A Mini-Project

I want to wait a little bit before I get into my final doll involving snowflakes. It's been SO cold here. Foggy and icky. Just plain COLD!

So let's think of something...a little warmer shall we?

While my husband was out in the alley behind our house he brought me something he found.

This is actually a big fear of mine, leaving an ornament on the tree when it goes out to the trash. I don't have to worry so much as my tree is artificial and goes into a box every year but you should see me when I take down the tree. It's a serious process when I get to the end of the undecorating. I all but climb up the tree to make sure all the ornaments are off. Anyone else the same way? Please don't let me be the only one who stresses themselves out about this. ;)

Unfortunately my tree has nothing to do with the color brown. It's a bunch of green, red, purple, blue, silver, gold and everything in between. But no brown. This poor guy would have stuck out like a sore thumb had I put him on the tree.

Until I got a little idea.

It involves a few supplies.

A little tape

A little paint

Okay, a LOT of paint

A perfect blue wedge

Onto the next color

Definitely not finished yet by any means but it will be a perfect prop for these dolls that I am going to show next. Anyone figured out yet what it will be?

It's definitely a mini-project. The Benny doll has been put on hold because I have not had time to dig out the sewing machine. But mini-projects are always welcomed. :)

I have some FAB-U-LOUS beach dolls. I have featured some of them here in this blog.

The most beautiful (Steffie face!) Wet-n-Wild Teresa and Wet-n-Wild Skipper. As I've mentioned many times before. Wet-n-Wild Teresa is one of my top 5 most favorite dolls I own.

Next I have Sun Sensations Jazzie wearing a Splash n' Color Skipper swimsuit and the glasses from Beach Blast Miko.

The lovely Palm Beach Teresa and Princess Merliah from A Mermaid Tale. Turtle is so cute no?

The most awesome Cali Girl Christie wearing her own shirt and Cali Girl Lea's swimsuit underneath.

And, of course, my most favorite swim doll of all. She is perfect because she was my moms.

Since I have some swimsuit dolls and some beach furniture, I was thinking of doing a little set up with these dolls. I need a pool though!

So, any more guesses at what the Christmas "ball" prop will be?

Stay tuned! More pics to come!

Christmas Treasure #3

Totally unrelated to Barbie, anyone watching the last week of football?

We've already got the Broncos in the Super Bowl, now it's up to the 49ers and the Seahawks. I live in Central Oregon so I'm right in the middle of Seattle and San Francisco so I get a lot of back and forth between friends. But we shall see. However it's a perfect time to blog since I really don't care who wins. Ha!

Last time we saw the most beautiful PJ wearing a winter Fashion Avenue wedding dress, complete with snowflakes!

I mentioned that this post would also feature snowflakes.

I present to you...."Snowflake" herself!

This is a collector edition classic ballet doll. I believe that my dad picked her up for me at one of the booths at the antique store where he has his own booth set up at. That's a very lucky gig, he gets to be at the store to change out his inventory and he gets to see all the new stuff the other vendors bring it. Fantastical!

Her box is a little beat up however she has a very friendly box allowing for deboxed pictures!

I have never seen The Nutcracker and in regards to dolls, only have seen the Sugar Plum Fairy. Snowflake is also very pretty, dressed appropriately in white and pale blue.

She is a newer body style doll and has a very sweet face. As always, we love the real eyelashes.

She has the cutest snowflakes on her bodice and I love the trim used for the straps, top and bottom of the bodice. And of course, the glittery sleeves!

The back of the box has a great picture of the doll as well as a little excerpt talking about The Nutcracker.

"Experience the wonder and charm of Tchaikovsky's beloved ballet, THE NUTCRACKER with Barbie doll as Snowflake.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve and centers around young Clara, who dreams that she saves her toy nutcracker from the evil clutches of the Mouse King. The nutcracker turns into a handsome prince, who takes Clara to a magical land filled with sugar plum fairies and confectionery delights. As they enter this enchanted kingdom, shimmering snowflakes come to life and dance in their honor.

Barbie doll as Snowflake reflects the splendor of the dancing snow in her shimmering tutu of soft satin and tulle. Glittering snowflakes decorate her bodice while sheer, iridescent tights and delicate blue toe shoes complete her lustrous look. A silvery tiara adorns her beautiful cluster of blond curls.


