Have a Holly Jolly Christmas!

Hi Friends!

*EDIT* SEE BELOW:

Holly Jolly Christmas is my son's favorite song right now. We have to sing it at least 4 times before bed. :)

This will be the last post before Christmas. Just too much to do! The majority of my 'work' has been keeping my hands off the pan of Sugar Cookies I just made. ;) I gained 6 pounds in 2 weeks! I better watch out! But my doctor did tell me that at week 32 of pregnancy, most of it is water weight. Whew! 

Remember this project?

Well, I finally got around to gluing the bustform into the base and fixing up the tape around her legs. And the weight of the bustform worked with the cardboard base. I mentioned in the post, don't use electrical tape as it slides down the vinyl. I bought some black duct tape and used that. I need to work on making it look pretty. The top of the bust was supposed to be black but I didn't have any black nail polish and didn't feel like using a bunch of black acrylic paint and loads of varnish so I used a black cherry color. So what do you think?

Another word of note: if you plan on putting a dress on the doll that you have to side up over the legs, do it BEFORE gluing the bustform into the base. This one will be forever naked unless I find a dress that is completely open in the back. Not likely. HA!

You can read about the craft project in this post!

Also, did you know that I made a 25 days of Barbie post back in the day? I started on December 1st and I had exactly 25 Holiday Barbie dolls (at the time) and did a post each day! It's a fun read so if you want to go back, they start with the most beautiful White Winter Wonderland - 1989 Happy Holidays Barbie. From there click "Newer Post" at the bottom and they go in order. You can also check out the holiday dolls I've received after the 25 days of Barbie!

*EDIT* Apparently the "newer post" link does not show up on the bottom of the 1989 post. If it doesn't and you want to read the rest of the posts, go to the home page and click on "2012" and then December.

There they are! Once you click on Day 2, you can then click "Newest Post." Sorry about that!

And as mentioned above, here are the links to the posts about the other holiday dolls I've received since the 25 days of Barbie!

25th Anniversary - 2013 Holiday Barbie 
Glittering and Radiant Gold and Red - 2014 Holiday Barbie 
Decadent Dark Red - 2015 Holiday Barbie 
Snowglobe Trio - 2016 Holiday Barbies 
The doll that started it all - 1988 Happy Holidays Barbie 

I hope that you and your families have a very wonderful Christmas and holiday season! Live it up, do something nice for yourself and enjoy all this season has to offer!

OOAK Clothes, All Clean!

Hi Friends!

Well, I finally got all those OOAK clothes cleaned! I do have to say that they held up very well in the washing machine, and that was on a normal cycle!

Remember I purchased a doll trunk back in August that contained a vintage Ken, another 70's Malibu Ken, a Malibu Barbie and a 70's ballerina Barbie. Also included were some handmade OOAK clothes and a handful of accessories. 

The gentleman I bought them from said that they were his wife's collection. They also smelled like musty attic...only worse. I know what musty attic smells like, I had one growing up but it was never as bad as this. So this trunk stayed out in the garage and every few days I would rotate the clothes so the stink would dissipate. For the most part...it didn't. So into the washer they went. Then also had to hit it with Febreeze. They are okay now, okay enough to store in a plastic bag without me falling over if I open it up down the road. 

So here we go!

First we have a red coat with brown fur, a yellow short sleeve sweater and a red long sleeve sweater with pearl accents down the front.

I'm not sure what these are but I'm thinking sleeping bags. The red and the blue have matching pillows.
 

A blue plaid jumpsuit with an attached waist tie. The buttons are not functional but have snaps underneath.

Here is a lime green and white printed strapless dress. It has a slit up both sides and some staining on the front. 
 

An outfit for Ken! Blue pants with a red stripe, a matching coat with red details and a white shirt with a red bow tie.

Here is an interesting one. It looks like a dress and a matching shirt for Ken in a bird printed fabric.

