Real Littles backpacks: will they work for American Girls?

August 18th was a bittersweet day during my childhood; it was my parents' anniversary, but it was also the day that Mama and us kids went back to school.  There's a long story behind the reason why my parents married during back-to-school season, but let's just say that back-to-school season was never a fun time for us.  Anyway, when I was going to school August 18th was D-Day (this year will be different, of course), and to commemorate this sad event I've been buying backpacks for my American Girls...or I've been trying to.  The ones on Etsy are cheap and well-made, but I've still only managed to get a single backpack for Kyle (a John Deere backpack, no less).  Enter Moose Toys, with these.

Real Littles are a spin-off of Shopkins.  They consist of these tiny packages of real branded items... 

...and inside the little packages are Shopkins (Ella Eggo and Kristie Krispie in this case). 

I'm a casual fan of Shopkins, and I'm especially fond of these Real Littles as they make fabulous props for ball-jointed dolls and for my Tonner girls.  Most of the items are too big for Barbie and too small for American Girl dolls, but then I saw these Real Littles backpacks at the Mart of Walls.  Not only do these appear to be functioning backpacks, but they also have blind bag items inside, school-themed stuff like stickers and notebooks and tape.  TAPE???  Can't wait to open these up and see how Moose managed that one!  But first, the size.  Unfortunately they're a little small to be in perfect scale for the American Girls, if Kyle's backpack is indeed in scale.

But they're not TOO small to be used, as Z shows.

The straps don't fit across the doll's back like Kyle's straps do, so if I do use these as backpacks for my girls I'll have to just sling both straps over one arm.

No, the fit's not perfect, but I think this will work just fine.  American Girls, Hot Looks, and Wellie Wishers can all probably use these as props.  Come to think of it, I think these backpacks fit my Hot Looks dolls even better than they do the American Girls.

 

 Good thing these backpacks come in multiple different styles!  I've counted seven so far.  Alrighty, let's open these up and see what all I've got in there, as one can't go back to school without school supplies.  The blue and purple backpack has these items inside.

 

There's the tape, right off the bat, complete with the Shopkins aesthetic.

I think it is honest-to-God tape, done up in this sparkly green pattern that regular old school tape never seems to come in...

...but I don't want to waste it so I won't unfurl it.  There's also a sheet of stickers in there...

...and colored pencils!  Ooo, those look like they might actually write...except that the tip on the red one is broken.

Par for the course!  Sharpened pencils never stay sharp when they're stored in a loaded backpack.  The other items consist of a blank composition book (the pages are unlined)...

...this little notepad, which has pages that can pull off if I so choose...

...and a folder.  

I saved the folder for last because it has real little pockets inside.

Perfect for Z to store notes for tests...and to hide that math test she flunked, like I did more than once!  Actually...take that back, these colors are more suited for Silver Bird, with her blue and purple ensemble.

There's a silver glitter backpack at the store that will match Z's shoes nicely, but she says matching's not a big deal for her.  So let's see what her backpack contains. 

Cool, some of this stuff looks like the items I had in elementary school!  I think my favorite item is this.

Rather poor idea for a school lunch, LOL.  Seriously, the mother of a kid at my school packed a Popsicle for her son's lunch one time, and needless to say it melted and made a huge mess.  But luckily for Z this isn't a Popsicle.  It's a highlighter, and it really works!

Also in the ice pop theme is this set of stackable erasers.

No joke, these come apart and then pop back together again.

Z's classmates are gonna think she's an ice cream enthusiast!  There's also a ruler and a pencil with real lead and a real eraser...

...and something I never needed in school, a set of envelopes.

The envelopes have rainbows on them, and when you open each of them up there's a leaf of paper inside with another rainbow.

That's pretty nifty!  Little bonuses like that aren't too common among toys anymore.  Oh yes, there's also more heart-shaped note paper.

It should be noted that the bottom compartments open up, but there are no surprises in there.  Minor disappointment, but the compartment can still hold smaller items like the tape or the heart note pads.

