Hello!  Greetings from 85 degree Michigan Fall!  Ugh…  I’m so over summer weather in the middle of autumn!

Jumping right into it…  I’ve been looking for a Barbie closet for Harlow to play with for eons!  She has somehow accumulated a thousand Barbie hangers, but can’t really play with them without a closet.  I found one for $25 online, but it is fairly cheap looking, and I just didn’t think it was very cute.  I did a Google search, and came across a few options for DIY.

Here are some of my inspirations:

http://egolonsville.weebly.com/wardrobe-for-dolls–armario-para-muntildeecas.html

My Froggy Stuff, that guru of all things Barbie-related, also has a tutorial for a great one.

Well, I decided to take a stab at doing one of my own.  It is proving to be much more difficult than I imagined.  I always think things are going to be really simple – probably because all the tutorials make it look SO easy! – but projects like this are never easy for me.  This post will be in sections because it is taking longer than anticipated, and it is more involved than I originally thought.

So!  First, I got an empty laptop box.

We had one lying around that hadn’t been recycled, yet, from our recent laptop purchase.  It was the perfect size for a Barbie to walk into!  The first thing I did was cut the front out, leaving just a little on the sides for shelving.

For the time being, I’ve left the front flap on as a sort of flooring/runway.  I’m not sure I’m going to keep it.  I thought I could close it up for storage, but…  I’m just not loving it.  We’ll see.  Next, I covered all the cardboard areas with craft paper and Mod Podge.  I don’t know if it is just me, but using Mod Podge is SO DIFFICULT!

Today I cut out and papered/painted cardboard pieces for a few shelves/dividers, and painted the bamboo skewers that will be the clothing bar for the hangers.  I still have several of each to go, but I’m getting there!

Crafting is SO MESSY for me!  I’m totally not one of these YouTube crafters that has a work area that looks so clean and put-together!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out!  I love to talk about crafting!