A blue velvet coat that has some staining on it. 

A white dress with a bow at the waist and a small train. Maybe a type of old fashioned wedding dress?

A sheer floral party skirt.

I actually really like this dress. It's a one shoulder gold glitter dress. Some minor staining on the front.

Another strapless dress with a velvet upper and floral under. There is a liner sewn into this one. The other sheer floral skirt did not.
 

This is a knit dress and I'm not sure what the other piece is. I guess it could be used as a shawl that snaps behind the neck. Sort of like a poncho.
 

OOPS! Something wasn't colorfast. I'm surprised that this was the only casualty of the entire load (this and my white towel that I had in there.) This is a sport outfit for Ken. A vest, shorts and jacket. I'm sure that will come out if I work at it with some color safe bleach.

Not sure what these are. Looks like small placemat that was used as a pattern for the green fabric. Maybe a doll rug?
 

A beautiful velvet skirt and maybe poncho? The larger fabric in the back has a hook and eye closure so I'm sure it's a skirt. I could make a nice outfit out of these. Just gotta get an idea and clean up those edges with a hem.
 

This was an odd one. The yellow knit piece in back was actually sewn onto the bottom of an old lotion bottle. Maybe a bathtub? We've also got what looks like a pink bathmat, a couple of washcloths and a green tie belt. 
 

And lastly, a little red knit winter bonnet and a white fur coat. Just a couple of holes for the arms. I kept out the bonnet. It's cute for a winter outfit. 
 

Here is the case it came in. It was white with a bear on the front of it. It was plain white on the other side.

The inside shows it was manufactured by Cass Toys. A quick google search shows that they made a number of different toys.

Honestly the box had to be thrown out as it was not salvageable. The smell was just too bad and there was a broken hinge. I have plenty of other doll cases that are in much better condition.  

These clothes are well made. The hems are even, there are linings sewn in, the dresses have darts and nothing contains a zipper or velcro. They are all snaps and even a couple of hook and eyes. Know how tiny Barbie clothes snaps are? You can tell that this lady was a seamstress.

So what do you think? See anything you like? I do like OOAK clothes and don't mind them one bit. I think I'll get out the gold dress and see how it works on a doll! I'll post that next time!

If you have any ideas about how to turn that beautiful magenta piece into a killer dress, post a link to something in the comments or let me know! I'm so bad at designing things so give me some ideas! 

Lastly, want to see other vintage hand sewn OOAK goodness? Take a look at my mother in laws collection here! Not to mention her beautiful PRISTINE vintage ponytail doll!

See you next time! 

Wacky Wonderland

Hi All!

Back again with the final addition to my EAH Way Too Wonderland collection!

We've seen Kitty, Apple, Lizzie, Maddie and Briar. Who's left?

I treated myself last Christmas to this playset. Back when I posted about the Thronecoming series, I mentioned how I was disappointed how I had to get the playset just to get the final doll in the collection. But it is what it is. So I found a good deal and went ahead and got it. Because, it's Raven Queen!

Raven is very basic compared to the other dolls but she does not disappoint with this purple and aqua color scheme. And that collar?

I love the cards on it. 

 

Her dress is pretty simplistic with a long waistline, purple feathers up top and yellow and aqua stripes at the bottom. As you see the collar doubles as a bodice and it is quite wobbly if you mess with her too much.

The back of the hair is quite pretty, again with the purple and aqua scheme.

THE SHOES!

Like her dress it's the feather theme and we have feathers wrapping up the ankle. I love the shoes that have this type of wrap around ankle strap.

The feathers come down to the top of the shoe and then we also have diamond studs that surround the opening of the shoe.

Okay, so that's it for the doll! (The most important part) :) Here is the playset!

So this thing is big! Over 3 feet wide with three play areas. Dorm room for Raven Queen, Wonderland High, and the Queen of Hearts Party.

Raven came in the box with a standard background that the other Wonderland dolls came with.
 

