Frann And Patti Doll Go To The Mall... Weeks Ago...

Doll Friends,

Have you ever had a period of your life where you feel like you are barely treading water on the 'have-to's' (you know, like eating & sleeping and other 'basics')... Much less getting anything 'extra' (blogging, texting friends, dusting...) done. Well, that's been me since the day I took these photos on October 10th, er, well, actually a couple of days before that...

I rely very heavily on my consistent schedule and it had already changed, or disappeared and been replaced with a different (albeit better and friendlier although much looser) one in mid summer...  So I was still adjusting to that when a out of town family member (whom we hadn't really seen much for over a decade because reasons) decided to invite themselves into our lives for a period of three weeks. What?!?! I don't know about you but having family 'in town' is exhausting... You're always 'on' and can never really relax. Luckily, for me, it doesn't happen very often (ok, barely ever) and certainly not for three strait weeks. I was game to try though for sake of my sweet husband because he wanted to get along better with said family member. (It's a long long story that is kind of irrelvant with regards to details, we all have 'those people' in our lives don't we?) 

So... Given all those variables, despite my best efforts to the contrary, I sort of just quit doing much 'doll stuff' for three whole weeks. I'll be honest, I was in a rather bad slump of depression. I was trying to put on a good face and make peace with this person but... Well, there was a lot to unpack with that and stuff I'd avoided for, well, ten years. Blah. Well, one of the first things to go when you trip and fall into depression? The stuff you love... I just started seeing my dolls through this person's eyes, "silly and pointless and a waste of money and time." (Don't you love how such people never say such things to your face but instead to other people so you get the joy of hearing it second hand... Fun times.) 

Finally... The person left. They live fourteen hours from here and over some mountains and I started breathing better when they were about eight hours into their trip away from here. Is that terrible to say? Doll's are so much easier to deal with than real people, eh? My mind is slowly thawing out and so is my heart and mind... I literally feel like they've been in a deep freeze or something. 

So, just trying to explain to you, dear reader, why I've been so sporadic and MIA for the better part of a month. I haven't even touched my Halloween stuff despite being really excited about it this year because I got quite a few great new costumes... So that might just not happen and I'll have to keep them for next year. Who knows, maybe I'll do a mini-Halloween photo shoot but it likely won't be nearly as much detail as the last couple of years have been. 

*sigh*

I better run! Thanks for being a Doll Friend! Ya'll are some of my very favorite people! 

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

A Rainbow Wig for Famosa Nancy

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I already have three Famosa Nancy dolls in the Doll House. I love them and think they are gorgeous dolls! I have three blondes because I've gotten them inexpensively. Two from an eBay auction and one from a favorite thrift store. So... Then I found another one the other day for $3.99, I paused and considered maybe not getting her. Hahaha! Kidding!! But I did think one more blonde would be too many! I've wanted one with dark hair for a while now. So I thought "maybe I'll re-wig her in a darker shade..." So off to eBay I went to look for wigs. Well... I didn't go with dark. 

I went rainbow!! Isn't she fabulous!!

I haven't even removed her blonde rooted hair yet but I had to show off how cute she looks even with it over her hair! I'll come back later with an update after I actually commit to it in glue! It may be after we get moved but I think she will be fabulous as a rainbow colored hair doll!

Till next time!

XXOO 

Madame Alexander 18inch Doll Heather

Hi Doll Friends!

I was out at a Thrift Store and these two followed me home. Really! Ok, maybe not. I actually *gasp!* nearly didn't buy this Madame Alexander doll... I was a bit worried she was too beat up from massive neglect. Still, she was only $4 because her tag color was half off and so I decided to bring her home and see what I could do. 

Here she is with a Precious Moments doll I found at same store that day. I'll come back and tell you about her sometime soon to... But for now... Heather.

The photos don't really do justice to how dirty and beaten up she was.

Here was my main concern though. Her head seemed pretty wobbly on her neck! After researching it a bit to see how they are made, I am a bit less worried. They were designed to have poseable heads and if I set her head strait, she seems to be able to hold it up fine. It did give me pause at first though!

