Another Doll Body Transplant and Makeover! Part One

Hi Doll Friends,

So this happened a few weeks ago... I keep meaning to get back to finish up the photos for it of the 'after' but I have decided it will just have to be a two parter... I have decided to re-wig the doll body recipient with a wig that is on the way and so I'll just post her 'after' photo in that one. Sound good? In the meantime...

I found another Our Generation Doll at a thrift store...

I've basically decided to always buy dolls I find if they are in decent shape... I love doing 'custom' doll so much that having a donor body on hand will never be a bad idea. As it is, I have so many dolls on the 'body donor list' that I won't have one 'on hand' for a while... Haha.

For the price of a fast food burger, how can I not buy them? Right?

You may recall when I got four Engel Puppe German Dolls for an amazing price on eBay last year... I love love love their adorable face sculpts! Their bodies, however, not so much... I mean I love the sculpts on the hands and feet but as you can see, they are soft bodied dolls. This manner of dolls never see's much 'play' in the doll house because they look awkward in clothes and can't pose well at all. So... I determined around the time I did my first doll body transplant that I would switch them all out as I found second hand doll bodies to do so. This is the third one I've transplanted, I only have the boy doll left now to go and he will be the recipient of the next doll body I find. 

As you can see, the donor doll's hair was a total mess... Naturally I didn't waste any time trying to fix it because I wasn't going to keep her once I gave her the other body. I donate all the donor body dolls (the head with the other doll body attached) to Goodwill. I figure maybe someone out there could use them for something? Right? Maybe they like more 'snuggly' dolls? 

So here they are 'post-op'! In case you missed the prior posts on this procedure you here is a link to one that has, if I recall correctly, links to most of the others. I've kind of lost track at this point how many I've done body transplants on... I'll have to gather them all together and take a group photo of all my custom dolls soon. I mentioned I have a wig on the way for this one... I bought a few wigs recently with thoughts of custom dolls. I really don't care fot the wig on this doll because 1) it has come 'loose' on the scalp where it's come unglued and so it's wibbly and weird when you try and brus her hair and 2) it's a very dated style, like a 1980s mullet or something? So she is getting a cute chin length bob with bangs as soon as it arrives. So stay tuned for that soon. She is gonna look so adorable!

On that note, I am super excited about another few wigs coming and am sure I'll go into full on 'doll makeover mode' when they arrive. I have decided to make a doll doppelganger of one of my favorite movie characters from when I was a girl and her wig is on the way... I hope she turns out the way I want her to!! I'll give you a hint as to who she will be: She has red hair has had a 'hard knock life'. Who do you suppose that is? 

Gotta run!
Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!!

Hi Doll Friends!

All this past summer I was determined to find a Doll House sized tree for the doll house at a thrift store or garage sale... In prior years, when I wasn't really looking for one, I seem to recall seeing them all the time! Alas, when I decide to look for one, it was a total bust. A few times I did see them but they were used and 2/3rds of the price I imagined I'd be able to find one new for if I waited until Christmas time. So, I waited...

What feels like a blink later, Christmas is just around the corner. So what do you suppose showed up in Walmart about the day after Halloween? That's right! Christmas decorations!  I am not even kidding. So when they got them all up at my regularly visited Walmart, I went looking for a tree. Sure enough, I was right. A new 24inch tree was $9.99 and every (somewhat shabby and dusty looking) tree I'd seen all summer was at least $6 or so and so I was right to wait. 

It's perfect! The only thing I don't like about it is that it's pre-lit because I always hear people talking about how thier pre-lit trees only last a few years before the lights stop working... However, it's pretty standard in the artificial tree market and so I had to buy what was available. From what I understand, you can, with a bit of work, remove the lights if/when they malfunction so I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right?

Here we have Katie Doll looking at the tree after she dragged out the big bin of Christmas decorations I've been finding and putting away all year... So exciting!

The tree came pre-lit with clear/white lights. In my 'real' house, my husband and I have differing preferences about lights on trees. He likes the traditional multi colored lights and I like the clear/white ones. Since the Doll House is kind of 'my' preferences, I chose the tree with clear lights. However, wanting to make it pretty for Josh too, I found a string of colored 'lights' that don't light up but look pretty. So Katie Doll strung those on first and then set in to putting on the many ornaments!

These little pink hearts are so adorable!! I love 'variety' in ornaments on my Christmas tree's. Some people prefer just the traditional glass globes but I like all manner of different ornaments...

