• Tonya Ruiz is a grandmother and former model who runs the Instagram account @grandmagetsreal.
• Her page features custom scenes she creates to depict what Barbie would be like in real life.
• Recently, however, she's gone viral for creating a set of "Quarantine Barbies" that show how Barbie might react to a pandemic.
• Speaking to Insider, Ruiz said her dolls are a "comedic commentary on quarantine," and that she hopes to "make people smile" with her creations.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

To find some peace of mind in recent weeks, people have been turning to various nostalgic activities. Some have purchased vintage Tamagotchis, while others have logged onto children's gaming site Club Penguin.

Tonya Ruiz, on the other hand, has used Barbie dolls to mimic life during the pandemic. On her Instagram account @grandmagetsreal, Ruiz has been creating and photographing realistic scenes with Barbies since October 2017. Her account is meant to show the activities Barbie might actually do in real life, like decorating her kitchen and working from a home office.

So it only made sense for Ruiz to show how Barbie might bake tons of bread and binge-watch her favorite shows while social distancing. Here's how Ruiz's "quarantine dolls" came to be.

Tonya Ruiz grew up playing with Barbies, but came to dislike what the dolls stood for after becoming a model.

Speaking to Insider, Ruiz said she and her sister "spent thousands of hours" playing with Barbie dolls as children. She even followed in the character's footsteps as she got older by working as a fashion model.

Eventually, however, Ruiz's modeling career led her to realize a warped sense of body image throughout "magazines, commercials, and Barbie dolls." 

"I saw how my life had been affected by body-image issues, so I kind of lumped Barbie in the category of very unrealistic, unattainable bodies," she said. "So when I had kids especially, I did not want Barbie in the house, and I actually started speaking and writing about body image, and I always used Barbie as an example of something that you don't want your children to grow up thinking, 'That's what you're supposed to look like.'"

She later grew to appreciate how Barbie has evolved over the years, and began to rediscover the dolls with her grandchildren.

"Ten years ago my husband became disabled, and I quit my job to stay home and care for him," Ruiz said. "And so I put everything that I had used for speaking and writing in a box."

That box included numerous blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbies, as well as one that looked like a grandma. When her grandchildren came across the box years later, they were shocked by her collection. Ruiz said they quickly asked if they could play with them, to which she said yes under one condition.

"I said, 'Mattel has come out with a new line of dolls — I saw it on the news — so why don't we see if we can find one to match everyone in our family?" Ruiz told Insider.

"Mattel's done a fabulous job with their petite, tall, curvy dolls, all different colors, and sizes, and shapes," she continued. "I agree with my earlier findings — I still have not changed my view on the '60s and '70s and what Barbie represented, but they've done a really good job with their new dolls."

Now, Ruiz uses Barbie to depict reality on Instagram.

Ruiz's journey to find Barbie dolls that represented her family quickly turned into something much bigger. Inspired by Instagram account Socality Barbie — as well as her having previous experience in photography — Ruiz decided to create an Instagram account that would document her realistic scenes and miniatures.

She's since connected with toy brands, become a prominent member of "dollstagram," and has more than 60,000 followers on her account.

"It's been a great little hobby and opportunity for me to go back and share my message about reality and realism and body image," Ruiz said. "So that for me is a thrill."

Her latest set of dolls focuses on what life is like for many people during the pandemic.

According to Ruiz, she was inspired to create quarantine-inspired dolls after seeing others in the Barbie community post their own on Instagram. Technically, however, she's had a similar idea in the back of her mind for years.

"On 'The Ellen Show' years ago, Ellen had made a line of parody Barbies, and they were very funny," Ruiz said. "I thought, 'That is so clever. Wouldn't it be fun to make parody Barbies that are realistic?' And so I've been taking notes for years on scraps of paper for if I was ever going to do a line of funny Barbies — but I had never had the time to do it."

Once the pandemic struck, however, Ruiz finally got the chance to do so, and became inspired to replicate what she and her family have been experiencing in recent weeks using her dolls and miniatures.

One doll, for example, depicts Barbie covered in flour after trying to bake bread.

According to Ruiz, this doll was inspired by her husband, who has been "baking up a storm" while staying home.

"Food is love to him, so he has been in the kitchen baking banana bread and cookies," she said.

Another "Quarantine Barbie" shows a doll that's binge-watching "Harry Potter" while eating sweets.

One of the ways Ruiz makes her doll creations so realistic is by utilizing miniature accessories that replicate items from real life. Her "Quarantine Binge-Watching Barbie," for example, comes with a television that displays "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

The doll is also surrounded by tiny fake versions of Coca Cola, Goldfish crackers, chocolate syrup, ice cream, Mentos, popcorn, and more.

Ruiz makes sure to include Ken dolls in her creations as well.

Some even feature Barbie and Ken together, like this "Quarantine Quarreling Couple" — a set that was inspired by Ruiz and her husband.

"My husband and I have always been a really good team and been pretty good about splitting chores," she said. "But one day I said we had some cleaning to do, and I didn't think he was doing his fair share, so I looked at him and said, 'If I were your boss, I would fire you.'"

"I thought I started a fight but he looked at me and started laughing," she continued.

It can take a full day to create each doll.

"Over two and a half years, we've collected a huge amount of miniatures and items, so just getting them and putting them together, it takes time," Ruiz said. "Coming up with the idea probably takes the longest, and then once I have the idea, I spend a day making it."

She aims to make each one relatable and realistic.

Ruiz believes her "quarantine Barbies" are so popular because they're relatable.

"The people that are commenting and sharing this and liking this are from every country," Ruiz said. "It's relatable no matter where you're living — everybody's been in some sort of a quarantine or lockdown."

She's also received countless messages from people who seem thrilled to find that there are finally Barbies out there that look like them.

Not all of Ruiz's dolls are made with humor in mind.

The "Pandemic Hero Barbie," for example, was created to honor essential workers like nurses and doctors.

Ruiz also says she's gotten requests to sell her creations since they've gone viral.

"One thing that really surprised me the most is I've had thousands of messages from people who want to order them and buy them because they think they're real Barbies," Ruiz said.

Fans might be disappointed to learn that she has no plans to sell her dolls, but can take solace in the fact that she'll continue creating and photographing them to "make people smile" during hard times.

"I don't sell anything," she continued. "I'm just a photographer that has an Instagram account. I had never considered making a doll and selling it — Mattel is good at that. That's what they do."

"My dolls are a comedic commentary on quarantine," Ruiz said. "That's really what I want to do, is find what's relatable. My Barbies don't just talk on the phone — she does dishes and real-life stuff."

To learn more about Ruiz's work and quarantine-themed dolls, visit her blog here.

• Read more:
• Here's what Barbie looked like the year you were born
• Barbie is expanding its line of inclusive toys to include a doll with vitiligo and another without hair
• Mattel just released its first line of 'gender-inclusive' dolls to allow kids 'to express themselves freely'
• The first black Barbie to use a wheelchair is here, and people are loving the message it sends to kids

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