My other concern was her right leg. It was twisted in a strange way that made it turn outward funny. I decided I couldn't make it worse  and so I sort of just twisted and turned it until it was basically set to rights.

Her hair was very tangled up in this up-do! After inspecting it though and untangling it, I discovered it was still in really good shape! Not damaged, just tangled.

She came out so nice!! I can't believe I almost didn't buy her!

Here she is in an OG outfit that came on another doll I got recently. Can't wait to get moved so I can start making doll clothes again for her and all my other new dollies!

I decided to name her Heather because she is basically my dolly doppelganger... Literally... I have very pale blonde hair and blue eyes and pale skin.... So. She will be 'me' in the Doll House! ;) 

Look at her gorgeous hair!! My hair used to be like that... As a 42 year old woman though, it's a tad less thick and gorgeous than it was when I was a girl. :)

I love her.

Here she is with Adrienne, a doll I found two days before I found her at same thrift store. Both dolls cost less than $10! 

Till next time!

XXOO

Just Pretend Dolls Join the Doll House!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Well... I think I need intervention. Or to remove the eBay app from my phone. Or both. So... Let me explain!! I have been on eBay for many many years, both as a seller and as a buyer. I've learned a few tricks of finding things you want for cheap, even now after everyone else knows about eBay. I'd spill all my tricks here but they'd sound like tech talk and I am not a tech blog by any stretch of the imagination! Suffice to say I know how to tweak the search engines like a pro. I will let you in on a little secret about eBay. Or maybe it's not a secret but not a lot people think about it. As a seller on eBay, one really bad decisions you can make is to put your item up for an auction and have the last day of the auction be on a major holiday. Never do that if you want the maximum bids for your items people! Surprisingly enough, even in today's society, many people don't shop on eBay as much on major holidays like Easter and Christmas. So... As you may imagine, there is less bidding competition for good items on that day. 

I've not really had any major holidays pass by since the doll bug has bit me again and so... Being me, I couldn't help myself to just go peek and see what might be out there with regards to my most desired doll types. What do I find but... A person who is obviously selling off their their entire doll collection. What a collection it was too! They had an American Girl lot, a Heidi Ott lot and several other types but the type she had the most of were "Just Pretend" dolls. I've wanted one ever since I found out they existed on one of my favorite blogs. Here is an amazing review of them, all their varieties here. This blog may be my undoing because there are so many awesome dolls and naturally I wouldn't mind having one (or two...) of all of them in the Doll House! Is that wrong?

So I picked my two favorites and bid on my most favorite one, the one in the red candy striped outfit. Her auction ended before the other one and so I figured I'd bid on her and if I got outbid, I'd just bid on the other one. At the time all these amazing dolls were all bid free and only about 12 hours out from ending! Unheard of, these are rare! Especially for what the beginning bid prices were! So anyway, fast forward about six hours and sure enough, I was outbid. Undaunted, I went for the long haired beauty above. I was high bidder and was so excited that I was going to win her in all likelihood because it was about a half hour out from the end of auction and I was still high bidder. Which could mean nothing but... Then!! I got a notice "You've Won!" on the other auction. WHAT??! I was really feeling selfish and self-indulgent for buying one but went ahead because these beauties usually go for as much as four times my high bid was. I'd 'lost' the auction, I'd let it go! How did that happen!? I was so upset cause I knew I'd probably get both and so I went down and told my husband "I don't know what happened!!? I'd lost the auction!! Now I'll get both and I already felt like I'd spent too much" Then he gets this big sheepish grin on his face and said "Why didn't you think I'd try and get the one you wanted most for you at the last minute?" So he had bid a bit higher than I had and won! As you can tell, I also won the other auction. I feel very spoiled but... I LOVE THEM!

I broke with my recent 'standards' of only photographing dolls 'in the doll house' as much as possible. I was so excited when I got them in the mail I had to photo them immediately!! Aren't they gorgeous!?