The Classic Ballet Series features classic ballets that come to life with Barbie. Your Barbie doll as Snowflake has specifically designed legs so you may pose her in actual first through fifth ballet positions for play or display."

I have decided that these dolls with tattered boxes will most definitely have to come out. As much as I love having dolls in their boxes (unless their dresses or hair are messed up then it kills me not taking them out) this doll I think I'm going to keep in the box. The backdrop is too cute to not use. However when I get to display her, I think I'll just keep her tacked onto the cardboard. I love it too much to take her off of it.


This doll even comes with a certificate of authenticity. Unlike the box this piece is in pristine condition.

Side note - I have another doll in a tattered box and have just decided to take her out of the box. But that's for a later post :) You can read my original post about her here!

What do you think of Snowflake? Do you have her or any other dolls from the Classic Ballet Series? Love hearing from you in the comments!

The next post also features snowflakes! Stay tuned!!

Christmas Treasure #2

Greetings!

Today I am going to show you another treasure I got for Christmas.

I don't know how you all are regarding "in the box" or "out of the box" but with fashions, for me, they are always out of the box. When I got this I exclaimed "I can't wait to get this on a doll!" And my mom said "I knew you would say that" :) She knows me too well.

But how cute is this? We see a lot of Bride Barbie's with short sleeves or strapless gowns but (for me anyway) I have not come across a whole ton of winter bride fashions.

The snowflake? So cute!

So now the challenge is which doll to put it on? I have a bride doll but she is the newer body type. Fashion Avenue is definitely made for the old body type so I had to choose one from the doll box.

Here she is!

The most beautiful Sweet Roses PJ!

I do have her original outfit so I might switch her out someday but for now, she will be the most perfect winter bride ever!

Poor PJ has a broken neck but that did not deter me from giving her the hair treatment she most desperately needed. Those curls don't do well under neglect! However my hubby did make some kind of comment about their being a doll head sans body on the bathroom counter. :)

We also got a new camera for Christmas so this was the perfect time to give it a whirl with my doll photos. Here is PJ all ready for her photo shoot!

She is so pretty. The crushed velvet skirt is perfect!

The outfit is MUCH better out of the box, don't you think? I do have to say this was a challenge to get on the doll. The sleeves wrapped in faux fur made a tight fit for the hands. Her thumb kept getting caught. Then while I was fiddling with getting her hands in the dress, the velcro on the top got stuck to the satin and snagged it a little. (grumble) This definitely is a "leave it on the doll" type of dress.

But again, the snowflake is so adorable on this dress!

Dolls with broken necks are so hard to position. I had to fix the head so it looked like she had a neck while not displaying the cracks. I think it turned out okay! Besides, who can't fall in love with the Steffie mold PJ dolls?

The bouquet also has that adorable snowflake.

I love when shoes have a little detail. For a bride doll I would hope they would! A cute bow adds well to the overall elegance.

The veil needed a little fixing. It was hard to get it to stay on the head and then after being in a box all these years, it kind of stuck out at an odd angle. She sat on my desk for a couple of days so the tulle could mold to her head. Looks okay now!

I just love her in this dress. So so pretty.

And the pictures definitely turned out better too, do you think so?

Any of you have this outfit? Which doll did you put it on? Share comments and/or pics in the comments section!

My next couple of posts will feature snowflake dolls and maybe, just maybe, might have another bride doll. ;)

Until next time!

Christmas Treasure #1, A little help needed!

Happy New Year!

Is everyone glad for 2014? I always feel fresh and new when the new year hits. Not that 2013 was awful but the change is always welcomed with open arms.

I've finished the last of the undecorating and am starting to get my house back in order. Now I actually have time to blog and see if you can help me with a doll that is truly stumping me more than usual!

I opened my last gift from my parents and get her. Breathtaking!

My first thought is that she is absolutely gorgeous. She comes with a metal doll stand, white shoes, and check out that hair!

However I didn't think she is the actual doll that goes with the dress. See the little Z's in her eyes? To me that means she is Hawaiian Fun Barbie as I have her. However my dad told me he found her at a garage sale, the lady said that she had her in a display case in her home. Maybe she did the hair herself? If so that's a really good job.

The back is just a beautiful as the front.

