Rootbeer Mug Keychain For Leanne Doll!!

Hi Doll Friends!

I have a life long sister friend named Leanne who knows about my little blog here... She was out shopping on the webs-of-the-world-wide one day and happened across a doll sized beer rootbeer mug. On an sweet and endearing impluse she sent it to me for the Doll House Village. Of course I have a doppelganger doll of Leanne and real Leanne loves beer rootbeer. When it arrived I couldn't have been more tickled. The way to my heart is via doll related gifts, just ask my husband! Teehee. However, Leanne had done same thing I've done more than once and not realized the 'scale' of the beer rootbeer. It was actually made for 1:12 scaled doll houses and American Girl Doll sized items are 1:3 scaled. So... A tiny bit small. No matter to me! I was determined to use it in some way for Leanne Doll! *puzzling I was* then *lightbulb!* I decided to make it into a keychain for Leanne Doll's keys!! Where to find doll sized keys though? Then one day at the craft store I found a little box of keys that were perfectly sized!! I wish I'd have taken a photo and somehow I've misplaced the packaging. What can I say, found the keys like a month ago but had put the beer rootbeer in a 'safe place' and it took me that much time to find it again. Teehee. So it was a super safe place! Anyway, but they were very much like these here. Then I needed another key ring or some way to make them all hook together...? Then last week, I found this 'Queen' charm that is actually made, I think, for a charm bracelet. To me though, it screamed 'key ring for a doll'! Specifically for my sweet Leanne Doll! It lit the fire under me to search more in earnest for the beer rootbeer. Then, low and behold, I found it in the last box I looked in! (Side note: why do people say that? Of course you don't keep looking once you find it right? So I have been saying it with 'irony' for years but irony doesn't really come across in print does it? I digress...) 

And it came together perfectly!! See the little heart shaped loop Leanne Doll is holding the keys with? Well, it was actually one of the keys but when I was trying to put it on Leanne Doll's hand I pushed a bit too hard apparently and the bottom of the key broke off. Duh. However, it went on her finger! Then I looked at it and it looked kind of like it was meant to be that way...? In anycase, I left it as it was so Leanne Doll would have a great way to carry her keys. 

Aren't they cute?! 

Better run!

XXOO

Heather

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

Splash splash splash

(Inside greeting between me and Leanne)

Leanne Doll Gets A New Hair Style!!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Leanne Doll has gone through many makeovers in the Doll House. She is named after one of my life long friends and as my tastes with dolls become more refined, I have updated her look to reflect that. I thought the last wig I put on her was nice but I also knew the bangs on that wig needed to be trimmed... And I was always too skittish to try to cut them myself. So when I recently scored some authentic American Girl Doll wigs from eBay, I ordered this one with Leanne in mind. This lighter blonde is more like her color as well. I simply love how she turned out! So pretty! 

Better run!
XXOO
Heather

Pen Pal 18 Inch Doll Leanne Gets MakeOver Again!!

Hi Doll Friends!! 

My friend Leanne, after whom one of my Pen Pal Dolls is named after has already gone through a makeover once before... But I still wasn't entirely happy with her wig. The color was right and the style was pretty good. I liked it a lot until it'd been brushed a few times and started to seem tangly... 

So I decided she needed a new wig to go to go with her new body. I got this one on eBay and I absolutely love the way it came out! She is perfect now!!

Here she is in front of the Doll House (Or Hobbit House... haha!)

See, this is her with the other wig and body... Pretty wig but... just a bit tough to keep styled right. 

So muh better!! I need to trim the bangs up just a smidge but think I am going to beg my lovely friend who cuts hair professionally to to them for me so I don't mess them up. Not like they'll grow back out, eh??

One detail of the Pen Pal dolls I might not have mentioned before and one of the reasons they were perfect to be doppleganger dolls for who they are is their eye pigmentation. If you look closely, it looks just like blue camo! Which, for my Leanne doll, is perfect because she is in the Army! 