With that, I do b'lieve that takes care of Z and Silver Bird!  I promise that Z's backpack sparkles more in real life; I have a new phone with a reliable camera now, but I'm still learning how to use it.  Just the same, I think Silver Bird and Z are pretty tickled with their new bags.

I do wish I had Z's camera in tow, since she used it for a school project in her book.  I wish I had a trumpet for Lindsey too, since her book states that she plays the trumpet.  I s'pose finding one wouldn't be too hard, but for now I can just make do with these cute backpacks and with whatever else I can scrounge up from the Mart of Walls.  Since these backpacks already have their own supplies inside I won't have to do much scrounging.  Not that it matters much anyway, since I had to bring my dolls home and have to keep them there now, and no one will see them but me.  I'll have the kids on hand for more home montages now, so that's what matters. 

Stay well,

RagingMoon1987 

Salome, the golden girl

Last month when I was searching eBay and Etsy for clothes for Rael, I stumbled across this little looker.  I've chosen to name her "Salome," even though I've always pictured the biblical Salome as a brunette rather than a blonde.   

She's a bit shaggy at the moment, but I'll fix that.  How about some hair clips, chica?

That's better!  I'm very relieved to have Salome in my arms, because over the spring and summer two other dolls that I had coming disappeared into the ether.  One was to be a swashbuckling companion for Kyle, and the other was Kendall, one of the Wellie Wishers.  So ordering and waiting for this doll was both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially when the arrival date kept getting bumped back, but now she's here and I am very glad.  In truth I did feel a teensy bit silly buying Salome since she's so much like Rael.  They both have the Ariel face, and they're both straight Ariels according to Facebook's My Twinn group.  I was hoping Salome might be a Peanut Head variant, but if one looks closely at the width of her forehead it's easy to see that she's not (a Peanut Head has a slightly narrower forehead than a typical Ariel).

However, Salome's eyes are the prettiest shade of amber I've ever seen.  Indeed, I can't remember seeing another My Twinn with eyes like this.  I hope that doesn't mean they've faded with time!

Coincidentally, I've seen one other doll with breathtaking amber eyes this week, that one being one of Xanadu's new Ellowyne Wilde dolls, Right on White.  Her eyes seem to glow from within, just like real Baltic amber does.  Anywho, Salome's amber eyes are the main reason why I dragged home another Ariel instead of the Denika or Tasha that I've been wanting.  Well, that plus it seems that Tasha and Denika are tricky heads to find.  eBay has plenty of Ariel heads...either that or I'm just good at picking them out (Miss Emily seems to have the same problem, LOL).  Either way I've found more Ariels than either Tashas or Denikas, and that's a little disheartening, but it'll just be all the more rewarding when I do find one.  In addition to her lovely eyes Salome is wearing an outfit that I didn't have before, a cute little overalls set.

The ribbon on the right strap is my addition; it came attached to one of my new hair bows.  It says "THANK YOU!" on it, and since the colors are so bright and cheerful I just tied it on Salome's overalls.

Salome is poseable like Rael is, and she has the year "1999" on her tag, just like Rael does.

Salome and Rael are similar enough that I could (and probably will) identify them as fraternal twins.  Rael can be the girly girl, Salome can be the tomboy, and Xenia can be the goofy cousin who enjoys everything.  Regarding nitty-gritties, Salome is in relatively good condition with no snags on her body or gouges in her vinyl.  Her paint is intact and her eyes are clear, though her face is a little grubby and she has sparkly crud between her lips.  I see that a lot on secondhand My Twinn dolls, for some reason.  Some budding cosmetologist, practicing on her dolls, maybe?  I wiped the worst of the sparkly stuff away.

She has faint little freckles across her nose.  I don't know how well they'll photograph, but they're there.

Her wig is problematic, as it's mildly tangled and quite dry.

I've brushed it, but it's an old wig so it still looks tangled and dull.  The ends curl up and look becoming, but right in the middle of her forehead is this.  A small thin spot.

