Monster High Knock off?? A short, second post for today!

Seriously, what is this supposed to be?  Got it in a lot of Monster High dolls.

It's like a Monster High-goth-Bratz-doll hybrid that can wear Barbie shoes.  Clearly a cheap dollar store doll, with her hair rooted in a way she can only wear pig tails (even though I like the coloring), an ill fitting dress and not very articulated.

On to freecycle for you, dolly!

Thanks for looking!

Equestria Girl Additions

I got all these Equestria Girls off a buy and sell for $5.  I'm not really familiar with all the characters, so I had to do a bit of research to figure out who they are.  They did not come with complete outfits, and most of the shoes were mismatched (so only one full pair).  Le Sigh.  At least only one of them has the peg legs.  I plan to try and make her feet.

This one is Adagio Dazzle.  Her outfit was the most complete of them all, but still missing quite a few things.

Adagio Dazzle.  She sings.

Here is she is on the Hasbro site:

http://www.hasbro.com/en-us/product/my-little-pony-equestria-girls-rainbow-rocks-singing-adagio-dazzle-doll:FAAEE67A-5056-9047-F50A-6042E2E2644C

These two are from the Photo Finish and the Snapshots trio (whatever that is):

The one on the left has a mismatched outfit from a different character (Trixie Lulamoon, according to my research, she wasn't in the lot).  The one on the right is my favorite of the two, but her outfit is also mismatched (from two different characters combined).  I found these on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.ca/Little-Equestria-Finish-Snapshots-3-Pack/dp/B00MDL6LS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450123952&sr=8-1&keywords=equestria+girls+photo+finish+and+the+snapshots

These ones are Vice Principal Luna and Principal Celestria:

I already have a Celestia, but she has the peg legs and her hair colors are more pastel-y.

Here's the rest of the group.  The only two I recognize are Rainbow Dash and peg leg Pinkie Pie.  Not sure who the other two are.

Update:  I found out the other two are Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer

That's it for now!  Gotta do some hair fixing, and clothes/shoe hunting!

Thanks for looking!

Hair cutting 101

Remember that doll I rerooted?  Well, she needed a hair cut, and I wanted her to look 80s rocker-ish like a Hologram, but was nervous to cut her hair.

I put an ISO on freecycle for someone to teach me hair cutting basics.  Turns out the hair cut I wanted for my doll was a little more complicated than the "basics", but the lady was wonderful and let me practice on one of her doll heads first.  Then she established my "perimeter" for me on my own doll. She let me borrow a pair of her scissors and sent me on my way.

Tonight I finally got around to getting started.

I don't think it turned out too bad at all!  I put the remainder of the hair in a baggie to keep in case another project came up.

Now just to figure out what to do with the mohawk part.  Shorter or longer??  I can't decide.

I feel confident to start fixing Pizzazz now!

Thanks for looking!

Simplicity Pattern 1955

I bought this pattern from Simplicity, because I liked the versatility of the more modern clothes to mix and match combined with some more formal pieces, and the fact that there were three size options in the pattern.

http://www.simplicity.com/p-6630-doll-clothes.aspx

It's supposed to fit Bratz dolls (the older ones), Barbie and Liv dolls (they were grouped into the same category of 11.5 inch dolls, but they have different body shapes so I was curious to see how that would work) and the Moxie Teenz dolls.

I have not tried all of the patterns yet.  I've done the simple gathered skirt with waistband, and find it to be too short on all the dolls (at least for my liking).  I need to lengthen it.  The t-shirt I made for my Moxie Teen doll, did not fit properly (she's too hippy and the bottom would not close).  I either need to shorten the shirt or make the bottom wider.  The shirt did, however, fit the Liv doll.  I've made a couple pairs of leggings in different lengths for the Bratz dolls.  The longer version also works for Monster High (not shown in my photo).

Moxie Teen in the skirt that I lengthened, Liv Hayden in the shirt and skirt intended for Moxie Teen, My Scene Barbie in the skirt, and a Bratz doll in the capri leggings (yes, her face is repainted).


Overall I think the pattern is a good start, just needs a bit of tweaking here and there.

On another note, since I was impatient and wanted the pattern "right. now", I chose the printer friendly version.  Never again.  80+ pages later from my printer...and then I had to tape all the pages together and cut out the pieces.  Next time I'll suck it up and wait for it to be shipped!

Do you use pre-made patterns?  What's your favorite?

Thanks for looking!