So pretty!! I love her so much!

Better run!

Till Next Time!
XXOO

Heather

Birthday Party For Frann and Diane!!

Hi Doll Friends!!

I am having technical issues with Blogger today so I had to post this as a 'photos only' to get it to publish! So... I'll be back tomorrow morning to write all about the party that we had in the Doll House this weekend for Frann Doll and Diane Doll! 

Till then!

XXOO

Heather

**Update March 29, 2017**

Hi again Doll Friends,

I am finally getting back here to tell the rest of the story of the party! 

Here are Josh Doll and Heather Doll setting up the table... Josh had to go get the butterfly tea set in order for there to be enough dishes and cups for all the guests. Aren't big parties the most fun?

Here are Myfanwy Doll and Diane Doll opening the cake that Myfanwy and Susannah baked. Frann and Susannah are getting some cold drinks from the fridge. 

LaQuela got back with the guests she had picked up in Myfanwy's van. So Leanne, Janeane and Sharon were all in the living room chatting...

So everyone had arrived and it was time to start the party!

Sharon brought some balloons for the birthday girls! Aren't they pretty?

When Heather went to look for birthday candles, she couldn't find any! So, everyone agreed it would be ok to improvise and use taper candles. You have to blow out candles at a Birthday Party afterall!

So everyone gathered around the birthday girls to sing Happy Birthday!

It took a minute to find a match to light the candles..

But finally Josh found some in his pocket...

And lit the candles. Aren't they pretty?

They blew out the candles!

Josh and Diane Doll chatting at the party.
((Diane Doll is a doppelganger of my husbands Mom and Josh is a custom doll of my husband))

They both have such gorgeous green eyes don't they?

Heather Doll is pouring coffee and chatting with Frann and Sharon.

Susannah putting away the candles.

Good chats going on in the living room.

Susannah had baked a lot of amazing cupcakes as well and everyone decided it would be best to eat them first... 

Susannah and LaQuela were putting away the second cake for later... LaQuela was also talking to Susannah about baking her wedding cake someday! She was so impressed with the cakes from the party!

Leanne, Janeane and Myfanwy were all discussing the recent release of Beauty and the Beast because they'd all seen it the opening weekend. They agreed they liked it very well but that nothing would ever replace the original animated version from when they were younger. 

Pizza! Isn't pizza the best and easiest party food? Everyone likes it and it's easy to serve. 

Everyone was having such a good time!

"Say cheese!!"

Diane listening to a song that Janeane told her about. She couldn't hear it very well over the fun of the party and so used the headphones.

I suspect that Susannah might just make that cake LaQuela is talking about. She's such a nice and generous person that she can never say no to her friends! I bet it will be the prettiest cake she's ever made!

All in all I think the party was a sweeping success! Frann and Diane were so glad to have gotten to share their birthdays and everyone was already talking about how to make the party even better next year!

Better run!
Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

Body Transplant's Galore at the Doll House!!

Hi Doll Friends!

So I recently did a doll body transplant for a doll who's vintage face scuple I loved but who's body I wasn't too fond of... Well, after loving the results of that so much, I got on a bit of a kick. 

This recent Vintage Sekiguchi Doll eBay find got me to thinking... "What would a Sekiguchi be like with a 'poseable' body?" Well, I still had the Our Generation doll I got here always seemed, to me, to have a bit of a 'green' tinge to her hair.... So... I decided to change out the Sekiguchi head onto the OG body. 

As you can see, the Sekiguchi doll bodies are not poseable at all, mostly cloth. So they always have to sit and never look just 'right' in the doll clothes made for 18" dolls. 

To get head off, you just have to open up a bit of the seam at neck, take a 'seam ripper' tool and get it up under the old zip tie... Then after you have the seam ripper in there, it's easier to get scissors in and snip the tie. 

Only trouble? The OG Doll was a 'poseable' one and I forgot they come with armatures. Not normally a problem except the Sekiguchi had a 'neck' attached to their head just like the Vintage Mattel Cameo Doll had. 

