Dollstagram and MCM Sale

Hey there, I live! I know, I know. Crazy, huh? Where I last left you over a year ago I was just about to move out into the country. Since then I've long since settled in and mostly have a combination of fluctuating interest, back pain, and a toddler to blame for my long absence. Not to say that I haven't been part of the doll community online. I'm still dollstagramming at least. Not that my photography has gotten much better! But I do enjoy connecting with other doll enthusiasts and enjoying their beautiful photographs.

The Madison Children's Museum American Benefit Sale was this summer and despite not feeling particularly dolly at the time, I still went. My Best Friend had to bail on me last minute (She was sick, poor thing :/) So it was just myself in there while my husband and toddler waited outside. Needless to say I wasn't in there very long, but I picked up what I wanted (from what I could afford with my limited budget this year.)

The spoils?

Molly's Swimsuit

Cecile's Parlor Desk

Cute polka-dot dress from Craft Sale

The dress was made by a woman in Nicaragua as part of a project to employ and teach underprivileged women there. Most of their clothing are inspired by world costumes but this dress called out to me. Check out chicanica.org for more information.

I've been busy with other doll-related things recently too but I'll save those for another post :)

Overdue Update

For the last month and a half I had replaced blogging here with posting on Instagram. It was quick, easy, and required little writing. I guess I enjoyed having a little instant feedback seeing as I've only got one actual comment on my blog. Can you really blame me?

But I plan to post more here again. This is partially because I can't deny that I still love writing and Instagram simply isn't the place to be writing lengthy sentences about my hobbies and projects. Its also partially because I'm a bit tired of coming across the drama the preteen dollstagrammers keep perpetuating. That being said, there are still plenty of wonderful doll accounts on Instagram, run by both preteens and adults alike.

Also I'm not that good at doll photography. My camera can't focus, and despite my art degree I have a long way to go in the photography field.

That all said, here is the summery of my doll life since the last post:

I took Molly out for a harshly-lit photo shoot in the back yard after dressing her up with Kit's sweater. Her leg was loose so this wasn't easy. A few days later DH picked her up off the couch and her leg fell off. Oops. Molly's leg is still broken as I haven't gotten around to trying to fix it. Again.

Penny and Felicity had a photo shoot in the backyard too. Felicity's legs are also loose so its hard to get her to stand.  I've since sold Penny for what I bought her for to a nice lady I met on Craigslist.

I finally got around to taken a few decent pictures of the Disney Princess & Me dolls I bought last spring. I still think Rapunzel is absolutely gorgeous, and that Aurora could use a little less eyeshadow. I wish I had bought once of the other princesses instead... like  Ariel or Tiana. I think they're far prettier dolls. But Aurora is sorta "My" princess, despite not really caring for her. Its sorta a lifelong thing I decided when I was 9 or so and wasn't aloud to let go of.

Kit's shirt just above is one I made out of an old shirt of mine. Didn't turn out all that great. I gave it away to a neighbor girl as part of a late birthday present.

A friend and I got to go to the MCM sale where I bought a bunch of cute doll clothes and a #33 for myself. I picked up McKenna for a friend and was surprised to find that I actually kind of like her dress in person. Sakari looks adorable in the blue and white winter outfit I got there, and #33, who I named Darcy, is enjoying an eclectic style of old 90's AG clothes mixed in with a few modern ones.

The friend I bought McKenna for sent me a cute knockoff dress meant for Elizabeth as a thank you for being her personal shopper. She also sent brown boots sized for Journey Girl dolls for Sakari.

I redid all of my doll's hair using a spray solution of water and fabric softener. I don't mind Sakari's hair as much now, and  I can finally run my hand through Felicity's hair again.

I began packing up all my doll stuff as we're moving about an hour away to a larger house in the country. I took a group shot of all my 18" dolls... which I had to stitch together manually photoshop. When the shot is small like this I don't think my rushed graphical job looks too bad.

I found at a used kid's clothing and toy store a bag of AG clothes for $5. I'm not sure if I'll keep any of it but I'll decide that for sure after the move.

Also: Shoes. Aren't doll shoes great?


So that's the gist of what's been going on. Once I've got a setup in the new house I'll be sure to post pictures!

Instagram

Thanks to a lovely lady I met while scouring the internet for a possible doll to customize I've recently discovered the wonderful AG community on Instagram. I of course have known of Instagram for a long time but the slightly-snooty graphic designer part of me had so far ignored it... mostly because I had no desire to take pictures of my desert and apply stock filters to them before sharing them with the world. Call me crazy.

