Re-root: Rashida

Hello, dolly friends!

Today I'd like to introduce Rashida, one of my latest re-roots.

As you may know, I'm a huge fan of thrift shopping. I love to find well-loved dolls and adopt them, giving them a new home, plenty of brothers and sisters to make mischief with, and of course, a makeover.

Rashida, named after my girl crush Rashida Jones, was a Princess of India Barbie. I found her nude, with matted hair, at Savers. I tried de-tangling, but there were too many broken strands, so I re-rooted her with Black Orchid, one of my favorite colors of saran hair. I also gave her an articulated body, and wow! Quite a transformation.

Rashida is wearing a sweater, pants, and necklace that I made. I love the look on her, but confession? The above photo almost didn't happen. You see, she saw the Batik Quilt set up with all its pillows...

And she decided that she would much rather take a nap! "This is comfy," she said. "So, so comfy. I'm never getting up."

I tried to get her off the bed, but she wouldn't listen. She pretended to be asleep, but her snores weren't all that convincing. And so I enlisted the help of a friend, Ellie the elephant. "Wake up, Rashida!" Said Ellie. "It's snuggle time! Come on... pleeeeeease????"

Nobody, no matter how tired or stubborn she is, can resist the charm of a tiny blue stuffed elephant. So after a few minutes, Rashida groaned and sat up. "OK, Ellie. I'm up. Just stop giving me the sad eyes, will you? It's heartbreaking."

I let her enjoy some Ellie time, and then I pounced. "Since nap time's finished," I said, "I guess you can get that photo taken after all." Ellie, being a good helper, nudged Rashida off the bed, and Rashida mumbled something about us being devious and evil.

Guilty, as charged. But a girl has to be clever when dealing with dolls! I should never have let her see the bed, but it was set up for another photo shoot -- I really wanted to show off that quilt. It and the pillows were made with Idea Store fabric, which was one of my best fabric finds to date -- batik is so expensive in fabric stores! The sequined pillow was made with felt and embroidery floss from the very same place. It was going to get a post of its own, but dolls happen.

And that concludes today's post! Stay tuned for more re-roots, more dolls with attitude, and perhaps... more stuffed animals to help with doll wrangling.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And helpful elephant)

Re-root: Dominique

Hello, dolly friends!

I'm excited to share one of my newer dolls and re-roots, Dominique. She's a Barbie Basics doll, and I found her on eBay. She had a severe-looking haircut when she came to me, and while we were both happier with it after a trim, in the end we decided that she needed a total change. Here she is now:

I love how she turned out! Later on I'm probably going to add some waves to her hair, but for now, I wanted to show off how sleek it is after a hot water treatment -- you can see the highlights better this way, too. She's wearing a shirt and sweater by Mattel, which came with Glam Luxe Midge, and her floral pants were made by yours truly.

I was going to post her by herself, because honestly? A doll this fabulous demands a solo post. But then I saw another photo that Uncle John had taken of my newest Monster High doll, Ghoul Fair Heath Burns, and I realized... it looked like she was staring him down! And then he was like...

"What?!!! What did I do?"

And then she was like....

"You know what you did. Don't act cute with me."

This was completely unintentional on Uncle John's part, and I love it. Of course, after the photo shoot, both dolls sat on the couch, all snuggled up like nothing had happened. Almost a week later, they're still together, and it's clear to me that this showdown was all for... show.

Even though he didn't get his name in the title of this post, I'm excited about Heath, too. I love that I won't have to re-root him if I don't want to! Plastic hair... equals no glue. The top of his head looks a bit like a Dairy Queen ice cream cone, but I think that's part of his charm.

Stay tuned for more new dolls, re-roots, and dolly antics! I have another re-root coming up, and while she wasn't one hundred percent cooperative during the photo shoot, I think she's lovely.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dueling dolls)

New dolls! Barbie Fashionistas.

Dolly friends, I have two new dolls to share with you today!

Overall, I've been very impressed with the new Barbie Fashionistas line. It's true that I wish they were articulated, and that the presence of icky sticky glue in their heads irritates me to no end, but I love the variety of face molds and skin tones Mattel has used for these dolls, and I like their modern look. Here are two of my favorites.

The first is Naomi. I was so, so excited to find her at my local Meijer! She's wearing a dress and necklace that I made, and that she borrowed especially for the photo shoot. She likes it so much, I don't think she'll be giving it back to Sasha anytime soon.

Naomi will be getting a re-root to take care of the glue in her head. I'm going to ditch the bangs so we can see more of her pretty face, and she has informed me that she wants funky colored hair. Maybe dark pink, to match the dress. I might have just what she's looking for, and I'm thinking... super long with a high ponytail.

