Cute Barbie separates!

The oncoming ice storm prompted a trip to fetch groceries.  Odd...the side roads are still bad enough that the local schools are closed, but the main roads are completely clear.  Anywho, since I was the one who had to actually GET the groceries, I decided to check the doll isles for new spring outfits.  The My Life line has had new stuff since shortly after Christmas and apparently, so has Barbie.  Check this out!

There was a small box of individually packaged clothing items; skirts, jeans, dresses, tops, and such.  I got this cute yellow bunny dress and a pair of blue jeans, but the jeans fell out of the shopping cart somewhere along the way so I ended up with just this dress for now.  It's your typical budget Barbie dress, with simple lines and printed fabric on only one side...

...which is too bad, because the front has BUNNIES!!!  This will make a perfect Easter dress.  Right now my Winx Club Musa is wearing it.

I thought it would look cute with Musa's blue hair.  Plus, she just got a new pair of yellow shoes.  LOL, I got those a couple of weeks ago on a discount. 

Apparently these little clothing pieces have been out for a few months.  Presto at Growing up is for Quitters has known about these since December 18th and noted that they make great little stocking stuffers.  Christmas is long over now, but these would make fabulous little trinkets for a young Barbie lover's Easter basket, or as an end-of-school trinket, or just for the heck of it, they're so affordable.  They fit a decent number of dolls besides Barbie...or rather, this dress does.  Winx Club dolls and Fairy Tale High dolls can both wear this, though the fit is a bit big.  My Francie-bodied doll Mary-Anne can also wear this...

...as can Ariel, who has a body different from Barbie and Musa...

...and Teen Skipper...

...AND this 90's Skipper.

These little seps remind me of the Pak items Mattel produced back in the sixties.  I'm far too young to have owned any Paks, but they were still a splendid idea.  I hope Mattel will keep these up and maybe release some more accessories.

Happy Chinese New Year!
RagingMoon1987

How a single dolly lover celebrates Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has never been a big affair for me.  I've always been single, so I'd usually spend the day in a mildly bitter mood, admiring Mama's flowers (from Daddy) and wondering why the popular kids at school bothered to send gifts to the high school for their sweethearts to flaunt.  If Cupid was lurking about, she certainly missed her shot with me.

Oh wait, Cupid doesn't work on normies anyway!  LOL, Monster High joke!  No hard feelings, though; I've matured since the dark days that were my adolescence.  Now instead of moping I try to think up something to keep myself occupied, and this year I decided to make a post about my dollies in their Valentine's Day finery.  Warning, though:  most of the clothes will simply be red.  I don't have a lot of dolly clothing with hearts printed on it.  That being said, this is All-Star Cami Basic, or simply "Cami," as I call her.  She's all bundled up and taking in the scenery.

Cami came from New York, so cold weather doesn't bother her much.  She looks like she likes her surroundings, in fact.  Her fuchsia coat pops against the snowy background, and it's the perfect color for Valentine's Day, an effect that I love.

Then there's my less-glamorous but equally loved baby dolls, Tommy and Sally.  One of my Facebook friends has a pair of dolls that she dresses to match the changing holidays, and I tend to do the same with these two.

This pic is more of a "just for the heck of it because they're so cute in their snowsuits" moment than a Valentine's Day moment.  Sally's suit has hearts on it so I guess it counts.  I dressed them in these snowsuits back around New Year's Day.  It was cold then, and it's been nothing but one long stretch of cold, snowy weather since then, so I just left the snowsuits on.  I've never been a huge advocate of winter, LOL.  Now for the Valentine's Day outfits!

Much better, Tommy.  LOL, I love Valentine's Day-themed clothing for babies.  Finding an appropriate outfit for Tommy was easy, believe it or not.  Normally it's hard to find cute, affordable clothes for baby boys, but this time it was easy!  Sally's outfit was the hard one; it's a Dollar Store special, but it works out fine.

From mildly-creepy, old-fashioned sweetness to modern snarkiness, here's Raquelle from the Life in the Dreamhouse line.

You may or may not remember from my Midge review that these first-wave LitD dolls come with two outfits.  Raquelle's just happens to be red.  Again, just a coincidence, but a fortuitous one.  Plus, Raquelle's dress has something that none of the other dolls' outfits does:  SPARKLES!!!

Yeah, yeah, I know that glitter is the herpes of the art world, but it's still fun in moderation.  Besides, in this case I think it fits Raquelle's personality!

Oh, you're a sly one, you are!

Also in the saucy raven-haired female department, there's Maci from the Bratz Style It! line.

Maci is wearing my failed attempt at a Barbie dress.  As you can see, it came out WAY too small for even the skinniest Barbie doll, but with some adjustments Maci can wear it quite well.  It's just a teensy bit big for her, but you'd never be able to tell it unless I told you!  LOL

Back on the lighter side, here's Ariel, one of the dolls that my friend Elizabeth sent me last October.  I remembered that one of the outfits she gave me hadn't been worn yet, which is a sin and a shame.  Since this dress DOES have hearts on it, today's the perfect day for a debut!

Yeah, yeah, I've heard folks say that redheads should never wear pink, but I think Ariel looks really cute in this.  It looks just like something a girl Ariel's age would wear.  And she looks cozy too, with those long socks!