I know she was my 'second pick' but I love love love her! Their hair is amazing!! They are very well made, can stand well on their own and are going to be great friends to all the other dolls in the Doll House!

Their hair needed a bit of brushing when they arrived. Their clothing was great, I think the green dress was home-made but she came with white shoes and the little red and white striped dress is adorable and so well made! The red striped one is my first doll with a short hairstyle and I adore it! Such a cute bob!

So here they are, all changed into fresh dresses and with their faces washed and hair combed. They are so lovely!

With some of the gang!

They have similar body types to the Heart For Heart and other 'slim line' dolls. 

Well, that's it for this time Doll Friends! See you soon!

Photo Outtakes! Bloopers! Hahaha!

Words

Words

Famosa Nancy

Hello Doll Friends!

As you've probably become keen to, I have a tendency, at least lately, to use whatever 'mad money' I have on dolls or things for dolls. You have probably also caught on to the fact that I 'research' on eBay, a lot. Interestingly enough, I am finding dolls that I've never heard of before. Often, I find them via eBay's oh-so-dangerous "You may like this because you bought that" feature. I am pretty sure that isn't the real name for said feature, but that is what it does. I catalogs your purchases and looks around eBay for similar items and suggests them to you. Clever eBay. Clever. 

Such was the route by which the following beauties made their way home to the Doll House. They were on auction as new dolls but totally nude. As if someone purchased them to get the outfits but didn't want or need the dolls in their collection. Can't imagine who may do such a thing? Oh wait... I sort of did that. So, honestly, it gives me encouragement to think that the dollies that I buy for just their clothing may very well find new owners who are thrilled to own them. Thrilled like I am to own these two pretty dolls. I got them both for $12! (Ok, so shipping was also $12) and I thought that was a bargain just to get to see what they were all about. 

They are called Famousa Nancy Dolls I would give you a detailed review of their history but there is a fabulous history of them and review of them here.

Please excuse the dolls in their birthday suits but I wanted to show what they looked like, body type wise. They have hard plastic legs and torso, reminding me of the dolls you'd get at the drug store back in the 1970's that were three feet tall and could 'walk'. I never had one but my cousin did and I played with her often at my cousins house, so I remember. Much like those dolls, these dolls stand amazingly well on their own!

They are similar in body size and shape to the Heart for Heart dolls but are two inches taller. Their hair is rooted and pretty soft. Their arms and face are of a softer plastic, much like baby doll skin. 

Here they are, all dressed up and hanging out in the doll room with some of the girls. You can see how they compare, size wise, to both the Heart for Hearts dolls and to the Our Generation 18" doll. 

They all posed for a group photo!

Here they are with a couple of our Disney Princess and Me dolls, they are also similar in body size and will be able to share a lot of the same sized clothes. You can see how the 'same' dresses, which I told how to make here and here. 

I think they are going to fit right in! My daughter named the lighter blonde one Taylor and I named the more golden blonde one Oksana. 

Thanks for stopping by! See you next time! 

Another Sekiguchi Doll Comes Home to the Dollhouse! Welcome Salome!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

As you may have surmised by my two previous posts about them, I am totally enamored with Vintage Mattel Sekiguchi Dolls! They were produced in Japan in the early 1980s as collector dolls for older girls. If you want to hear the stories of the first two I was lucky enough to find, you can find Selah's story here or Magdalene's story here. So enamored was I to get these dolls, I even traded off other dolls in order to get them! That's right The Babysitter Club Dolls have been sold and shipped away via eBay. Sometimes, sacrifices must be made, right?

Meet Salome!! Yes, another Biblical name and she is named after Salome the Disciple, not the dancer! You know, as in the one who followed Jesus along with Mary and Mary Magdalene? As in the mother of James and John, sons of Zebedee, mother of the sons thunder and mother of the son (John) who was Jesus' favorite. So... Yeah... Had to be done.

