Princess And Me 18inch Doll Ariel Make-Over

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

First off, once again, I have accidentally left this post in my 'Drafts' without meaning to... Writing a blog is a sort of multi-faceted thing. There is finding things you want to write about, photographing them, writing blogs, updating Pinterest board, updating Facebook page... I love it all but it does tend to sometimes make you miss a 'step' in the process of getting a blog posted. Hence, my missplacing drafts sometimes. See, as I take the photos, I am pretty much writing the blog in my mind as I take photos... So it's almost as if it's done already but it's just a matter of getting it typed out. I am rambling here... My point is, I posted this draft a couple of weeks ago and am just now getting here to tell you the story. 

As many of you know, I find orphan dolls at thrift shops quite often... Which I love to do, especially when I can take a doll that has been through Toy Box Horrors and bring her back to her lovely self. One problem a person who's good at finding dolls such as these, though, is that often times you find duplicates of dolls you already have at home... Hmmm... To buy or not to buy? I am sure you know the answer to that question when I ask it of myself is usually 'to buy!!' Usually, if they are dressed, the outfit alone is worth the cost of the doll... I don't really want to have a lot of duplicates in my doll house though... I have enough dolls as it is without having two of any of them. You know?

So that combined with my recent sort of 'obsession' with re-wigging dolls became the subject of this post. Here is Ariel with a wig I tried on her after I shore off her regular hair...

You see, I already have a Princess and Me Ariel and didn't 'need' another one. This one I found at Goodwill had on this great dress (I am adding it to my Halloween Costume cache!) and was in good shape... She only cost $1.99!

But only needing one Ariel, I instantly knew I would see how she looked with alternate hair!

Her hair before was in ok shape, I could've sorted it without too much trouble but knowing it was coming off, I just left it in it's pony and sheared it off with scissors. 

This wig was just a 'try on' that ended up being glued on to another doll... (see upcoming post) Ariel is currently wearing a strawberry blonde wig but I apparently forgot to photograph her in it so stay tuned for an update of this post to include a photo of what will likely be her permenent hair!! I thought she looked pretty great here with the short red hair but I bought this wig for a different doll and so she couldn't keep it. I like the strawberry blonde wig she is currently wearing but haven't glued it on yet so I must still be ambiguous about it. (I know I've committed to a wig for sure when the glue goes down!) 

That's it for now doll friends!
Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

Makeovers! A Box Of eBay Dolls Get Makeovers!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

As you may have noticed, what with all the re-wigging of dolls lately and all, fixing up dolls who've been mistreated is one of my favorite things to do... 

Normally I find my "makeover" dolls at thrift stores or garage sales... On eBay, even a doll with a "price" of 99cents is going to cost around $10 to ship. When you can get a brand new doll for around $25, it's kind of hard to spend about half that for a doll in bad shape.

However... When you buy a "lot" of dolls, it can make more sense. Including shipping, I paid about $8.50 each for these dolls. That's a tiny bit more than I generally like to pay at thrift stores but... 

One of the dolls was a Disney 18inch and I've wanted one for a long time... She cleaned up really nice!

Her hair was a mess and she was pretty dirty when she arrived.

One of the other dolls was a TollyTot. TollyTot dolls sadly aren't made anymore... But they are lovely. My very first 18inch doll was, in fact, a TollyTot my daughter had gotten at a Garage Sale but never played with. She became my "fit model" and so will always be a favorite doll. 

I already have a blonde TollyTot that looks almost like this ones twin... Only difference is this one has bangs. So, it had to happen... I wanted a TollyTot to be the next doll I sent to my friend Frann and this one was perfect! Another twin doll!

There was also an OG that is one I was looking for. My daughter has wanted a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" doll for a while and this one is a dead ringer. So she will be Buffy. 

