Going on Vaca-tion!

Well folks, this blog will be on hiatus for two weeks. Because I am going to HAWAII! (tomorrow!) This is going to be so much fun and I absolutely cannot wait. I also came down with a cold 4 days prior so I'm hoping the sun will be the perfect remedy.

But I do have a special post for you today which features not only Barbie, but also Ken!

For those of you that don't know, I love Toy Story. It's my favorite Pixar movie (with Cars and Monsters, Inc. also ranking very high in my list of favorites.)

*There are a few minor spoilers from Toy Story 3 and the Toy Story Toons so read with caution*

In Toy Story 3, Barbie was given away and while she was at her "temporary" new home she meets Ken. It's an absolutely hilarious sequence and I seriously laughed for 5 minutes. The Ken in the movie is modeled after the 1988 Animal Lovin' Ken. You can read about how he was picked for the role on "Man Behind The Doll" website here! (And if you haven't checked it out yet, great website by the way; entirely devoted to everything Ken!)

So at the end of the movie, Barbie and Ken are together at their new home and all is well. However, they are featured in their own Toy Story Toon short called "Hawaiian Vacation." (This short is featured at the beginning of the Cars 2 movie, seriously, it's worth the rental just to watch this 5 minute short.)

Ken wants to take Barbie to Hawaii when they find out their new owner, Bonnie, is going on vacation (the title of this post is what Bonnie says.) I won't tell you how but "somehow" Barbie and Ken get left behind. The movie is what antics follow when Ken realizes that he isn't going to Hawaii with Bonnie.

I found these dolls at Disneyland when I went last March. I just HAD to have them. I love them!

The only thing that bugs me is the paper lei's that they are wearing (which are supposed to be candy necklaces.) It would have looked so much better putting real plastic ones on the dolls.

Ken is dressed in a Hawaiian shirt with green sunglasses, white shorts, white loafers and holding a Hawaii Brochure.

Barbie is wearing everything pink. Pink floral pink top, pink shorts, pink and white belt and holding white cat-eye sunglasses. Oh, and can't forget the pink pumps!

More closeups. I like how they designed Ken. It's a close likeness to the 80's Ken!

Here's Barbie. I love her curly bangs.

And the back of the box showing a few pics of their "vacation."

But if you do get the chance to see "Hawaiian Vacation" it is very good!

Random info: do you know who does the voices for Ken and Barbie? Michael Keaton and Jodi Benson (who does the voice for Ariel in "The Little Mermaid.")

So I will see you back in 2 weeks! I do have "The Year of Haute Couture" post all ready for the morning of April 1st so you'll see that pop up on here. Until then!

Aloha!

Barbie's Super Fab 80's Casual Wear

So in between trying to make my second dress for Hawaii, I had time to give some Barbies a bath!

Now that's A TON of Barbie's in the tub!

I scrubbed the bodies (a lot from my last thrift store run were very dirty) I washed hair, I conditioned hair. And I even ran a pick through the hair with minimal pull out! Success!

I was so excited with this last thrift store grab because almost all the dolls I got were with the old body style. All of the fashions I played with from my childhood are for that body type. And as you know, the old clothes just do not fit on the new bodies that well!

So, now that I had enough dolls, I pulled out this box.

Barbie Casual Wear! Look at the label on the front of this box. "JCPenney Catalog Division." Does JCPenney even have a catalog anymore? In my hometown we had a JCPenney Catalog store. You would order it from the catalog and pick it up at the store. They even had a very small selection of clothes. Sometimes you could find something good. But I got this for Christmas one year back in the late 80's. I never dressed up my dolls in these clothes very often but now it's time to show them off!

Here is a quick look at the box contents. Shoes still in the plastic bag. I was so particular about my dolls and clothes.

And here is the group! The fab 6 in the SUPER fab 80's casual wear.

I put this sparkle hair beauty in this "Barbie Club" crop top with wild print shorts and white sneakers. I even fluffed out her bangs 80's style. More height the better right?

This next one I put in a yellow and blue ensemble with ruffles, stripes, and polka dots and blue sneakers. Adorable!

Next we have another piece in the casual wear which doesn't really fit the theme. But it's still casual nonetheless! Barbie in a pink snow suit with ski boots. (The head of this doll fell off so putting her in a high necked piece was ideal.)

I'm not sure how she is supposed to stand in these boots as they seem to tilt forward. At the thrift store sometime ago, I found ONE pink ski. If only I had found two I could have added them to her!

