My Christmas gifts to me and other stuff

C'mon, y'all have probably done it in the past too, bought gifts for yourself.  LOL, I seeing as I buy myself dolls all the time anyway this one probably is a poor Christmas present, but I wanted a Velvet to go with my old Crissy, so I got one.

I won't be reviewing this doll fully since she's too similar to Crissy for that, but here she is!  Velvet came from Hatton, North Dakota, not as far from Malden as Wozzeck's former home in Massachusetts is, but certainly far enough.  My doll is the Look Around version, just like my Crissy is, but instead of her pretty plaid dress she came in this adorable yellow frock that I couldn't say no to.  The yellow getup looks like an official Ideal dress for Velvet, a 1972 ensemble called Lemon Hang-Up.  The plaid dress will be easy to replace (eBay has a trillion of them), so I'm not terribly bothered by it's absence.  Indeed, I love this bright shade of yellow, particularly during these bleak winter months.  The cute little vest is made of corduroy, one of my favorite fabrics.

Interestingly, my doll's vest is different from the vests on Crissy and Beth's site.  The vests had eye holes for brightly colored yarn ties to go through, but my doll's vest...does not.

Someone, I don't know who, but somewhere along the way someone sewed the front of the vest together with yarn.  It looked good while it lasted, but it also meant that I had to cut the ties to get the vest off, AND it means that it'll hang open from now on unless I can come up with some sort of way to tie it shut.

In fact, this dress doesn't match Lemon Hang-Up exactly either.  It has trim along the hem of the skirt, trim that Lemon Hang-Up does NOT have.

The skirt is a bit longer too, and the print on the vest's fabric does not match either variation on Crissy and Beth's site, and the sleeves of the dress are longer...I clearly got a very skilled recreation of Lemon Hang-Up rather than the real deal, but it sure is a nice recreation!  It certainly had a novice like me fooled, so if you're new at collecting Crissy and Velvet be sure to research carefully.

So Velvet may not be wearing an Ideal outfit (not that that's a huge deal), but she does have something that Crissy didn't have until here recently:  shoes.

Crissy has shoes NOW, but as I said they're a very recent acquisition.  Velvet came with hers, though I doubt these are her original shoes.  Look Around Velvet's white self came with red shoes most of the time, and even if this dress were the real Lemon Hang-Up it wouldn't have come with shoes.  Nevertheless, my Velvet came with shoes and I am glad of it.  And because I like doll feet, here's how both of my girls' feet look in their shoes.

I've always loved Crissy and Velvet shoes, and I'm thrilled to finally have a couple pair.  Moving up now, notice that Velvet's eyes need some cleaning.  They aren't as bad as they were in the eBay pictures, but they still could do with a touchup.

I hope that's not mold, but it looks like that is indeed mold.  I spoke of mold in Crissy's review, this nasty white crud that forms on the eyes of Crissy and her friends and is unfortunately contagious.  Looks like I'm going to need some rubbing alcohol, AND it also looks like I'll have to keep Velvet quarantined until I get those eyes cleaned.  Y'know, just in case that nastiness IS mold.  I only know of this mold spreading to other Crissy dolls and not to American Girls, but better to err on the side of caution and keep Velvet away from the AG crew for now.  Velvet's eyes are much prettier than Crissy's, by the way, with or without crusty white crap.  She has blue-gray (violet?) eyes rather than the vacant black eyes that Crissy has.  See?

I'm positive that Crissy's eyes are supposed to be brown rather than black, but they don't LOOK even the slightest bit brown.  Even though Velvet's eyes are a prettier color than Crissy's I still find them...well, I'll admit that I find them just an eensy bit creepy.  I've always thought that Velvet's friend Cricket and her sister Cinnamon are the best looking of Ideal's Crissy crew, and I think that Velvet's other friend Mia has the prettiest eyes.  Or...okay, it's a toss-up between Mia and Crissy's other cousin Kerry as to who has the prettiest eyes.  So why did I bother with Velvet and not get Cricket instead?  Because Cricket didn't come in a Look Around version that coordinates with my Crissy like Velvet did, and because I like for things to coordinate because I'm WEIRD!  Mama would blame it on my being a Libra (Libras supposedly like balance), but I think it's just because I'm weird.

