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)

Check out my rack!

By which I mean, the rack for my beaded doll purses. I hope you're not too disappointed.

Dolly friends, we got the photo of the purse rack taken sooner than I thought.

I helped prepare for the Idea Store jewelry sale again this year, and while I was setting up the earring table, something shiny caught my eye, the way it inevitably does. But this time, instead of beads (don't worry, I bought plenty of those, too) I saw this wire jewelry rack.

I took one look at it, with all those tiny little hooks, and I knew that I had to have it. So the next day, when it was almost time for the sale to start, I asked my friend Carol, who is in charge of beads and jewelry, if I could have dibs on it. And because she is wonderful, she told me I could. So it quickly went into my pile... along with some cute stuffed bunnies I'd found.

I'm not sure where I'll put my rack, but I do know that I plan to put plenty more on it. Beaded bracelets. More bags. Necklaces. The dolls are excited, and Melina and Mara, who have elected themselves as the Accessory Planning Committee, are full of suggestions. And by suggestions, I mean strongly-worded commands, because they obviously run the show around here.

Did you notice the blue and purple striped bag? It's new. I'm proud of that one. As I type, I have another bag in the works. As usual, I'm going to do something different for it, but what that will translate to... remains a mystery. Maybe I'll use some of the chain I bought at the jewelry sale? I will have to ask The Bosses if they approve.

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And rack)

(And The Bosses, who have approved this post.)

More beaded doll purses!

Dolly friends, I have three new beaded doll bags to show you!

You might have caught a glimpse of one in my previous post, worn by the adorable Mindy:

 
Here it is again, along with two others: 

I like to try something a little different with every bag. One has two handles, one has a thicker shoulder strap, and one has... a flap!

 I'm very excited about the rainbow messenger bag, both because it's a messenger bag and because it was easy to make. After I made the bag using a circular peyote bead weaving stitch, I continued with a flat stitch on one side of the top edge. I just kept beading until The flap was long enough to close.

I was going to save this post until I had that last photo of all the bags together on the metal handbag rack (jewelry display) I bought at the Idea Store's jewelry sale, but Uncle John and I have been busy lately, so it could be awhile. But rest assured, as soon as that photo is taken, I'll post it here with a silly title like Check Out My Rack. And it may or may not have one more beaded purse on it.

Much love,

Sarah J. Sequins

(and dolls)

Reroot: Rory

Hello, dolly friends!

Can you believe it's been almost a month since my last post? I thought I was having some problems with eye strain, but then I realized my problems reading the text on the screen started the moment I dropped the poor laptop on the floor. One of these days, I'll get another one -- but until I do, My posts will be image rather than text-heavy.

Starting with Rory...

Rory was originally Laila, but with her brown hair and blue eyes, she reminded me so much of one of my favorite Gilmore Girls characters. She approved of the name change.

I rooted her hair with two different colors of brown from Dollyhair.com.

I decided to skip the bangs and to change her hair part from the middle to the side.

She's wearing one of my very favorite dresses, made with some of my favorite rose fabric. Lydia's sister Alison lent it to her for the photo shoot. The only jewelry she has on is a simple pink beaded bracelet.

Rory was originally a Glam Luxe Midge -- in my opinion, one of the most fantastic dolls Mattel has ever made. She isn't the first one in my collection. Here is Mindy, who has popped in to show us what Rory looked like before the hair change.

If you look closely, you'll see that Mindy still has her eyelashes. Rory's came out during the re-rooting process. Oops!

Mindy's hair is a honey blonde color. We'll probably keep it that way. She's wearing another one of my favorite dresses. Here's a closeup of the beading around the edge.

You might have noticed that she's holding another one of my beaded doll purses! She was so excited about it, I didn't tell her it was supposed to go in the next post.

That next post is coming soon. Just as soon as Uncle John takes a photo of all the beaded purses... hanging from the display rack I bought at the Idea Store jewelry sale. It was a fantastic find, and I can't wait to show you!

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And dolls)

Re-root: Ruby (and friends)

Dolly friends, did you know that last month I only bought two dolls?

That's right. Just two dolls. You see, as much as I love dolls, I have another passion... dogs. I make my money pet sitting and dog walking, which is the best job I've ever had. I always try to go above and beyond for my furry clients, but lately I've been feeling an undeniable need to help dogs who don't have homes yet. So I challenged myself to give the average amount of money I spend on dolls each month to an amazing animal charity. And I was not allowed to buy any dolls off of eBay, which is where I adopt most of my plastic friends.

Instead of buying new dolls, I (mostly) focused on the ones I already have. I finished a re-root on poor Laila, who was waiting forever for the bottom half of her hair, and now that I know how to thatch a part, I fixed Kenzie's part and gave her a few more hair plugs. But the doll I'm most proud of is Ruby, who got extra hair plugs, a thatched part, and a trim.

When I got back into collecting Barbies again, I discovered the Tarina Tarantino doll. I wanted one so, so much, but I didn't have a few hundred dollars to spend. What I did have, though, was a Barbie Basics doll I'd bought for super cheap on eBay and plenty of shades of pink to choose from at Dolly Hair.

The result was Ruby Reddington, one of the few dolls in my collection with a last name. After almost a year without a thatched part, she's finally finished!

Ruby's hair is a bit redder than Tarina's, and she doesn't have bangs. This makes her happy because she gets to be her own person doll. But since I happened to have a tiara sitting around, I let her have it. I also made her some glitzy jewelry. It looks more complicated than it is! It's just two long beaded ropes looped around her neck a few times and stacked on top of each other. I used size 15 seed beads and 2 millimeter faceted beads from City Beads, my favorite bead store in Chicago.

I also made the dress. It was an experiment -- I'm still trying to make the perfect fitted dress out of stretchy material. I cut slits in the sides because it didn't fit her below the waist, but in the end, I think this style is perfect for her. Next time I'd like to make one with darts in the front.

Ruby thought she would get the photo session, and this post, all to herself. Boy, was she surprised when not one, but two of her friends showed up! The first one is Lydia Holland, another doll with a first and last name, and the same version of the Barbie Basics doll. One of my favorites in the line.

Lydia claimed she wanted readers to get a chance to see how Ruby looked before her makeover, but she's a tricky one. When she insisted on a change of clothes and a new hairstyle, and then a chain necklace I'd made using the new O-Beads, I knew it was less about the reader than it was about... Lydia. But she's cute, so she got away with it.

Then someone else showed up. None other than Domingo Flamingo, one of my rescue birds. He said he wanted to kick-start his career as an international model and hearth-throb, and normally I would believe him because wow, that bird has an ego, but he also has a little crush. Because Ruby is so pink, he thinks she's another flamingo! Ruby doesn't quite know how to set him straight.

"One of these days," says Mingo, "I'm going to be Mr. Ruby Reddington."

"Oh, dear..." says Ruby.

Working on Ruby and her friends made the month fly by (like a lovesick flamingo). Once I've earned a little more money from dog-sitting, I'll do another monthly challenge. Until then, I'll continue to play with dolls both old and new, and I'll keep you posted on the antics of the dolls, Mingo, and the other crazy toys. Mingo may be misguided, but Peanut the ostrich is having a complete identity crisis!

Much love,

Sarah J Sequins

(And toys Lydia the evil genius)