The only doll I didn't know much about was this one. You may not believe this but she was so horribly designed and her hair was such a trainwreck, she went right into the Goodwill box. Her hair kind of "fell apart" when you touched it... Very weird. Her body couldn't pose and her face sculpt wasn't really to my taste enough to consider a body swap... So, see? I don't have to own ALL the dolls. LOL

They turned out great!! Buffy is lovely... Took a lot of brushing and cleaning but I love her! Need to get her more "Buffy" like outfit and some wood stakes. Haha.

The Disney doll turned out fantastic!! Isn't she pretty??

And the TollyTot cleaned up really nicely too...!

In case you were counting... Yes, there is one more doll I didn't mention from the doll lot. She was a 1998 Battat with hair that was not salvageable at all. So, as was my plan when I bought the lot, she was going to be used for a body transplant for a doll who's face sculpt I adore but who's body is subpar in its not being able to pose or look nice in clothes. So stay tuned for another body transplant post soon!

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather 

TollyTot 20" Doll Ariel Joins the Doll Posse!

Hi Doll Friends!

Just a quick post here to show you my latest 'haul' from a thrift store. 

I got all this for $4. The dolls were 99c each and the doll bed was also.

I didn't know what to make of the Ariel doll. I'd never seen anything like her before. I am not going to lie, there are only two reasons I bought her. 1) I have a flat out weakness for Ariel. She is my favorite Disney princess and has been since my best friend in High School memorized The Little Mermaid when we'd basically live at each other's houses when we were teens. Then 2) I was going to steal her dress for my other dolls at the very least. 99cents for a sparkly doll dress is pretty good. 

Except for when I got it home, I realized it was attached?!?

It had 'lights' in the dress and when Ariel spoke when you push the button in her chest, they light up. Kind of creepy I thought! I thought I'd probably get rid of her because who wants a doll with a dress you can't take off. Pretty sure the prior owners had the same thought... Till...

I opened up her back panel and realized you could remove the dress by taking out the cable. We also took out the batteries because I am not a fan of talking dolls. As I looked her over, low and behold what do I find but that she is a TollyTot doll! TollyTot's are some of my favorite of all the 18" dolls ever made! I am loving her more and more as I look her over. 

Words

PS

Stay tuned! Belle is a recent find too!

PSS Did you notice the first photo had a one eye'd doll with a green dress? Well, look how amazing it looks on Lilly, my HeartforHeart doll! I have learned to always look at the dresses on dolls even if the doll itself is in bad repair. So pretty!

New Dresses for the BFC Ink and Disney Princess Dolls!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

I was recently reading a great doll blog that I've found recently. It's all about finding and making doll items on the cheap. It's called Dolls on a Dime! Just the name is right up my alley! Recently she had this post about finding second hand porcelain dolls and taking the dresses off of them for the thinner variety 18" dolls. In her posting she mentions Disney Princess and Me dolls but the idea works well for BFC Ink dolls I discovered. 

See? Aren't they beautiful??!!

Here are the 'donor' dolls. I plan to re-donate them to Goodwill, where I bought them for $3.99 each. 

I was surprised at the big difference in size of the 'donor' dolls and how well they worked anyway.

This smaller doll was purchased for same thing but it didn't work out so well... More on that later. Let's just say it wasn't made very well, the dress and wouldn't have made a good play dress in any case. Luckily she was only $1.99 and so it wasn't too big a loss.

The dress donor dolls were very pretty but I have always disliked porcelain dolls. I think a doll is made to be, first of all, a plaything. So, a very fragile doll doesn't make any sense to me. So... I didn't feel to badly about taking the dresses because apparently I am not alone in my sentiment about them because they are at Goodwill all the time. 

This one had a mark on her neck...? Seymour Mann doll. Don't know much about porcelain dolls but her dress was made very well!

There was only one problem with one of the dresses. The sleeves were too tight to get over the hands of my dolls.

So I simply opened up the seam with a seam ripper and 'hemmed' the edges so it wouldn't fray and it's perfect. 

Belle looks like this dress was made for her!!

Even if it is a little long.

The BFC Ink Dolls fit the dresses really well too!

Here they are wearing them in the Library of the doll house.

And playing chess!

That's it for now friends! See you next time!