Happy Birthday to me, and Sweet 16 Barbie gets a new body!

My birthday was on May 1st a few days ago, but I have been so busy celebrating has just passed me by and I have only had time to take photos this weekend. 

I purchased this Vintage Sweet 16 Barbie in 2019 for my birthday a few year's ago from Joe Blitman on Ruby Lane from his store there, and she came with all of her accessories. You can read my Blog Post Here    on photos of her as she looked back then. Unfortunately, Sweet 16 dolls have an unfornate habit of their bodies simply falling apart - which mine did- and though I have saved her body, she was in such disarray I could not dress her, or use her at all. I am thinking of purchasing another head and glueing this body together and just displaying her in her pink gown. Below is a photo of how she looked in 2019 when I received her-

So this year, I decided for my birthday, I have missed using this doll so much, I would get her a made to move body and revamp the doll and enjoy her. I have seen other doll vloggers put vintage and repro heads on articulated modern bodies and use vintage and handmade artisan clothing from vintage patterns and they look - fabulous! Also, I have been wanting my vintage doll to be my travel buddy. 

Here is the body I decided to use:

Barbie Doll & Accessories, Career Tennis Player Doll with Racket and Ball

At Walmart online she is listed as $19.97 but in store I purchased her for $15.97.

The body on this doll is wonderful and her head was easy to remove after softening around the neck with a blow dryer and my vintage doll head fit fine. 

THE RESULT-

It was difficult to get her to stand, but she did fine after a little fiddling with her legs and hips. The tennis ball sticks onto a little point in the middle of the racket. I love the outfit and the sneakers and she comes with a visor too. These photos are not the best because today it was overcast. 

Enjoy! More to come soon!

Happy May Day!

I know my May Day post is late, but May Day is my birthday and I was busy yesterday. lol .

I baked a cake, out of the ordinary for me. I wanted to try something different since I had purchased a new kind of icing.  I wanted a pink cake with blue icing and strawberries on top. I was going for something different this year. 

The blue icing is actually blue vanilla buttercream. I had purchased it a while back and meant to use it with it with a white cake mix and red icing to make a red white and blue cake.  

This year I did not go 'all out' for my birthday gifts...I have been re-vamping my collection and clearing out my dolls to re-focus my collection on building and structures. I have so many dolls that do not get enough love and camera time, it's time to clean out the herd and collection and focus on what I really want in my collection. I haven't been happy about not building like I used to do. I don't need a huge amount of dolls to do that. So I will only buy what I like, or what I absolutely can't live without. yeah, right says the doll collector who loves shiny things, lol.

I purchased this vintage Sweet 16 Best Buy Barbie that I had when I was a kid, she was one of my favorites. It is very hard to find her in mint condition with all the items that came with her, including the makeup box. Mine had a locket. 

Later, I will do a photo op with her and my Pillow Talk Poppy. I swear she and Pillow Talk look SO MUCH ALIKE! 

The other thing I purchased was Ladies of Fashion reference book on Portrait Madame Alexander dolls. This was recommended on one of my Facebook groups if you are into Collecting Cissy dolls.

A truly awesome book, it also comes with a price guide. The photos are lovely. There are other reference books that I plan on getting as I have also purchased a pattern from a reliable seller who sells reprints of vintage patterns on ebay for Cissy, Barbie, and other vintage dolls. I have not yet started on a dress for my Cissy as I cannot decide on the right fabric. 

Anyhow, enjoy the photos!

Note: If you are interested, here is the link to my ebay store 
Pumpkin Hill Studios  These are the CURRENT AUCTIONS catagory link that will show you all the dolls, Poppy Parker, Fashion Royalty, and the outfits and accessories on sale.  I have a great selection listed at this time, as well as a 15% off Birthday Celebration sale on ALL merchandise on Buy It Now from May 2nd to May 6th .