A family favorite holiday

Yep, it's Halloween again!  I can't think of a better way to bring down the curtain on my favorite month than a holiday full of kids in costumes and buckets of junk food.  I think the sugar may have given me double vision. 

LOL, Treesa thought Skye Kitty needed a friend.  Prima Kitty is her name, and like Skye her birthday is today.

Prima is very similar to Skye, but not exactly the same.  Her vinyl is slightly fairer than Skye's, and her eyes are that lovely Mattel green (Skye's eyes are blue, also lovely).

These Halloween Kitties are so cute!  As far as I know they all have the same head, but they're adorable nonetheless.  Thank you, Treesa!

Of course Skye and Prima aren't the only dolls I've got DOLLED up, LOL.  So Mischievous Moonbeam and So Surprised Suzie are all decked out.  Moonbeam's outfit was a gift from Mama, and I got the orange one myself. 

Moonbeam's dress has a red petticoat underneath, and it peeks out in places, giving the otherwise blue-gray and black ensemble a nice pop of color.

Then there's Jettivee Bargo and Kyle MacDonald, both clad in costumes my Mama supplied (again).

Kyle isn't just a Scarecrow, though.  He's headed to Oz!  He has his diploma, though I didn't show it here.

"I've got a brain!  How can I thank you enough???"

Well, you can't.  LOL, I always loved that exchange of dialog!  As for Jettivee, she's got an adorable dress under that cape.

So cute!

Mumpy Terri Lee, in orange like Chatty Cathy was earlier.

And as a finishing touch, here's Chatty Cathy's new dress.  Nothing va-va-va-voom, and IRL the skirt is ridiculously short, but it's got cute buttons.

See the buttons?  That was what sold the dress for me.

And that, ladies and germs, is my Halloween for the year!  The Bootheel has had a lot of rain so the ground is wet and spongy, and the air is chilly so we're not opening our doors this year.  We've clipped our curtains shut so no little hoodlums can see in, and Mama and I are enjoying mini Almond Joy bars.  Diet be damned, calories don't count during Halloween...ha, I wish!  But we're splurging a bit and loving every second of it.

Thank you for Prima, Treesa!  She was a lovely little surprise.

Happy Halloween,

RagingMoon1987

If it's not too early for Disney then it's not too early for me

Walt Disney World kicks off Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Bash today (it'll run until Halloween proper).  I can only imagine how those cast members must feel in those Halloween costumes, particularly when August is so cotton-pickin' hot!  But then again, a lot of those cast members have to run around in full-body costumes anyway, folks like Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Goofy, so it's hot 100% of the time.  Still, I hope they'll be okay!  Heatstroke and heat exhaustion are no joke (I've had the latter).  But either way, Halloween Season has begun at Disney World, and if it's not too early for them then I can do it too.  Halloween is Mama's favorite holiday, and she...well, she's bought one little Halloween-themed outfit so far.  Exhibit A.

Silver Bird is already ready to hit the streets and gather some candy!  She's even got her little bucket, which the sticker says came from Oriental Trading Company.

Oh Lordy, I used to love Oriental Trading Company catalogs.  I look back on it all and realize that most of it was just junk that could clutter up a kid's room, but to my child's eye it was TREASURE!!!  A lot of the Halloween stuff glowed in the dark, so I always loved those catalogs the best.

Rita Cheryl is a little more understated than Silver Bird, but she too is ready for the oncoming fall, and the blazing weather that will inevitably come before Halloween gets here.

I do have a jacket and footwear for her to wear when it does turn cold, but for now Rita Cheryl is happy as a lark without all the frippery.

Of course no post of mine is complete without a Cabbage Patch Kid.  Mama got this for my Kids, and I promptly assigned it to Idalia Gale.

There's always gotta be one in the mix who WILL.  NOT.  wear a dress, and for me that someone is Idalia Gale.  Oh, she'll wear dresses when I push the issue, but it's like pulling teeth without anesthesia.  Idalia Gale is a jeans-and-overalls Kid, full stop.

Going a size down now, I have a Halloween-themed outfit for So Surprised Suzie around here somewhere (always somewhere!), but because I'm so organized I can't find it.  Never fear, I've had this outfit waiting since last winter.

There's always something available for a Baby Face doll if you know where to look, and not to brag, but I know where to look.  This particular dress is an eBay find, from Luvable Creations.

This next doll is a new face to the blog.  She's Lorifina, though I call her Lori.

