Sunbonnets, aprons, & Barbie Body Swapping...

.....is an odd title for a blog post, but not if you are doll collector who hates non articulated barbie dolls.
I had some odd pieces of time yesterday and this evening, so I completed an apron and a matching sunbonnet for Caroline Ingalls.
Caroline started life as Mrs. Albee Avon Barbie I won on Ebay- I blogged about her a few weeks ago, her outfit was simply incredible, she was in her box. But she had the perfect face sculpt for what Ithought Caroline Ingalls- Laura Ingalls' mother, should look like. When I got around to it I body swapped her for Frank Sinatra Barbie's pivatol body.

 

Here they are swapped on their respective bodies. I took the outfit I had made Fashion Royalty Vanessa and was pleased it fit the pivatol body better, much better! Yeah, me- as I was kind of dreading trying to figure out another outfit to make for Caroline, and this looked subdued or prairie enough yet still in the style of the 1870's as a simple farmwife might have worn it, without the ruffles, bows, and lace, work clothing if you will. Frank Sinatra barbie is on the right, with the Mrs. Albee gown on. I am thinking she might make a good Mrs. Olsen- yes I will be doing the Olsen family as well for the Victorian dioramas. What can I say, my Barbie world may be encompassing Scarlett, Rhett, and Bonnie Butler as well- after the war...lol...I love the Barbies Mattel did for the gowns of Scarlett O'Hara, and I have all four of them. I think they were referred to as Timeless Treasures, not sure, but the workmanship on them was quite good.

But now for the pics of Caroline's work apron and sunbonnet.

 

 

Caroline's sunbonnet is stiffened in front with a thing piece of cardstock/board that I cut from the top of the box the tea bags come from, and then sewed inside. Sunbonnets are pretty easy to make, use your doll's head as a pattern, then gather. I used thin silk ribbon to make the ties on her bonnet. I thought this outfit came out rather nice, before I start on her shawl, which I am looking for some cloth that would be warm, as I would like to replicate the Ingalls family going to church on Christmas in On the Banks of Plum Creek as well as going to school, church, etc. The descriptions of the new dresses Mary and Laura are quite specific, down to the little furs Laura received. I have shown Caroline her holding Baby Carrie, (baby sweets from teh Sunshine family- this doll stands in as so many infants!) but I will need a small Kelly doll with braids for Carrie for by this time she was walking toddler.

American Girl Mini Dolls Kirsten and mini Molly are on their way, so the last ones to get are Pa Ingalls- who is going to be expensive as the type of doll I want/need has to be specific. I already have his famous 'fiddle'- the violin & bow from the Barbie 'I can be dress pack. I figured while I wait for the mini dolls to arrive to decide what clothes I would like to replicate and practice, such as creating sunbonnets, etc. Kirsten's dress will be ok for Mary, I would like to make Laura a nice dress but am undecided on what material to use. So right now, am concentrating on Caroline's wardrobe, as the two girls will need more outfits.

I am enjoying replicating this , one of my favorite childhood authors, and her family from the Little House books...I still read them today- and have read them more closely on the descriptions of the clothing and descriptions of the town and the homes, as I want to replicate it as closely as possible, but will of course, be taking liberties for my own storyline in the decor of the house and school.

More later- Lisa

 

Walmart.com online sale on Mini American girl dolls!

I don't often post on sales or deals I find, but I had to on this one. For a long time, I have wanted to buy at least three mini American Girl dolls- mini Molly, mini Kirsten and mini Nellie. However, prices at the Amerian Girl site were $24 + 4.95 shipping! That comes out to about almost $30 for one 6 inch doll! As I am basically thrifty and purchased some of these dolls on ebay, I searched there but the prices are just a few dollars lower. However, I found a great sale at Walmart online!

Here is the link to the mini dolls- click HERE  to go directly to the mini dolls available on walmart.com

They currently have mini Marie Grace, Mini Cecile, Mini Ivy, Mini Julie, and mini Caroline as well as Mini Emily. I purchased Kirsten from here but do not see her now. They start at $14.00!!!! I ended up paying 1.97 shipping plus tax which brought the total to $16.67 which is a much better deal than anything I have found. (Just to be fair, Amazon.com has deals on these dolls as well, however, the ones I wanted were not at the deal price- but with Amazon they run 16.31 and if you order $25 or more you get free shipping. So I would have eventually ordered from there, but they did not have the dolls I needed. )

I decided to write this post when I saw Vanessa's post on her American Girl store visit on her Blog and thought this would be pertinent as they are dolls, and there are deals on them. We all love dolls and sales and deals, right? lol.

Below is the doll I purchased- Mini Kirsten. All of the mini dolls come with a little book, telling their story.

