-hand side, the wall isn't full. I'm considering a door option to go there. 

I used dimensions from My Froggy Stuff that were in one of her videos to create the free standing shelving unit. The platform is 3 1/4" wide by 8" long. The middle part is 5" wide by 9 3/4" tall. I think the base ones were about a 1/4"? I didn't write those down and mostly eyeballed it. The shelves I made just to fit.

Then I covered mine, because I haven't been able to get smooth cuts on my foamboard. If any of you know a trick to doing it smoothly, feel free to leave me a comment! I like that these can move around while offering extra shelving. I think they will also work well for photos. But they take me a really long time to make. Partially because of everything else I have to do during a day... The wall on the left-hand side has shelves that go from top to bottom, as well as all the way across.  

One thing I found is that some of my minis are a bit on the large size. As long as we aren't talking mega here, I was thinking it suits that family or economy size. Back when I was a kid, it was also called institutional size. How do I know this? Because I'm the oldest of 10 kids and we bought that size before places like Costco and Sam's Club were cool. But I'm not satisfied with calling these larger minis by those names. I'm thinking... Survival Solutions. A play on the prepper mind.  

My daughter has helped me with setting up this store. We found that attaching the minis to a clear plastic piece by using glue dots worked best. Once the layout was just right, I hot glued the strips to the shelf. This way, I can remove minis and move things around as needed. However, you can just glue them down too. Or if you have doubles sitting one in front the other, just glue the front one down and make the back one removable. Do it how it works best for you. 

The first set of moveable shelves are being used for the toy aisle. Don't mind the naked doll in the background. I asked my daughter to grab a doll for comparison in heights. That was the only one she could find apparently. *insert face palm here* 

Next, was the checkout counter. I just used foam board to create the open-sided box. That was then glued to the floor. I used various card stock and paper to make it look prettier. I had a small cash register piece that I painted and glued on as well. The card reader that we have came from a Mini Brands capsule. As you can see on the left side, I tacked the Mini Brands coolers to it with Glue Dots. This way, I can remove them if I want to later. They hold juices and sodas, like you would see near checkouts normally. 

For the rest, like that cooler you see in the back, I'll be leaving you with this video to see. I'll walk you through it and show you how it looks on a closer level. Hope you like it!

 

I still have not decided on a name, so if you have one in mind, leave me a comment below!

Giving the Barbie Closet Some Upgraded Looks!

I couldn't pass up this Goodwill find. It made me immediately think, What a perfect store starter! However, after looking it over and having a poll on Instagram, it seems more people wanted to see what kind of an upgraded closet I could come up with. So... I have all these little Mini Brands set aside to recreate a store in 1/6 scale when I find another one. I even have a Re-Ment set my husband got me on clearance recently. International section, perhaps?? But back to my closet. Let's see what we can create with this! 

The original is Barbiecore to the core! I'm not a fan of Barbie colors. I prefer something a little more realistic. First steps I took were to paint the outsides with a paint+primer blend. This adheres well to the plastic and was how I did things with the Jurassic Park jeep makeover.

I taped off what would be a window. I know it is pink, but I have no choice. I want something that resembles a window or glass door. Maybe one day I will get to swap that part out. For now, it stays and won't be covered with paint.

Front and back were painted with the grey I had on hand. Don't worry about the cardboard inserts. I have a plan for changing those later.

So here is the front. That marbled design is from a card stock page meant for scrap-booking. But I think it adds a pretty outside look. This was glued to a thin cardboard piece. On the other side of that cardboard is where I put my inside paper. This was printed and gives off that calm, almost Japanese-styled look I was wanting.

In order to get this to work, I did have to pry the white shelving units out. That was no easy task, by the way! And yes, the seams make it a little less how I envisioned. But for now, I'm going to roll with it.

So this is where it is was at after adding the new background pieces. One side was painted a darker grey. I ended up having to buy more paint and could only find a different shade. Then I salvaged the mirror from the original cardboard background, but decided it needed a nice frame before I added it to the new background.

Using cut popcicle sticks, I painted them white before adding a green glow-in-the-dark paint. Then I framed the mirror. After digging into my bits and bobs drawers, I found some wooden pieces that were included as spares to a Steampunk clock I had received a while back. After arranging, painting and gluing in, I think they add to the Japanese style. What do you think? As an added bonus, I like having it glow in the dark. Kinda like a portal.

