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Wednesday, December 28, 2016
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Sunday, December 18, 2016
A Doll’s Holiday Gift List
This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info. Thanks!
The holidays are upon us, such a wonderful time of the year. A time of joy and cheer and giving to all. This includes your favorite doll.
Yes, Anna is having a hard time finding the perfect gift for me, I mean us dolls. She is one to wait until the last minute for such things.
To ease her burden, I have compiled a simple list of items that would be perfect to find under our tiny tree.
And for the sake of convenience, all of these special gift ideas are available at stores with locations close to home. Anna regularly frequents each one.
Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Doll
- My Little Pony Blind Bag – Usagi just adores these collectible little figurines and I admire them as well for their quality. They are quite affordable as well, so purchasing one for every doll in your collection is not out of the question.
- My Mini Mixie Q's Blind Bag Box – These tiny dolls are much beloved by our dear little Sakura. Each box contains two dolls with clothing and hair that are interchangeable. They provide hours of fun for young doll, not to mention young humans.
- ArtMinds Wooden 4 Drawer Box – For the doll with far too many accessories, this box makes a wonderful gift. The roomy drawers can easily contain all the clutter, and the piece can be painted and adorn to match your doll’s personality.
- Journey Girls Musical Room Playset – For the music lover, why not an instrument? This set consists of a doll size guitar, violin and clarinet along with cases, sheet music and a stand. Perfect for the budding musician.
- Badger Basket White Rose Doll Bed – This gorgeous bed will leave any doll feeling like a princess in a fairy story. It comes with a beautiful quilt and pillow set. Give the gift of sweet dreams.
- Journey Girls Bistro Table Set – This is a favorite of mine. A nicely designed set consisting a of a table, two chairs, and doll sized table settings for two. It would be perfect for serving tea and perhaps a light lunch.
- Journey Girls Travel Trunk – For the doll with an ever growing wardrobe, why not this trunk to store all her beautiful clothing?
- Our Generation Wooden Wardrobe – And for the doll with a much grander collection of clothing, this wooden wardrobe is spacious indeed.
Let me mention a couple of things. First this “list of ideas” should be read mostly as “Hikaru’s Wish List”. But it does work as an idea list all the same.
Second, most of the ideas are made for 18 inch or American Girl size dolls or aren’t intended for dolls at all. Thankfully they still work for ball jointed dolls, especially the closet.
Anyway, I hope this list helps you find the perfect gift for your “favorite doll” or your favorite doll collector.
Happy Holidays.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Finding Doll Props: A Tiny Thrift Store Haul
Anna recently paid a visit to a local thrift store, specifically Goodwill, hoping to find a few appropriate doll sized items.
So imagine my surprise when she presented this fanciful backpack. Emblazoned with Hello Kitty, it is attractively cute, but not right for use by us dolls.
It still was useful for Anna. She actually placed the rest of her purchases inside. So then, let us see what she found.
It is a clear plastic bag full of random odd and ends. It is my understanding that at thrift stores small items are frequently grouped together this way before selling.
Items such as small toys, household supplies and craft supplies are found this way. And it’s in these sort of bags that one has the most luck at finding suitable doll props.
Quite a mix of items in this bag, and I can immediately spot a few things that would be of use to me.
So let’s first examine the more obvious finds.
Here we have an amusing little book, Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies. It is a nicely bound hardcover book and the perfect size for a doll.
It features a few classic fairy tales with bright full color illustrations. This will be excellent as bedtime reading for our little Yuna and Sakura.
Now for us more mature dolls, there is a box set of four beautiful books of poems. It is called Flower Fairies, The Little Collection.
Each poem is about a different type of flower fairy, and the illustrations are wonderfully done.
I shall immensely enjoy devouring these fine books.
Next, we have a ceramic piggy bank. Such a practical item and it’s the perfect size for dolls.
Now that I have a decent bank for money, Anna will need to provide me with an adequate allowance. But how much is an appropriate amount?
Hikaru, you are not getting an allowance. You already cost me enough as it is, and that’s without letting you have control of the money.
Humph!
Well, I suppose the bank will make a fine decoration.
Now there is the rest of the items to consider. Most of them sadly are of little use to me. But maybe with some creativity…
I believe the erasers on the right would be amusing for the children to play with, though the scale is awkward.
The watercolor paints might work for the face up Anna has yet to give me (see Doll Owner's Corner: The Face Up). How long must I wait?
Finally, the long adhesive note paper (you mean post-its?), once cut to size would be perfect for dolls.
And this photo album is actually much more useful then at first glance. According to a rather informative Froggy Stuff video, albums such as this one can be used to store doll clothes and accessories.
Each page has a clear pocket that can neatly store an article of clothing or two.
Unfortunately, this particular album is too small for most of my fine clothes. Perhaps is would be useful for a smaller doll such as yosd sized bjds or even fashion dolls.
As for the rest of the items, I’m sure Anna can use them for some practical purpose.
Now that everything has been properly sorted, I think I will sit back and enjoy a good book. Perhaps with a cup of tea as well. Be at peace.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Doll Owner’s Corner: A Few Plans
It’s the first of December and Christmas is coming too soon!
But first, it’s Doll Owner’s Corner when I, the doll owner, talk about anything I want.
This month’s topic:
Planning
I just wanted to go over a little about what I have planned or sort of planned with the dolls.
The Head
First up is the head i.e. Usagi’s friend. He has a wig and eyes already. But even though I have purchased two other dolls since he and Usagi came, I still haven’t gotten him a body.
That will change. The very next planned doll purchase will definitely be a body for him, and in a few months he will be bodiless no more.
I plan on getting him this Doll Family H body. It is my understanding that Doll Family H and Doll Family A are two lines made by the same company. Doll Family A by the way is the company that made Usagi and the head.
