Repurposing old toys is a great way to bring new life to an unused item for kids. In the past couple of years, my 7-year-old daughter has had an increasing interest in the “Monster High” TV show and dolls, and, in turn, handed off her Barbie dolls to her younger sister. She wanted a unique space to play with her new dolls, so we were in search of the perfect Monster High School. After finding an unwanted Barbie house at a local garage sale, our minds were spinning at the possibilities of a renovation with killer style.
With the help of a couple of cans of black spray paint for plastic, this freaky fabulous transformation was underway. We cleaned and removed all stickers prior to spraying the house. To make the new space extra ghastly, we added school posters (“Fearleader Tryouts”), wall backdrop scenes (hall of lockers), rugs (carpet samples) and reused Barbie furniture. The web is a great place to search for “printables.” Just print favorite images to sticker paper and cut them out to use as wall art and flooring. This process gave my daughter and me a creative way to spend time together and the result gave her a totally “creeperific” new toy for creative play.
By Jennifer Griffith, Senior Design Consultant
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