I made the hair dryer from a broken headphone piece and some craft foam. Then I used a broken off piece from jewelry to make a hanging hook for it. Now Barbie can do her hair at the counter. But enough reading! Let me show you, in my video, the rest of what I did.

Well, there you have it! Barbie has a new dream closet that actually works well for storing things. What do you think? Is there something else you'd have added? Leave me a comment below and let me know! Another project is on the way.

The Game Room Gets an Upgrade!

I have been working on my 1/6 scale world on and off, as time and materials are available. This Christmas, I received so many things towards it that I was a little overwhelmed. And, halfway through January, I'm still sorting through those gifts! But one thing in particular has finally been integrated into its new place. Suzette has a game room, that now has an arcade game console! We have made new friends here in our lovely town. One of those is Kaleb at Portals 3D. He does amazing 3D prints with his Bambu machines. With my printer out of commission, we talked to him about things he made for RetroFunk. Like a bunch of mini arcades. And this beauty is what he created for me! 

Check out the DigDug arcade console he printed. He even added the art decals and battery operated lights. It is amazing!

It wasn't quite tall enough, so for now it is on a raised platform made of a box. Eventually, I will change that. Can't help it that Suzette is taller than most!

Kaleb really puts in effort to make every one of his 3D printed gems to perfection. He has incredible attention for details.

When I said, "Surprise me" I never thought he would go this far to do so! But I'm so happy he did.

It suits the game room theme I have been building. And I'm thinking I might ask him for help on printing the consoles I'm missing... But I'll show you that part later. For now, I want to give him a huge shout out! Much thanks to him for this addition. I also want all of you to know you can reach out to him and check out his Facebook page to see some of his other creations. Like these...

And like this one. I had also bought this clock for my husband for Christmas.

What are you thoughts? What is your favorite thing he made? Leave me a comment below! And don't forget to visit his Facebook page.

Barbie and Miniatures Alert

Have you heard that Party City and Big Lots are closing down this year? All their stores! We decided to take a look around early and see what is on sale. 

Party City prices are already higher than most retail stores, so the preemptive sale prices have brought them closer to places like Walmart. So keep that in mind.

There were these cowboy hats that looked like a decent size for dolls. All these themed items are marked 20% off.

These beverage cozy covers look like a perfect fit for dolls. They can get festive!

All these were called party favors! Barbie mini land items. And they are on markdown too.

I love these little umbrellas. They make cute miniature parasols.

These little backpacks are in the party favors section. One thing I noticed was that price tags were removed from some areas, making it impossible to check how much they were.

These MiniVerse capsules were about $12.50 each. Which is about $2-$3 higher than Walmart, usually. So taking only 10% off wasn't worth it for me.

All these are in the party favors section too. But way too pricey.

They even had dolls.

I was hearing that the goal was to have the stores closed down by the end of January or in February. 

Big lots had signs claiming 10-50% off various sections. But when we got to the checkout, we came to realize that they had either marked up the products, or the signs were way off. Most things only gave me about a 50 cent discount regardless of the amount. Our local store was still receiving trucks as well. So their distribution center is still going. The cashier said they probably won't be ready to fully close out until the end of February at least. So just keep that in mind if you check out your local store. And let me know your thoughts. Are you going to miss either of these stores when they are gone? Are you looking forward to some hot deals?

It's the Little Things

My husband has learned that I have quite the affection for little things. Almost anything that can be used for 1/6 scale dolls catches my attention. And even his! He has helped me find things whenever we go out. From a tiny glass bottle at the local antique shop.

To the tiny books and passport at the Hobby Lobby. These, in particular, are often going on sale!

This Christmas tree was one such gift from him. We found it at a game store and I was just over the moon! It even plugs in to light up.

But it was lacking in decorations. Which is when I decided to create some nerdy ones myself. My first one was this tiny tophat that I made into an ornament. Again, these things go on sale often at the craft store!

Then someone traded me some beads that I strung around the tree. I have been watching for things I could add and it is slowly coming together.

At the antique shop, they had these bags of mini decor, as they called them, that were half off. There were even books and music score pages elegantly made.

My daughter got one of the bags that had little porcelain dishes. One of them was from France, 3 pieces from Germany. One of mine was from Mexico! It was as though our dolls had taken trips.  

This is how I come up with scenes like this one! I decided to build a nerdy kids playroom.

I added Squishmallows as stuffed toys. The books you see 'floating' are in clear razor covers that are now as shelves. The rug was made from a furry vest.

