DIY Barbie Jewelry

… and Bratz too!

Yesterday we just spent a lovely afternoon making bracelets.

This Barbie jewelry set was to accompany a new doll to be gifted that just looked ‘too plain’ according to my little friend. This new Barbie to give away to her buddy for her upcoming birthday (see picture) needed a bit of dressing up. Fun and easy.

Here’s the Howto so you can make some too.

Easy Barbie Bracelet & Necklace Set

1. Get this great IKEA jar of plastic fuse beads for a couple of dollars, which will last forever. (see supplies picture below)

2. String 6 matching colored beads on a clear elastic jewelry cord and tie a knot. Hide the cord ends in the beads. This is a good size for a Barbie bracelet / Bratz bracelet.

3. String 27 patterned colored beads on clear elastic cord and tie a knot. Hide the cord ends in the beads. This is a good size for a long Barbie necklace / Bratz necklace.

(Note: Bratz’ head is super-biG, (… mmm… she must be smart as well as cute…) so you have to put her necklace on over the body instead of over her head.)

Fancy Barbie Jewelry, also for Bratz

Of course, when that first jewelry set was ready, it was all ‘Ohhs and ahhs’ and the little gal wanted some for her own dolls, not just a gift set for her friend. So, all of 10 minutes later, we made a second set. This time, the necklace became a tat fancier with a more complex bead pattern and with a fancy angel charm at the end.

Bratz was happy that afternoon

with here special little charm set.

What’s Next?

What happened next was more and more bracelet/necklace sets for all the other other dolls that we could possible think of, and before we knew it, an hour of fun was spent.

I can see that when the fuse beads jar will come out again, the little angel will want to have matching sets of jewelry for herself and her friends in school.

To make kid-size jewelry, we will just size-up the Barbie and Bratz sets. Easy.

Craft Supplies

1. BEADS

As I mentioned before, the beads jar in the picture was bought at IKEA. However, if you don’t feel like driving over to IKEA and spending $100 on other impulse purchases whilst there, then choose this simple, inexpensive solution:

A large jar filled with the same perler fuse beads in even better colors than IKEA’S, for sale online. Will last forever!

This beads jar btw also makes a great (XMAS) gift. It’s equally good for boys as girls as these fuse beads are actually meant to be fused together into plastic works of art (see the star on top of our jar on the left as an example).

For more info about bead fusing, click the link above. Essentially, you’ll need some pegboards and ironing paper. Kids love this craft (almost as much as beading necklaces). There are some really fun pegboards with hearts, animals, etc, and if you buy the larger square pegboards, kids can make complete scenes. Good to learn shapes, color arrangements, and pattern recognition. Very educational.