Now we have this long haired cutie in pearl earrings wearing this blue sundress with a bow at the side and blue sneakers.

The light purple eyeshadow and nude lips made a perfect choice for this purple and pink shorts and shirt combo with hot pink sneakers.

Teresa goes Jazzercise!

I just love the 80's workout wear. Isn't this the best? I love the legwarmers. So super cute!

So there you have it, the Barbie Casual Wear ensemble! Do you like it?

I also did some other clean up on some other dolls. My my, Miss Stacie looks SO much better without the hat and a hair clean up!

I can't wait to make some clothes for her and display her on my shelf.

Remember this doll I got from the thrift store last week?

This poor cutie. She got a makeover (or in a fight with some scissors, one of the two.) I was going to research and try my hand at re-rooting until I remembered that I had these fabulous wigs from my mom's collection.

So this Barbie is going vintage!

This doll is wearing the dress from the 1961 Orange Blossom Wedding Ensemble. Read about it on the Fashion Doll Guide here.

I added some brown open toe heels (which I believe go to my Sew Free Fashion Fun "Day in Town" outfit) and I added a cute furry leopard print purse. Like?

The wig looks perfect from the back.

I think it's a good look for her!

Until next time!

Christmas Gift Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!

I just got back from a wonderful weekend up in the mountains with the hubby. A little cabin out by the lake in a remote area is just what we needed after a stressful week. But now I'm back with another post!

Can you believe that I STILL have a couple last Christmas gifts that I haven't shared with you all? I've been way too excited with other Barbie things that I totally forgot!

Remember back to October. I mentioned that my parents bought these dolls for me for my birthday.

I love "I Love Lucy." I always have and always will. Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance really were the true Queens of Comedy. And I have seen every episode.

Under the tree was a gift bag with an attached card that read "Open Me Last." Well, it definitely was awesome.

Look at these adorable little gems.

Are these NOT the most adorable things you have ever seen? Kelly Club dolls made into Lucy and Ethel. These were a surprise indeed! Apparently my parents saw these on eBay and just had to get them. So cute!

First we have Lucy and Ethel in episode 147 "Lucy Gets a Paris Gown." The back of the boxes describe the episode.

"Even while visiting stylish Paris, the Ricardo's and the Mertz's find hilarious misadventure. Husbands Ricky and Fred play a trick on the wacky redhead and her friend Ethel. Instead of couture ensembles, the boys give their wives their own brand of fashion - burlap potato sack originals!"

This event stems from Lucy and Ethel wanting expensive Jacques Marcel dresses. Some are ridiculous looking so Fred and Ricky "make dresses" for Lucy and Ethel out of burlap. Then later in the episode, two women come into the cafe wearing dresses looking exactly like the ones the husbands made for their wives. With the husbands overjoyed that they had the "originals", the wives were dismayed that they burned them from embarrassment of wearing them in public!

www.sitcomsonline.com

 So, how did Mattel do with these ones? Pretty good I say!

So adorable, I just can't stand it.

I looked and I even saw that they made a full size doll of "Lucy Gets a Paris Gown."

barbie.mattel.com

Next we have Episode 89 "Lucy is Envious"

Excerpt: In the "Lucy is Envious" episode, Lucy and Ethel need to make some serious money. They take jobs promoting the movie "Women from Mars" and find themselves dressed as Martians invading the observation deck of the Empire State Building!"

This episode is hilariously funny. Lucy and Ethel need some quick cash after committing to donating to a friends charity. Thinking they were donating only $5, their friend informed them that "five" in fact meant $500! They do the stunt and get the money and when their husbands find out, they dress as martians and "steal" the money from them, scaring Lucy and Ethel just like they scared everyone on top the Empire State Building.

www.playle.com

Okay, how about these ones? Very good likeness!

These are so precious and they make a nice addition to my other Lucy doll set.

I would love to get all of the "I Love Lucy" dolls but there are a ton of them! It must have been fun to make dolls for a woman who had many fun costumes and dresses. If I had to choose another one to get it would be this one: Lucy and Ethel Buy The Same Dress.

barbie.mattel.com

In this episode, Lucy and Ethel accidentally buy the same dress for a number they are doing in a show. Each thinking the other is going to return the dress, they both show up to the show wearing the same outfit and end up pulling pieces of the dress off of each other until Ricky and Fred pull them both off stage.

Do any of you have dolls based off of popular TV or movie characters?

Until next time!

Thrift Store Mad Grab

Okay, okay, so maybe it wasn't a mad grab but it was a grab indeed!

