Heidi Ott Faithful Friends eBay Score!

Hi Doll Friends,

It's been a bit since I posted... 

Life has really been... Well, hard. Life has been hard. 

I mean 2020 has been hard for everyone though right? 

Everything I ever thought life would be or become has been turned on it's head this year. 

Every. Single. Thing.

Perhaps my problem was having expectations in the first place. 

I don't know. Suffice to say I've been struggling to deal with the reality of my life and my sweet little blog here is feeling the hit. So, sorry about that. 

Well, I should back up and thank Jesus for even getting me to this day. Because without Him I might've just lay down on the bed and quit trying at all. 

So praise Jesus!

So, when trying to keep my head above water, I often go out 'researching'...

Or rather keeping an eye on my 'watched' items on eBay. 

Teehee. 

Mostly I just look for deals that are unheard of which are much more rare now than they were like 20 years ago when I joined eBay...

But sometimes...

You find a great one. 

So when I saw this Heidi Ott Faithful Friend doll listed on an auction for $5.00 starting bid plus shipping... (And reasonable shipping at that!)

I knew I had to at least bid on her!

So I did. I bid like $5 and change. Figuring I wouldn't get her but it couldn't hurt to try and then...

I won the auction!! I was shocked! 

So here she is. Isn't she beautiful? I love love love Heidi Ott dolls. I have several as you can read about here.

Most of the Heidi Ott Faithful Friends I've gotten in the past I've given body transplants to because I don't really like the body type they came up with on these dolls. But I also love the sculpt on the hands and feet of them and those are lost when they get an Our Generation Doll body... So I might just let this little lady keep her original body... I don't know, time will tell. I do know she's going to get a new wig though. Heidi Ott Faithful Friends were very well done in most every detail, their costuming was amazing and of course the Heidi Ott sculpt is gorgeous. But they wanted to make them afforable to the masses and, I think, the one place they had to skimp on quality was on the wig. 

In fact, as I am writing this, this little lady has already gotten a new wig... Teehee. She looks amazing in it too! I'll have to show her to you soon. Here she is dressed in some contemporary clothes. 

Isn't she cute and pretty? 

So I am so glad to have added her to my collection. 
Side note, the quilt she is standing in front of? My Grandma made that. Isn't it BEAUTIFUL? It's one of my most precious items in all the world. 

I better run. 
XXOO
Heather 

 

Syracuse Meets Some Of The Doll Family!

Hi Doll Friends!

Syracuse recently arrived in the Doll House (Lotus-Onda Newyberry type doll) and so of course I had to take some photos of her meeting some of the Doll Family!!

Here is Syracuse is in the parlor...

She is joined by Kaleo Doll. By way, I looked and looked and looked for a post about when I converted Kaleo to a boy doll but couldn't find anything so... He is a Heidi Ott Faithful Friends Beth head and an Our Generation body. I love love love the face sculpt on Heidi Ott Faithful Friends but really dislike their body type because they can't stand on their own. So all of the Faithful Friends in my collection have been made over in to OG bodies. I digress... But I wanted to tell you who this doll was because I don't think you've seen him before? He's named after a group who's music I love... Kaleo is a band from Iceland and I discovered them right about the time I converted him and so it fit. 

Of course Frann Doll was there for to meet her! 

Then Heather Doll welcomed her. 

Kaleo, Frann and Heather talked story a little while until...

Josh Doll arrived to say Hi. 

The dolls in the Doll House didn't want to overwhelm her with too many hello's at once and so they just stopped there...

Syracuse thinks she is going to love the Doll House!

XXOO
Heather

Introducing Francis! My Most Recent Custom Doll

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

Well... I've done it again. It's not my fault!! Beautifully Custom had a sale on their doll wigs! Their doll wigs often cost upwards of $30-40 and they had some on sale for $17.00 shipped! 

I couldn't help myself. I had to buy one. (It's a good thing I have a budget or I might've bought three or four! Hahaha!) The one I chose was called "Cupcake". Like the other Beautifully Custom doll wig I have, it was even more beautiful in person than it was on the website. 

Here it is in it's fancy fabric drawstring bag. So posh! They always come with a little hair bow too. Such a great product! 

Inside the fabric bag there there is also a plastic bag with pretty designs on it and a fancy Beautifully Custom sticker. Awesomeness. So... I ordered the wig but with no doll in mind as to who might end up getting customized with it. 

This Heidi Ott Doll that I customized last year was one that, while I liked her better that I did when I started with her  after her body transplant and wig change, I still wasn't totally satisified with her. So I'd never glued on her wig... You know, just in case. Teehee. 

I am so glad I did! Because the minute I put this wig on this doll I knew it was practically made for her. Isn't it she cute??

I named her Francis because I've always loved that name. 