In addition to cleaning Velvet's eyes, I'll also have to do something with her hair.  It's very dingy, and the fall is pretty tangled as well.

Nothing a good soak with some Downy and Dawn won't cure.  Velvet's crank doesn't work, by the way.  It's always fully out for this gal, and since the mechanism is broken my Velvet's fall is longer than a Velvet doll's fall should be.  Usually Velvet's fall goes to her waist, but mine is noticeably longer than that, falling to her knees (spoiler alert on the wardrobe change).

Normally only a first-issue Crissy has hair longer than waist-length, and since Cinnamon is a small doll she also has a floor-length fall.  Velvet and her like-sized friends only have a fall that length when their internal mechanism is broken or if it's been replaced.  My doll's fall has never been replaced that I know of, so that can only mean that her mech is broken!  No worries, I'll just keep it braided and the extra length will not be a problem.  I always keep Crissy's hair braided anyway, so why shouldn't Velvet follow suit?

Of course I had an ulterior motive for owning a Velvet, as I often do.  Another lady on one of my favorite Facebook groups put her Velvet in a Glitter Girls outfit, and she reports that the fit is a little tight but super-duper adorable.  I don't have any Glitter Girls clothes yet, but I do have that B.F.C. Ink outfit that looked so cute on Mosi, and Abigail's cute little space-themed dress.  If I recall correctly I vocalized a curiosity about Velvet sharing clothes with Mosi and Abigail during Abigail's review, so it's time to whet that curiosity.  Here's what Velvet looks like in Abigail's spacey dress, which is sized for a Wellie Wisher doll.

The good news?  Velvet looks super-cute in this dress, and once I get it on her it fits her almost perfectly.  The bad news?  Putting this dress ON Velvet was a living nightmare due to her widely spaced arms and big head, and I have no idea how I'm going to get it off her.  Looks like the B.F.C. Ink outfit will just have to wait for now...or not!

First and foremost, the Wellie Wisher dress came off much easier than it went on, and much, MUCH easier than I thought it would be.  That said, with the exception of shoes the B.F.C. Ink ensemble fits Velvet like it was custom-made for her.  It's an eensy bit tight around the waist where her hair knob and pull string are, but not prohibitively so.  I even daresay that the hood of the jacket might fit over Velvet's head if her hair were fully retracted.  It's good to know that Velvet can wear B.F.C. Ink clothes though, because they're a little too big for Mosi and way too big for Abigail.  As for Wellie Wisher clothes, I'd advise caution since my particular dress is tight, but looser garments and dresses might work.

In addition to Velvet I completed the murder of my bank account by purchasing these two, who won't get a review until sometime in the spring.

Their names are Claudie (left) and Gigi.  They're both clone dolls of various stripes, one of whom has something very important in common with Crissy and Velvet.  Y'all might be able to tell what that something is from looking at her, but if you can't...well, you'll have to wait until mid-March, because that's how far back I've got posts set due to my constant procrastinating.

In other news, here's my Christmas tree.  I took it to the library since I can't enjoy it at home (because CATS, that's why) and since the library doesn't have a tree of its own, not one that's easy to put up and take down, anyway.  My tree is about two feet tall and is thus easy to deal with. 

See what I mean?  Small, low-maintenance, easy to put up, easy to take down, everything that the old tree is not.  Seriously, I wanted to drag in my old radio and play "Hard to Handle" on a loop while wrestling with the old tree, rules of silence in the library be danged.  The top part weighed a ton, none of the lower boughs wanted to fit into their slots, and I couldn't get all the plugs put back into place so half the lights didn't work (the tree is allegedly pre-lit).  Not to mention the old tree always makes a huge mess with its cheaply made needles shedding everywhere.  So...my goofy little black and white and orange and pink tree it was.  Everyone seems to like it except for one obnoxious little dame who's always causing trouble anyway.  She informed me that I was lazy for refusing to put up the big tree...but strangely enough, when I suggested that she put up the big tree by herself she didn't go for that. 

