When toys can teach our kids about interesting careers, I’m all for it! Barbie has come out with a line of dolls that focuses on getting kids interested in careers through pretend play. Gone are they days when Barbie is just into Ken!
This year they asked if I’d design costumes to match these dolls and this beekeeper might be my fave!
What you’ll need:
With a new shift in how Barbie is reaching girls, they are designing career dolls that have a very interesting range. When they asked me to make costumes to match this new line of dolls, I was very excited to see this construction builder as one of them. A job that most think is held primarily by men, girls are now learning that women are more than capable of this type of career path.
What you’ll need:
Toolbelt:
Vest:
There was a time, and it wasn’t too long ago, that we only associated Barbie dolls with beauty, fashion, shopping, and let’s not forget Ken. Barbie has pivoted in a big way to teach little girls that they truly can be anything they want to be.
When my friends at Barbie asked me to create DIY costumes based on these new career dolls, I was excited to help promote this positive shift. Check out this intelligent and respectable scientist, with not just matching necklaces, but matching lab flasks, too!
What you need:
At some point in our lives, we all dream of being an astronaut…of floating around in the space and sticking a flag on the moon. Barbie is now turning those dreams into dolls in their new line of career dolls.
For Halloween, they asked me to design DIY costumes based on these awesome dolls. Super easy, this costume will thrill any girl to match her mini-me.
What you need:
October 20, 2018
Age, Decor, DIY Home, Grown-Up, Halloween, Holidays, Tween to Teen
Step 1: Scoop alginate compound into a large bucket or bowl. To cast an adult hand, you’ll need 6 cups.
Step 2: Add an equal amount of room temperature water to the alginate powder.
Step 3: Stir the ingredients together with a wood stick. Then eliminate any remaining lumps with one hand, making sure to keep the other hand clean for casting.
Step 4: Quickly pour the paste into the 2-liter bottle.
Step 5: Insert a clean hand, held in the pose that you want to cast, into the mixture. Keep your hand submerged and in position, remaining as still as possible, for 3 to 5 minutes.
Step 6: Tap the top of the alginate with your free hand to make sure it’s fully set. Once the alginate has hardened, gently wiggle your submerged hand and fingers to get them loose. Carefully remove your hand. Congratulations—you’ve just made a mold!
Step 7: Set your mold to the side and mix up some plaster according to package instructions, stirring thoroughly until smooth.
Step 8: Pour the plaster into the mold you created. Depending on the humidity, it can take 30 minutes or longer for the plaster to set.
Step 9: Once the plaster has set, tap the top to loosen, then begin cutting away the plastic bottle using a craft or utility knife. Continue cutting carefully, now through the alginate, being mindful not to cut into the plaster fingers you’ve made. Keep removing alginate until your plaster hand is revealed. If there are any air bubbles or mistakes, use extra plaster to fill in the holes.
Step 10: Let the hand dry for at least 12 hours before painting, and sand off any rough spots before you begin. You can also sand the bottom of the hand into a flat base so that it can stand upright.
Step 11: Paint the plaster with an opaque acrylic paint and let dry.
Step 12: Using a fine-tip paint pen in a contrasting color, follow a palmistry diagram to draw markings on the painted hand.
Step 13: If you want to make a flat plaster hand into a candle holder, use a small chisel or a flat clay sculpting tool to carve out a hole in the plaster to fit the candle. Work slowly, carving just a little at a time, until you’ve made a shallow well that matches the candle’s diameter.