Famosa Nancy

Hello Doll Friends!

As you've probably become keen to, I have a tendency, at least lately, to use whatever 'mad money' I have on dolls or things for dolls. You have probably also caught on to the fact that I 'research' on eBay, a lot. Interestingly enough, I am finding dolls that I've never heard of before. Often, I find them via eBay's oh-so-dangerous "You may like this because you bought that" feature. I am pretty sure that isn't the real name for said feature, but that is what it does. I catalogs your purchases and looks around eBay for similar items and suggests them to you. Clever eBay. Clever. 

Such was the route by which the following beauties made their way home to the Doll House. They were on auction as new dolls but totally nude. As if someone purchased them to get the outfits but didn't want or need the dolls in their collection. Can't imagine who may do such a thing? Oh wait... I sort of did that. So, honestly, it gives me encouragement to think that the dollies that I buy for just their clothing may very well find new owners who are thrilled to own them. Thrilled like I am to own these two pretty dolls. I got them both for $12! (Ok, so shipping was also $12) and I thought that was a bargain just to get to see what they were all about. 

They are called Famousa Nancy Dolls I would give you a detailed review of their history but there is a fabulous history of them and review of them here.

Please excuse the dolls in their birthday suits but I wanted to show what they looked like, body type wise. They have hard plastic legs and torso, reminding me of the dolls you'd get at the drug store back in the 1970's that were three feet tall and could 'walk'. I never had one but my cousin did and I played with her often at my cousins house, so I remember. Much like those dolls, these dolls stand amazingly well on their own!

They are similar in body size and shape to the Heart for Heart dolls but are two inches taller. Their hair is rooted and pretty soft. Their arms and face are of a softer plastic, much like baby doll skin. 

Here they are, all dressed up and hanging out in the doll room with some of the girls. You can see how they compare, size wise, to both the Heart for Hearts dolls and to the Our Generation 18" doll. 

They all posed for a group photo!

Here they are with a couple of our Disney Princess and Me dolls, they are also similar in body size and will be able to share a lot of the same sized clothes. You can see how the 'same' dresses, which I told how to make here and here. 

I think they are going to fit right in! My daughter named the lighter blonde one Taylor and I named the more golden blonde one Oksana. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time! 

Madame Alexander 18" Doll Mary and Thrift Store Finds!

Greetings Doll Friends! 

Another long lost draft! I have the best of intentions when I post them! This is gonna be a bit of a "a picture tells a 1000 words" kind of post... Here goes!

I got the two dolls here thrifting. I think I paid about $3 each. I also got the working lamp and books that day. The red head has since been given away to a friend of my daughters because she wasn't a favorite of either of us and her friend only had *gasp* one 18" doll! So, we had to give her one. 

Here is Mary all cleaned up and ready for bed!

Here she is in a dress I upcycled.

Here she is with Rose (TollyTot) and Taylor (Famosa Nancy).

Here is some more loot I got around same time.

The bear I bought just for his coat. I gave him back to Goodwill. 

I LOVE this tall "bookcase"! It was a CD case but I gutted the groved slots and my book collection nearly fits in there! Or it did. It's grown since I bought it. A lot. Haha!

I couldn't get the old dry glue off but with books in, you can't really tell. 

Isn't it fab!

Then I found Belle. She was too pretty to leave at Goodwill.

I had to bring her home and clean her up!

Gorgeous!

Got this chair too! Can't recall what I paid. Knowing me tho, it wasn't more than $5.

It's perfect for doing doll hair! Here is Sasha (TollyTot) trying it out.

Then I found this kitchen! It was $2. I had to give it away as we are moving but it was so cool! Perfect size for 18" dolls! And it's portable! So cool. I already have a kitchen though and so it had to go. 

Awesome, eh?

Oh! And Dell! I got Dell, a HeartforHearts doll, for $1 at a church garage sale!! She was in bottom of box of old dolls. I am stoked! I renamed her Katniss after the Hunger Games Katniss because 1)she looks like her and 2) "Dell's" story is from the same area Katniss was from. 

Here she is right after I found her, in car on way home!

Isn't she beautiful?!

That's it for now doll friends!

Till next time!