I was committed at this point... So I went and yanked the wig off another OG doll and took off it's head instead. Helps to have lots of dolls and have some that, while you like them, you haven't 'named' them yet and so aren't all that emotionally involved in them. Haha!

This one was a 'standard' doll and so no armature. Perfect. I pulled a bit of fluff out to make room for Sekiguchi doll's 'neck' and then zip tied them back on...

Awesomeness!!

So I had the head off the other doll already... And my Leanne doll's body hadn't ever been a favorite. I loved the face sculpts of Pen Pal Dolls but the bodies and hair were a total disappointment. I even re-wigged both of my Pen Pal Dolls. So, I solved it finally by giving her the OG body with the armature. What's funny is that she ends up with a different wig as well... So "Leanne Doll" is really custom! Haha! I'll show you her new wig in an upcoming post!

However... I had a different doll that hadn't really ever made it out of a box in basement simply because I loved her face but really disliked the design of her body. Her shoulders didn't look good in anything... She is a "TAK MAY" doll per her kneck markings but I've never been able to find any doll like her much of anywhere, even on eBay. So she is a bit of a mystery... Anyway, so now I had the 'spare' Pen Pal Doll body. As much as it wasn't my favorite, it was a huge improvement over this one and also the skin tone was pretty much spot on! Hmmm....

See how weird her shoulders are? 

This is her tag. It says: "Creative Designs Int'l Ltd. Travose PA 19053" (etc) but despite all that information I've never been able to find another doll like this... Until...

The other day at a Thrift Store, I found a brunette of the exact same brand!! It's like finding two unicorns or something because I am telling you, these dolls don't exist! Not really... Obviously they do because here they are... But do the research! I can't find them anywhere in eBay even in 'history' of passed auctions. That's pretty rare. Have you ever seen them before? 

Here is the top of the Pen Pal body. They come with strings, kind of like American Girl dolls but they aren't the quality by a far stretch. I mean, they can actually pose reasonably well and can sit really well (with legs forward instead of all spread eagle!) but they are very 'light weight' plastic and feel 'insubstantial'. Not the best... but better than the TakMayBlonde had before!

So I switched them out. I used a zip tie because the strings never seemed to work well. Again, I wish I had zip ties with smaller 'tie' parts. I need to research them and see if they make them (well, obviously they do... but where to buy?). If I find them, I'll go about replacing the ones that I have that are like this...

So here she is! With a body that will look nicer in clothes! Woot! Doesn't she have a pretty face! Those eyes!

Here is the Pen Pal doll tag.

So then I decided my other doll needed a 'proper' body. Since I had a couple of boys made from the 'Battat 1998' face scuplt, I decided to take the wig off one and steal it's body for this girl. As a side note... Perhaps I should confess now. About half of my 're-wigged' dolls don't have thier wigs glued down. Since no children play with my dolls and generally wigs stay on pretty well once you get them in place, I don't see a need to make them 'permanent' unless the doll is just 'perfect' as it comes out and I know I'll never ever want to change them. If that makes sense. It's paid off a few times when I've changed my mind about a doll wig. So, in this case, my 'Elvis' doll is no more... But Kevin doll was born! So it's a progression sometimes, right? LOL

Here they are before surgery! Haha!

Oh no! They've lost their heads!! Haha!

Here they are, all swapped! Naturally I'll likely donate the 'cast off' dollies to Goodwill. Who knows who might find them the right spare part for their doll project, right? Halloween is coming... People need dolls to make into Halloween decorations and this sort of doll would be spot on for that. Right?

So, here they are, all new bodies!! Able to stand up and pose and look fabulous in clothes! Doll body swaps are fun. Pretty sure I'll never be able to pass up a second hand doll again if the body is in good shape because you never can tell when you'll find a doll with a beautiful face but a sub-par doll body! 

Till next time!

XXOO
Heather