Journey Girl Giovanna Gets A New American Girl Doll Wig!

Greetings And Salutations Doll Friends!

So... As I mentioned in a previous post or two, I found a great deal on authentic American Girl Doll wigs on eBay and... Well... I might've bought a few. You know me, I love to give dolls make-overs and finding quality wigs at a good price is a rare thing. So, when I do, I tend to stock up. If I don't have a doll currently that needs a wig, one is sure to come along. 

A while ago, I found a Journey Girl Kyla at a Thrift Store and, of course, I bought her. Ever since ToysRUs went out of business, I've kind of decided that when I see a Journey Girl second hand, she'll probably come home with me. If I have said doll already in my collection, she'll get a makeover. Which is exactly what happened with the Kyla doll I found recently. 

Last year or so, I also went through a bit of a 'rainbow wigs for everybody!' period with my dolls. I've kind of gotten over it now although I do have a few rainbow wig in my wig stash that will, more likely than not, find their way onto a doll. However, during that rainbow wig time period, I may have gone a bit nuts in my decisions of which dolls to make over. Case in point? When I cut off all of Giovanna's hair in order to give her a rainbow wig. Then I didn't like it. At all. Ugh. So much so, apparently, that I didn't even show you on the blog. (I just looked for a post about it even). I ultimately ended up giving her a dark wig by Beautifully Custom and liked it well enough... 

But I didn't glue it on and so know I wasn't really 'settled' on it. 

  

So I decided maybe I'd try giving her blonde hair again...

Here is Lynn, a doll I got from my amazing friend Crystal because she said the doll reminded her of me. She sent a darker golden blonde that she thought reminded her of herself, such a sweet gift! I'll have to make a post about it soon... So many posts, so little time... I digress. Since she was already dressed in a hair stylists work clothes, I decided to make her the stylist that gave the two girls makeovers. 

I decided it would be kind of a fun 'pretend' that they are best friends and decided to get the same hair cut. I think they both look fantastic!! These are going to be glued down as soon as I feel patient enough to do a session of wig glueing. It's kind of nerve wracking and so I leave it until I am having a particularly calm and relaxed day. Meaning I haven't glued in recent memory. Hahaha. Nice thing about these wigs is they are tight enough that they stay on rather well without glue so for now they'll be fine. 

Here they are shopping after their make-overs. 

I still haven't settled on a name for the Kyla-as-was. She is obviously going to be a twin sister to my other Kyla doll. 

I had to have the twins meet at the mall, right?

Do you like how they turned out? I think Giovanna was just meant to be a light blonde, it just works well with her coloring. I love the shorter style on Kyla-as-yet-to-be-named as well as her original style. 

Win-Win!

I am writing this on Christmas Eve so... In case I don't get my Christmas post up before the end of the day...

Merry Christmas!!!

I just ran out of time to write because my kiddoes and I have plans to hang out today and I blinked and it's time to get ready...!

Oh, these are some photos I took of her right after I put on the wig. It was a sunny day and I thought she looked so pretty in the sun...

Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

The American Girl Doll I Left Behind At The Thrift Shoppe!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Surprising even myself, I recently ran across an actual American Girl Doll at a thrift shoppe and... Didn't buy her!?! 

What!?!

Well, given the time of year that it is, I didn't really have an extra $40 to part with for a second hand American Girl Doll I hadn't planned to buy. If they would've let her go for $30 I would be writing a different blog post perhaps (I only have so much will power and maturity afterall!). Trust me, I asked. Apparently they'd only gotten her in that day and it was too soon to consider discounts. So... I carried her around the thrift store for 20 mins talking myself out of her. My daughter was with me and, sweet girl that she is, when I told her I'd probably buy her if she were $30, said "I'll pay the other $10 then Mom. You should get her." 

Melt. My. Heart.

But I told her that as sweet as the offer was, I didn't want her to spend her money on me because $10 is a pretty big chunk out of her allowance budget. She's so sweet. As you can see, the doll would've likely needed a new wig and she was very dirty and well loved but... Still as I look at the photo I am having a tiny moment of 'Why did I act so grown up?" Hahaha. Too late now, I am sure she's residing in some other lucky thrift shop hunting doll lover's home. Good for them. 

