Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Boy Doll Posse at the Doll House

Greetings Doll Friends!!

We are all moved and unpacking the Doll House has been an ongoing delight that feels like opening presents over and over again even though it's not my birthday!

Case in point? Unpacking all my dolls and putting them in fun categories and taking photos. 

Lately I've become intrigued by owning more boy dolls but they are a rare thing in Doll World, boys. So many of these are customs by me, made from female dolls. 


I forgot two guys in my photo! And Ari (red All Star jersey) kept covering up other boys faces but... Still was fun to have them all together for a group photo!


I'll have to come back and tell you all their stories soon! Gotta get ready for church! 

Oh! I got this beauty yesterday at flea market for $10! 

Her hair was in REALLY good shape, considering she was previously owned! I braided it in the car on way home to keep it ok! 



I changed her from her meet dress too, before I thought to photo... Will come back and post some of her in her dress after I get her hair in *permanent* braids. Haha!

Till next time!
XXOO

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Nearly All My Dolls In One Photo

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

We are moved! Hallelujah!! We actually moved about a week and a half ago but I couldn't unpack my dolls until the loft where my husband and I are going to bedroom and office had carpet put in. Happily the carpet went in on Friday and everything is coming together finally! So... In what felt like Christmas yesterday morning, I spent about an hour or so unpacking all my dolls onto our couch. I figured I'd put them all there and take a group photo. Mind you, all of them have box hair and they were not posed nearly as well as I'd have liked because I kind of just put them on the couch willy-nilly as they came out of the boxes. I am telling you, it was so much fun! I wrapped them all in pillowcases before putting in boxes (Um, yeah, I have a lot of pillowcases... Have I mentioned my affinity for linens? I digress) and so as each one came out of a box, I didn't know until I took them out of the pillowcase which they were... So much fun! So, without further adieu... Here are *nearly* all my dolls!


I know the photo quality is horrid and you can't see all their faces very well but... It's the closest I've ever come to having them all in one photo before. I realized after taking it that I had about 10 more dolls upstairs already, including my AG. I'll have to figure out which they were otherwise and take a group of them and add later so I'll have a post including all my dolls. Can't imagine when I'll take another group photo of all of them because it took some doing, getting them all situated. Haha! I've considered trying some YouTube videos and perhaps my first ones will be videos of my doll collection. We shall see. As it is, although my blog has had like 10K hits so far, I don't think I have one subscriber yet. My kids ask all the time because they care about such things. My point in bringing it up is to say that I pretty much write this blog just because I enjoy it... Anyone who reads it or gets anything out of it, mores the better! Maybe I have regular readers and they are like me and just don't subscribe to blogs? I read about ten doll blogs regularly and only have them bookmarked, not subscribed. So... Whichever. So if you're a regular reader, howdy! Glad to have you along! Am rambling now. So happy to be in new house. Worked on my dolls space yesterday and it's gonna be awesome! So... All these months of work and worry and being unsettled are finally paying off! God is good.

Till next time Doll Friends! 
XXOO



Sunday, November 8, 2015

"Simplicity 18inch Doll Clothes to Cut and Sew" from Hobby Lobby!

Greetings Doll Friends!

I am not sure if they are new or not but look what I found at Hobby Lobby! I used to make little stuffed animals from similar pre-printed panels every year when I would go see my Granny! I've made a few rag type dolls from the same sort of panel but hadn't seen the pre-printed dresses for dolls since the 1990s when Daisy Kingdom made them! 


I am not really into pattern sewing and so it'll be interesting making a dress like this again... I am more of an upcycle seamstress! But for $5.99 minus 40% coupon, I figured I'd give it a go! There wee about four designs there but I totally forgot to photo the others in my excitement to choose one of my own! The style was all pretty much the same, just different colors and patterns of fabric. 


So, I'll let you know how it goes when I finally get totally moved and unpacked and can sew it together!

Here is the whole reason I went to Hobby Lobby in first place:


I've read a lot of good reviews about Hobby Lobby's new 18inch doll clothes line... 

"Marigold Market" seems to be the name they settled on but they've had them out as a couple of different brand names apparently. Also, they had them first packaged on cardboard hangers but then changed to plastic bag packaging. From what I can tell, when they changed packages, prices went up by $2 per outfit from $7.99 to $9.99. Still they are pretty great prices and I want one of every style of shoes! 


Here is the display at my Hobby Lobby. Isn't it fun?!