Here is the Mini dolls  link on the AmericanGirl.com website if you would like to look at the characters offered.

Mini Kirsten is on her way, and I will take pictures when she arrives. I am waiting to get a little ahead before I order mini Molly, as she seems to be a little pricey right now.
Enjoy!~Lisa

Ertl 1:7 scale DeLaval Cream seperator model

Besides the wringer washer, Ertl also made a 1:7 scale replica of the Delaval cream seperator. These made seperating milk and cream something that took a matter of minutes whereas before, it took longer, and saved dairy farms money and time. It also saved farmwives a ton of time skimming milk by hand.
I have shown some photos here of Vanessa, a Fashion Royalty doll, doing her daily chore of straining the milk while Victorian Lady Barbie has picked this somewhat inoppurtune time to chat the day away when there is work to be done...you can tell she's a 'town' girl, lol...
It just arrived today and I cannot be more pleased. This really adds realism to the Victorian kitchen diorama!
~Lisa

Victorian Lady Barbie has arrived!

Well, yes she has finally arrived. I won this doll on Ebay back in November. There was a problem with Paypal's hiccup system of my payment processing. The seller was a gem and Paypal finally processed my payment. I've never had this happen before, but I guess there is always a first. Well, Victorian Lady Barbie arrived, and I love her. Here are some quick pics I took of her today. They do not do her justice.

 

One of my biggest problems is being 'enabled' by the doll shows and pictures of dolls I see on the doll boards- and being fascinated with that dress, and so on, only to find out it came on a Barbie from years ago- so onto Ebay shopping I go. I saw Victorian Lady barbie at the recent doll show in November with a bunch of others, but wondered if I could do better on price than I could at the show- she was going for about $15-20 at the doll show. I absolutely adore her dress.

 I think she looks wonderful in the Victorian style kitchen I have going on. She will be an upcoming character in a Victorian family for my historical diorama storyline I am currently collecting for, so stay tuned for this lady to have a prominent role. I have alot more dolls I have to collect for to assemble the 'families' in the storyline I am currently working on and writing for, so until I have all of the dolls to begin with, in place, I won't do the 'reveal' so to speak. I am hoping I will be able to get the main family of characters together by Christmas- that is my main hope, which amounts to about five dolls. More to come on that project in the works, but the Victorian kitchen is part of it.
Enjoy the pics!~Lisa
 

Some pics of the Barbie club Christmas party...

This past Sunday on the 2nd was our club Christmas party. I belong to the Virginia Fashion doll club and all of us get together and have alot of fun. The feature of the Christmas party is always not only the food, but the Chinese gift swap. I have been running on full gears this week, so have not had time to really post that much, but here are pics. The party this year was held at a club member's lovely home and we also got to tour her doll room. She is heavy into reproduction and vintage!

First pics are of the trees throughout her home, the tree in the kitchen was a Barbie ornament tree. The centerpiece in the dining room with the food was a silkstone dressed in a lovely golden outfit to match the sleigh. Janice had taken her collection of Barbie Angels and put them ontop of her china hutch, and they looked marvelous in person, just dreamy. (Going to club meetings always enables me to shop on Ebay for dolls I do not have!) She also had adorable little vignettes using the past Christmas dolls from Target, as well as the cute brandy snifter with the Kellys and Tommys in the sleigh....must not give in to shop for past Christmas Kellys and Tommys! The last photo shot is of some of the presents that had been put under the big tree in the parlor, these were not all of them! But the one I finally received was the stocking you see-  it says Naughty on one side, Nice on the other and it was filled with cute stuff.
I have some photos of Janice's doll room- the neatest thing she did was to take her ballet dolls and place them on clear plastic risers - the risers and a string of white lights were covered with white tulle covered in gold stars. The effect was amazing!

Forgive the pictures, the light was not that good but the effect was wonderful on her display in person. Her collection is boxed and she has a wonderful way of displaying the dolls. I love looking at other's displays because it gives me ideas how to make better use of the dolls I have with just a few tricks.

Enjoy the photos- I did not get as many as I would have wished, I had way too much fun! My doll time has been severely cut short on working on photos and outfits for the Victorian diorama, which is frustrating, especially with the ideas on the drawing board I cannot finish!More soon- Lisa

1:6 scale Bespaq items on Ebay auction

I am sorting thru items from our remaining store/shop stock and found this lovely 1:6 scale mahogany Bespaq Bonnet highboy chest, it has minor damage to the middle decorative piece and one brass handle that has come unglued- this is a minor glue repair. Chest is 13 inches high 7 inches wide and made of wood. Item is currently on our Ebay Auctions this item ends 12 /10/12, so get it now in time for Christmas! starting bid is $9.99