Anyways, I've joined. I cheated and put up some pictures I had already taken... and did the editing on the computer. Unfortunately, my phone camera isn't up to par so in the future I'll probably stick to shots taken with the nicer camera then cheat them onto Instagram as I please.

View my account by clicking here!

A Brief Dolly History Through Photos

I've always loved dolls 

Little Brother & I for Halloween

Me, Water Baby, and Little Sister.

Lots of Dolls! All three sisters & my first American Girl - Felicity!

Me, Felicity, and Little Sister.

Five siblings and a load of monkeys all made by my mom!

Me with Felicity, Kirsten, Josefina, Samantha, Addy, and Molly.

Years Later - All the Girls and my Baby Boy at three weeks.

The Queen's Treasures - Cupcake Set

The other day I added these adorable cupcakes to my order on Amazon. They're by The Queen's Treasures and hardly cost anything at all. Most doll food other than AG's is terrible, but these were great and definitely worth it - I just wish they made food other than cupcakes and cookies!

They came with a cute little box that was easy to fold up. I'm certain I'll be buying again from them in the future.

Garage Sale Samantha and More!

Today my dolls got themselves two foster sisters picked up at a local garage sale I found on Craigslist.

The dolls are a bit dirty, but otherwise in pretty good condition. I'm looking forward to cleaning them up and giving them the love they deserve before letting them go. In addition to the dolls, I also bought Felicity's horse, Penny.

Again, not perfect. She's missing a stir-up and the blue blanket but still... she's pretty nice. I had never been into the AG horse thing but I may keep her simply because Felicity has always been my favorite and now she gets to finally meet her horse again.

The lot also came with clothes.

As a kid, I had always liked the princess costume. I'm also a fan of the purple brocade dress. I think I'll be holding on to those two. I laughed at the mini grin pins over the red vinyl outfit. My little sister had the same outfit for her doll and I'm pretty sure she put grin pins on hers too. There's also a random sock that I'll have to investigate to figure out what its from.

At the bottom of the bag was this earring. I think its probably for dolls... though neither doll had her ears pierced so I'm honestly not sure. Does anyone know if its an AG earring?


All and all I'm quite happy. The lot was a surprisingly low cost for what came with it so... yay! I should be able to turn a profit for cleaning them up.

Medium Skin, Blue Eyes AG Doll

I've known for some time that I was wrong about there being no medium skinned, blue-eyed American Girl doll. I saw a used one on AGPlaythings a while back, but it was long after I had switched Meredith and Kyla's eyes. Alas, had I known this I would have bought this doll for Sakari instead.

Though honestly, I think the Journey Girls doll looks more like her. So its not a total loss. And I still would of had to get a different wig. Idealy, I would have also bought Kanani and switched wigs with her. Kanani would become Siku (Another RP character of mine... medium skin, grey eyes, black hair) and #67 Would be Sakari.

Part of me is still all like... its not too late. But I'd have to modify Sakari's tunic so the snap was sewn elsewhere (harder than it sounds, as part of it is hidden in the bias tape) and I'd have to bite the bullet and actually pay $150+ for a used Kanani, only to cut her hair to a reasonable length. Also, like I said, the JG facemold fit her better.

I've been looking at other eyes on the interwebs, hoping to be able to find something to replace the JG eyes with so I can better customize them. I have so many character ideas, and these dolls are much less expensive than AG.

By the way, I'll just put this out there- if anyone is interested in me making them a doll using a Journey Girl as a base, please let me know! They have 4 basic doll types: Black, Medium Skin, Light Skin, Light Skin/Asian. I could switch any of their eyes out for you and make their clothes. I'm fairly certain I can rewig as well though I've yet to do so for my own doll. Still waiting for a medium brown wig with a side part to come up on the marketplace. So if you have one of those for sale too... please tell me!

Food & Pants

When I found Molly's Tea Set at the flea market I immediately wanted to get a hold of the silverware and birthday cake that once came with the set. The cost on eBay for the silverware was ridiculous, so I turned straight to calling American Girl to order replacement parts. From them, I managed to buy all the silverware, napkins, birthday cake candles, and a new set of glasses for Molly. (Though something tells me I could find those when I next raid my parent's attic in an attempt to find my doll stuff mixed in with my sister's.) The birthday cake I bought from a member of the AG Playthings board.

Molly's Birthday Cake

I've had all these pieces sitting around for a while, but I wanted a red tablecloth to display them on before I took and uploaded pictures. So today I finally ironed out a fat quarter of red fabric and hemmed the edges. Then I started taking more pictures...