Along with the traditional glass balls... Katie put those on last, trying to find a good balance of ornaments all over the tree...

When she opened up the box of glass balls, she realized they didn't have any hooks or strings to hold them on the tree! Phooey! So, Katie had to take an overnight pause in decorating until she could go to the store and get some proper hooks. 

She decided to turn on the lights mid way to see how it was looking... Pretty! I love Christmast lights!! Don't you?

The next day, after getting the hooks for the glass balls, Katied Doll and Lilly Doll finished decorating the tree. They had so much fun doing it that they totally forgot to take photos of the 'during' part! Oh well... Isn't it beautiful!!?

While out shopping for the hooks, we happened upon a Craft Fair at a local high school... They had all manner of cute stuff but my favorite thing was this adorable doll sized stocking!!

Sadly I only bought one because I wasn't entirely sure it'd be the right size? (They are made as gift card holders) But when I brought it home I decided it was perfect!! Stockings in my 'real' house run on the really large size (you have to have enough room for Santa to leave you all manner of goodies, right?) so the size really is spot on I think. I was kicking myself for not buying at least five of them so I'd have one for my favorite dollies... When low and behold I found the crafters card inside the stocking. Clever!!! I found her Etsy Shoppe and wrote her a note and asked if I could get more... I also asked if she'd ever thought to market them to the doll loving crowd? She thought that was a good idea... So she's posting a listing for them!! She hasn't gotten it up yet but Tiffany's Crochet Shop is where she is in case you want to contact her about them and order one for your special Dolly for Christmas. I plan to come back with a bit better 'review' when I can lay my hands on a few more of them (well, at least a post about just them...!) So stay tuned for that!

Well, that's it for now Doll Friends!

Do you have your Christmas tree up yet? I must report that in my 'real' house the tree usually goes up a bit later... Around December 6th. That was always the tradition in my husbands house and we have kept it since we got married. 

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

Lamps For The Doll House!

Greetings Doll Friends!! 

I've had lamps for the Doll House for a while now... But the cords were too short to reach the outlets in my doll room. Then on our Black Friday Adventure I found some at the Dollar Tree! Score!

So I came home and put my lamps in the living room of the Doll House!! Aren't they pretty?!

I played around with how to take photos with them. This one (above) is with just the lamps and so a bit dark...

But this one with other lights is a bit 'bright'...

I also played around with where in the room to put them...

I think they make the room look much more 'real' and love how they hightlight Jesus' picture on the wall above. Beautiful! What do you think? I am sure I'll get better at figuring out how to make the light work with photos but all in all I love them!

Better run!
Till next time!
XXOO
 Heather

Black Friday Errands Shopping and A Doll Craft!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Black Friday... I am not sure what your feelings are on it but it's never been something I've gone out and joined in on. Perhaps it's because when I was younger I worked in retail and always had to work for it so now I don't want to be at stores since I don't have to be at stores? Also, I am not all that fond of crowds and talk about crowds! Do you like to go out in the early morning and find the amazing sales? I can see the appeal of a really great deal on expensive electronics for instance... Still it's not ever something I've wanted to do for the reasons I've mentioned. 

That being said, the weather was really pretty on Friday and I needed to run an errand into 'town' to go get a parcel from Fed Ex. It was in the other close-by city I live near. This city is actually closer but since it's not the one I moved out of, it's always my second choice to travel to for errands. So, going there is kind of like an adventure! When I said that it was going to be an adventure, guess who wanted to jump in Jeep with me and go along for the ride? You guessed it! Frann Doll! She always likes to see new places she's never been before. 

When we got to the address of the Fed Ex place she and I both giggled... It looked a little bit like a fortress!! You had to walk up to that turnstile, mash a little button and speak into a speaker to a person who lets you in. Very secure! Frann was so brave! She walked right up and mashed that button like she owned the place. We went in and got the parcel and since we were in town anyway...

We decided to visit a few stores. We pondered "Which stores might not have crazy crowds?" because mostly we just wanted to get out and have a bit of fun window shopping. Then we thought "The Dollar Tree!" because they don't really have 'sales', they are just $1 for everything every day of the year. Perfect! We found one that was intriguing in that it was in a pretty brick building and very large... Might find some amazing stuff we never see in our regular Dollar Tree! Perfect!

"Come on! Lets go!" 

