Craigslist Christmas Barbie Project Part 2

Yay!  They're finally done! :)  It took a really long time for everyone's hair to dry enough to be styled, but all 20 dolls are now officially finished.  So here's the group photo:

I'm getting ahead of myself, though.  You'd probably like to see how I did some of the hairstyles, right? 

For starters, here are some of my favorite Barbie hair accessories:

I found most of these things at Wal-mart, but you can find them at Target, Kmart, and other places, too.  Check in the hair accessories aisle or the baby section.  I didn't take a pic, but I also use the rubber band-type hair things to do ponytails ( the ones that actually look like little colored rubber bands...they were Goody brand as well).  I really like Goody and Faded Glory because they're fun and cute but fairly inexpensive.  

As I'm getting ready to style my Barbie hair, I try to think about several things.  For example, how did the curls turn out?  If the curls are really luscious and beautiful, I'll usually just pull part of the Barbie's hair back and secure it with a claw, like I did here. 

Sometimes I gently separate the curls with my fingers (don't ever run your fingers all the way through the curls, though-you'll end up with a big mess and have to start all over again).  Other times, I like the look of the curls just the way they are, so I leave them.

If Barbie's curls didn't turn out so hot, I usually decide to do a little more with her hair to make it as pretty as possible.

I also want to think about variety.  I try to do up-dos and long, flowing hair so that there's plenty of choices for my customers. 

I'll go through just a few of the hairstyles I did this time around.

First off, we have Sara (I name each of my dolls that I renovate...it makes it more fun).  For her hair, I took a piece on the side and twisted it up over her head.

Then I took another strand of hair and did the same thing.  

I continued this around her head until all of her hair was on one side. 

Next, I took a section of hair from the front and wrapped it around the rest of the hair. 

I finished by securing everything with a ponytail holder. 

Here's her final photo.  I think she turned out really cute, although she kinda got stuck in the 80s with the whole side ponytail thing. :)

Now I'll show you 3 variations of the same style:

First, I took most of the doll's hair and put it in a ponytail, leaving a section free on the bottom. 

Next, I took the free section and twisted it around the ponytail.  This covered up the ponytail holder and also looked a little more elegant. 

 

 

I secured the twisted hair in the back with a mini claw. 

If you decide to try this style, then at this point you have several options.  You can leave it just like it is and have a style like Lily's:

You can also use mini claws to secure the curls against the head, like I did with Bailey:

Or, you can take the remaining curls and twist them around into a big bun, like I did here with Lucy:

One of the main reasons I chose to do Lucy's hair this way is that her hair is a little more played with and the curls weren't as pretty.  I thought this would be a more complementary look. 

Another simple style I like to do is to pull all the hair up into a ponytail and then secure the curls in various spots with mini claws or other hair accessories.  It's basically the same as the last style without the twist of hair over the ponytail holder.  I think it gives almost a Jane Austen type look. :)

 

A quick note on hair:  when I first started this 3 years ago, I was worried that the curls wouldn't stay in, so I used gel or hairspray to help keep the curls in place.  One year, I even used glitter hairspray to make the dolls prettier.  The problem with this is that it leaves a yucky residue in the Barbie's hair.  It's much better to let the curls stay natural.  When they get unbearably frizzy or messed up, you can always downy dunk and start again! :)

Once their hair is done, it's time to dress them up!  You can find fancy Barbie dresses at thrift stores or yard sales.  Most of my really fancy dresses came from the eBay seller flyingannalee.  I was disappointed when I looked her up the other day, because she doesn't have the same selection she did earlier this year when I bought the dresses from her.  I got several dresses for 1-2 dollars each and free shipping.  Now she sells her dresses in lots of 4 for $9 with free shipping, which is still a good deal. 

Out of all the overseas sellers that I've bought Barbie dresses from, flyingannalee's the most consistent at making dresses that fit my Barbie dolls well.  As some of you may know, there are 3 basic Barbie body sizes (there are more than that, but 3 are the most common), so buying dresses for your dolls can be tricky.  Some dresses fit only 1 or 2 body styles.  When I get a chance, I'll try to post a pic of the different Barbie body styles.

Here are some more close-ups of finished dolls.  I won't do all of them because it takes forever to upload that many pics on Blogger.  I did take pics of everyone, though, so if you have other dolls you'd like to see up close, let me know in the comment box and I'll put them in another post.

                                                            Jade~front and back

Madelynn~front and back

Scarlett~front and back

                                                               Coral~front and back

Hope you enjoyed these posts.  Let me know what you think!  And like I said before, if you try any of this, I'd love to hear how it went for you. :) 

P.S. After I posted this, I realized how dirty my fingernails look in some of the pics...sorry about that! :}