Stanislaus Halloween display pays tribute to pop culture icon. She has great bone structure!
Barbie has been many things: doctor, pilot, ice skater and, now, skeleton. “She’s such an icon, everyone knows who she is,” said Rita Machado. Machado and her wife, Jaci, have turned the side yard of their Turlock home into a Barbie paradise, or Barbie Bones Land.
It’s a Halloween homage to pop culture’s plastic It Girl. More than just a bunch of skeletons, the Machados have created a true blend of whimsy and macabre. No gore or red blood, just pink.
Machado recounted how she started her skeleton scenes about five years ago, and now the neighborhood expects something spectacular. “The first year we did it, it was during the Harvest Bowl football game between rivals Turlock High and Pitman High and we did a football skeleton scene. So we just went from there — the theme always changes, but it’s always skeletons,” she said.
In years past, the Machados have created a YellowBones theme based on the popular “Yellowstone” television show, and last year paid tribute to the HBO hit series “Game of Thrones” with their version called Game of Bones. Machado said this year they wanted to go bigger, and what’s bigger than Barbie?
More than just store-bought skeletons, Machado turned their weekend cruiser, a ’90s era Suzuki Sidekick, into a Barbie mobile complete with roller-skating barbie outfits. “I thought about getting it wrapped in pink but was advised to just stick with the Barbie font,” she said.
Machado comes up with the concepts, while wife Jaci builds the displays and customizes the props. The Barbie boxes, spaceship and signs all were built by Jaci while Rita sourced thrift stores and Amazon for the outfits and wigs.
“It looks amazing during the day, but you really have to see it at night,” Machado said as she played video with colorful uplighting and neon pink backlighting.
Machado said the neighborhood doesn’t get many trick-or-treaters because she is near a busy road, but foot traffic has increased since the couple put up their display. “I even heard from a woman who posted a photo of our scene on a Facebook moms group and it got thousands of positive comments and drew people to come see,” she said.
Barbie Bones Land will be on display through Nov. 1. The Machado home is at 190 N. Minaret Ave.
The Modesto Bee received a few other Halloween display submissions so here are some other terrifying tableaus waiting to be visited.
1809 Serena Ave, Modesto- “It’s all hocus pocus”
2820 Hummingbird Drive, Ceres - “Halloween fanatics”
2013 Vicki Court, Modesto - “Pumpkins and ghouls”
2424 Becker Court, Modesto - “Singing pumpkins”
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This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 12:00 PM.