My First Re-root

Since I got my Pizzazz doll with doll pattern baldness, I've had intentions to fix her by rooting in the bald patch.  I've been wanting to try a re-root for a long time.

from giphy.com

I decided that I needed a practice victim client, first.  I put out an ISO on freecycle; and these are what was given to me:

I apologize I can't get this photo to rotate.  There's a brunette Barbie who appears to be Theresa, Pocahontas, and a no-name ugly dollar store doll.

Contestant #1

 While her hair IS really bad; I found her just ugly, and with no neck syndrome.  I saved her outfit and just threw her in the bin.

Contestant #2

Pocahontas' hair is a little tangled; but I *think*  I can save it.  I'll have a go at her another day.

Contestant #3

Theresa's hair was not tangled; but from the back I could tell she had had a custom cut:

Plus, I like her face.  I choose you!

I got started cutting her hair off.  I kept the longer pieces in a ziploc bag.

Then to chose the hair.  I looked through all the packages from Dolly Hair.  The Electric Banana is reserved for Pizzazz.  I had 5 colors to chose from (I ordered a grab bag, 5 random hair hanks for $10, I think it was).  I chose the purply color I thought went with her eyes.

Nabbed from the Google Images page

The hank was way too long for this doll; and didn't probably wasn't a full hank anyway.  So I cut it into two pieces (as even as I could) and hoped I would have enough to root the whole head.  It was sooo close to being enough.  I added some of her original hair to the front area where the old bangs used to be to fill in the spot:

I thought she could channel her inner Kimber from the Holograms (I've been watching Jem on Netflix lately) with a chunky, longer, spiky bang effect.  I decided it still wasn't full enough (I had been rooting more sparsely than I would have liked in order to ensure I had enough hair, didn't work though).  I caved and got another hank of hair.  A light pink this time.

I filled in the rest of the spots that were more thinly rooted.  I didn't use the whole hank.

Now my Theresa has pink highlight in her purple hair with a brown faux hawk.

Now just to wait for the glue to dry and I can style it.  I wish I had a more articulated body substitute right now.

A creepy photo just for you.

I also have a huge mess to clean up.  Ugh, doll hair strands everywhere!

Thanks for looking!

La Dee Da

I bought a La Dee Da doll from Value Village a few weeks ago, for around $2.  I gravitated toward her at first because of the pink hair, of course!  Sadly,  not only did she have a "custom" haircut, she's totally nude:

I hadn't realized this line of dolls has also been discontinued (in Canada, at least), until I tried to find clothes for her.  At first I started at TRU and Walmart online, and came up with zilch.  I redirected my search to Amazon, and was saddened to see fashion packs priced around $30, then add shipping on top of that :(  Boo.  Then I found one that had been marked on sale for around $3 (ended up costing more with shipping, of course, but was still cheaper than purchasing one of the others).  It came in the mail yesterday.

 I realized once I got it out of the shipping package why the price was discounted so much, the outer plastic shell just fell right off in my hands.

 Oh, well.  Less work for me!  Just the plastic ties and casing holding the shoes and bracelets in left to snip.  Inside is the dress, a faux fur stole, a plastic purse, shoes, and two bracelets.

I'm not sure the green works with her pink hair.  The doll can't actually hold the purse.  The fit of the shoes seems a bit clunky to me.  The cardboard insert says the stole can also be used as a ruffle for the bottom of the dress.

Oops.  Or not.  It's a tad too big for that purpose!   I remembered reading somewhere that La Dee Da outfits fit MLP Equestria Girls (to which I have one that is also in need of clothes).

Here is my Celestia (a Value Village find for around $2, I love her hair) in the dress.  I think the colors are much better on her, with the blue and green colors in her hair!

Hey!  That's my outfit!

I'm still trying to find the best spot in my house for the best lighting in photos.  Where do you photograph your dolls?

Thanks for looking!

He said, She said

I mentioned yesterday that my little Sailor Moon doll came in a bag with 2 dolls in it.  I didn't immediately recognize the second doll while she was in the bag; her mass of curls were obscuring her face.

I took her out of the bag, and still did not recognize her.  Here she is:

I lifted up the mass of curls from the back of her neck and saw it was stamped with Ashley Tisdale.  You remember Ashley Tisdale from High School Musical?  Here is the link to her Tumblr so you can catch up with her:

http://ashleytisdale.com/

According to my research, this caricature looking girlie is an Ashley Tisdale "He Said, She Said" doll made by Huckleberry Toys.  Here is a link to one in the box I found on eBay:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ashley-Tisdale-Barbie-Doll-2008-He-Said-She-Said-Poster-Sticker-Sheet-Card-MIB-/261797523470?hash=item3cf459300e:g:Yl0AAOSwBahU6VA2

From this picture, it *looks* like her outfit is complete, save the accessories.  Her necklace looks like it was stitched to her shirt, and have come undone on one side.

