Joss and Maritza at the Beach

 I do love some beach pictures.

I took some pictures of the face mold twins, Joss and Maritza, at the beach!

It was rather a windy day, and the sky was very dramatic. 

Nellie Pictures

 And here are some Nellie pictures.

She is a cute one.

She is one of a growing number of dolls that I need to restring. Sigh.

I couldn't find the parts that I need for restringing at Home Depot, but I know they are there!

Who doesn't love looking at fabric at the General Store? This is a smaller store than Nellie is used to, but she likes it anyway?

Let's buy some shoes, Nellie! This is a historic show store.

This is a historic Catholic church. Perfect for Nellie!

This house is the home of an Irish immigrant. Nellie felt very at home there!

Makena Pictures

 Here's a few pictures of Makena!

I was worried about taking her out, because I didn't want to mess her braids up.

It turned out that her hair did much better than Nellie's hair. I kept having to smooth Nellie's hair down.

Makena was camera ready!

Julie's Calico Dress

 I found Julie's Calico Dress at the thrift store. It was being worn by an Our Generation doll. Doll and dress cost $6.

One of my friends has been wanting an 18 inch doll to use as a sewing model, so I gave her the doll.

I am really pleased with myself to have recognized the dress.

Julie is pleased as well!

It worked out very nicely.

I have been so lucky with the thrift store, and I am very grateful. It's an upside to living in a smaller town. I am sure in a bigger town, it would have been snatched up long before I got there.

Comparison Pictures

 I took a couple of comparison pictures with the MCM dolls.

Here is Maritza with Joss.

It's just interesting to me because they have the same face mold, but they have very different facial expressions. 

I think it's in the eyebrows. I originally thought that Maritza's eyebrows were further down on her face, but this picture just shows that they are a very different shape.

Her lips also seem to be painted a slightly different shape.

I also took a picture comparing my Kaya, on the left, with the new Kaya, on the right.

They look very different! The shape of their faces even seems different. The new Kaya seems to have a much rounder face.

Removing Painted Eyelashes

 I knew that when I got Maritza and Makena, I would want to remove their painted eyelashes. These have been a sore spot with me ever since Nanea, and I particularly dislike the ones on the World By Us dolls.

Luckily, I saw a post on a forum about using "Windsor & Newton - Brush Cleaner & Restorer" to remove markings from doll vinyl. I bought it at Joann. It cost $8, but I was able to use a 50% off coupon. The cleaner was in a locked case at the store I went to, and I had to get an employee to unlock it so I could buy it.

I used this on the dolls with a toothbrush, so I could control where the fluid went.

I used a dry paper towel to wipe their faces clean after removing any sections of face paint.

I was able to use this successfully on Maritza, Makena and Corinne.

I like all three doll much better this way! I think it looks best on Makena in particular. It makes her look older.

Funnily, one of my friends misunderstood me and thought I was removing their eyebrows.

She said she thought that this was a bad idea, but she was going to support me anyway. I agree, it would have been a bad idea! Although I wish that Maritza's eyebrows were slightly higher on her forehead.

Usually, when I get a new doll, I enjoy them a bit as they come before I make any changes.

 But I knew that this was a change that I wanted, and I am very happy with it.

MCM Dolls 2022!

 I picked up my MCM dolls on Saturday. The benefit sale actually asked us on social media not to come Saturday morning if we didn't have to. I didn't see that post. I just got up and went. My GPS actually died on me, and I had to go buy a new one.

I got there about 9:30 am, and didn't have to wait long. I was surprised that I had to park in the street and carry my items across the parking lot to the car, because I hadn't seen the post.

I picked up my items and the items for a friend who couldn't do the pick up this weekend. I am going to meet with them in September to give them their items.

The dolls that I got are Maritza and Makena. They were both brand new, never been taken out of the box, no X on their bottoms.

I was amazed at how long Maritza's hair is! It's past her bottom! It has pretty red highlights. It is really beautiful.

Makena is super cute too!

My friend got Kaya, who was also in perfect condition.

As usual, I had a really good MCM experience. I feel guilty about going on Saturday morning when they were asking people to stay away. I thought the morning would be less busy than the afternoon.

After picking up the dolls, I went to Clausen's Bakery, the India House Grocery store, Joann, St. Vincent de Paul thrift store and Portillo's for lunch. Since I live in a very small town, it was really special to have all of these great shops so close together.

Here is a link to my blog post on the MCM sale in 2023- the very last MCM sale ever.