Silliness aside, those are legit presents under this new tree.  My little friend's L.O.L. Surprise is in the center, and the baggies are for Coworker B's grandchildren.  There's a light-up football for the littlest girl, a Spiderman figure for the boy, and matching Chelsea dolls for the two oldest girls.  I couldn't find any more like my Calypso, so I got them both this one instead, the one with exuberant orange curls that I myself like quite a bit.  It took some getting used to, but I've grown as fond of Chelsea as I was of Kelly back in the day.

In terms of other gifts, one of our patrons gave Coworker B and me this last Wednesday.

It turned out to be something that NEITHER of us needed...a huge box of chocolates.

But mmmmm, were they good!  The library is very blessed to have sweet, thoughtful patrons like that.

Of course not all of our gifts were for us humans.  Wozzeck got some new things too, barely visible underneath his huge coat.

His new wig arrived, and some clothes from Nubanded that are really too big for him arrived as well.  Wozzeck does not seem bothered by his PukiFee-sized clothes, so I guess I shouldn't be either!  If I get a wild hair I can take them in some.  All he needs now are his shoes.  Wozzeck and his Wishel brothers and sisters are unusual little beings, by the way.  They are too small for PukiFee clothes and WAY too big for PukiPuki clothes, but they can wear PukiPuki shoes...or I hope they can because that's what I ordered for Wozzeck!

In non-doll news, something new happened to us this holiday season, and NOT in a good way!  Mama ordered a push sweeper for me in the middle of the month, and the delivery date came and went...but no sweeper.  Mama waited a week and then started to do some sleuthing.  We both assumed that the mail had delivered our box to the wrong address, but unfortunately that proved not to be the case.  Apparently the box was delivered on the correct date to the correct house...and some scoundrel absconded with my box!!!!!!!!  So I didn't get my sweeper, though it made me grateful that Velvet wasn't stolen as well; one of our neighbors reported that she too had some things turn up missing.  Moral of the story?  Be extra-diligent about checking your mail, especially if you're expecting a package.  And to the jack wagon who stole my sweeper, sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.  While that whirlwind is ripening, I hope they have a bumper crop of goatheads in their yard and subsequently step on the seeds in their bare feet.  Seriously, stepping on Legos is not fun, but it's nothing compared to stepping on goathead seeds.

More minor bad news, but this at least segues into very, very GOOD news.  The bad news is that my sister and brother-in-law are moving to Vermont.  Right now they live in Lexington, Kentucky and that's far enough, but Vermont is...WAY FAR!!!  However, the good news is that my sister got accepted into a doctoral program up at Burlington after a long, frustrating search for a college that would accept her.  She's already visited Burlington once on a visit to said college, and she fell in love with the place.  As an added bonus, Brother-in-Law should have no trouble finding work since the demand for decent plumbers in Burlington is apparently pretty high.  So while we will undoubtedly spend another few years lonely for Sister's company, it'll be worth it if she can get the schooling she needs.  And this time she won't be alone; she spent the first half of the year in Edmonton, Alberta for more schooling, and Brother-in-Law had to stay at home due to his own schooling.  This time, thank God, the two will be together, AND they'll have their cat.  Mama and I got this news on the same day that we learned my package was stolen, and the news helped brighten the day quite a bit.  I can leave the theft of the sweeper in God's hands and praise Him for Sister's triumph.

In short, it was a quiet but enjoyable Christmas for Moon Girl and her family.  We talked and ate homemade soup and laughed like a bunch of fools.  In addition to some much-wanted corduroy slacks, a coffee machine, and some other nice wearables, I got this.

He's a kidney stone from Giant Microbes, and he was a gift from Sister and Brother-in-Law.  I'm going to call him "Dave" after Dave Mustaine, a well-read and somewhat handsome musician who suffers from kidney stones on occasion, just like I do.. 

Now...now that Christmas is for all intents and purposes over, I have New Years' Eve to look forward to, and then...well, the next holiday after that that means anything to me won't be until St. Pat's Day in March.  So I've got NOTHING to be excited about, and God only knows when I'll get to see Sister and Brother-in-Law again!  <cries wildly>  Actually the first part of 2019 looks to be rather busy for the blog, as I've got stuff backlogged until late March anyway, so stay tuned.

Merry Christmas and God bless,

RagingMoon1987