I've read it's supposed to say "Headstrong", but it's hard to make out the wording (especially on a poorly focused photo!  Sorry about that).

Her hair is pretty stiff with blonde ringlets.  I'm not going to brush it; it looks still in decent shape and I don't want to end up with a giant frizz ball.

Her molded shoes are attached and aren't removable, but they do turn at the ankle, giving her 9 points of articulation.  Her knees bend as well (she has the rubbery legs with internal joints).

Her outfit is cute, I'm just not sure about that face.  It comes across as comical to me.  What do you think?  Do you have one of these dolls?

Thanks for looking!

Moon Prism Power!

I was close to Value Village today and decided to stop in and peruse the toy section.  I saw Sailor Moon and I instantly had to have her.  I love Sailor Moon.  That was really the only anime cartoon I got into, aside from Astro Boy.  I got her in a pack with 2 dolls in it for $4.99.

Her hair is a bit of a mess, and her outfit needs a couple stitches here and there (causing the plunging neckline).  Her gloves and boots are molded/painted on.  She is a 6 inch doll, made by Irwin.  Apparently this is the company that got all the other Sailor Scout's hair and or shoes wrong.

A bit of a wardrobe malfunction!  Love her little tiara.

Here she is with her hair washed and re-styled.  She looks so much better!  I just need to fix her dress, find some red baubles for her hair meatballs, and she can go back to fighting evil in style!  Tuxedo Mask is sure to swoon.

Since I've already mentioned Astro Boy, I will show you my Ban Dai action figure.  I picked him up at Liquidation world a few years ago.  I don't remember how much I paid for him.  The eyes light up red when you push a button on the back of his head.  He's pretty neat.

The only one I've seen on eBay is listed for $120 USD.  Maybe I'll just keep him in the box.

Thanks for looking!

Cleaning up Hayden

I was taking the photo of my Liv doll collection to post for you all, and decided to clean up this Hayden immediately after.

Her wig needs some serious brushing...and she's got some sort of sticky stuff on her "underpants".  Here is my arsenal I use when cleaning up dolls:

Tea tree oil (gets off all kinds of stuff!) with some cotton swabs, a microfiber cloth, a magic eraser (to get out more stubborn marks), shampoo and conditioner (I don't know if the conditioner actually helps anything, but it at least makes the hair smell good), and a kettle for a boil wash if needed.

Here she is after!  Much better, even though her eyes are a little wonky!

Now just to air dry.  Thanks for looking!

Vintage Gems...and Jem!

I was recently going through my old toys at my parent's place, to see what I had left.  Among the Barbies with now horribly frizzy hair, mismatched outfits and lost accessories, I my stash of My Little Ponies.  I had to have a lot of dental work as a child, and My Little Ponies were my reward for good behavior. I had quite the collection!  I picked out my favorites:

Glittering Gem Princess Brush 'n Glow.  Is still my absolute fave :)

Ringlets, my Brush 'n Grow pony.

Ringlets, with her tail fully extended.

My babies: Baby Cuddles and Baby Sundance (both with Beddy Bye Eyes) and Baby Sticky.  I'm still looking for their accessories.

I found out their names (I couldn't remember them, of course) from this website:

http://strawberryreef.com/Index/G1/Country/us.html

It is all things MLP.

Now onto the dolls I found.  First up, is Maxie.  You remember Maxie dolls?  Like Ringlets, my Brush 'n Grow MLP, her hair also "grows".  It's still in pretty great condition, too, surprisingly!

I've been trying to add captions to these photos, but it keeps moving the photo around.  Grrrr.  I give up.  Anyway.  This is "Dance and Romance" Moxie with "Grow so Pretty" Hair.  I found the dress and the shoes, but those are all the accessories I could find.  Even her earrings are missing.  Boo.

 Hair goes down....

Hair goes up...

I think she's pretty cool.  On a side note, I discovered her shoes also fit the Liv dolls.  Outrageous!

Speaking of outrageous...you know what's TRULY outrageous?  Jem, of course!  I was stoked to find my Jem doll, although the only parts left to her outfit was the dress.  No shoes, microphone, belt, tights, or the Jerrica outfit.  It also appeared that her earrings were missing, until my DH took a closer look.  Turns out they were actually jammed inside her head.  He took it apart, and realized her earrings were just little blinky lights.  He replaced them with new LEDs, and this is what resulted:

Showtime, Synergy!!

Jem's earrings flash like they've never flashed before.  I think she could double as an emergency beacon now ;)

Thanks for looking!