Kit's Birthday Cake

Pictures of things such as my most recent eBay purchase, Kit's delicious-looking cake. It won't be long now before I buy the depression glassware set for her to complete the set-up.

My display of doll food and knickknacks on top of my bookshelf. Aurora has been dutifully guarding the curio cabinet for some time now.

Where both Molly & Felicity's tea sets reside on my dresser. You may notice Appa resting on my pillow in the mirror. I sure did...

 

So I decided that Sakari & Appa needed to meet.

By the way, I made Sakari's black pants to go under the tunic. It took two tries, as my first attempt to alter a pattern to fit  Journey Girl dolls made for some awkward-looking pants. I may embroider the hem to match Sakari's sleeves, but not today.

Flea Market: Molly's Tea Set

On Saturday DH and I went to a few Flea Markets with the In laws. Whenever we go, I've made it my personal mission to find items for my American Girl dolls, usually without much success. Never had I actually found an AG item. When I was just about to give up, imagine my surprise when I looked down to find Molly's Tea Set. I literally gasped- and I'm not the type to go around gasping. (Though I am the type to mutter to myself in public, a habit I really need to break so people don't think I'm crazier than I am.)

The silverware and napkins weren't included, but it had the creamer and sugar bowl, which are no longer sold by AG. The price? $12. Yup, I was pretty excited.

So today I finally got the chance to clean them up and practice macro photography for the blog. There are some minor imperfections on most of the pieces.

I'm not sure how normal that is or not. Also, I noticed there were no markings to say it was from American Girl, Pleasant Company, or even where they were made. I think some versions might have some of these? I'm not positive though.

Overall, I'm very pleased. Now I just want the silverware, napkins, and the birthday cake!

Journey Girls Ski Lodge Set

A few weeks ago I decided to take advantage of a 20% off sale and get the Journey Girl's Ski Lodge from Toys R Us. I had never seen anything from this brand in person but it looked cute online. I've wanted a doll-sized fireplace since I was young and would set up Christmas each year for my sister's dolls. My childhood fireplace was a badly-painted piece of cardboard with a string across it to hang my youngest sister's socks. Good times.

So I bought the Journey Girl's Ski Lodge... because as much as I love American Girl's beautiful parlor for Caroline, that thing costs $300. Maybe someday. When I have a place to put it. If I can convince myself to throw that much money at a non-doll doll-item.

 

Its a cute set. I pretty much knew what I was getting myself into as far as quality goes so there were no real big surprises. Anyone who's read any reviews knows that the chairs are a bit too small for AG girls to fit into properly. The little cushion had to be taken off to get her in.

I'm not really fond of the bright blue logo stamped on the front. If I were to keep the rest of the set, I'd want to repaint the chairs.

The coffee table is okay. I honestly don't have much of an opinion on it. Its just kind of... there.

Rug is hideous. But I've never been fond of animal print so maybe its just me.

The TV surprised me by being made of wood. I don't know why, but I expected it to be plastic and none of the reviews I had read said otherwise.

I may just be spoiled by AG food, but this food is cheap looking. I never took it out of the plastic. If and when I do, I'll add pictures of it as well. The photo I took through the plastic turned out way too blurry and is packed away in the box with most of the set at the moment.

And now we get to the main event - the fireplace.

Its a decent size. It came in three pieces that required a screwdriver. The stone facade is just paper. I hadn't noticed this from pictures online, but there are splotchy colored blots over the stone that are kind of ugly. The bricks on the inside are also paper. They have a slightly colored gradient added to them that I suppose is meant to make the center of the fireplace brighter... as if the fire is casting shadows onto it? I'm not really sure. I may eventually try to make my own paper to replace the ones the set came with.


Now this is the part where I both complain about Journey Girl's Quality Control and praise Toys R Us's customer service.

The paper was peeling off in places that made it impossible for me to fix without entirely disassembling the fireplace. I might have just dealt with this myself - After all, I was already thinking of replacing the paper, but that wasn't the only problem. There was a dent on the mantle.

I tried to ignore it, to pretend it didn't bother me. But it did. A lot. So a day or two later I called customer service and got a label to ship it back. They were very easy to deal with and I commend them for that. A few days later my new set arrived via UPS. It took me a few days more to ship the original set back- it was hard to get out of the house with a giant box and a six-month-old baby. UPS couldn't pick up the package themselves without charging me and that just wasn't going to happen.