Barbie Party: Decor, Part II

 I love the Barbie signs I've seen on various blogs. I wanted to incorporate one into our party, but it had to match the house and our unusual color palatte. I had an old round frame (once used for our Sharp & Sally trade show booth) so I spray painted it gold and threw some glitter into it. I used pink wrapping paper as base and tiled 4 printouts of the barbie logo to make the sign. Then I glittered the logo.

I hung the wrapping paper on our armoire and hung the sign as our runway turn-around.

Next, my friend Katherine showed me the "Barbie Box" idea. I had no idea what she was talking about, but then I got online and WOW. I had to adopt this idea.
Here are some excellent examples:

 

I had originally planned to do a typical red-carpet step and repeat wall for the girls to pose in front of... but this was just too cute to ignore.

Our attempt at the Barbie Box... day 1, spray mount held a bit better than on party day.

I resigned myself that only if a box happened my way would I go to the extra effort, after all--I had found the PERFECT wrapping paper to use for the party decor and the step and repeat. But, as luck would have it. Someone moved in down the street and there were a stack of wardrobe boxes in their recycling. So, my 4-year-old son and I set to transforming it into a "Barbie Box".

I'll begin by saying that I am usually pretty adept in mock up things like a professional. But the Barbie box was a wee bit harder than I anticipated. I have a few recommendations.

1. Do NOT use spray mount. Though I am experienced in the art of comping up 3-d projects, the sheer size and awkward nature of the wrapping paper did not behave as expected. Wrapping it like a birthday present would have been far less bumpy. The spray lost it's hold over the week and got bubbles.

2. I'd either paint the thing or get some of the $1 table cloths and hang them like a curtain on the inside. The outside of the box can be wrapped like a gift, but the inside would look better if it was intentionally rippled or completely flat, like paint.

3. Cellophane, while adorable as a concept over the front of the box proved to be a nightmare with the girls' ever changing poses, creating hot spots all over the place. Giant flash hot spots covered their faces. It was a lot of unneeded pressure. It looked great without it.

Here's our humble box.... which, trust me, was a HIT! It made the party, hands down.

Total cost of the Barbie box was 3 rolls pink wrapping paper ($3.99 each, Wal-Mart or $11.97) and one silver metallic ($3.99 Wal-Mart. The spray mount was a MISTAKE, so just use tape. Basically, it is under $20 and it is worth every penny--the the focal point of the party!