The second doll is Tyler. I found her at Toys R Us, and I couldn't resist the red hair and freckles. She'll also need a re-root to get rid of the glue, but luckily, I have the exact same color in my collection. I'm going to keep it long, make it a little thicker, and maybe give her some curls at the bottom.

Tyler is wearing a dress I made. At this point, it's probably a little redundant to mention that it's Idea Store fabric, but I will mention that the skirt has been embellished with tiny blue flower sequins. I bought my sequins at Cartwright's Sequins, which is a fabulous place.

Tyler borrowed the dress from Delia, one of the dolls living in the Blue and White Room (you can see the quilt here). I offered to let Delia wear another dress while she waited to have hers back, but she went for a brown felt coat, instead. Which... made her look like a flasher, but she's a clever girl. "If I don't get my dress back after the photo shoot," she warned me, "I might start acting like a flasher. There's just one little button on this coat, after all. One itty bitty, teeny tiny button, and it could come undone so easily!"

Tyler and I agreed that she would get the dress back right away. We don't need anybody riling the Ken dolls up. Meanwhile, Sasha wished that she also had a flasher coat.

Here's a photo of Naomi and Tyler together...

"Nice dress," said Naomi. "You should get blue hair to match it."

"I don't know," said Tyler. "Delia seems pretty determined to get it back. Uh oh... did I just hear a button popping???"

In the background, Delia made creepy flasher comments, a la Monty Python. Sasha just laughed and laughed until she snorted. This made Naomi and Ty fall over snickering, and soon, we had to cut the photo shoot short because there was a big pile of hysterical dolls on the floor. Oh, these girls. Never a dull moment.

Stay tuned for more new dolls (no, Delia. New. New dolls, not nude dolls). Three of them are from one of my favorite lines, Barbie Basics. One of them has already had a re-root. And all of them are certifiably insane! Which puts them in good company, actually.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins
(And dolls)

Pink and purple quilt!

Dolly friends, I had so much fun showing off my blue and white doll quilt, I thought I'd share another one. Introducing... the pink and purple quilt!

This is the second quilt I made during my quilt-making frenzy last year. It and the pillows are made of Idea Store fabrics, and most of the pieces are leftover scraps from doll dresses. The felt pillow is also made of Idea Store materials and stuffed with scraps of fabric that were too small to sew -- waste not, want not, right?

The bed skirt is just a piece of lace I pinned in the back, and the bed itself is a plastic storage container that used to hold beads; at the moment, it holds all the matchless shoes I keep finding in thrift stores. The bed goes in the pink and purple room with a nice faux-wicker chair and tiny vase of flowers -- both incredible Idea Store finds. Besides dolls, it's also a resting place for one of their stuffed animals, a tiny blue elephant. Ellie was originally on a key chain I found at Joann's. I wanted to show her off, since she's very cute, but she was feeling camera shy.

At the moment, I have seven quilts left to show you. A tame number, compared to all the ziplock bags full of interesting fabric combinations, lurking in my closet! I hope to show them soon, but until then, I have photos of some new dolls to share. I'll post them in the next few days.

Much love,

Sarah J. Sequins

(And quilts)

World Doll Day tag!

Dolly friends, did you know that earlier this month it was World Doll Day? Yes, there is a holiday devoted to celebrating, and to giving, dolls! This year, there is also a World Doll Day tag, and I was chosen by my friend the Fashion Doll Stylist to participate. Today I'm going to name my three favorite doll purchases from last year, as well as three Holy Grail dolls that I haven't yet added to my collection.

Since my dolls are in charge of... pretty much everything around here, they decided that for this post, there had to be Rules, so as to minimize hurt feelings. I could not feature a doll who had already appeared on this blog, and I could not feature a re-root. The dolls featured must have their original hair. However, since the girls are nothing if not reasonable, they said I could re-dress my three dolls any way I want.

So I did just that, and then I had an idea. I would not only feature three dolls, but I would skip the boring white background and do something a little more fun. Each doll got to pose in this setup:

The end table is from the Idea Store. The little rotary phone is from Sally's Army. The tiny bear is from Goodwill. The quilt and the pillows were made by me, with Idea Store fabric, felt, and beads. The bed itself is just a square cookie tin -- that way it has a storage function. The rug and wall paper are from the Idea Store, too. 

Here's my first doll, Gianna (Gia). She was originally a Spanish Barbie, and I bought her off of eBay after literally dreaming about her every night since I was a child in the 1990's. I took her earrings out and re-styled her hair, and she's wearing one of my favorite dresses. She's snuggling with Cedric the bear.

The next doll is one I'd been wanting since around 2000, when I saw her in a collector's book. She's a Japanese New Year Barbie, and I've named her Mirabelle after my favorite bakery. Because I'm eccentric, and I often name my dolls after favorite things.

