Vintage Reproduction Ginny Doll

 Ginny dolls were first made in 1948 by the Vogue doll company.

I have a childhood Ginny doll that I bought in 1993.

Around 2002-2008, the Vogue Company made some reproductions of the vintage Ginny dolls, including the vintage face molds.

I thought they were just too adorable, but I couldn't afford them at the time.

Now I have a couple!

I read that the Ginny doll molds were confiscated by the Chinese government, and that there won't be any more made. That's sad.

This Ginny doll was a birthday gift from my wonderful girlfriend.

I am so grateful for my girlfriend this Thanksgiving!

I hope all who celebrate are having a wonderful day!

Dollhouse Update

 The dollhouse is coming along!

I have wallpaper on all but three of the walls  now.

When the wallpaper is done and the windows are in, the next step will be cleaning out the room that it is going in.

Which won't be nearly as much fun. Ha.

After looking at Victorian decorations, they almost all had Turkish rugs.

Did you know that you can buy "mouse rugs" or "placemats" that look like Turkish rugs that are the right size for AG? Now you do! Link

Also, I was looking at a dollhouse forum that said crown molding makes dollhouses look so much more real. I really didn't want to learn wood working just to make crown molding.

I wished that there was paper that looked like crown molding that you can just glue on.

Guess what? There is! Link

I decided that my decorating inspiration is going to be Black Point in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Black Point is the summer home for a rich beer manufacturer, Conrad Seipps. It has lots of fancy details. But the design is also somewhat relaxed, because it's a summer home. It has such a peaceful atmosphere. It is owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, and you can tour it in the summer!

Its decorating reassures me that some Victorian homes have plain white crown molding, I don't need to worry about gilded crown molding. I can have some exposed wood floors. Things like that.

I had a friend suggest that I should have a house warming party when the dollhouse is finished.

I might do just that.

Thrift Store Find: Baptismal Certificate

 This is not doll related, but it is history related!

I went to the thrift store and found a baptismal certificate for a distant cousin. (Mostly related by marriage.)

And it's in German, which is a language that I speak.

I just think it's a super cool find and had to share!

Miss AG Bear and More

 I decided to indulge my inner child and buy Miss AG Bear.

She was on Marketplace for $20, with all of her original clothes and accessories. Hat, vest, skirt, backpack and watch.

I was really pleased to have her in such good condition, like brand new, with all of her items.

She was in a  different city, so naturally I visited the thrift stores while I was there.

And, to my utter surprise, I found Josefina's bed for $5. 

It's just the bed frame, so mattress or pillow or blanket.

But I'm so excited! And it's tagged Made in Taiwan for Pleasant Company.

I haven't fixed it up yet for her. I will take more photos when I do!

Thrift Store Score!

 Today's thrift store find was a MLA doll wearing this cute AG dress.

This dress really makes me think about how AG quality has changed. 

The dress was very dirty, but I have it soaking. Hopefully, it will clean off well!

Addy's School Dress

 I also bought the re-release of Addy's School Dress.

I was especially excited to get her special pin for winning the school spelling bee!

I am happy that American Girl is releasing its classic outfits again, and so is Addy.

This is Beforever Addy. It fits her very well.

I need to see how it fits my Pleasant Company Addy as well. 

Kirsten's School Dress

 I was very happy that American Girl re-released Kirsten's school outfit.

It's just a classic. And, unlike everything else they sell now, it's not pink.

To celebrate, I took Kirsten to Old World Wisconsin. I was able to get some great photos!

Kirsten looks right at home in the general store.

The dress fits my Kirsten perfectly. She is an older Pleasant Company doll from 1994.

Actually, she's my sister's. I am keeping her safe. Hee hee.

I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do! This dress is really making me happy.

Dollhouse Stained Glass Windows

 This is just a tiny update. I haven't DONE anything with them yet, but the stained glass windows (window clings) that I ordered off etsy are here.

I love them! They are better than I expected. 

They are textured, do they look real, but they are transparent and let light through. 

I am going to run a string of lights behind the dollhouse so you can see light coming through the windows.

This is the Lake Geneva tulip stained glass design by Frank Lloyd Wright.

This is the water lily stained glass design by Frank Lloyd Wright.

I bought these on etsy from a shop called bigwordld19. Here's a link if you are curious.

Here is a picture of how the window fits in the window of the larger right hand side room on the upper story.

It is a tiiiiny bit too big, but can easily be cut down to fit.