Lorifina dolls came in simple little sleepwear, and items for this doll can still be found on eBay, but a healthy cottage industry also exists for this doll, and that's what this is here.  The eBay shop is dea850, and most of the items in this ensemble are handmade.  The shoes are not handmade, being Lorifina-brand shoes.

Pretty sweet kicks, I must say.  These slid onto Lori's feet with zero fuss, by the way.  Lori has sizeable feet, and the openings to the shoes looked kinda small, but they gap open enuff that I had no trouble getting these on her.  

From the very tall to the very small, here's another new face.  Meet My Mini Baby!  Ayla Diamond is her name.  Ayla...I've got another Ayla in my collection, but don't tell the Baby Name Genie that.  I like the name Ayla anyway, so I can live with having two.  Here's the new Ayla; she looks nothing like Big Ayla.  My Mini Babies have sweet little faces...but they're all asleep!

Yeah, I ripped Miss Emily's blog off again, name generator and all.  She recently talked about tiny blind-bag silicone babies (posts HERE and HERE), and when she mentioned that Etsy has a thriving market for clothes, I was sold.  Most of the items for these dolls are crocheted, and I love tiny things that are crocheted.  Crocheting something that small is NOT easy; I've tried it and it made my hands and eyes ache.  This little outfit came from PaulasCrochetArmoire.  As an aside, the Star Babies in the second post are WAAAAY more expensive than My Mini Baby, but the only way they're superior is in the name (I think they're also handmade, so that's something).  Staaaaarrr baby, flashy little shiny little lovin' machine!  LOL, I freaking love the Guess Who.

Ahem...not all of my kids are getting ready for falling leaves, fun-size M&M's, and pumpkin spice lattes.  Summer Daisy is ready to soak up some rays.

Thank you again, Treesa!  She said she wanted to get that little outfit to me before summer ended, and she succeeded!  Maybe that little outfit would look better on a neutral-colored critter like Flaxie, but I STILL haven't found Flaxie!!!  The pink provides a nice contrast to Summer Daisy's fur anyway.  As an aside...have y'all seen this year's Build-a-Bear Halloween cats?  They are ADORABLE!!!  One of 'em has ghosts printed on its fur.

Mia isn't really dressed for fall either, but she and the next two dolls look so cute that I wanted to include them.  I guess frogs can be for early fall, since they're still hollering on warm nights.

There's a story behind this outfit, one that shows that our local postal service still has problems.  I ordered this super-cute little outfit for Cinnamon, one that mixed go-go dancers and tie-dying, and IT.  NEVER.  CAME.  The tracking number said "delivered," but I never got my cute little outfit.  So, not wanting to give the shop a bad review for something that was out of their hands, I messaged them and they offered me my choice of the other outfits.  I picked the frog dress above, as it was the same price as the lost dress and since Mia needed something nice and new (Cinnamon didn't).  We see the result!  The eBay shop is called Park Ave Doll Clothes, and they have a nice selection of items for a number of vintage dolls that aren't the easiest to clothe.  They've even got some things for my buddy Sasha.

Lastly, here's two more of my Cabbage Patch Kids, Rowena Skylar and the beloved Candela Laura.

As usual, these were gifts from Mama.  Candela Laura's set has Peppa Pig and Rowena Skylar's set has brightly colored insects.  More springtimey, these colors are, but my cares are nigh next to zero.  By the way, remember when I told y'all that Beryl June (one of my double popcorns) has a fan?  Candela Laura does too; a friend on Failbook told me that Candela Laura was her dream Jesmar.  I have seen a couple'a Jesmars that look a lot like Candela Laura does, so if my friend looks hard enuff she should be able to find one.  Candela Laura kinda just fell in my lap...but then so did Rowena Skylar, LOL!

The jumble of colors and themes doesn't matter too much since fall is a mixed bag in the Bootheel anyway.  Some years it stays hot until the middle of November, and another year it snowed in early October.  Still other years have seen the temperatures see-saw wildly, with a wave of severe weather accompanying each swing.  Last fall was very wet, thanks to Hurricanes Francine and Helene.  Seriously, Helene didn't cause my area anywhere near as much trouble as she did Appalachia, and she was STILL a doozie!  I hope it's a long time before the country has another terrible storm like that.  I wouldn't mind a nice long soaking rain though, as the crops are starting to need it.  Speaking of hurricanes...here's Erin's baby picture, taken on the 11th. 