And now this beautiful dress. Maybe it's just a generic playline dress but I'm having a hard time believing that with how much detail is in it. I'm thinking it might be a wedding dress as it has a train. The train is also detachable.

The roses and ruffles are so...Barbie!

And I was surprised when it was a genuine Barbie dress.

Although someone could have taken a Barbie dress and put their own embellishments on it. But to me they look like some are on there from the manufacturer.

This detail is so amazing.

I kind of wish she had the bent arms. Her straight arms are squishing the flowers on the side of the dress at the hips.

In a nutshell, I love her. She is in my top 5.

But what is the dress? I searched for everything I could think of but Google didn't bring up any pictures. I was thinking that someone on flickr would have her but no avail. So friends, who is she and maybe someone else has her?

I'll have another post in the next few days. Until then!

As perfect as new fallen snow - Crystal Splendor Barbie

Merry Christmas!

Well, not yet but close!

This time of year has been hectic and especially for me this year. Lots of good (and unfortunately bad) things going on so my time on this blog has been scarce as of late. So no new updates of my Benny doll, but I do have a doll from my personal collection I would like to share.

We just had a lot of snow fall here the last couple of weeks. Then add in sub-zero temperatures and it kind of stuck around. Luckily it was on the weekend so I didn't have to drive anywhere. It's all melted off now, except another dusting came this morning. Every time I think of, or we have snow, I think of this pretty doll.

My mom got me this doll for my birthday last year I believe. She is the Special Edition Crystal Splendor Barbie. She is dressed all in white and silver, just like snow. She sparkles and shimmers...again, just like snow. She is one of my favorites. And don't you just love the bell sleeves?

And as always, I love dolls with the typical 90's head mold. The ones I grew up with.

I'm dying though. Her box is not friendly. It does not allow me to take her out, fix her head and collar and put her back in. It's been killing me so I try not to look at her that much when I go into my office. But regardless she is one of the prettiest dolls I have.

Here is a picture of the back of her box. It reads "Barbie looks dazzling in a gown that shines with beauty and elegance!"

Okay, now I REALLY want to take her out of the box! Fluff her dress, fix her hair, etc. :)

So friends, do you have Crystal Splendor Barbie? What do you think of her?

This may be my last post before the end of the year. Things are just a little crazy right now so the new post may be after January 1.

To everyone, have a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Ho Ho Ho, and Happy Holidays! Spend time with family and loved ones, be safe in your travels, enjoy and find time to relax! :)

Love, Teresa

The Benny Project Continues!

There is nothing better to do on a snow day than stay inside. It snowed all day Friday then yesterday and today it's been in the negative temperatures. Like, -13. Brr! So in between playing some video games, I got a chance to work on the Benny project!

With my sewing machine in good working order and watching the youtube videos again about how to attach a sleeve, I was ready.

And this is all done by trial and error. I'm not very fluent with sewing so I'm going at this blind. No notches to line up the patterns, no dots to know where my stitching begins and ends. I don't want to jinx myself but I do have to say that I've been pretty good at making sure my projects don't turn into a Pinstrosity so I'm very pleased with how this has come together so far!

I started by sewing the left front and left back together to form the hole for the sleeve.

Then I took the sleeve and doing exactly what the video said, I sewed a stitch and gathered it so it would fit in the sleeve hole. Then I sewed the sleeve down the side and turned it right side out.

With the sleeve right side out and the body right side in, I put the sleeve through the hole.

Now (obviously) this sleeve hole is not going to fit around the end of your sewing machine so it's stitching by hand.

Lots of teeny tiny stitches.

I also had to make sure that my gathering stitch on the sleeve was in my seam allowance so I had to keep adjusting. I didn't use pins, might have helped if I did!

After turning the body right side out, attaching the sleeve was a success!

Unfortunately I got a little pucker in the sleeve but it's easy to rip that out and re-stitch.

Model? Can you please come forward to try this on?

Hey, not bad! If I get the sleeve a little shorter it will be the perfect length to add a cuff.

This was my trial run but I'm pleased with how well it turned out. I just need to make the side seam a little bigger so the shoulder seam will be where it's supposed to be. I don't think I did too bad for just eye-balling it. I have lots of this fabric so I can make another pattern if I choose. Or maybe I'll just use the same ones! (That might be easier actually.)

Until the next update!