I am struggling with the wallpaper. I tried to use Mod Podge to glue it down. It looked smooth, but somehow dried wrinkled. I am looking for ways to improve. Luckily, I started cautiously with one small section. So I didn't waste much paper.

Current ideas include rubber cement, wallpaper paste and spray glue. 

Also, one thing happened that made me really happy that I was wallpapering anyway.

All the boards have small stickers with numbers on them to help you assemble.

I was removing the sticker from one board, and it tore the pink paint of the wall that it was on. 

This is kind of a bad picture. 

But I'm glad that removing this sticker didn't permanently damage the dollhouse for me.

Cleaning Up Molly

 I am working on fixing up Molly.

She was soooo dirty, I could see that with my naked eye.

I scrubbed her with Magic Eraser so hard that the eraser disintegrated. Dirty water was coming off of her as well.

I brushed and re-braided her hair.

She had glitter up her nose, so I had to literally use a Q tip to pick her nose and get it out.

The Q tip also helped removing make up from around her eye.

I think she could probably use another going over with Magic Eraser, but she's a lot better.

Her hair is in pretty good shape. It's a little dry at the end.

I dressed her in some clothes that I sewed myself. She's wearing Maryellen's saddle shoes.

Her glasses were from a different thrift store. They are a little too big for her and won't stay on on their own. I was able to use barrettes to fasten the glasses to her hair and help them stay on.

Her legs are very loose and need new elastic.

She's a newer doll than I thought. She had the dress from 1993 on, so I assumed she was Pleasant Company. However, she doesn't have an artist's mark, she doesn't have squishy vinyl. Her head says Pleasant Company and she has a small body tag. So I am guessing that she is a transitional doll.

Anyway, Molly is feeling better and looks much more like herself now!

Happy Halloween!

 Ellie wishes everyone a happy Halloween!

I found this outfit new in box at the thrift store a few months ago. I was super excited!

I liked the outfit when it was released, but I thought that it was overpriced. And I got it for $7! So exciting!

(I won't blame you if you hate me for all my thrift store luck, I would be jealous of myself, too.)

Thrift Store Find: Addy's Prototype Meet Dress

 Yesterday, I had a doctor's appointment in a town about 30 minutes away from me.

Several hours after the appointment, I had an ASL class in the same town.

I decided to not spend time and gas driving back and forth after my doctor's appointment. 

Instead, I visited several of my favorite stores in this town.

Since I had plenty of time, I decided to stop by one thrift store that I never find anything at. I thought maybe I would find some small accessories to use in the doll house.

To my utter surprise, I found Wellie Wishers Emerson for $7 in among the kid's toys. She had her dress and boots and everything.

I was even more surprised when I found Molly in the collector dolls section. Molly was very dirty and had messy hair.

She was marked at $5.

And she was wearing Addy's prototype meet dress.

I knew what it was immediately. I have seen one in person before. One of my friends has it and showed it to me.

I couldn't believe it.

I circled the store several times to make sure that I hadn't missed anything, then I went to check out.

I still can't believe it.

I don't know how I have such good luck at the thrift store. Living in Wisconsin probably helps, since we had the MCM sale for many years. 

Wow.

I thought for sure I would wake up and find that this was all a dream.

Dollhouse Floors

 I love wood floors. I remember being about 7 and telling my grandmother that I loved the wood floors in her house.

I hated that the American Girl dollhouse came with rugs printed on the floor. It looks so fake.

I also had my own plans for rugs. My older cousin Louise crocheted these beautiful yarn "dish clothes."

I always thought they were too pretty to use as dish clothes. I saved them and hoped to use them as doll rugs someday. That day is coming.

Louise now has arthritis in her hands that is very painful, so I think she will be excited to see her work in my dollhouse.

All of this to say- I covered the dollhouse floors in contact paper that looks like wood. No more printed rugs!

Of course, I COULD have just covered the printed rugs with my own rugs, but that would dictate where I placed my rugs. This gives me more freedom to change things up.

The contact paper that I got is here. It's called "MelunMer Wood Peel and Stick wallpaper."

Dollhouse Customization Links

 From the minute that I even thought about owning an AG dollhouse, I knew that I wanted to customize it.

I studied art history in college. I still love art and want to integrate that into the dollhouse.

I originally said that I wanted a vibe that would be somewhat Victorian, but also classic for any era.

Well, so far the Victorian is rather winning out.

It took me a while to figure out how to bring the vision to life, and I want to share that with you.

I worked on figuring all of his out BEFORE I started putting the dollhouse together.

First of all, I wanted cloud murals on the ceiling, so I added cloud cling film to the ceiling. 