Not gonna lie, this hurricane has me concerned.  She formed in the Cape Verde area, where some of the worst hurricanes form, and she's got nothing but the wide open sea in front of her.  Those waters are warm, perfect for Erin to grow.  So we'll see what happens.  As for me and for much of the east-central part of the U.S., the weekend and the bulk of next week are looking to be hotter than the hinges of hell.  We're not quite to "Everyone in McKinney is dead" mode, but we'll be close.

ALICE UPDATE:  My resident black widow has had a third clutch of babies, and I've seen her oot and aboot a couple'a times, but no more pictures so far.  Alice hides when I come around, and I can't say that I blame her.  I'd hide too if something a trillion times my size looked at me.  But Alice is alive and well, still spry, still beautiful, still nimble as a jackrabbit.

Sunny love,
RagingMoon1987

Jeepers creepers

Where'd ya get those eyes!  Halloween's not too far off, and my Suzie is ready.

I guess if I were standing on top of a six-foot grave marker my eyes would be pretty big too.  Suzie's dress came from pixies1952, just like her rainbow dress did.  Right now Pixie doesn't have anything available, but she undoubtedly will as Christmas grows closer.  The shoes are from BellasDivas; if any of y'all have an unshod Baby Face doll, some American Girl shoes will fit.  Some, mind y'all.  I haven't tried boots yet.

I tell y'all what, Suzie's eyes would be even bigger if she knew how evil the world around her is.  Israel is on my mind and in my prayers right now!

Much love
RagingMoon1987

Halloween 2022

Amelia and Rita Cheryl don't have costumes at the moment, but they can still dress up cute!

Rita Cheryl is actually wearing Luciana's new coat instead of her own, but as we'll soon see, Luciana is wearing something else.  Now to the costumes.  C'mon, y'all know I've always got someone dressed up!  In her spotlight post Marina stated that she wanted to be a mermaid for Halloween.  Welp, I made it happen!  It cost way more than I should ever spend on doll clothes, but I regret nothing.

This is the oft-derided Sparkling Mermaid costume, available from 1998 to 2000.  It was always one of my favorite costumes; the other options back then were sock hopper, hippie, cowgirl, black cat, and princess, and the mermaid seemed (to me, at least) to be the most original.  Even today I don't see many mermaids among real-life Trick-or-Treaters.  This outfit seems to be unpopular among other AG fans, and...well, I guess I can see why, since it's not the most flattering getup in the world.  It's kind of hard to move Marina around in it too.  Sitting her down was an effort, for example, though that's not easy anyway since she's a young doll and thus a tightly strung one.  I was able to sit Marina down, though, so it is possible. 

I also had a difficult time placing the wrap as it's quite long, but luckily for me the AG wiki has some instructions for tying Josefina's rebozo.  I chose one of those methods for getting the wrap on Marina, and it works fair enuff, though the ends still drag on the ground.

Loop around the waist, cross the ends in back, bring the ends over her shoulders and tuck them in.  Reasonably easy, though it does hide some of the cute sea critters on the wrap.  The seahorse is visible here, for example, but the orange starfish on the right is all but invisible.

These critters are ON THERE, by the way!  When I was a little kid I presumed that they were sewn on to the wrap, just like a trio of plastic perfume bottles on my favorite top.  I thus predicted that the sea creatures would fall off with ease, just like my perfume bottles did.  Joke's on me, because these appear to be molded onto the mesh of the wrap.  See?

Or at very least the crab appears to be looped securely into the mesh.  However, if one looks closer one can see that he is very firmly glued onto the mesh of the wrap, rather than looped or molded in place.  The glue is even more obvious on this yellow shell.

Glue isn't always the best way to put an outfit together, but this glue looks and feels quite strong.  I don't think I'll have any trouble with sea critters going AWOL.  One thing that bums me a little about this ensemble is that the critters on the net aren't painted like the critters on the crown.

The pieces tie together just fine, stripes or no stripes, but...well, I like stripes, okay???  Polka dots will always be my favorite, but stripes are also pretty great.  Anywho, this costume is not a favorite among American Girl fans for this reason or that, but I actually quite like it.  It goes well with Marina's hair, and it comes with shoes.

American Girl's second mermaid costume inexplicably does not come with shoes.  As cold as the weather can be during Halloween, shoes are a must.  At least around here they are.  Anyway, I respect this outfit for its originality in a world full of princesses and sock hoppers.  Oh, and it's also green.  Y'all know my feelings on the color green.

On the other hand, putting together a sock hopper costume is relatively easy, and the components (flat shoes, a sweater of some type, and a long, swirly skirt) are easy to move around in.  Perfect for a little kid, I'd say.  So Silver Bird isn't the most original, but she does look adorable.  Silver Bird chose to be the sock hopper this year.  This is an Etsy getup that I've had on hand for awhile.

