Painting doll furniture

Dear Mattel: 

Everything does not need to be pink and purple. 

Also, your sculpture/designers do amazing work. It deserves to be seen!

-Love, Ginger

Fear not, plastic can be repainted. I found a wonderful clawfoot bathtub for $1.50 at a thrift store. (My husband says it's called a slipper tub, as in Cinderella's slipper, describing the higher back.) How beautiful it would look in normal colors! 

You need:

Barbie furniture

steel wool

spray paint

super glue

protective plastic or newsprint

optional: beads to replace missing knobs

optional: clay or tape 

optional: paint thinner

I disassembled the tub just by pulling hard or banging against something hard. (The tube was harder to remove- I wedged a tiny screwdriver from a watch repair kit along the inside to break the hold)

I cleaned the tub and scrubbed it with steel wool. (I think it would have been wise to remove the little painting with paint thinner, but I didn't think of that then.)

Spray paint will give you an even finish, and sticks a bit better to plastic. There's a technique: start the spray off to the side of the object, sweep across, and end on the other side. If you spray directly on the object, the paint will pool and look uneven. Spray a few coats, let in dry 30 minutes, spray a few more... until coverage is satisfactory. (My husband did the spraying- he's also using a fancy paint meant for repairing real bathtubs.) 

This project also needed a second color: silver for the clawfeet and the spigot. It was amazing seeing the beautiful detail on the feet begin to show. Using clear purple with sparkles had hidden the excellent mould for the feet.

Spray paint is strong enough to blow over light pieces. We used some clay to hold the clawfeet in place. Later, the clay lifted the tub up for drying.

I let the tub dry overnight before re-assembling with super glue. The original knobs for the spigot were missing, so I glued on three clear jewel beads to replace them.

Now, Angel can have a relaxing bubble bath. Try out this easy project to improve furniture!