Once you open it, there are pieces stored in a little cubby. 
 

It also comes with two teacups for seating. These are not the most functional chairs and it takes a bit to get the doll situated on them so they do not fall over. You are not able to bend them at the knees to get them to sit properly.

Here is Raven's dorm room! With a little mirror. That's about it for her room.
 

Next is Wonderland High. This scene has two foldouts for play. Each one just attaches to each other so they stand nicely. 

There is a door for you to make a grand entrance. And it has a big flower at the top.

In the first scene you can see that the pink books are where the pieces are stored when not in play. There are also plastic cards that stack together to create tables. That is cute.

You can also put the accessories on pegs on the second scene to give it more of a wonderland feel.

Lastly is the Queen of Hearts Party. This one also has two scenes. 

You have the option for this one to also stick the accessories on pegs at the party but having them sit on the table looks better. They just sit on table, there are no pegs on the pieces to secure them to the table.

When playtime is over, not everything sticks inside the set. A lot of them are secured on the outside of the box. Two of the cards go inside and there is a place for Raven Queens stand to go so you don't have to take her out of her stand to put her inside. However, the base does not fit, just the stick. This makes it a nightmare for storage because the outside is not flush. To get it back in the box, I have to take all but spade card off. The other cards, cups and rose have to come off. And there is no where to secure them inside so they are loose in the box at this time.

There is also a little charm that goes at the top. Just for decoration I guess. 

Well, that's it! I don't think I'll have this one displayed but I might, never know. Depends on how much room I have. I like my Thronecoming one better. So what do you think of Raven Queen? Do you have her? Let me know in the comments!

I did some laundry today of all the old clothes that I got from the garage sale where I got the vintage Ken's. That will be up next!

Until then!

Christmas Treasures #7 (only a year later...)

Hey, better late than never right? :)

I was going good on posting about my wonderful Christmas treasures (from 2016!) but then...life. I got sick and work was super stressful then I got pregnant and then I was sick...and sick...and sick again, then my pictures all took a dive and, well, you get it. 

There is ONE last doll that I have not posted about yet. My wonderful hubby asked me what I wanted last Christmas and I cheerfully said "Dolls!" because that's what I really wanted. 

He got me this beauty along with all her other cohorts which have already been posted about. 

The beautiful, Way Too Wonderland Apple White!

I thought for sure that I had posted about her before but I checked and double checked and I did not. 

I liked this Apple mainly for her hair. I like how they paired light blue with her red color scheme. And of course, a crown for the future queen. She also has a plastic collar (as does Lizzie and Briar.)

Her earrings are little swirls with Apples at the end.
 

Her dress pattern is cute and has a low waist like some of the other dresses in the line. However, the way this one was situated in the box, combined with the stiff satin fabric, it refused to lie down like it was supposed to. If they could have used a better fabric then I would have liked it better but I understand about budgets.
 

She has white ruffle cuffs and painted black gloves. And comes with an apple ring. Cute!
 

Her hair did need some fixing up out of the box but it did not frizz like Lizzie or Maddies. But it will still need fixing. Mostly blonde but you can see some of the pink and blue mixed in the ponytail.
 

THE SHOES!

Okay, these shoes I am not that crazy about. They remind me of Dutch wooden shoes (if that makes sense.) The cute part is they do have all the card suits on them. Hearts and Clubs on the toes, Diamonds and Spades at the top of the straps.

On the heel is...a garden gnome! How strange! But after all, it is wonderland!

Well, that's it for today. I will have another post soon but I do have to take some pictures first. I'll get to that today. 

Do you have this Apple in your collection? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time!

New and Improved Barbie - And another addition

Hi Friends!