As much as I don't really care for porcelain dolls, sometimes I find their faces or costumes very pretty. Can't hurt to take a photo and show you even if I don't buy them. The porcelain doll market is really sort of sad, you can barely give them away and they don't really fare too well in Thrift Shoppes because they usually don't have boxes and end up getting broken or damaged in being jumbled in with the rest of the 'stuff'. Sad really. Poor lonesome dolls....

This gal was about 18inches tall. There is a time once that I might've bought her just for her pretty dress but... I've gotten much pickier about doll clothes since then and like modern styles for my dolls in any case for the most part. But her dress is really pretty! 

For some reason this little guy made me laugh so I thought I'd share.

I had to talk myself out of this boat shelf. It was perfect size for the Doll House but I am quite literally out of room for more doll furniture. If I were a more organized and driven person I might buy such things for re-sale on eBay or something but... Lets get real. I'd never sell it. I guess it's good I know this about myself. Right?

Two more forlorn and forgotten porcelain dolls... But the one in pink had such a sweet little face sculpt that I had to take her picture. 

Although, looking at her now with my glasses on, I am wondering what the person who painted on her eyelashes was thinking? Teehee. Those are some lashes! But still, a sweet little sculpt. 

I better run!

It's almost Christmas! Are you all ready? I am getting closer by the day... Which is good given it's only days away. Eh?

XXOO

Heather

Dare Wright and The Lonely Doll Books

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I have a dear friend who became my friend before we either one really collected dolls in earnest... We met when our oldest kids were in kindergarten and they are both in their teens now, so you know, life long friends. Ironically enough, we both started collecting dolls after she moved away from my part of the country. She likes a bit different 'type' of dolls than I do, more antique composition types and Anna Lee's Dolls but I think all doll collectors, irregardless of which 'type' of doll they collect, share a sisterhood siblingdom (men collect dolls too!). We all know that bit of a thrill upon finding a brand new doll we've never seen before or adding one of our wish list dolls to our collection. 

So anyway, my dear friend is a member of a real life Doll Collectors Group that meets up and talks about all things doll... Doesn't that sound amazing? Apparently they have them all over the country! Who knew? It was in one of the groups meetings that my friend heard of a photographer/writer who illustrated a series of childrens books with doll photography?! 

What?! Who?! 

Dare Wright is the authors name and I knew immediately upon hearing about her that I'd like her... That was even before I went looking for her doll photos! I discovered that she wrote several books in a series called The Lonely Doll books. They are still/back in print even! I actually heard about them over a month ago and asked for one of her books for my birthday and got it. I went with the very first in the series of course but am sure I'll get others going forward because I adore them! 

There is a whole website about this fascinating woman... She had a very interesting life although it sounds rather lonely and sad. Perhaps her doll stories were, in some small way, about herself. 

So, I haven't decided if it will be one of my 'as-of-yet-unnamed' dolls or one I get in the future but I have decided that I am going to have to have a Dare Wright Doll living in the Doll House!

 How can I not? I mean, even her name is cool!

So... I'll link back to this post when I decide or discover which of my dolls will be Dare's doppelganger doll!

I highly recommend picking up these one or two of her cute books too... The stories are so much fun and photos are adorable! I think about how she had to take them with actual film and am even more impressed!! That means she didn't even get to look at photos to see if she caught her 'vision' until after she developed the film! Totally different times. 

Better run!

Have a great day!
XXOO
Heather

New Dresses! New Wig! New Bracelet! Oh My!; Rolling Rock Doll Clothes, American Girl Doll Wigs & A Custom Beaded Bracelet!

Hi Doll Friends!

Last month I got a beautiful dress from Rolling Rock Doll Clothes for review. It is really beautiful and so I obviously checked their website at the time to see what other styles they might have. Low and behold, I found so many cute things... Being short on Doll Mad Money at the time, I limited myself to only two outfits. 

This cute little number is the first on I chose. It was only $5.00 and I think it's so pretty! Here it is modeled by Rose, who, by the way, has recently gotten a new wig and isn't she adorable in it? It's one of the American Girl Doll Wigs I purchased on eBay back in October when I re-wigged Leanne Doll. I purchased like ten of them or something since they really are American Girl Doll wigs... As you can see, I kept going back for 'just a few more' knowing that I either had or would eventually get dolls that were perfect for them. Teehee...