First, a little info. I stopped going to the thrift store some time ago. I had done cleared them out of Barbies. No matter how much I dug I could not find any more doll stuff. Not even shoes were to be found down in the depths of the bin. I couldn't even find any more jeans there that I liked (I bought two pairs of designer jeans for $4 each, holla!) I figured that after Christmas, parents would be cleaning out their kid's old toys to make room for all the new ones they received as gifts. However, I still wasn't finding any dolls.

Until today.

I don't know, maybe it was too soon after Christmas when I looked before and didn't find anything. But today....today! Today was the day!

One reason l love the thrift store I go to is because it's like an episode of Hoarders. Without the stepping on and over things and there is "some" organization. I love to get in and dig through and find treasures that others may have missed. I love Hoarders, I'm totally obsessed with that show. I always find out when it's on (much to the chagrin of my husband) and then scream for one more episode when he wants to watch the game. I will sit for a solid 8 hours to watch Hoarders. I love the happy endings.

Okay, I digress.

The Dolls!

See what I mean by "Mad Grab?" A whole lot of naked ones but I do have to say that most of them are old body style meaning that my vintage 80's fashions will work nicely on these dolls! YAY! See any in there you recognize? I'm sure you do. :) Which means that I do need your help with some identification!

Let's inspect these a little closer.

First these lovlies. I know the one on the left is a Disney doll. The other two have a regular "Barbie" newer style body (maybe a smidge taller?) I'm thinking maybe a MyScene doll? Or Stardoll?

The one with the dark hair has this on her left ankle.

This doll on the left is a Mattel doll, the other is Kid Kore or something like that. The one on the left has a old style ship wheel necklace. The other one, I just could not resist the curly hair! Still in really great shape!

Oh my Goodness! Two favs from my childhood! "Margie" and Sandi! Margie is wearing the top from the Princess Bride Barbie and a little tennis skirt.

You'll remember that my very very very first doll was a doll that I thought looked like my Aunt Gloria so I named her "Margie".  My doll is wearing my mom's Sew-Free Fashion Fun dress in "Patio Party."

Next we have some very interesting talking dolls. The first one is Mattel. The other is not. The one on the left is quite strange. When pushed her button, she made some animal noises (I honestly thought the battery was going dead but nope!) And then she screams "Is this some kind of joke?!" Then "Toodles!" Then "You are so dedicated, just like me." Then she starts singing some Spanish song, complete with "Arriba!" and something about "shooting for the stars." ANY idea of who she is?

Now, the other doll sounds like the "Super Talk" Barbie and says Barbie things like "Let's Dance" and "Let's go get a soda."

The one on the right is another Gift Giving Barbie which I now have three of (one from my childhood and two that I bought at the thrift store. But I'm not complaining! Old style bodies!)
Anyone want to take a stab of the lovely one on the left? The one in the middle will need some hair work. It's very stiff like it was a doll that was not supposed to have her hair taken out.

Now these are mostly generic dolls except the one on the left needs to go to my pool post. She has a tan! Can anyone identify?

Aww, Barbie and Teresa, BFF forever. But the one on the left, we love her right?

I'm sure you all know who these little sparkly ones are. The blue one however may need a little help to not look like she is being suffocated. Maybe a skirt and hair-do will help. I have the pink one in near perfect condition that I bought at a garage sale (with wings!) And get this, I have the purple one still boxed. (I'll have to show her to you all sometime.)

Oh my, the one on the left had a haircut! I think for her sake I may have to try my hand at rerooting. Anyone recognize the swimsuit? And the middle Barbie wearing a China Barbie dress. There is no tag that says if it's Genuine Barbie or not but it doesn't close in the back very well. The one on the right has glitter in her hair.

And now for this one. I couldn't resist. Okay Monster High collectors, who is she?

I absolutely could not resist the pink hair! But this poor girl, she is missing a hand. The hands seemed so delicate that I would find it hard for them to stay on with rough play. I couldn't find it in the section so it must have come off a while ago and got lost. Anyone know what to do?

Well, I also started the task of trying to cover the Barbie shoes to match mine. Want to see how far I got?

Yep. That's how far I got. I picked out the shoes I wanted to use. I am going to use the pink and white one in the back. I was going to use the red and blue but thought they might be fun if I decide to create a patriotic barbie.

Unfortunately the Barbie projects are going to have to be on hold for the time being. I need to finish my other dress that I am sewing for Hawaii!

If any of you could help with the identification of some of these dolls it would be AWESOME!

Until next time!