The thin spot isn't terribly visible, so I think a deep cleaning may be all this wig needs (it's starting to come loose anyway).  When Miss Emily flips her My Twinn dolls a thinning wig is usually grounds for a re-wigging (the wig was the least of Road-Kill Monika's concerns, LOL).  Emily also astutely notes that a thinning wig is a sign of a well-loved doll, one that had her hair combed and styled a lot during her life.  Salome's shaggy hair and sparkly lips attest to this, as does the sole of her left foot, which has writing on it.

Hmmm...looks a little like a price.  Did someone pick Salome up at a yard sale before I got her?

I've heard of mamas writing a kid's initials on the sole of a doll's foot, in the event that the doll gets lost or stolen during an outing.  However, I don't think that's the case here.  That definitely looks like a price rather than initials, and it didn't come off when I washed it.  Oh well, the mark doesn't show too terribly, and since it's on Salome's foot I can always hide it with shoes.  If I do want it completely gone I can use Remove Zit like Miss Emily does.

In other news, I decided to get Rael some new eyes just in case her current ones do decide to turn.  They are Secrist Real Eyes in golden hazel.

They're a little too green to be a perfect match for Rael's current eyes, but they do have that unusual pink rim around the pupil that Rael's current eyes have, and I like that.  They also look more brown from a distance like Rael's current eyes do, and I like that too.  Let's face it, Rael is an older doll, and when you're an older My Twinn an eye swap could possibly be just a matter of time anyway.  It's not a given like it is with dolls Xenia's size, but it's a possibility.  Oh, and guess what?  One of Miss Emily's dolls wore these eyes at one time too.  Her name was Henna, and Miss Emily decided that she didn't care for the eyes as much!  LOL, hopefully I won't get tired of them too!  Speaking of Miss Emily, her first member of the Ariel squad is up for viewing.  Her name is Cassiel, and she looks ah-mazing!

Since my last post of Rael included a group shot of her and Xenia together, here they are with Salome included.

Welcome home, Salome!

Much love,

RagingMoon1987

Rael redux

I received some nice feedback about Rael last week, with the consensus being that her eyes are fine and that I should take a "wait and see" approach.  Once again the feedback has been greatly appreciated, and while I do have some eyes on the way (just in case), I'm going to follow y'all's lead and just see what happens.  The following picture was taken with better lighting, and her eyes look as good as they did when I first got Rael.

Dang, I wish these Twinns could bend their arms more convincingly!  Rael would look adorable in some sort of ballet pose, with those slippers and tulle.  Anyway, Rael saw Miss Emily's Unicorn Twinns and wanted an outfit like that for herself.  Fairy Tale Blessings happened to have a couple, so I grabbed the first one I saw.  It's a little inappropriate for this time of year due to those long sleeves, but Rael isn't bothered by that like I would be if it were my blouse.

Word of note:  these unicorn outfits don't come with footwear.  Miss Emily got her dolls' tights from another Etsy shop called Doll Secrets, and I don't know where her dolls' cute boots came from so I dove into eBay for that.  Even though these shoes were tagged "My Twinn" they're a little big across the ankle.  The fit in the foot is perfect, though.

I like these tights because they're thick and soft (though not too thick), and because they come in plenty of different colors.  I also love the skirt because it's soft and has lovely drape.  It even has an underskirt so that no one can see Rael's rear through the tulle.

Hopefully if Miss Emily sees this post she won't take umbrage at me stealing her idea.  Her unicorn girls sold very quickly, and for me it was just easier to redress Rael and be done with it.  If I'd been thinking I would've grabbed the other outfit instead, since it has a bright skirt like the one Rani is/was/probably still is wearing, but Rael looks good in purple so I won't complain.

With the saga of Rael's eyes complete I turn my attention to Xenia, who genuinely does have bad eyes.  Indeed, they've only gotten worse since I last shared her here.  But she did finally get some eyelashes.

Yeah, that's a definite improvement.

Before the summer is over I need to get Xenia a unicorn outfit too.  I like it when she and Rael coordinate, and at the moment, they don't.

They still make a cute pair, though!

Cheers and much love,

RagingMoon1987