Here are a few of my favorites, in no particular order.






They still had a few of the older packaged ones there too. Note the name of brand was "Make Me Your Friend" They are both Hobby Lobby brands. I bet they discovered petty quickly that the paper hangers don't hold up and having a photo of doll in outfit was huge plus. So I can see why they changed prices because the packaging with bags and special photo of doll in outfit would be more expensive.


Here is other brand. "Tree House" I've seen opening videos of the outfits online and the ones I saw had the hanger but the outfits themselves are same. 


I was also surprised to see a large collection of Springfield dolls and accessories there too!


Some of the items were same as my Micheal's store but they also had ones I hadn't seen before! 


Well, that is it for now Doll Friends!
Till next time!
XXOO 









Tuesday, November 3, 2015

More Creative Sources For Doll Clothes

Hi Doll Friends!

I know I've mentioned it before and I probably will again but when one is looking for doll clothes, it pays to be creative and think outside the box! Doll clothes are expensive! 

I've also mentioned that most thrift stores practically give them away nowadays... Helps that the average American child probably each has a couple 32 gallon trash bags full in their rooms. So... You can get them cheap! They've been 1/2 off at my local Goodwill for months now. 

So I was able to get all the stuff you see in this photo for about $8. Not bad for a lot of doll clothes!



Josh is wearing a sweatshirt from the haul and holding a microphone that came on one of the stuffed animals too! So you can even get accessories from them!


All the outfits were on stuffed animals except for the BuildABear robe that was loose in bin of animals and I got for $1.99. 


So look for BuildABear and other dressed stuffed toys at your local thrift store and maybe you'll find some great items for your dolls too!

By way, I re-donate the bears and toys I undress, immediately. Like, I literally undress them in the car and drive them right to the donation bay! Might as well just not bring them home since I plan on re-dontating anyway.

Well, that's it for now Doll Friends!
Till next time!
XXOO



Custom My Life As 18inch Boy Doll Josh

Greetings Doll Friends!

So I've wanted to make a doll version of my husband for a long time now... Kept hoping I'd stumble across just the right doll 2nd hand with just the right face because the idea of buying a brand new doll and cutting it's hair off kind of bummed me out and when you rescue a doll from the rubbish bin by customizing it, it's just a satisfying feeling. However... this doll had to have the perfect face and perfect eye color and perfect hair color because it's meant to represent my favorite person in all the land, my husband. So... I happened to be at Walmart recently and, per my usual, I went to look at the 18inch dolls.


Perhaps I had seen this one before but I don't remember it... The eye color? Perfect! Hair color...? Perfect!! The doll even has freckles!! Perfect!!


So I bought her. At $27.99, it's really not all that bad. Not as bad as buying a brand new American Girl Doll and people buy those to customize all the time...


I took photos of her box after I got her home to show you...


I love how easy the "My Life As Dolls" are to get out of their boxes!! Cut like three see through rubber bands and they're outta the box!


They really are top notch dolls, especially considering their price point!


Her hair was banded to her arms and was nice and thick, just like my husbands hair (thick! Not long... at least not anymore... When we were teenagers...)


The doll did have one flaw on it's shoulder but.... Oh well... It'll probably wash off, I just haven't tried yet. 


So I took the doll out and began to cut off it's hair. I tried my best to cut a good style into it but the way it is plugged, with a part down the middle, it made it a bit tricky and I have only cut doll hair like four times in all my life.... He may end up with a wig at some point but for now...


I think he looks great!!!


Here he is playing with a new kareoke microphone I found at a thrift store.


Here he is with the doll I've decided to name Heather. After myself! So... Heather and Josh have doppleganger dolls!


Aren't they a handsome couple? 


Wonder what he is whispering to her... I'll let you guess.

That's it for now Doll Friends!
Till next time!
XXOO





Monday, November 2, 2015

American Girl Doll Brand Clothes Thrift Store Find!

Greetings Doll Friends!

As you know, I frequent Thrift Stores often. That's the key to finding the most top notch items! Case in point? These two adorable, totally intact, American Girl Doll brand outfits for the dolls! They were both just shoved in a baggy and marked $4.99! Score!!


They are being modeled by Brandi (Our Gen) and Kim (Adora)



Oh! I also got this WORKING CD player for the dolls! It has a little CD that goes in it and it is actually pretty loud!


Cute huh? 99cents! New in box!


Awesome haul! 

That's it for now Doll Friends! Less than a week till we move!
XXOO