Nice and toasty for this time of year!  Oh, as a little side note, Raquelle and Ariel have made fast friends due to their brassy personalities.

Singles party, anyone?

As a last little touch, I think it would be fitting to show you a pair of dolls that are romantically involved.  Or rather, THIS particular pair is.

These two lovebirds are Masaharu and Akiko, better known as the Japanese DOTW Barbie and Ken.  They married last April after a long courtship, and life's been rosy ever since.  Literally.

As a side note, check out Masaharu's face!  He's definitely NOT your run-of-the-mill Ken doll.

Okay, so photos can't do him justice.  You'd have to see this doll in person to catch all the little details that his sculpt has.

And that, ladies and germs, is how I spent this year's Valentine's Day.  Cheap, simple, fun, and colorful!  Now to dig out all my green outfits for St. Pat's!  Oh, and just a little warning:  the first one to pinch me for not wearing green gets their teeth knocked out.

Happy Valentine's Day,
RagingMoon1987

Charice is here!!!

When I was a teenage doll collector, I had my dolls and a couple of magazine subscriptions.  That was it.  No friends or contacts or groups, no connection to the outside world, no nothing.  Fast-forward to the present day, and now I've got my dolls plus some friends to bounce ideas off of, to trade, buy, and sell with, and to just chew the fat with.  One of my online dolly friends was a lady from British Columbia named Elizabeth Brookman.  You may be familiar with her; she is the owner of Dolls4Emma, a store on eBay that sells a wide array of doll clothes.  Her sizes range from 6-inch Topper Dawn dolls all the way up to Ideal Crissy and Madame Alexander Cissy (and plenty of others in between).  I absolutely love the items she makes, and I recommend her store to anyone who collects dolls.  Anyway, I really flipped over a mutual friend's redheaded MiKelman Charice doll and long story short, Elizabeth just happened to have an extra one.  On September 16th, after some exchange of info, shipping and handling, and pleasantries, Elizabeth told me that she'd sent me the doll, with the added warning that it could take anywhere from one to three weeks to get here.  "No biggie," I thought, "that'll give me something to look forward to."  Imagine my surprise then, when a box showed up yesterday, on September 21st.  Inside was my Charice...and a couple of friends!

From left, Charice (MiKelmen), Ariel (Disney), and Candi (Hamilton)

Okay, first and foremost, this is not going to be a review.  Reviewing these dolls would be looking a gift horse in the mouth, and I'm not a big fan of doing that.  I WILL be sharing pics, however.  Secondly, these aren't Integrity dolls,.  That's not a complaint; I just want to get my facts as straight as I possibly can.  As I said a few posts ago I'm not the most learned about all dolls in this world.  Now I know better!  LOL, blabbing over, time to share pictures.

Charice (MiKelman)

Charice is the one that started this whole experience.  She has ice blue eyes, frosty red lips, and cinnamon red hair styled in a bob.  She is wearing a Dolls4Emma dress (Elizabeth sent several outfits along with the dolls) made out of black stretch knit fabric.  The dress came with a belt, a necklace, and a bracelet, all of which have skulls on them.  I love the skulls.  I think the earrings are original to the doll, but I'm not sure.  Charice's original outfit, a black lace teddy, was also in the box.  When I get in the mood I'll put her in that.

Ariel (Disney)

Ariel is your run-of-the-mill Disney princess.  I'm not a hardcore Disney fan, but I've always been fond of Ariel because of her bright red hair.  Unfortunately the Ariel dolls that were available during my childhood looked ridiculous.  They had ENORMOUS eyes and looked like they had been poked in the rear with a stick.  They were not pretty at all, so I said "forget it."  Some years later the Ariel dolls have improved, and now I have one of the nicer ones (though to be frank, I would've taken an older one too and not complained).  The dress is not a Dolls4Emma dress, but Elizabeth liked it and put it on Ariel anyway.  I'm certainly glad she did, because I like it too!

Candi (Hamilton)

Candi is blonde and blue-eyed with coral lips.  She has a beauty mark on her left cheek, something that I don't see too often on my dolls.  One of my friends thinks she has the Danish face, and I think she is correct.  She is dressed in a green brocade lingerie set, lace stockings, and purple high-heeled shoes.  The lingerie set didn't photograph very well, but it is very beautiful in real life.  The lace overlay is dyed shades of brown, yellow, green, and lavender, and the stockings are light purple.  The stockings and camisole are trimmed with yellow satin ribbons, which I think is a cute touch (I love yellow).  Candi's hair is a bit unruly since I tried to use a plastic brush on it, so I may tie it back.  

When Elizabeth offered me her Charice doll I was pleased, but I definitely wasn't expecting what I got!  In addition to Charice I got Ariel and Candi, and several very nice outfits which I haven't photographed yet, plus a very cute card with a kitty cat on it.  And I got all this for a very small shipping and handling fee.  I'm deeply grateful to Elizabeth and to our mutual friend Georgia for getting this all set up.  These girls are absolutely stunning and the outfits are delightful.  Thank you, Elizabeth and Georgia, for your kindness and your generosity.  I owe you both one.

Happy First Day of Fall,

RagingMoon1987