Y'all may remember from Marina's spotlight post that Silver Bird chose this getup.  I had this on Lindsey last year, but Lindsey's body is one of the slimmer bodies and didn't fill it out very well.  Spoiler alert:  Silver Bird's chunky Pleasant Company frame doesn't either, but since when have Halloween costumes ever fit perfectly?  The blouse tucks nicely into the skirt, so that's a plus.  Oh, and the proper shoes?  These...actually, I can't remember if I had to buy these separately or if they came with the outfit.  Either way, Silver Bird has the required saddle shoes.

Once I read (in American Girl Magazine, ironically enuff) that in some areas black and white saddle shoes were worn only by boys, while girls wore a blue and white variety.  Brown and white shoes were worn by both sexes.  I haven't found any information online that confirms this, so take it with a grain of salt.  Regardless, Silver Bird's shoes are the classic black and white that we all know and love/loathe.  I grew up wearing saddle shoes, believe it or not, so I grew to love them.  Silver Bird is one of my girls who prefers going barefoot, but as I mentioned above shoes are not optional during this time of the year.  So Silver Bird may not be as original as Marina, but it's at least obvious what she is. 

Luciana, on the other hand...Luciana's costume isn't immediately obvious, unless one knows me or her.  She's the Ninth Doctor...with the Eleventh Doctor's bangs.

Okay, Number Nine wore a pea coat as opposed to a leather jacket, but Luciana gives no flying burritos.  As long as she keeps that jacket away from her Tribble then all should go well (remember that Goldie tried to eat Lark's jacket once).  If y'all go back to Luciana's spotlight her decision to be the Doctor should be no surprise, though her decision to be the Ninth Doctor did surprise me (she prefers the Beloved Tenth, LOL).  I guess I should be glad she didn't want to be the Sixth Doctor, with that loud jacket he wore.  There isn't much to say about Astro Luci this Halloween; she's clad in black, and I have to admit that she looks pretty sharp.  

And with that, my lineup for Halloween this year is complete...except I think Silver Bird has something on her mind.

Silver Bird:  Either one of y'all fancy a dance?
Luciana:  Let's kick it!

Oh Lordy, I know where this is going.  Cue "In the Mood," Marina!

Marina:  I'm on it!

Glenn Miller for the win!  Don't get too close to the edge, y'all.  Remember what happened the last time Doremi tried to fly?

Luciana:  Served her right!
Doremi:  I HEARD THAT!!!
Silver Bird:  Oh crap...

Uh-oh, looks like my lineup ISN'T complete!  Luciana, you and Silver Bird keep dancing and I'll show off Doremi's costume; she's a princess, just like she wanted to be.  Like Marina's costume, this one is one of the older ones, the aforementioned Medieval Princess costume.

It's mostly velvet, one of my favorite fabrics, plus some sort of polyester (I presume) with a sparkly upper layer.

Both the sleeves and part of the skirt are made of that, while the bodice and other parts of the skirt are made of this velvet.  It's thin enuff that the lighter color shows through. 

Doremi's crown is made of gold...lame?  Sateen?  Some sort of shimmery gold fabric. It has no stretch, so it fastens in the back with Velcro.  I love the plastic jewels up front.  The front of Doremi's dress has these too, but the pictures of those wouldn't focus.

On her feet Doremi wears these cute gold slippers that are made of the same fabric as the crown.  These are elasticized and unfortunately like to slip off.

Doremi is the only one who has her Trick-or-Treat bag. 

Silver Bird's costume never had a bag, Marina's costume is missing the bag, and I had to piece Luciana's costume together so she doesn't have a bag either.  No problem, they can use these Rainbow High bags.

Luciana:  Sorry, Marina, but there's no green one.
Marina:  Never mind that.  You're standing on my wrap!

If you girls are good girls tonight I'll share my Almond Joy bars.  NOW my Halloween lineup is complete.  Line up, y'all!  Marina, you stay between Doremi and Luciana, lest they kill each other.

Marina:  No problem.

Even Doremi's friends love to hate her.

Doremi:  I HEARD THAT!!!

What're you gonna do to me, squirt???  You're about an eighth my size!  Anyway, Silver Bird and Luciana have unfinished business.  Fire up that radio again, Marina!

Luciana:  This sure beats resonating concrete!
Doremi:  How come no one asked ME to dance???

Behave yourself, Doremi, or you'll get a rock.  