I wanted wood floors without a rug design printed on them, so I got contact paper with a wood floor design to put on the floors.

I wanted bookcases to hold tiny books, so I bought these 16 inch cabinets. 

I wanted William Morris wallpaper. I looked at a LOT of ways to potentially do this.

I hope that I made the right decision. *crosses fingers.*

I ended up buying William Morris wrapping paper to use as wallpaper.

For my library, (formerly the kitchen) I wanted the seaweed pattern. It's very dramatic, but I hoped it would be broken up by the bookcases.

For the living room and bedroom, I wanted the Leicester pattern.

For my writing room (formerly the bathroom), I wanted the clover pattern.

Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows that I love stained glass and Frank Lloyd Wright.

I had thought of putting some of my own photos in the windows of the dollhouse.

I decided instead to add stained glass windows.

To do this, I again bought cling film, to place on clear plastic and to put in the windows. I was able to find some at the right size with Frank Lloyd Wright designs. They even had two of my favorite designs, the water lily design and the Lake Geneva tulip design.

I also wanted to hang up some tiny vintage-looking keys near the front door for the realism factor. I bought these keys, and was very pleased with them.

I am very, very excited to see all of this come together.

I hope that I am able to finish the dollhouse before too many years pass, haha.

I am definitely making this a more complicated process than it needs to be. However, I am making it into something that I can really enjoy and be proud of. That is worth the time.

Cloud Ceiling Mural

 I am adding a mural of clouds to the ceiling of the first floor of the AG dollhouse.

This is inspired by the Long Gallery at Harlaxton Manor in Grantham, UK.

Unfortunately, I am not much of an artist.

So instead of painting the clouds by hand, I bought a cling film depicting a blue sky and clouds, and used Mod Podge to attach it to the ceiling, before I put the dollhouse together.

If you do anything like this, I recommend unwinding the cling film from the spool for at least a day before you apply it, to let it flatten itself out a bit.

I used a squeegee to smooth out any wrinkles while gluing.

This makes me very happy, and it cost $6 for the cling film. It's far nicer than anything I could paint!

Here it is in place on the ceiling. I will trim the edges once the glue is dry.

Unpopular Opinions about the AG Dollhouse

 I am planning to totally personalize the American Girl doll Dollhouse.

There's a lot I don't like about the original. 

I don't care about sound effects. I'm deaf. It's a waste of money to me. No doubt they were trying to make it more playable, but it doesn't appeal to me. 

I like working lights in a dollhouse, yes. I wish the light fixtures were more classic and less trendy.

I don't see any need for a bathroom. Again, this seems to be popular with kids. I just don't care.

I really hate images of furniture and rugs printed on the floor and walls. It makes it look like a cheap Barbie dollhouse made of cardboard that I had as a kid. 

I think having a hot tub on the second floor is silly. It makes it less like a real house.

I think they would have made more money by cutting out a lot of the special effects and pricing it lower. That would have made it more achievable for more people. Obviously they were trying to make it "luxury." To me, they just made it silly.

I'm planning to make mine a lot more Victorian and classic and remove a lot of the included features.  I want to be able to display both historical and modern dolls and change the interior for both the season and the time period. 

I have a lot of ideas about how to do this. I will share soon.

American Girl x KidKraft Luxury Dollhouse On Its Way!

 I saw in a group that the American Girl x KidKraft Luxury Dollhouse was being sold in Big Lots.

Problem: I live in a state without Big Lots.

I asked my ever-suffering best friend to check her Big Lots. They had it available at a super low price. $40!

She bought it for me and took it to my parents' house.

My mom is bringing it to me on Friday.

I plan to personalize it. I'm very excited!

Honestly, I plan to paint the walls white, add personal pictures in the picture frames and in the windows.

I will add furniture and different curtains.

I would really like to add William Morris wallpaper, but that might be too much, due to the problem of finding some in the right scale and working around the windows and things.

I wouldn't do all this if I had bought it at full price. For what I paid, I can do whatever I want with it.

Apparently, it is huge and barely fit in my friend's car.

She is SUCH a good friend.

Madame Alexander Snow White

 I was delighted to find this Snow White doll at the thrift store for $3.

She's not my favorite princess, but this doll is a real cutie!

Don't worry, Snow White, you are safe from your stepmother now!

I must admit, I am really falling for the 8 inch Madame Alexander dolls.

Thrift Store score!

 I had a lucky day at two thrift stores yesterday!

At the first thrift store, I got Honey the golden retriever for $1, and some fabric that is perfect for an upcoming project for $1.

