Birthday Gift

 I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

My birthday was January 27th and my sister, Aprelle, sent me the prettiest outfit for my Barbie.  She purchased it from a woman in her town (northern Wisconsin) who makes them.

It fits her perfectly and she was in need of a coat as it has been pretty chilly here in NE Florida!

Stay warm, everyone!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas......

 

Ken seems to be having a little trouble with the tree lights.

Someome is going to have a very merry Christmas.

Wishing everyone all the timeless treasures of

Christmas......

the warmth of home, the love of family

and

the company of good friends.

Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy New Year!

Chris

Haunted Courtyard

Elise and Roxanne are getting in the Halloween spirit!

Roxanne looks quite fetching in this kitty outfit.....meow!

Elise chose a more subdued dress but still looks beautiful!

Happy Halloween!

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Barbie Looks 2021

 I think I ordered these dolls back in late June/early July, Mattel had a very good price for the set.  They arrived piecemeal over the last 3 weeks, with the final one showing up yesterday.  I am hesitant about freeing them from their boxes for some reason.  I like them but ....... I don't know, just not as excited about them as I thought I would be.  I hate when this happens.

In the last month I have added 7 new dolls and sold 2 from my collection.  Not a good turn over ratio if you are trying to shrink your collection!  And I am sending back 2 other dolls I recently received because they just didn't look like the description given online.  So if I would have kept them it would have been:

Incoming Dolls - 9  Out Going Dolls - 2

Not a good score in baseball or dolls!

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Holiday Barbie 2021

She's here!

This doll is available in the usual 3 versions of caucasian, hispanic and AA.  I don't get the Holiday doll every year but lately I have been opting for the AA version.  The AA version usually has a different hairstyle every year which, to me, makes the dolls more interesting, I don't know why they don't switch up the other two versions.  I ordered this one the minute I saw her.......that hair is so cute!  And her face, I think this is a new face sculpt, so pretty.

I like the silver dress and don't even mind the silver plastic corset, it adds a little sparkle.  The only thing I don't care for is the drawn on baby hair along the hairline.  The 2019 doll had the same issue for me.  I just don't think it is needed.  I do think that if this doll is handled or played with a lot those braids will start to fray on the ends, we'll see.

The bodice under the corset is the same material as the dress skirt, simple but elegant.  The corset is easy to remove.  She has clear pointy toed pumps with a very, very thin heel which is going to bend over time.  COA and stand are included.  She has a standard model muse style body.

All in all, I love her........she's a real doll!

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Friday Fashion - July 4th Outfits

 

Okay, so I am pretty late showing these outfits and I haven't done a Fashion Friday in ages.  I made them way before Independence Day in hopes of setting up a backyard BBQ dio, but yeah, that didn't happen.

Sun Gold Malibu Barbie and Ken are our models here.  I like to fit the clothing style as close to the dolls era as possible, these two dolls are from 1983. 

 I used Simplicity pattern 8281 from 1977 for Barbie's sundress, it is one of my favorites.  This dress is somewhat timeless and can be made in a  pretty print like I did here or in a plain color and dressed up with embellishments for different looks.  It's also pretty easy if you are just starting out in sewing for these tiny fashionistas.

The Ken outfit was made from Simplicity 7928 from 1986 although I redid the pants without the elastic it called for (I don't like elastic on Ken's pants unless pajamas).  This is a good shirt pattern for the beefier Kens of the late 80's/90's, they had a little more upper body than the early Ken's of the 60's and 70's.  I'm thinking it might also fit the World Peacekeeper guys since they are a little more buff.

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Elise's Courtyard Hideaway

 I have been working on this diorama for about a month and love how it has turned out!

It all started with this chair, which use to be blue.   Since Elise's apartment is so small she needed a little outdoor space where she could relax.  I painted the chair a light grey then white and then sanded to give it a weathered look.

Elise likes to sit and  have tea here.

Her new sundress matches her hair perfectly!

That phallic looking thing in the corner is a fountain.  It looks better in person.  The side brick walls are scrapbook paper and the back distressed brick wall I made using paperboard from a cereal box to cut bricks and placed them randomly around then dabbed on white paint.  I got the concrete patio paver printout from My Froggy Stuff.  The decorations on the wall are wood burnouts I got at the Dollar Tree and painted in 3 different pastel colors.

I still want to add a few items, a little end table and a few more plants, but all in all I really like it.  I think it is my best work to date.

 And Elise seems to be happy for the extra space.

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