My Pre-Birthday doll celebration...

 I am (or rather my dolls are- ) celebrating my birthday - which is tomorrow- a little early. I set up this diorama a little early, but I love themed dioramas. I will have some more photos tomorrow. 

     I couldn't resist using the cake I had made for my Gene dolls and their birthday celebration and one of my favorite Poppys, it looks HUGE and perfect for a teen/ or on the cusp of 20. 

Robby the Robot from the Forbidden Planet

 I was shopping in Walmart yesterday and have been walking by this item for a couple of months now, and it has been reduced a couple of times- but now down to $14.99.!! Squee! Since my birthday is coming up this coming weekend in May, I thought I would treat myself to 'Robby the Robot, Forbidden Planet' . 

He is about 14 inches high, and has lights and sounds. He comes with four batteries and his torso and arms twist and turn, as does his head. You really get your money's worth on this little collector toy. Here are photos of the box-

The last photo is of Robby in his blister pack out of the box, and not yet taken out of his blister packaging. He is held in simply with clear rubby bands, which makes it easy to take him out without tearing/splitting the packaging, if you want to save the cool box, to repack him again, which I like to save boxes like this. It has all the info on it. There had been another robot like him for sale, from Lost in Space, but I missed out on him- stuff like this sells fast at Walmart - at  29.99 and 19.99 and you cannot wait for it to go on sale. It was the last one left at my walmart. 

Here is Robby out of the box- and shown with my Ginger Gilroy being a good butler-

These are photos with his lights activated.

And finally, serving Ginger tea...at the manor. She is somewhat flustered at this new and strange butler but is intrigued at his ability not to spill!

I am hoping to do a little scene with Robby in the comic book store with Sheldon and Amy. Or some of the Poppy Parkers in an elegant setting serving champagne. It is a new toy and the possibilities are endless! 

Happy Birthday to Gene Marshall!

Though I know this blog was originally intended for the 1:6 scale crowd, I cannot help paying homage to my 16 inch girls, namely Gene Marshall & friends , by the artist Mel Odom, who I have begun to collect recently.

According to Gene's Bio on Wiki she was born on April 17, 1923 to Alfred and Alice Marshall in Cos Cob, Connecticut . She was 'discovered' in 1941 while working as an usherette. 

Above Gene, the doll in the middle, is celebrating her birthday with friends Ivy Jordan on the left  (Jason Wu Integrity Toys registration doll ) and Madra Lord on the right (Ashton Drake Mel Odom The Ultimate Madra ) In the middle is an Ashton Drake Gene doll- I do not know which doll edition this is. All three are wearing cotton dresses made from the 1999 Vogue #704 pattern which is easy once you get the hang of it. I used the sheath dress pattern and was quite pleased with it, using cotton prints. 

Here are some close-ups of the other dresses-I have already shown the dress Gene is wearing at Easter in my last blog entry.

Ivy in her green sheath

Madra in her black rose sheath

                                             Gene in the lavender sheath shown again.

A closeup of the birthday cake I quickly made for this photo shoot. 

(Shhh...I cheated. It is actually two medicine bottle caps glued together, and caulk is used to 'ice' it, then I used ear swabs cut down for birthday cake candles and more 'icing' applied on top- voila! a Gene -sized birthday cake.

The pretty little plate is part of a set of depression cake plates in doll size from my collection of depression glass. 

Happy Birthday Gene!

 

Happy Easter!

                                                      Happy Easter!

These are photos of my Ivy Jordan / Gene Marshall Integrity doll that I just finished her Easter dress and hat today- on Easter! . Not bad for a first try at a Vogue vintage Pattern for Gene Marshall & friends. I had this amazing lavender cotton print that I knew would be perfect for Easter. 

The lower photo is of our dogwood and Japanese cherry tree, decorated with Easter eggs on ribbon. I have more eggs to hang, but had to decorate our Easter tree indoors as well. My mother did this years ago and I always remembered how wonderful it looked. The blossoms from the cherry tree have begun to fall, and it looks beautiful as they rain down with the pastel eggs swinging in the wind. 

We had Easter dinner, and it was wonderful- a pork roast, with broccoli slaw and ice tea, and water. I have cut back on the sweets this year except for our one exception- jellybeans which both my husband and I adore. I meant to make a cake today but just ran out of time. Maybe sometime this week. Sometimes it's more important to just enjoy the beautiful holiday and the lovely weather. 

Here is our Easter tree = complete with bunny ears! I even put them on Santa! He looks pretty nifty in them. lol. The eggs are from Oriental trading company and so is the curling ribbon- all with free shipping. I ordered 144 2 inch eggs and I still have some left. I have always wanted an Easter tree and I might do an even more elaborate one next year. It turned out so lovely. 

My two favorite bears in my old Easter basket I had as a child, lined with some different colored mohair 'grass' and eggs. 

The dolls on the table near the tree, dressed for Easter. I need to take some new photos as I found baskets for them and bigger chicks too. 

Some photos from the archives of past Easter holidays.....

More photos of Ivy-

More photos of the egg tree-

I hope you have a safe and Happy Easter!