At the second thrift store, I found a grab bag of AG clothes for $3! It included part of Kit's twin sweater set, Julie's white meet blouse, and Julie's pajama top.

I have some planned doll clothes projects that I am very excited about! I want to make a two piece Victorian Halloween dress with a striped skirt. I want to make a doll version of Emily Dickinson's iconic white dress. And I want to make several 1700s dresses from the movie Portrait of a Lady on Fire.

Writing these down helps me to remember my ideas, LOL.

Happy Birthday, R!

 Today is my friend's birthday!

She really wanted a Jane Eyre dress by Pemberley Threads for her Addy. We are ignoring the 20 years' difference between this 1840s dress, and the year Addy lived in, 1864..

I asked what color she wanted, she said purple, and here she is.

It goes very nicely with my cute little irises.

I think this is a great pattern. It looks elegant and is easy to sew.

The bodice was a little loose on my Addy, but better too loose than too tight. Her Addy is an older one who is likely chunkier anyway.

Here is a gorgeous picture of her Addy wearing the dress!

Perfect for Easter!

A Stitch in Time 1916 Summer Dress

 I haven't made many patterns by A Stitch in Time.  The 1916 Summer dress is lovely.

I found this pattern to be relatively easy to sew. It is really beautifully engineered, so that everything matches up perfectly.

The opening on the back of the dress, for instance, end at exactly where the first ruffle starts.

It includes several possible variations on the skirt, sleeve, etc.

I loved this and will be making more variations of this pattern!

Sewing Machine Drama

 Well, it's not MUCH of a drama. But I had to take my sewing machine in to a repair shop an hour away. 

They aren't 100% certain they can fix it. So I am waiting for a call saying either that it is fixed, or that it can't be fixed.

I don't want a new sewing machine, I love the one I have!

Fingers crossed that it gets fixed!

In the mean time, I have been cutting out sewing projects. I lost count at about ten. LOL. I have no idea I have cut out and ready to sew now. Lots of doll dresses!

Pattern Review: Keepers Dolly Duds Nancy and Mary Jane Dress

 I made the Keepers Dolly Duds Nancy and Mary Jane pattern in full!

I used a version of the pattern to make Nanea's Christmas dress, but that didn't have all the scallops.

This version has the scallops!

I always feel when I make scallops that they could be more defined.

These aren't the best and aren't the worst.

But it's a pretty dress, and I am happy that I tried to make the pattern!

I love this fabric. So pretty!

Another Dress for Caroline

 This is another dress made from the Thimbles and Acorns Wrap Front Regency Dress pattern.

I did not realize that the pattern also contains the pattern pieces for a second, simpler doll dress!

This one closes in the back.

I was happy to dive in and make another dress for Caroline.

This dress was supposed to have tucks taken in on the skirt. However, I did have a mishap cutting out the fabric for the skirt and decided to just go with a simpler skirt made from a shorter piece of fabric.

I think it's a pretty dress! I think that this pattern is more versatile than I realized, and I enjoyed making this.

A Dress for Draculaura

 My friend talked me into buying a Scare-adise Draculaura. 

(You know who you are, and I know you are very proud of yourself.)

I didn't want her to be stuck in a swimsuit year round, so I needed to sew her a dress.

I made the Requiem Art Designs Petite Curvy Goth Girl pattern.

I had the perfect fabric in the form of a fat quarter that I bought at Wal-Mart a few years ago.

I did most of the sewing by hand, since the pieces were so mall. I was sitting on the couch with all the tiny pieces in a bowl. 

I am not sure about the collar. I feel like it didn't turn out as well as I would like. I am not sure white was the best color for it either, but I couldn't think of what other color to use.

The bodice fit is a little loose on her. It doesn't look bad. I just don't know if I should have bought the petite small size instead.

The sleeves are so narrow that I had to take her hands off to get it on her. Thanks goodness for removeable hands!

Hopefully, this will not be the last dress I made for Draculaura.

Pattern Review: Thimbles and Acorns Wrap Front Regency Dress

 My first doll dress of the year!

I made the Thimbles and Acorns Wrap Front Regency Dress pattern.

I'm so proud of myself!

I did have to read the instructions carefully on this one.

The sleeves are actually the easy part. They are straightforward sleeves, just long and with a wrist band and snap to create the bunching.

The top was the challenging part, but I got there! 

It's so pretty! I love this fabric print.

Caroline is happy to have a new dress to wear (and to get out of the closet, let's be honest.)

I was very sick over Christmas. It feels so good to be up and doing things again!