Fixing Up a Vintage 1978 Barbie Dream House


1978 Barbie Dream House provides fun fixer-upper opportunity



Recently while visiting Oklahoma, I encountered the phenomena known as "Big Trash Day." This is a day when people leave larger objects than will easily fit in a trash can by the roadside for the garbage men to pick up. On this last Big Trash Day, I found a broken vintage Barbie Dream House by the side of the road. The house had been painted, marked with magic marker, and was filthy. Before I took any photos, I cleaned the first layer of dirt off of it.
I left the two broken side wings by the side of the road. Maybe in hindsight I should have taken them, too, but I have limited space while we are here in Oklahoma, and the full Dream House takes up quite a bit of room. I opted to only take home the central two-level structure of the dream house. 


This is not an article about repurposing or restoring this Barbie Dream House. I don't intend to make it into something new, nor do I intend to restore it to like-new condition. What I want to do is give it new life by restoring what I can and adding new furnishings, parts and pieces to make it a fun place to display the few dolls I have here.


As I make changes to Barbie's 1978 dreamhouse, I will post photos, so join Barbie and me on our newest adventure--giving Barbie a home to call her own in Oklahoma. 

Update: Just found this great resource for fixing up a 1978 Barbie Dream House. I am sure I will be utilizing it!

Related Articles:






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An ocean full of mermaids: Barbie, Skipper, Ariel 'The Little Mermaid,' and mermaid clone dolls

Image
                                 MERMAIDAPALOOZA! An ocean full of mermaids: Barbie, Skipper, Ariel 'The Little Mermaid,' and mermaid clone dolls Friday, April 16th, 2010 · 1 comment   All photos © Kathryn E. Darden. All rights reserved. An Ocean Full of Mermaid Dolls  The doll that got me back into collecting Barbies as an adult was a mermaid Barbie . It's true I had been thinking about trying to replace the vintage dolls which were stolen from my mother's attic, and a friend had suggested I buy a reproduction Barbie , but the doll that lured me in was a mermaid - the 1995 Jewel Hair Mermaid Barbie Doll , to be exact. I remember passing her in the aisle at Walmart and doing a double take. Until my old dolls were stolen, I hadn't spent time in the Barbie aisles in years, but I had just started thinking "replacement," and there she sat with her sparkling golden tail and the longest blond hair I had ever seen on a Barbie. I passe
Read more

Barbie Scores Cover of People Yearbook for 2023

Image
 ~ Many media outlets have been doing their year-in-review articles to mark the turnover of another year, and People Magazine is no exception ~ Barbie on Cover of People Yearbook “Barbie” star Margot Robbie joined singer Beyoncé and Taylor Swift on the cover of People Magazine’s 2023 Yearbook featuring top moments from the past year. Since “Barbie also sings in the film, that’s three female singer on the cover of People for those who are counting.  The magazine took a look at “The Plastic Fantastic World of Barbie” as one of the big stories of 2023.  Greta Gerwig's  “Barbie” movie starring  Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling  was a huge hit in 2023 in spite of mixed reviews. The comedy landed five nominations for Oscar Awards including sound, original songs for its three submissions from Billie Eilish ('What I Was Made For? '), Dua Lipa ('Dance the Night') and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt ('I'm Just Ken'), and original score. Related:  Barbie on the Newsstan
Read more

Easter Barbie dolls from 1993 to 1999 (slideshow of Easter Barbies) - Nashville Doll Collecting Examiner

Image
Easter Barbie dolls from 1993 to 1999 (with slideshow of Easter Barbies) This article is Part II in a series on Easter Barbie dolls - past and present. The list is of Easter Barbie dolls below sold from 1993 to 1999 and is made up of dolls which were predominantly available in grocery stores and convenience stores. As reported in Easter Barbie dolls - past and present, although the Easter Parade Barbie doll ensemble from 1959 was the first Easter-themed Barbie product, the first Easter Barbie doll, Easter Fun came out in 1993. Continued: Easter Barbie dolls from 1993 to 1999 (with slideshow of Easter Barbies) - Nashville doll collecting Examiner
Read more