Happy Halloween,
RagingMoon1987

Day of the Dead comes again

Happy Monday to y'all!  When I was a kid November first was always kinda like the day after Christmas.  Mama would start putting away her cute Halloween bric-a-brac, and for us kids Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed an eternity away.  Now of course I'm older, and Day of the Dead is one of my favorite holidays.  It's a day for trotting out Flaxie, Z, and Denise in their sugar skull clothes, and a day for Morrada Calaveras to show off, but this year Morrada is not alone.  I've chosen the name "Marigold" for my newest doll, due to her yellow dress and the associations of marigolds with Day of the Dead...and because I love marigolds, LOL.

This poppet came from Whit's Art World on Etsy.  She used to be one of those slightly creepy hard plastic dolls from the 1920's, and she's had her existing creepiness enhanced by touches of paint.

When I first ordered her her eyes were half-closed, but I eased them all the way open.  One of her eyes drifts and that adds to her creepiness!  She got a ding on her nose during shipping that I need to fix.

Marigold is a little under eight inches tall, and if I measure her bow she comes to a full eight inches.  Her head and arms move, but her legs do not.  No biggie, since sitting wouldn't allow her to show off her lovely dress.  The plastic feels a little fragile anyway so I wouldn't be monkeying with her leg joints if she had them.  She's also pretty loose up top, so that her head always lolls to her right.  Definitely NOT a toy, though I had no intention of using her as such.  But Marigold isn't the only new Day of the Dead doll I've got.  In July Mama surprised me with this.

She came accompanied with a blown glass hummingbird, and a slip of paper explaining the Mayan creation myth surrounding hummingbirds.

This accessory earned the doll the name "Chuparosa."  Chuparosa has three tags safety-pinned to her left sleeve.  The top tag advertises the Etsy store she came from, Frida Tehuana.  The "Frida" in question is none other than Frida Kahlo.

The second tag is the "thou shalt not" tag, with care instructions.

The last tag explains Frida Tehuana's purpose, which is to help rural Mexican women find jobs.  I can dig that.  There's more to it than just providing jobs, but y'all can read it for yourselves.

Personal touches like this are the reason why I love handmade rag dolls.  They all have part of the person who made them built in, and they all have some type of history behind them.  Thanks to the tag I know Chuparosa's story.  Anyway, since she's handmade there's a lot to talk about.  Chuparosa's skirt has large sugar skulls and flowers on an orange background, and this muchacho is an intense-looking so-and so!

His female counterpart looks familiar!  These two faces are all over Chuparosa's skirt, by the way.

As for Chuparosa herself, she's not as intense as the male skull on her skirt, nor is she generically cute like Skelita Calaveras is.  Her face is handpainted in a number of bright colors, including green eyebrows.  

Her hair is made of...either very fine yarn or embroidery floss, and it's braided and heavily decorated with satin ribbons of yellow, orange, and purple.  Two of the yellow ribbons are woven into her braids.

A lot of care went into making Chuparosa.  I suspect very strongly that she's supposed to be a decorative item, and yet her seams and clothes feel substantial.  She'd make a good companion for a child aged ten or over, one who is old enuff to take care of his or her things.

Of course I can't use Marigold or Chuparosa as decorations at the library lest my superiors' heads explode, but I can and am using these.

I love matryoshka dolls!  I've never owned a set before...well, before last June, actually, when Mama got these sugar skull cats.  Yes, another gift from my mom, LOL!  These actually do nest, by the way.  I was afraid they wouldn't due to those ears, but they nest just fine!  The fourth one is my favorite due to his mopey face, by the way.

So that's my Day of the Dead!  No shrines, but who needs a shrine when you've got some awesome dolls like these?  Heck, who needs a Day of the Dead shrine when you're alive???  LOL, thankful I am to be alive and not need a shrine!  Sigh...I can't say the same for a few of my friends.  When I was in high school a young man died in a tragic (and senseless) truck-vs-train accident, and the next November one of his friends built a Day of the Dead shrine for him during Spanish class.  Talk about a mental punch in the solar plexus; this boy had a special necklace that he wore every day, and when I saw that hanging on the shrine I darn near cried.  This young man wasn't even someone I was that close to, but knowing him and liking him was enuff.  Despite one sad memory I love Day of the Dead, and I'm happy to have some poppets to commemorate!  No update on my mother, as she doesn't see the oncologist until the seventeenth.  But she says just drinking more water has helped ease her arthritis, so that's something.

Happy Day of the Dead,
RagingMoon1987