Anyway, being kind of the same company means that the resin colors should be a perfect match for Usagi’s friend. This is a major problem when trying to buy bjd bodies and heads separately. And as soon as he recieves his new body, he will get the only other thing he is missing. I mean besides clothes.
A name. We won’t be able to call him “the Head” anymore. I have several ideas for names rolling around in my head, so it’s just a matter of throwing them at him and seeing which one sticks.
Using the Extra Wig
When I bought wigs for the head and Sakura, I bought another small wig as well. I mentioned that I had plans for it. It’s for another doll.
My next major doll purchase after the body will be another yosd sized ball jointed doll. It is a doll I was eyeing around the time I bought Yuna.
I actually had trouble deciding whether to buy this one or Yuna. In the end, I went with Yuna because she was on sale for a better price. I’m waiting for the other doll to go on sale for an even better price. Until then, I won’t mention which doll she is, don’t want to ruin the surprise. :)
Fixing Wigs
Yuna’s wig need a bit of work, but I have an idea of a way to fix a least one of the problems with it.
Also, Yuna, Usagi and Sakura all could use a trim. Their bangs need a little something. I’ve already done some work on Usagi’s bangs, but I really want to go back and improve it.
Hikaru’s hair is just fine, but I want to find more ways style it. I seen a few tutorials online for different hair styles for American Girl dolls and I think they will work for bjds too.
More Doll Clothes And Tutorials
I intend to make a lot more doll clothes in the future. There are several clothing pieces all the dolls need and/or want. Mostly winter clothing for the girls and eventually the head will need something too.
I’m thinking things like basic pants and shirts for the head and simple and cute coats for everyone. And I think it would be fun to make some doll jeans. Usagi really wants a pair.
I also think it would be so fun to make Hikaru one really fancy outfit. Something with lots of ruffles and details. It might get her off my back for awhile. I want to make all this as soon as possible, though life will probably get in the way.
I also want to make tutorials for some of these items or at least post some printable patterns for them. While I’m at it, I would like to post the patterns for some of the things I’ve already made. Like the simple shoes I made for Hikaru and the cute doll t-shirts. And anything else that you all would like to see.
Now most of these are long term goals. Because buying both a new ball jointed doll and a doll body at the same time will definitely blow your budget. But it’s good to have at least some sort of plan or goal when collecting these dolls.
So look forward to seeing some of these ideas pop up over the next several months. :)
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Wordless Wednesday: Playing with Ponies
This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info. Thanks!
Featuring these My Little Pony blind bag toys.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Of Bjd Fashion: Doll Sweaters from Socks?
After much sewing and patience, Anna created some necessary warm doll clothes for us, and from a peculiar material.
Anna found this helpful tutorial with patterns for making sweaters from human socks. A useful and economical idea, with but one problem. The pattern is for SD sized or 1/3 scale ball jointed dolls. In other words, it’s too large for myself or the other dolls.
However, Anna is remarkably skilled at pattern making and was able to draft her own patterns for this task.
Which is how this delightful sweater was created in my 1/4 scale size. It was once a navy blue knee sock belonging to Anna.
As you can see it looks wonderful on me. The neckline is accented with my new favorite lace. And the trail of faux pearls down the front add the perfect touch.
Anna also made a sock sweater for Usagi. She used the mate to the navy blue sock used for my sweater, but accented it with off-white ribbon and a simple large-ish button. It suits Usagi gloriously.
And for Sakura and Yuna’s sake, Anna also made patterns for yosd sized or 1/6 scale dolls. She then created these adorable white sweaters using bobby socks. Each sweetly embellished with ribbon bows and more faux pearls.
Anna was generous enough to make her patterns available to those who may need them. Here they are ready to be downloaded and used in conjunction with the previously mentioned tutorial.
Here is the MSD or 1/4 sized pattern.
And here is the Yosd or 1/6 sized pattern.
In addition to the sweaters, Anna made use of human tights to create none other than doll tights and socks. The novelty of it.
Unfortunately, Anna did not produce a downloadable pattern for these marvels, but she may do so in the future if our lovely readers wish it.
For myself, Anna made two pairs of sensible stockings in black and white. I already had a pair of white tights (see Holiday Gifts) that unfortunately are torn, so these are much needed replacements.
The black tights are just the thing to pair with my new navy blue sweater as well as other darker clothing in my wardrobe.
Usagi received a pair of black tights as well, but she also received these unusual socks.
They go well above her knees, a very modest design. At least it would be except the length seems to drawn more attention to the short length of Usagi’s skirt.
Usagi, seems unconcerned by this. She sees them as something extremely “cute.”
Hikaru, they are cute, especially on Usagi. So stop being so prudish about it. Especially since they aren’t your clothes.
Alright, I’ll let it go this time. To each their own.
Anna made a pair of white socks for both Yuna and Sakura, and Sakura received a pair of tights.
Why not tights for Yuna as well? They are are such a sensible piece of leg wear.
Because Yuna didn’t want them. They make her uncomfortable and are too difficult to get off. Socks are easier and feel lighter to her, so don’t give her a hard time about it, Hikaru.
Now why in the world would I give anybody a hard time about their clothing preferences? Far be it from me to attempt to force another to wear a garment that makes them uncomfortable. Even if that article of clothing would look absolutely darling on them. It is such a pity.
(You mean like that skirt Usagi asked you to wear that you thought was too short?)
(There is a great difference between legwear and skirt length!)
Anyway, with our new sweaters and stockings, we are well prepared for this chilly Autumn to Winter weather and all the excitement it brings.
Maybe too much excitement, it has Sakura and Yuna bouncing off the walls.
This may be the start of a terribly long season.
Be at peace my dear readers.
