Monday, August 27, 2018

Thrift Store Finds: Felicity's horse Penny

I went to Goodwill yesterday, even though they rarely have anything good.

Well, never say never- because I found Felicity's horse Penny for $5!

I grabbed her and did not let go, not even when I saw she was covered in paint.

Luckily, the paint was on the plastic parts of her legs and nose. Her mane and fur was in pretty good condition.

Here are the before pictures:





It was pretty bad, and I really hoped that I could get the paint off. It was bad enough that she would be unusable with the paint on her.

I used non acetone nail polish remover on her legs, and rubbing alcohol on her nose, because the nose had actual paint on it. The legs were covered in nail polish.

I used up two cheap paint brushes, one on the nose and one on the legs.

Here she is all cleaned up:



 These dark flecks on her leg are not paint- it is actually where the white material on her legs got broken off somehow. We are going to pretend that is spots of mud.

She cleaned up well! 

As soon as it stops raining, I will take pictures of Felicity.
She was already wearing her riding habit before I found Penny!

This is my second second-hand American Girl find. My experience in fixing up the Kaya and Julie that I found at a garage sale gave me confidence to fix up Penny. 

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Pattern Review: Hodgery Podgery's 1952 Walk-Away Dress

At long last, I am reviewing Hodgery Podgery's 1952 Walk-Away Dress.

Hodgery Podgery is the brainchild of Nethilia of American Girl Outsider.

I know that she has more amazing patterns in the works, so this is a shop to keep an eye on!

The 1952 Wal-Away Dress is one that was insanely popular at the time. The dress needed only three pieces to make and could be made in an afternoon. Stores had problems keeping the pattern in stock due to its popularity.

I found the background information of this pattern so interesting!

In order to adapt the doll sized pattern to dolls with large heads and rigid bodies, this pattern does have more than three pieces.

It is so historically accurate and has so many potential combinations, you won't be able to make just one!



I wanted to use two fabrics because I enjoy color contrasts.
However, it was too dark when I sewed the buttons and, and, um, ... one is pink and one is red.
That is not the color contrast I was going for.

Luckily, this is fixable!


Here is the dress with the matching buttons!

Give the pattern a look. I can think of a few Maryellens that need this dress!

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Adieu, Adipose

The title of this blog is just me being silly, because I am not saying adieu but bonjour to my first FunkoPop!


This little guy is an Adipose from Doctor Who. I love the fourth season episode this comes from, where the Doctor and Donna join forces together.

I have been debating the purchase of this Adipose for a year or so, so it was time to take the plunge!


FunkoPops are usually very stylized and cartoony.
I like this guy because he looks just like one of the Adipose from the episode!
He didn't get the FunkoPop stylization treatment because, let's face it, he already looked stylize and cartoony. LOL.

Plus, he's really cute.

He is going to sit in my kitchen and remind me to eat healthily!

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Displaying Dolls, Part II

I posted earlier about the stepladder bookcase that I got to display my American Girl dolls.

You can read that post here.

Here is another picture of the bookcase, with more dolls added.



I am very lucky to have the collection that I have.

And honestly, when I put them on display and add up the numbers, I don't have as many as I thought I did!

That's a good thing, because when I pack them all away in boxes, it seems like way too many.

And I love them.

Friday, August 10, 2018

AG Doll Beds

I currently have three American Girl Doll beds.

In a weird way, this is more of a luxury to me than the dolls.



I had two dolls as a kid, and I treasured them, and I saved money for ages to buy the second doll myself. I also saved money to buy most of the clothes that they had.

But as a kid, I couldn't even dream of owning any of the furniture for them.My focus was on the dolls and the clothing.

The three doll beds that I own are Addy's bed, Molly's yellow bed and Melody's bed.

Molly's yellow bed is kind of my favorite. It's so cheerful and cute! I could also see it working for modern dolls.

Which is good, because I don't own Molly and don't want to.

However, in my opinion, Molly's bed has two drawbacks.
First of all, it's really hard to put together. I, an adult human of planet Earth, could not put this bed together.
I had to ask my mother.
This was crushing to my psyche.

Second of all, it's yellow. I like yellow! It's one of my favorite colors.
But I do sew doll quilts. I like doll beds that will display my quilts. This bed would undoubtedly clash with some of my dolls quilts, though not all.

Melody's bed is awesome! It is so sturdy and easy to put together.
It only took two screws, and I put it together myself, thank you very much.
It's so heavy I could imagine a toddler climbing on it and damaging it not a whit.
Not that you should encourage a toddler to do so.

My complaint about Melody's bed are the two orange and blue plaid sliding panels. If they were brown like the rest of this bed, I would like the bed a whole lot more.
This bed will clash with even more of my quilts than Molly's yellow bed. Orange is not my favorite color.

My third bed is Addy's bed. I like the quilt.
I also like that this bed looks like a wooden bed. Hallelujah. I wish AG would make more beds that are a wooden brown color or neutral colors. Perfect for showing off doll quilts.
Or even Samantha's brass bed would work for me, except that it rusts. That's a major bummer.

Addy's bed is also easy to put together. Four screws. It is slightly more difficult than Melody's but still one I can do on my own.

Addy's bed is more fragile, however, Too much weight could make the ropes that hold the mattress up break.
Don't let your possibly imaginary toddler climb on this one.

So yeah, my main bed criteria are how easily one can put it together and the neutrality of the colors.
AG has a LOT of pink beds. I'm not saying I wouldn't buy one at a really bargain price, but they don't tempt me like a nice neutrally colored bed.

They are all cute, however.


Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Pullips

I think that Pullip dolls are lovely. I love seeing Pullip pictures.

HOwever, the few times that I have seen one in real life, they just didn't work for me.

Which is a good thing! I don't need to start collecting another line of dolls.

So I have two mini Pullips. These were a good price at Tuesday Morning, they are cute, and they ease my Pullip itch without starting another expensive coll collection.

I don't remember what these dolls are called.

This one in purple has the classic Pullip face mold.

This one has the Dal face mold.
I thought she would make a cute Tinkerbell custom but I have not done this yet.

Mini Pullips are the right size to be a doll for a doll for American Girl dolls as well!

Zia is all in favor of this!

Monday, August 6, 2018

Melody's Bedtime

Melody wants to go to bed, but Bo jumped up on it. Bad dog! You aren't allowed on the furniture!


That's better!

Reading books in bed is the best.

Sweet dreams, Melody! 

Friday, August 3, 2018

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Melody in the Garden

Here are a few pictures of melody in the garden, reading The Secret Garden and loving on Bo.

She looks so happy!





There is nothing like the outdoors in the summer!

Disney Animator Sundress

 I made a quick sleeveless sundress for the Disney Animator dolls.  I used the pattern   Requiem Art Designs Disney Animator Toddler Basic D...