Hello again! I know I am on a bit of a posting blitz here but work at a school and am trying to get a lot of the ideas I've had so much fun doing posted before I go back to work next Monday.
With that said I thought I'd do a little meet and greet! I will introduce you to all the dolls I will be using to model the items I have made. We have several recent new additions to the doll populace in our house, doubling it this Christmas and Late December Birthday of my dear daughter. I know that sounds extravagant but I'll explain as I introduce you to the dolls. I'll 'introduce' you in the order in which the dolls came home to us. Which brings us to our first model:
Calla was my dear daughters first ever 18" doll, she got her on her fourth Birthday five years ago. She is made by Madame Alexander and has blonde hair and blue eyes. Madame Alexander dolls have soft bodies too but their shoulders are plastic, meaning their soft torso starts lower down, below the shoulder. They are also a bit thinner than American Girl Dolls but I like them and think they have very pretty faces. I also like that they have poseable necks although Calla seems a tiny bit 'looser' in her neck than she was when new but she will still hold a pose with it. She's been played with quite a lot and is still in really good shape for having been buried in the bottom of the toy basket on more than one occasion and having been played with pretty roughly by a young girl.
Shuri came home around same time as Calla. I'd purchased Calla at full price before Christmas and then when I went back about two days after Christmas, they were half off!! So naturally I HAD to buy one! Dolls need friends afterall.
Rose came from a Thrift Store, I got her for about $2 as I recall. She had a small tear in the bottom portion of her bottom, her hair was a total wreck and she had writing on her foot of first owners name (think Andy in Toy Story). For $2 I figured I'd take her home and see what I could do with her and she has since become my favorite of all the dolls really. Her body type is very similar to American Girl Dolls but I can keep her in my craft satchel for fittings because my daughter likes her less than the ones from American Girl Doll. Which brings us to our next doll.
Panda was my daughters first 'actual' American Girl Doll and is one of the modern type where you can pick the hair and eye and skin colors. She has an imaginative name just like all my daughters dolls and is lovely as all the American Girl Dolls are in my opinion. Still not quite sure they are worth three times the price of others but they're made very very well.
The next doll to come home was one very popular last year, obviously, being as she was the American. Girl Doll of the Year for 2013. Yes, that is right, her name is Saige. She was a gift to dear daughter for Christmas from her Grandpa. I love her long hair although I think it might be a nightmare if you had a younger girl who isn't likely to take quite as good of care of it as she might ought.
The next three additions all came from an, at least I thought, unlikely source. I shop at Aldi quite a lot and so know they usually have toys around Christmas... So I was in around mid-November and rounded the corner and saw 18" Dolls!!! With very pretty faces!! They are called Style Girls and are made by a company named New Adventures. They were only $20! So I just had to buy one for my daughter, a new friend for Saige to join the crowd with. Here is the first one:
Dear daughter named her Sabrina and I think she is very pretty. Upon opening her, we were both pleased by her hair quality and the quality of her head and legs but her torso leaves a bit to be desired. She isn't stuffed very tightly and so her middle is a bit wobbly. I have played with idea of doing doll surgery and undoing her stitches and stuffing her a bit fuller but I haven't gotten brave enough yet. You can make her stand up but only if propped against a doll chair or something. The clothes she came with were very cheaply made for the most part. One or two items were nice but for most part, we are gonna get rid of all the clothes she came with. For the money though, she was well worth it!
Which brings me to the last two members of our doll posse and how they came to join the family. Two days after Christmas I ran to Aldi for milk... Wasn't even thinking about toys or dolls in any way, figured they'd probably sold out of them long ago and Christmas was over anyway. My dear daughter was lamenting that very thing the day before after I told her that Sabrina was only $20 because she had gotten Christmas money she would like to use to buy another one (they always have the pictures of the other dolls in the selection on the side of the box as you know). So I again round the corner and there are like 10 left!!! That wasn't the best part though! They were also half off!! That's right folks, a brand new 18" for $9.99!! So I did what any rational person would do, I bought two. I bought one for my dear daughter:
She named her Rebecca and I shamelessly purchased one just for me because I've always wanted an African American doll for the posse but they are usually the first from the assortment to sell out and so I've never found one on sale!
I named her Isla. Isn't she gorgeous?! Now that you've met everyone I bet you are wondering what the dolls that are not in the scene do with their off time?
Well, like most show business, they hang out and chat in the green room of course!
Hope you've gotten a kick out of the Meet and Greet and I'll see you in the next posting! Have a fabulous day!!
