Celebrating half a lifetime of doll collecting (next week)

 
The doll that started it all was the 2004 California Girl Barbie. At that time I couldn't even dream I would have more than the one doll, let alone a collection of over a hundred, so I spent weeks choosing the best option. I was turning 17 and my parents let me have a real Barbie for my birthday. I had plenty of dolls when I was a kid, but I never liked Barbie. My sister and I played with hefty child dolls that we either held birthday parties for, or took to the "doctor". I didn't understand the appeal of the grown-up skinny doll with tiny accessories that got lost. Even when I grew up a little and became interested in fashion, I didn't like her grinning face with electric blue eyes. At that time Barbie had one rival, it was Sindy during her normally-sized head phase. Even though I never as much as held either of these dolls, I was team Sindy all the way and an ardent Barbie hater. But time passed, I changed, and most importantly, Barbie changed... so in a couple of years I found myself longingly eyeing the doll shelves.

How to improve a neck joint

Hi everyone! The past year has pushed the limits of my ability to use the unusable and make do with cheap things. In this quick post I will show you how I add up and down movement to a neck joint that only provides rotation.

Quarantine Tess (flea market rescue)

Hey guys! It may look like I've abandoned blogging, but actually I've been busier than when I posted every month. Today I have a picture-heavy project that took a year to complete, with long breaks and an apartment change a few months into it. I'm pretty much settled in right now and I hope to appear more alive online, not just posting but also reading and supporting my fellow bloggers. I am not making any promises for the future or excuses for my absence, instead let me show you today a doll that I'm very proud of!

Monster High repair trick

Hey everyone! I was excited to show you a couple of dolls I bought used from a fellow collector. However one of them, this Clawdeen, was in no shape to be displayed. She had a common MH problem - missing both hands and a forearm. In this post I'll show you my cheap solution for it.

Zodiac MMGirls Part 1: Earth signs and overview

One beautiful day last November I was browsing the Fortune Days website to see what else they had come up with after my beloved MMGirls. I was very excited to see the entire first page of the MMGirl section was changed - all the dolls there had brown eyes and a zodiac theme! Now, the zodiac series is sold in every doll store but at that time I couldn't find anything about them except the one promo picture for each doll. The suspense was killing me, I knew I'd like them even without seeing the details so I emailed the manufacturer. They said the dolls were already available at their warehouse. About 40 messages later, my order of a full set was on its way.

Miniature daisies/chrysanthemums tutorial

Hello everyone! Out of several different projects and posts I was working on at the same time, this is the one I managed to finish first. Quite surprisingly, because I had some doll reviews I wanted to get out before anyone else and also another miniature dollhouse set I completed. I guess while I was making the rose bouquet for the dollhouse I got so frustrated I had to make something else my way... I had a bunch of cool supplies waiting in their envelopes, and this is how this project was born.

So, let's take a look at the process behind and all the necessary supplies, shall we?

Holiday wreaths for dolls

I came across a simple way of making cute 1:6th wreaths a couple of years ago, sent a few to friends, and this time I had the obsessive idea of making a bunch of them to photograph together. Do you want to see how to make them too? I don't start decorating until the 24th, so this is actually me giving you a headstart :D These take very little time, don't worry!

Winter in a bubble, or miniature hell

You guys know I'm no stranger to extreme miniature crafts. I came across this dollhouse kit a while ago and I thought it was too cute to pass! I just assembled it recently and thought I'd share the experience. I wasn't into dollhouses... but this is no boring 1:12th scale, it's a tiny winter scene in a snow globe, with furniture and everything. How perfect is that?

Full set Kinder Surprise Barbie 2016

Hey everyone! I have yet another new thing to show you. Remember how a while ago I found a tiny Barbie in a Kinder Surprise egg and repainted it? Since then I became obsessed with finding more, preferably the whole series! I had so much fun with that custom and I love miniatures in general. There are tons of reviews about these, many in the unboxing video format that is a lot more exciting, but since mine will all be getting makeovers, I feel a "before" presentation is in order.

MMGirl dolls Rose and Mandy by Fortune Days (Debisheng Ltd)

Hi everyone! A few weeks ago, I was checking some doll stores on Aliexpress and something caught my attention in the "Recommended" section - beautiful articulated dolls with intricate outfits that to me looked a lot like J-dolls. Unless this is your first time on my page (in which case, hi!), you'll know J-dolls are my absolute favourite dolls and anything remotely similar to them is welcome in my collection. I was going to get a couple more Xinyi dolls - they make boys now too! - but these new dolls got me intrigued and I found no reviews about them at the time. Plus, they came with full outfits, while Xinyi are nude. Curiosity won and I picked two of the dressed dolls, which I'll review today.