All Things New Again

One of my hobbies is rescuing Barbie from the thrift stores. A second hobby emerges from that hobby, and that is returning a trashed-up, dirty Barbie with whacked out hair muddled into knots Houdini himself couldn't get out of, into her former glory. I scrub them down, and wash, condition, and comb their hair. I trim the ends so that they are even. I wash whatever clothing they may have come with, and do whatever else needs to be done (gluing broken parts, etc.).

I love seeing the transformation, and the more dramatic, the better. I didn't think to take pictures when I started doing this. I wish I had, because I don't have any photos of the worst cases. Still, the photos I'm including should give a good idea. Most of them are from a couple of years ago, when I bought several 'last chance Barbies' on ebay.

This last Barbie is a bit off topic. She was purchased new, from Big Lots (for 5$). When I removed her from the box, I discovered that the lower half of her hair had been ruined from some kind of pre-packaging heat exposure. I didn't get a before picture, because I didn't think I'd end up with a good result. Most Barbie lovers know that when you cut Barbie's hair, it tends to stick up at odd angles and just look overall horrid. Fortunately, this was not the case for this girl. I had to cut off most of her hair, but there was enough left for a cute bob that I decided to make asymmetrical. I love how she came out, and am astonished that I was able to cut her hair so short and still have an appealing result.

See you next time!