I am pleased to announce that I have joined the ranks of the Stay at Home Moms. I liked my job and I loved what I did however the stress was causing me some health issues for me and the new baby (we are both fine.) But it was just too much so now I get to have a few months to stay at home with my lone child. And (not surprisingly) finding I have a lot that I want to do. I'm more busy now that I'm at home all day. Actually all of these things were reserved for the weekend and after I got home from work. Now I can use my weekends to rest and spend time with the hubby.

Also, during nap times, this is when I get the change to blog! So here we go with today's post. 

Before I left for vacation during Thanksgiving, I cleaned up my new Ken's and the mod Barbie. Remember that Barbie was in sad shape. She had very dirty legs and torn vinyl on the ankle. I was not able to get her legs clean so I had to find an outfit that covered her legs and an outfit for the old body type. A LOT of the clothes I have acquired are for the newer body type. So I decided on this one!

This is Ballerina #989 first released in 1961. This was in the box of vintage clothing that I got for Christmas a few years ago. It was a complete set (except the cardboard tiara) and I even have the program which, according to the Fashion Doll Guide, is very rare. I know the black tights don't necessarily go with the tutu but it was a great covering for her legs. I loved this outfit and wanted to get it on her. 

If you want to read more about this outfit on the Fashion Doll Guide, you can click here!

It looks great on her but she is just a tad small in the bust. The zipper works perfectly so I got it to zip up all the way so it stays up pretty well.

I will also take the shoes off of her as they are not hard plastic like the newer ballet slippers but soft, pliable vinyl and bend when I stand her up like so.

In addition to the torn vinyl ankle, she also has a broken click knee joint. And in this outfit does not sit very well. I'll have to make a doll stand for her. I'd like to change her into a mod beach outfit someday but that would require more work on her legs. We shall see. 

I'm also going to get to work on the clothes that came with these dolls. They still have that old attic smell so I think the only way to clean them and get the smell out is to put them in the washer. (I know, I know...) However with my back and everything else I need to get done for the holidays, this is my only option. I can't bear to think about sitting and scrubbing each and every piece. All of these clothes are OOAK and handmade. I think they will do okay on a very delicate short cycle. More of that to come!

Now, for the new addition! I've had a backlog of items to post for you, most of them Ever After High. I just haven't gotten around to them yet. Well, here is one for today! 

The most beautiful (as her name suggests,) Rosabella Beauty!

Rosabella is the cousin of Briar Beauty (Sleeping Beauty.) Rosabella is an advocate for animal rights and her outfit depicts that (or doesn't because she's wearing fur? Maybe it's faux fur.) That is because her father is/was The Beast! She has an adorable outfit and I just love this doll!

She's a smarty pants and has some cute glasses with roses at the corners. She has a fur collar on her shirt and a pretty rose printed belt that is actually painted in two colors! Her earrings are a geometric shaped with a rose printed on the top of them. Her gold crown is molded in roses.

She wears the same ring/bracelet combo that has? You guessed it, roses.

I LOVE her skirt. Since this is a play on Beauty and the Beast they went with a yellow theme for the skirt and it's printed with gold roses. Very pretty! And as I mentioned above, she is a smarty pants and instead of carrying a purse, carries a book.

I love her hair. It's brown with some pink thrown in that's pulled back into a ponytail from the front. Her hair came out very good from the box and is soft and shiny and still has a curl rather than frizz.

The SHOES! These are great boots. Keeping with her fur theme, these are molded to look like fur. I bet her feet and legs are nice and warm. There are straps across the shin and each one is secured with a rose. But for some reason, only the first one was painted. I'll have to fix that. 

I just love these! As I've been saying, Mattel could make a KILLING if they paired with a shoe manufacturer and made these doll shoes in people sizes. How many cool shoes have we seen for both Monster High and Ever After High?

Well, that's all for today everyone! I'm still working through (slowly) getting all my pictures converted from the fallout that was Photobucket and their 3rd party hosting. So soon the blog will be back to its normal self. 

So, do you have Rosabella Beauty or the vintage ballerina outfit in your collection? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time!