The final doll is Tessa, who was originally Secret Spells Kayla. I wanted one when they first came out, but the line was pulled after some silliness. So I had to wait. It was worth it, though! Tessa is wearing a dress made out of hand-painted fabric, and you probably can't tell in the photo, but it's sparkly. This is Tessa's dress -- other dolls can borrow it, but it has to come right back to her or she gets fussy. Most of the girls love swapping outfits, but a few of them get territorial. I can't deny that she looks pretty.

As for my Holy Grail dolls, My Melody used to be at the top of the list, but now I have her. So now I'm after Uhura Barbie -- not because I'm a Star Trek fan, but because she's just so darn gorgeous, and I'm a fan of Nichelle Nichols. I'm in love with Tokidoki Barbie because of her fierce pink hair and tattoos, but she's way out of my price range, which is why I customized a doll to look like her. And then I want this red-haired Barbie Basics doll (or this beauty). But of course, I love almost every doll in that line.

Before I go, I have to say that the dolls did not know about World Doll Day until it was over, and they wondered... where was their celebration? Where were their dolls??? Allison has had her eye on Divergent Ken for a year now, and she says it's about time that I buy him for her. To make up for my oversight, they want me to start planning for next year... now. They've decided that there will be a doll ball with new clothing galore, and I have a sinking feeling that means more jewelry, too. And bags. And shoes. I heard something about a marble dance floor, but I'm pretending I didn't hear that bit.

Maybe I can just buy the hot guy and call it even? I'll have to see what The Bosses have to say about this.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Victory!

Dolly friends, this is a quick post to celebrate the ruling of the Supreme Court on gay marriage. The dolls and I are very, very happy about the decision, and we could think of no better way to celebrate than with... The Rainbow Dress.

Here is Isabel, modeling a dress I made from Idea Store fabric about a year ago. When you do most of your fabric shopping secondhand, you never know what you're going to find! Strawberries. Clouds. Pigs. Dinosaurs. When I saw this fabric on the sales floor, I snatched it up right away. I added a black bodice and some black ribbon at the bottom, and I made a dress that the girls love.

Isabel is from the Idea Store, as well. I couldn't believe it when I saw her in the doll bin! She's from the Barbie Basics line. When I found her, her hair was a giant knot, and she had so much blue ink on her face, I wasn't sure I could remove it all without damaging her makeup. But with a little benzyl peroxide and a lot of time, I fixed her right up. While she'll probably get a re-root at some point, since there are hair plugs missing in the back, for now she has a cute, short, tangle-free haircut.

Here at Casa de Sarah, dolls can marry whomever they want. If Isabel wanted to marry her girlfriend, Veronika, she would get the wedding of her dreams, no problem! They really are a cute couple. Of course, my dolls are more interested in ball gowns than wedding gowns -- they take after their mom that way. Still, Isabel says she's happy to see the human world catching up to the dolly world, and I agree with her.

(Now, if only America would catch up to us medically. One of my dolls underwent leg replacement surgery last year, and it took five minutes. And it was free!)


Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

More Rory!

Dolly friends, I have so much news to share with you!

There are two new members of the doll family, and one of them is a doll I never thought I'd own -- a My Melody Barbie doll I've named Bunny. There is another member of the bird flock as well, and his name is... Chicken (another ostrich). I couldn't pass him up when I found him at Goodwill because of this sarcastic little smirk on his face. Booby the tiny plastic ostrich has a new house, thanks to a sale at the Idea Store, and the most exciting news of all is that... I bought a 1/6 scale doll house!!!

I don't have photos of it right now, or of anything else I mentioned above, because I've been dog-sitting almost non-stop since May and have had no time. But I can tell you that it's from Goodwill, getting it from the store to my house was an adventure by itself, and it's going to be re-floored, re-papered, and even tiled in some parts. Big project.

What I do have, though, is another photo of Rory. It took Uncle John and I awhile to get around to this photo, and as a result, the poor thing was in the same pose for weeks. She's convinced she'll need a chiropractor (or maybe a new handbag to match her dress? She's being a touch indecisive).

In this photo you can actually see her little pink bracelet and the tiny flower hair clip.You can also see more of her cute and easy hairstyle.We're not big on fussy hairstyles at Casa de Sarah.

Rory is excited to be on the blog again, and even more excited that she has another sister. One of the new dolls I bought was Bernadette, or Bernie for short. Another Barbie Style Midge doll who is getting a brown re-root. It's not often that my dolls get to be triplets, so it's a big deal for everyone when it happens.

I'm hoping to share more photos once I'm home and rested up from my latest dog-sitting job. Until then, Rory, Bunny, and Bernie say hello, and Chicken the ostrich... says nothing at all. He's just smirking.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And Sarcastic Chicken)