Barbie Zombies: Inspired by The Walking Dead

Author by Amanda Davis on October 25, 2019 Updated on September 30, 2022

4.88 from 8 votes

The Walking Dead was my inspiration for these Barbie Zombies. All I needed was the unsuspecting Barbie dolls to create my own walkers!

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I’ve been watching The Walking Dead ever since it first started. We are huge fans and never miss an episode. I also love Halloween and wanted to do something new and different. The season premiere is always in October, just in time for Halloween. I had this idea for Barbie zombies in my head for a while, all I needed were the unsuspecting Barbies (insert evil laugh)! I loved displaying these at my Pumpkin Painting Party!

Barbie Zombies

Note: This project was originally created and published September 14, 2014.

My kids are older now, my youngest is 20 and my oldest is 27. So gone are the days of worrying about scaring the bejeezus out of them and making them cry. (But if you do have younger kids, these zombie mason jars might be more their speed!)

I can decorate however I want and usually, they think it’s pretty cool. However, because I used to specialize in kid’s crafts, I often don’t have time to make things for the older kids, so this was really my chance.

For more fun Halloween decoration ideas, check out my round-up of 40+ homemade Halloween decorations for adults!

Almost every time an idea pops into my head and I think I’ve nailed the creative jackpot, I do an online search and find either that same idea or something similar. Similar story with these Barbie zombies. There are other Barbie zombies out there, but not many. So I just went with the original idea I had in my head.

My favorite Barbie is the one wearing the gown. When you watch The Walking Dead you can see that the zombies were at one time human beings. You can see the clothes that they were wearing and even maybe imagine what their life was like before they were transformed into the undead.

I even made a Barbie-sized replica of the “Don’t Open, Dead Inside” door from the first season and first episode of the show.

Zombies walk alone or in packs, doesn’t seem to matter. Their only goal is to eat. Flesh. So look out! They can’t really run though, so be sure to walk fast because if you’re bitten it’s all over, my friend.

So if you see a line of Barbie zombies, chances are you’re safe. And they’re a fun conversation piece, whether they are outside your door or standing on your coffee table.

If you have those Barbie stands use them, perfect for standing them on the mantle or coffee table. I actually used dowels. I just ran them up through the back of the clothing and into their nappy hair. Then I poked the other end into the ground. Easy.

Making Barbie Zombies

I found my Barbies at a thrift store. I grabbed the yucky ones and left the nice ones for some little girl to find. I looked for dolls that were pretty worn out with ratted, messy hair. Garage sales are another great place to find these.

To make Barbie Zombies you will need:

Yucky Barbies
Gray and white spray paint
Dye (powdered or liquid): brown if you have it, or a mixture of colors
Craft paint: brown, black, white, red, reddish brown
Paint pens: yellow and gray
Dowels (for standing them up)

In fact, if I had been patient and looked at garage sales then I probably would have paid a lot less. For the lot pictured here, I paid around $12 and some change. I’m willing to bet I could have found these for around $2.00 total at a garage sale. But, I didn’t want to wait. I just wanted to make them!

You’ll need a large tub with enough water to cover all the clothes from the dolls. I used some leftover Rit dye in orange and blue. That gave me an army green, so I squirted in some red dye leftover from a tie-dye project. That turned it brown and I thought it would be enough so I dumped in the clothes and stirred with a paint stick.

The color was okay, but I wanted them darker and dirtier looking. So I squirted in what was left of my “walnut” gel stain, but brown paint would have been fine too. After stirring that around I added some black and some white paint. Now I was getting somewhere! The color was good and muddy!

After stirring the clothes around some more, I dipped each of the dolls’ heads into the dye mixture and placed them on a towel to drain.

Next, I removed all the clothes to a separate towel and drained the dye tub.

Because these are teeny tiny Barbie clothes they don’t take long to dry. Mine weren’t completely dry when I started painting. I used a mixture of black and brown, and red and brown, and whatever looked good. I dabbed my brush into the paint and dabbed off the excess onto a paper towel. Then I dabbed and rubbed the clothes to make them look dirty and bloodstained. I did a little blood splatter too using a paintbrush dipped in watered-down red paint and flicked it with my finger against the bristles.

Now I was ready to work on the dolls, so I gave their hair a little squeeze with the towel to get any excess water out then I took them all outside. I sprayed each one with gray primer (gray spray paint will work too, doesn’t matter), including their hair. After the gray, I sprayed with white and dabbed with a piece of paper towel. I just kept doing that here and there to make the skin look nasty. :)

Just like I did with the clothes, I decorated the dolls using red and black, and I used a yellow and gray paint pen to do the eyes. I finished the eyes using a small paintbrush with black, removing the excess on a paper towel first. I also used a toothpick to add red paint to the mouths.

All that was left to do was get them all dressed! I am really, really pleased with how they turned out. It was a super fun project for me to work on and I couldn’t wait to share it. I hope that you all have a fun Halloween. Don’t forget, The Walking Dead comes back on October 11th!

Don’t miss our fun zombie mason jars! Fill them with candy for a fun party favor, or put a tealight inside of them without the tops and you have zombie luminaries! Remember to paint a lighter coat of paint if you’re wanting to use them as luminaries!

Looking for some edible zombie fun? Check out these deliciously spooky zombie pretzels!

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