See, here are the first I purchased in September... The bottom one being the one that I put on Leanne Doll. Don't mind those PJ's in the middle there that I still haven't shown you. Haha.

After realizing they really were American Girl wigs and good ones I bought a couple more in September...

A couple more in October...

And just a couple more in November. 

For those of you who are not familiar with sweet Rose, she was my very first 18inch Doll that my daughter got at a Garage Sale when she was little bitty for like $2.00. When I very first started upcycling clothes, I used her as my fit doll and my daughter just let me have her. 

 

What's funny is I never ever noticed she had had a bit of a haircut right next to one of her ears. So... I decided I'd give her a new look and... I love it! Isn't she pretty? It makes her eyes POP!

Next we have MJ wearing the other dress I got from Rolling Rock. It's actually a skirt and a little top and the set was only $5.00! I love them! I think I will likely pair each of the separates with other styles in the future just because I can. Right now, I just noticed as I posted the link to her shoppe, she has 10% off most everything! Go check them out! 

Then... See this GORGEOUS beaded bracelet with the United States flag on it? I got it for my birthday from my dear friend Beth and... She made me an identical bracelet for me! 

I LOVE THEM! 

I'll have to get a photo taken of my bracelet on my arm. 

See, here is the way you close it. She makes such amazing jewlery...!

So... such great things for the dolls! Life is good. Eh? Can you believe we are less than a week from Christmas? Time flies!

Better run!
XXOO
Heather

Dresses for Dolls Etsy Shoppe Has AG Dresses As Low As $5.00 Each! So Pretty!

Doll Friends!

I've wanted to get here to tell you about Dresses For Dolls Etsy Shoppe for over a week but have had one computer glitch after another that have been keeping me from it. Oy! My laptop is like four years old and probably needs to be put out to pasture but tech isn't my thing and my money always goes to dolls so... I'll keep using it until it finally falls apart and the keys fall off or whatever. Hahaha. I digress...

I first heard about Dresses For Dolls dresses from Sew4Dolls Youtube because she is a huge fan of them. Every time I watch her videos about them I'd think, I need to make an order and tell my sweet readers about these cute dresses! 

So I finally took the plunge when I saw one of her dresses called "Milk and Honey". I knew I had to have that one! Why? Well, if you're a fan of the Bible as I am (groupie might be a better word... I love the Word!) then you know that when God was delivering the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, He promised to bring them to a Promised Land that is flowing with... you guessed it... Milk and Honey. So I had to have it. I also wanted to order a Wellie Wisher sized dress and a 'twinsy' dress of same fabric for my 18inch sized dolls. There was a very cute St Patties Day themed dress in both sizes and given that I love green and St Patties Day, I picked them. 

As Sew4Dolls mentions in her videos, one of the nice things about Dresses For Dolls is the way they package their dresses to be shipped to you. They press them very nicely and stuff them with tissue paper to look almost like they are on a dress form. Very sweet presentation! Especially considering that many of this sweet shoppes dresses are only $5.00!! That's right, $5.00! It would almost cost you that much in materials to make a dress I think... Not to mention all the work that goes into it. So... Such an amazing price. 

See? Isn't that a sweet way to package them? I mean, I think she could charge a little less shipping per dress and mush them into padded envelopes but how nice is it to pull them out perfectly pressed and ready to put on your doll. Very 'boutique' like! 

Here is the Milk & Honey dress right out of the box. 

Aren't they pretty?!

They are also made very well. The back closures are velcro. 

The inside of the dresses are lined and the seams are all surged so they won't fray. My Granny would be impressed. 

They even have a fancy tag for their dresses! Nice touch!

So here is Saige modeling the Milk & Honey Dress. I absolutely love it. 

I haven't gotten a chance to get one of my Wellie sized dolls into the smaller dress to model for you... Not to mention I am thinking I might use the two St Patties dresses at gifts for a Christmas photo shoot... We shall see? In any case, they Wellie dresses are $6.00, due, I imagine, to the extra work it takes to make them since they have sleeves. You can see how they fit if you look at the Wellie sized dresses in her the shoppe. 

So... I am not sure I got here in time to have you order and get some for Christmas but... Perhaps you will get Christmas money and will buy some for yourself. I know I'll certainly be a customer of this cute shoppe going forward and for as long as they keep making such cute dresses at such great prices. 

I better run!

XXOO
Heather