I was inspired to make this toybox/bench because of the Rainbow High fashion pack box. I used that as a drawer. Made the pillow cushion. And the back board is covered in paper and decorated with the tops of cupcake toppers from a super hero theme.

The Star Wars pictures came from a calendar we had. Also from packaging. I wanted it to look like posters covering the whole wall. That mini shelf came from the Mini Brands Books capsule. I'll add more kid books to it from my collection later. The Minecraft sword was one I 3D printed.

I had these little dinosaurs my daughter didn't want. A unicorn 'doll' toy and a Doorable princess as a doll too. I just need to add the baby themed items. You can sorta see the Mini Brands Baby bouncer in the corner of the above photo. But I also have a Grogu bassinet I had 3D printed too. That way the babies aren't left out of the fun! 

What are you creating?? Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear about it!

From Barbie Jeep to Jurassic Park Jeep!

My daughter had asked us to take her to the local Goodwill. We originally planned to look for just a couple things she has had on her list: a black skirt and some taller boots. Found the thigh high boots! Funny enough, she and I can now share boots... Any who... 

But true to my nature, I didn't just glance at the shoe racks. I did my normal circuit. Especially since they moved and rearranged things around the store. We found two made-to-move barbie dolls. One of them is a specialty tennis player. My youngest was thrilled. She has been wanting more dolls that have more articulation to them! But then something else caught our eye... A Barbie Jeep! 

An idea is born...

 

I have been contemplating wanting some kind of vehicle that my own dolls could use in photo ops where it looks like they were traveling. But a Jeep? Not my first choice. Until my husband spoke that is. He said something along the lines of, "Looks like it could be one of the Jurassic Park ones." Ever have that feeling of a light bulb going off?? I did! 

But as I grabbed the Jeep, I was thinking, this thing is NASTY! It was cover in greasy-looking something and had fur all up in the crevices. I was thinking this might be more work than I wanted to put into it.

However, my daughter insisted that she would help. A little hard work should pay off, so why not try! On top of all these thoughts, there was also the fact that we saw one of the newer Barbie jeeps in Walmart. They aren't nearly so cool. This one is only missing the tailgate and the side mirrors. I found this jeep on eBay for $15.99. We paid less than the $3.99 it was originally priced thanks to a coupon I had.  

Let the work begin!

First task we had, which my daughter began before I even knew it, was to start cleaning it. We took an old cleaning toothbrush, some cleaner spray and warm water to scrub and rinse out the gunk. The animal fur was the worst for me. But it all cleaned out pretty easily. Much more so than I had originally thought it would.  

Next step was to take the parts - apart! I needed everything as singular as possible to make it easier for cleaning more in depth as well as for the painting process. 

Who knew there were so many parts to these toys?! While my husband was outside working on electrical upgrades to our home, I was taking each part and giving it the primer coat. This was primer+white paint that my husband got me. Then I had to keep checking what part should be which color. I decided the undercarriage did not need my focus. I left it white and merely covered that with a clear sealing coat at least.  

Having a breakdown moment...

This project was not smooth sailing all the way through. Why would it be? But the moment when my worst fear was manifested was when I really wanted to scream. The paint and primer - 2 layers! - came off with the tape!!! I had used masking tape to make the clean lines to paint on the red bits. But it peeled off they base coat.

I really questioned whether it was worth continuing. But then I remembered how much work I had already put into this thing. And by golly, I was going to see it through! 

So, be warned. Using masking tape on the primer+paint layers can still result in peeling paint.

Getting the decals

Once the paint was redone to my satisfaction, the pieces put back together, and the back cut to make it open for them to stand up...

I went about adding logo and jeep labels. I found some helpful websites, and with a little resizing, was able to make the decals just right. I printed, glued and clear coated a seal over them. So check out these websites for the pictures to print. 

This one is super in-depth, showing where to put everything - 

https://www.jpmotorpool.com/reference/jeep/jeep_guide.php 

This one had multiple pieces in one picture that can be saved for printing - 

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/movies/hold-your-butts-jeep-launches-jurassic-park-graphics-pack

Remembering it won't be a perfect replica...

So... My Jeep is not a perfect match. It didn't have doors in its design. I'm missing the side mirrors. Etc. Etc! Et cetera! This is why I took some creative liberties with it and put things in other areas. Overall, I think you can see what I was aiming for. That, to me, was enough.