Then we decided another great place to go that might not have crazy crowds would be the local thrift stores. We started with Salvation Army and it turned out they had a Black Friday Sale! Half off everything in the store! How fun! We also went to two Goodwill stores but forgot to take photos of them as we were in the spirit of shopping by then. Haha.

We also needed to go to a Grocery to get a few things for the 'real' house... We found a Super Saver and got what we needed. 

Then, because it was such a nice day, we decided to stop into the Thrift Store in town before we headed home! It's becoming one of my favorites because proxity is important and it's a few minutes away! 

So what did we get? One great thing was these nail kits! The minute I saw them I knew I wanted to buy them and mix them together for a doll kitchen item. See the little bottles of glitter in the lower kit? They were perfectly doll sized for little spice containers or whatnot for the dollies. The little 'fruits' in the other kit would be perfect little 'candies' to go into the bottles! I didn't know for certain if my little idea would work but for $2 total investment, I decided to give it a go...

And I love how they came out!!! Aren't they cute?!?

One caveat!! When I brought home the kits my daughter saw them and said "oh mom I have some of those fruity things in a nail kit I got and never used... do you want them too?" Um, yes! So three of the jars (the more full ones) have an extra "serving" of the fruit bits. So if you decide to get some for yourself, if you want extra full jars, buy two "fruit" kits! I will probably buy a few more if I happen to see them again (Not all Dollar Tree's are created equally!) cos I think they'd be super cute on "baked goods" like cakes made out of bottle caps or whatnot... So I'll be looking for more. When will I learn to just buy twice as much of everything at Dollar Tree! But I always think "what if my idea doesn't work?" I am so cheap I don't even like to to 'waste' a couple of dollars. Haha

I also got these at the Dollar Tree. I needed the extension cords!! I've got some doll lamps for the doll house that I've never been able to plug in because the cords wouldn't reach the plugs in the room. So I was delighted to find some for $1 each! The lights I am going to try and decorate around the doll house with. I don't need them for a tree because I already got a Christmas Tree from Walmart for the Doll House and it's a pre-lit one. Pre-lit tree's are not my favorite but you can't seem to find a non pre-lit tree much anymore... So you gotta do what you gotta do. Right?

What did I get at the Thrift stores? Here is the 'haul' of the day... I don't really 'need' all those many Easter baskets but they are perfectly doll sized and only $1.99 for the whole bag! Had to get them. The molds I am going to try and make some doll sized cakes or cookies with. I love love love the milk jugs! I am going to re-paint them white so they'll look real but they are perfect sized!! SO cute! Naturally the stockings will be for the dollies. The rug beater made me laugh... So old school I wasn't sure what I would do with the Santa shaped bottle but it was too cute to pass up. 

So that was our adventures on Black Friday! What did you do that day?

Better run for now...
Till Next Time!
XXOO
 Heather

Maplelea Saila Comes Home To The Doll House!

Hi Doll Friends!

I am almost out of time this morning but I just have to tell you about Saila! As you know, my birthday was here recently and I was spoiled like a princess with doll clothes and new dolls  I got from my husband! Not to mention I was gifted an amazing handbag in 'real life' from my lovely friend Frann. I felt like it was already the best birthday ever! 

Then I opened my birthday card from Josh's Dad and his wife and low and behold they sent me a $100 check! Well... Guess who costs $99.00 on Amazon.com? I have had Saila on my wish list there for ever so long... When I got the check I was like "That's it... It's time" and I practically ran to my phone to order her. I love Amazon, it only took two days for her to arrive on my doorstep!

This is mostly going to have to be photos of her for now because alas... I am out of time to write much more. I have to work today and so does my husband so I must go get my day started...

It was love at first sight though I can tell you... She is so pretty!!

She is made so well.... Just as good as American Girl Doll in my opinion!! I think it's so neat she's from Canada!

Her box is amazing!! The book is really posh too! It's in three languages!

Here she is with Lauren who was the greeter for her since she is also from Canada. Saila felt right at home! Don't you love her suitcase? 

                            (Hi Frann!)

Frann and Heather came to greet her as well...

She wanted to change clothes after her long trip!

Then they all sat down and had some tea...

So here are all three of the dolls who've come home recently (Hey! It was my birthday and I love dolls! haha!) I am so glad to have all of them... The more the merry, right?

Gotta run!
Till next time!
XXOO
 Heather