She just looked so pretty out in the natural light that I had to keep taking her photo. 

So I am sure she will become a favorite doll of mine in the Doll House. 

See? I kept taking her photo!

So pretty! Well.... Then.... This past weekend... When my Doll Mad Money Budget was replenished for July Beautifully custom sent me another email about another sale!! Uh oh. 

This one wasn't quite as inexpensive, it was $27 shipped... It's on it's way here. 

Then, low and behold, another one of my favorite wig companies, Exquisite Doll Designs,  had a sale. Uh oh.

This gorgeous wig was only $17.77!! So... I ordered it too. I have an idea of who's going to get this one and she's going to be gorgeous in it! 

Gotta run!

Till Next Time!

XXOO
Heather

Heartland Doll Tea Parties Seat For Your Doll!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I've been recently telling you about my exciting project, the Heartland Doll Tea Parties at TheTreasureTrove that are coming up next month. I described what the seat for the Dolly Guests would be like but I hadn't taken a photo to show you what they'd look like at the actual tea. So, I took some photos at the Treasure Trove this weekend to show you where Dolly will sit if you come join us for tea! I do so hope to see you there!

Here we have Snow, my most recent custom doll, modeling a Dolly Chair like the ones that will be at the Tea Parties in the Tea Room of The Treasure Trove. As you can see, she has a chair next to her for her Doll Friend (that would be you, dear reader, should you choose to attend) to sit in. 

While these are not the exact dishes she'll have at the Tea Parties (I forgot to bring a set with me!) they are a few of the tea accessories that are sold at The Treasure Trove. So Snow decided to model them for you as well. 

Such lovely ambiance in the Tea Room, the perfect place to settle in for a nice cuppa! When you're all done with tea, finger sandwiches and petit fours, you and your Dolly get to play for an hour in the Heartland Doll House. 

I decided to show a few of the other cute tea sets that were for sale at the store. This one is so pretty!!

This one is a bit on the big side for Dollies but as a set for a little girl and her friends it would be the Bee's Knees!

There is a wall of hats at the Treasure Trove that guests at Tea Events borrow to wear for tea. Aren't they clever!?

More cute tea sets...!

So I hope you're able to come out for one of the Tea Parties with your special Dolly! We'd love to see you there!

Better run!
XXOO
Heather

Another Doll Body Transplant At The Doll House!

Hi Hi Hi Doll Friends!!

Recently I did a makeover of a Heidi Ott Doll where I totally replaced her doll body with a different one that was more poseable. Since I've made her over, I simply adore her! I've made over other dolls that I loved the face scuplt but who'd been manufactured with less poseable bodies. I mean, the less poseable ones are great if you, for instance, want to sleep with your dolly. It would would make them much more snuggly... But when it comes to standing and posing and being in doll scenes, it means they sit on the bench most of the time rather than getting in the action! I couldn't have that because these dolls are often named after friends and loved ones and they need to be able to participate in all the doll fun! Right? 

I've done a few other body transplants too but can't seem to lay my hands on the blogs... I need to be better at tagging them. Oy! I wasn't really super TypeA about making 'tag lines' when I first started blogging and now I feel almost like I need to go through every single post and fix them. However, let's get real, if I do that I'll never post another new blog post! So I will, I suppose, try and fix them as I go forward at least. Rambling... 

So I have decided to 'upgrade' all my poor 'benched' dolls with 'more poseable' bodies as I found them at thrift stores. When I replaced the Heidi Ott body, I was on a roll and replaced my German Puppenhaus dolls body with a Springfield doll one. It's kind of a lower quality body (the Springfield) and I'll probably replace it with an OG body when I find another one cheap but for now she is much more poseable than she was... next for her? A new wig! Cos this one is good quality but so 1990 style wise and she'd look so much pretttier with different wig. Naturally I gave the cast off body to the Springfield head.

Here they are 'pre-op'. 

It really is a shame that the Engle Puppe dolls bodies won't pose well because they've got cute legs and arms... But they won't sit well and won't stand well (or at all) without a stand. 

As with a lot of higher end dolls, they have neck strings instead of zip ties. 

Mid-operation. Sorry, I always have to take a photo because it always, every single time, makes me giggle as I hear the line "Off with their heads!" from Alice in Wonderland. 

Here they are post-op. 

I donated the Springfield/Engel-Puppen doll hybrid to the Goodwill... perhaps she'll make a toddler or younger child a good first dolly...? As for my new Engel-Puppen/Springfield hybrid custom, I love her. She looks so much cuter in the same outfit she had on before, doesn't she? 

Here she is with my last body transplant success... These two were the models in my recent posting about the doll bike I found at Goodwill. They looked so pretty in the sunshine! 

Till Next Time!

XXOO

Heather