I love her! Naturally... I knew I would. The quality of these dolls just blows me away. I don't know how they weren't more popular back when they were made. I suspect it had to do with the original price... Back in the early 1980's, $80 was a lot of money. It's still quite a bit so by today's standards! Only about $25 less than American Girls now and it's 30 years later! I've tried to explain to my daughter that it'd be more like $250 now... Maybe even more. So, no surprise they were made top-notch! Now, due to the magic that is eBay, I got her for less than half of that original cost, including shipping! I love the Internet!

Here she is with Selah and Magdalene in the Doll House. She still has all her original clothes on in these photos. 

As you can see in next photo, she was basically 'brand new in box' as much as a 30year old doll can be 'new'. She still had what my husband calls the 'Asphyxiation Bag' on her head. Ha!

She had her original hat, in Mint condition.

Doesn't she have the sweetest face??

Here is her tag, still attached to her arm. She is a La Cheri III from 1984. Magdalene is a La Cheri from 1982. So she is a couple years newer than Magdalene! I real younger sister!! 

They were Limited Editions and Salome's number was 678. They changed the little round tags from the first year, from cork to leather. They also stamped on the numbers this year as opposed to them being hand written in 1982. Interesting!

Here is the label on the box. Again, it's a really nice box, just like Selah's was. Magdalene didn't come with her original box. 

Even back then, the doll manufacturers had it all figured out! You tuck in photo of the other dolls available and all of the sudden, you need another one! Hmmm,,, Will I stop with three Sekiguchi's? I suspect not but... For now... I'll be good.

Look, they were even under Warranty from defects! So sweet!

I just thought her little hat was so sweet! And makes me suspect, even more, that La Cheri dolls were Mattel's answer to My Friend Doll's from Fisher Price. They were my most beloved dolls when I was a girl and I can imagine loving these to play with them with. The La Cheri's are about four inches taller and have all soft bodies but are otherwise very similar!

Here she is, meeting several of the other dolls from the Doll House. It's gotten to where we can't really fit the whole Sorority of Dolls into one room anymore! Teehee. I am planning on a new "Meet and Greet" of all my dolls but it's just one more Blog Post writing itself in my head that I need to photo and make happen. Get me talking dolls, and I'll have things to say forever I imagine. Hence, me writing this blog. Even if no one ever reads it, it is still fun for me because it feels like I am writing a letter to a friend who loves dolls as much as I do. So... Hello friend!!

Here is the back of Salome's dress. So pretty!

Here she is with Saige, an American Girl doll. Most often people wonder how 18inch dolls compare to them, so I had them take a photo together. 

Much like Magdalene and Selah, the attention to detail with the outfit is amazing. She had on little nickers and a slip that makes her dress poof, cute little shoes, and white socks. Her pinafore could probably stand alone as a sun dress if you're low on doll clothes. The printed yellow dress is adorable by itself without the pinafore too of course.

So, like the other vintage dolls I've added to my collection, Salome couldn't wait to get some more modern clothes on!! The other dolls couldn't wait to get a hold of her dress to try on either so they got along like peas and carrots. Here are the three Sekiguchi dolls with two other 18inch dolls, an American Girl named Panda and an Our Generation named Rebecca. 

And just the 18inch dolls alone. 

As for how the clothes fit other 18inch dolls, they fit fine but are a tad snug in neck for the American Girl doll. Just didn't snap it and it was fine. Also, getting the clothes off and on would probably be challenging for a girl even my daughters age. You have to very carefully put in both arms at same time and work it up and on... If you've any experience in dressing dolls, this probably won't be an issue but I don't want anyone to buy a doll like these and experience difficulty in getting the clothes on and being upset with me. So I mention it. Also, the snaps on the wrist cuffs wouldn't snap for the American Girl Doll because her wrists were too thick but were fine to snap on the Our Generation doll. 

Just so cute on! I love the dresses nearly as much as the dolls!

So... That is all for today! So glad to add Salome to the Sorority of Dolls in the Dollhouse! She fits right in! 

Till next time... Thanks for stopping by!