XXOO

My Doll Collection Meet and Greet

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Another long lost post from April! I am writing this on September 11, 2015 but uploaded the photos in April! I guess I posted these drafts, got busy and thought they were posted. What's funny is my collection has exploded a bit since I took these photos. Teehee. But as of April 2015, these were pretty much all my dolls. 

Here are my 14" dolls. HeartForHearts and COAD dolls.

 Here are my Sekiguchi Dolls.

Here are my TollyTot 18" dolls.

My boy Battat which I custom made.

My Our Generation dolls.

My boys together. 

My Style Girls.

My "Positively Perfect Diva" and Hobby Lobby doll (what are they called? I forget)

My Famousa Nancy dolls with my OG red head Florence.

My BFC Ink dolls.

And my unknown! I'll come back and tell all their names later maybe... Or do a new meet and greet when I get done moving! Cos I have about twice as many dolls now... Give or take. Haha!

Till next time!

XXOO 

Children Of America Doll Gets a Makeover!

Hello Doll Friends!!

In a prior post, I told you about C.O.A.D. Dolls and how two of them made their way to the Doll House. I loved them when I got them and still do... However, as you will see, when took the pony tails out of one of them, I made a very distressing discovery!!

Look at this!? Her hair was only rooted around the edge of her skull and down the middle like some strange mohawk or something?! There was no way she would ever be able to wear her hair down! So... When I discovered that, I put her hair back into a pony tail and put it as a 'to-do' in my mental list of projects, finding some way to 'help' her hair problem. 

Fast forward to recently when I was looking into doll wigs on eBay. I kept seeing these really neat looking ones that were labeled 10inch BJD 1/3 Doll Wigs in amazing rainbow colors and crazy colors! I didn't know, though, if they'd fit an 18" doll and that is who I was shopping for...

So then I found one on auction for 99c and figured I'd risk it and bid. Shipping was about $7 but considering it was coming all the way from China, I didn't think that was too shabby. I ordered a gray one because one of my favorite dolls, a TollyTot named Electra, has gray hair and I love her look. I ordered the wig for one of my BFC Ink Dolls because their hair is a tragic mess...

However, when the wig came, I knew it wasn't going to fit. One of my friends in the doll forums on Facebook had been able to make one work by stretching it like mad and super gluing as she went... I love the way hers turned out but I am not that brave! She even did it on an actual American Girl doll. So... I had a wig that was too small for the one I bought it for... Hmmm... *light-bulb-goes-off* Oh yeah! My COAD Doll needs a wig!! Here is me, trying it on over her hair to see if I like the color on her. I think she looks amazing!!

So... Off with her hair!

Isn't her original hair line kind of, well, creepy?

So here is the first try on after I got original hair off. Doesn't she look fantastic?!

So, I put all the hair up in pony tail holders, even the bangs, to keep it out of the way while I glued it on...

Then I turned wig cap inside out and tucked all the hair inside to try and keep it safe from the glue. 

I've used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue and a sponge type 'brush' to put all my doll wigs on and from what I understand, many doll restoration people swear by it too. You can buy it at Walmart for under $2. 

So, I slathered her head in glue... Pretty liberally... 

All over her head.

Then I use the sponge brush to spread it more evenly over her head until I have a nice white layer of glue. 

You don't want it TOO thick though because it will seep up through the wig. I know this from experience. 

Then, on goes the wig! I've learned to do several trial runs with a wig every time I wig a doll, before I do it with the glue in place. This way you get a feel for where the wig will fall to and where you want it to be before you have the pressure of having glue setting as you decide!!

The bangs are a bit long, naturally, but I'll have them trimmed up... 

So here she is, on my messy desk, drying... I think perhaps waiting for the glue to dry is the hardest part! I always wait for 24 hours just to be on safe side before I touch the doll. Want glue to have proper time to set. 

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Update!

September 19, 2015

This didn't ever get posted back in April?! I guess I never got around to taking proper photos of her "after" and it got stuck in drafts. Am posting without after photos for now because she is in storage and it'll probably be a month before I can get back to playing in the doll house because we have to sell house and move and unpack before that can happen. Boohoo! She looks great tho and much like the photo at the end. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Till next time! XXOO