The Lounge

After several weeks of being spoiled by warm, southern weekends, this weekend was a total drag.  It was cold, and VERY rainy all weekend.  The Famosa Girls spent a lot of time in their new lounge, just chatting and doing girl things!

The girls, enjoying their new lounge area.

Lately, the topic has been when their new sister to arrive.  Then, much to their surprise, Francie received a phone call from her!

"Hello?"

Their new sister (who is yet to be named) called to say that she would be leaving Spain on April 15th to come to her new home in South Carolina!  She also told the girls that she would be bringing a friend with her to the States.  Now the girls REALLY had something to talk about.  They were so excited, they giggled and played games all afternoon.  As it started to get dark, the girls decided they wanted to try on all their new outfits that their mom had bought them earlier that day. 

Spring dress on the left, formal dress in the middle, and swimsuit at the end.

The lounge has a pink beanbag chair on the far left, a striped chair, a table with lamp, phone, and clock, a purple beanbag chair, and an orange beanbag chair.  All the furniture was bought at Walmart. 

All of the outfits the girls are featured in are BFC Ink outfits.  And I have good news!  There were extra outfits, so I grabbed them.  If anyone is interested, I would like to trade or sell the outfits.  I would like to trade for other Nancy outfits or things, or, if I am selling, they would be $20 to the US which includes shipping, or $30 Internationally, which includes shipping. Take a look at the flip book and you will see all the featured outfits that I have available!



Click to Enlarge



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Mi Primer Post solo en Espanol

Estoy aprendiendo Espanol, entonces, trato a escribir un "post" solo en Espanol.  Por favor, perdon mis errores :)

Este fin de semana, buscando para munecas en el mercado pulgo, pero no encontrar.  Hecho un vestido para mi "tesoro" Nancy, de un patron aqui.

No fui satisfecho con el vestido, porque use el hilo blanco y es muy visible.  Entonces, hoy en Walmart, yo vi un conjunto de BFC Ink que es un ajuste perfecto para Nancy.

Todos son las tallas correctos salvo los zapatos. 

El conjunto fue solo $7, entonces, yo compre. 

Que es el tiempo?

En la mesa de cervesa (en la casa de mi hermano, jajaja!).

Espero que disfruta mi post en espanol, and mas importante, entiendes LOL!!

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Since I live in the town of Clover, and am of Irish descent, Saint Patrick's Day is always a fun holiday.  For this special occasion, I made Francie a new outfit.  We went outside this afternoon to see if there were any snakes that needed chasing away, but there weren't.  So we just enjoyed nature.

Here is Francie, with her new outfit, picking clovers.

The flowers are starting to bloom :)

Spring is almost here!

Close-up of outfit

I'm really excited, because not only is this the first blazer I've made, but these are the first elasticized pants I've been able to make.  I used Velvet patterns to make them.  What should I make next?

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Whoa!!! Totally Radical New Threads for Nancy!

I have been chomping, and I mean slobbery, salivating, CHOMPING at the bit to get some authentic vintage Nancy clothes.  Well, beggars can't be choosers we say. 

Totally rad.

I found this glorious blast from the past (from the decade of my birth) for the right price plus shipping from Spain, so I bit and bought it.  I was especially excited to have the shoes.  Francie stands so easily now!  Before, I had to poke and prod her to get her to hold a pose.  Now, she's just standing over me watching me type :)

Tag close-up.

Her lips are faded to a pale yellow-ish color, so it's kind of funny how the yellow in the dress matches her lips.  I'm happy with it.  It seems like I'm falling in love with Francie.  She's quickly becoming a favorite.

Also, I thought I should mention here I have an American Girl for trade.

Please note this is a horrible picture, and I can send better ones if interested.

She is in excellent shape, EXCEPT her hair has been cut.  She has layered, pale blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and pierced ears.  Her body and limbs are in perfect shape.  I'm very willing to ship her Internationally, as long as you have something cool to trade ;)



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My Exciting Weekend

Lots of exciting things happened this weekend.  Friday night, Afner and I had delicious BBQ turkey at Jim N' Nick's in Charlotte, with our friends Henny and Chad.  The stuff that concerns this blog, however, occured starting Saturday morning.  I had arranged a Craigslist rendezvous with a lady in Gaffney, SC to purchase an American Girl table for Samantha.  I have been looking for this table for quite some time, because I have all of Sam's party treats and dishes, and I've been wanting the wicker table to display them on.  Lucky me, she only wanted $20 for the table :)  We got up early, about 7:30, and headed to our local thrift store, Sweet Repeat, first.

An inside look at Sweet Repeat

Sweet Repeat is a pretty good thrift store, as it's nice and junky inside.  It's the kind of place if you dig around, you'll find something good.  I've found 50 cent Bitty Babies there, on two separate occasions.  Well, this trip didn't yield any treasures that great, but I did get a roll of wallpaper for $1 to wallpaper Sam's room.  After Sweet Repeat, it was time to get on the road to Gaffney. 

On the road

Well, I live in SC, but was in NC to hit the Interstate

The Giant Peach in Gaffney

We finally got to Gaffney, and the lady was there waiting, on time.  That may be the smoothest Craigslist transaction I have ever had.  After getting the table (which I will blog about later, once I get it set), Afner and I decided to go a little farther south and hit up some flea markets.  The first one we went to was in a giant building, it was terrifyingly scary, and it was definitely a junk pile.  I scored a My Friend Mandy doll in there for $2.

Afner, proudly displaying my trophy.  Also, the flea market had an interesting history of North and South Carolina printed on the wall.

According to the amazing iPhone GPS, there was another flea market just 10 miles south, called the Spartaburg Flea Market. So it was off to Sparkle City.  When we got there, it was the junkiest, rednecky-ist, best flea market I have EVER been to!!!  There were boxes upon boxes filled with dolls, in half the booths.  I couldn't believe it.  Afner and I must have gone through over 100 dolls.  I finally picked only 3, a My Friend Becky doll, to go with Mandy, a small Remco doll wearing a Nancy Ann Storybook tagged dress, and a Lady Lovely Locks doll.  One lady had a Velvet doll, but I wasn't willing to shell out $5.  I kind of have buyers remorse now, but I'm sure the doll will be there in the future.  This lady had a stall full of junk that you couldn't even get to.  We will definitely be going back there.  I should also mention that Afner got a camera for 50 cents that he was extremely excited about.

After all that excitement, we went to 3 more thrift stores, but nothing to brag about there.  Then we went to a place called Paco's Tacos and Tequila in the South Park area, and it was fantastic.  They had AMAZING salsa.  Afner took some photos with his vintage RF camera, but we don't know yet if those are going to come out. 

I ended the weekend by making a dress for Francie.  I am a horrible seamstress, and I keep trying to practice, but sometimes it seems I'm getting worse.  I had some extra fabric leftover from a Cheongsam dress I bought for myself back in time.  Inspired by fellow blogger Julieta and her kind words of support to the people of Japan, I made a Japanese-esque ensemble for Francie.

Francie

The dress ended up really short.  I used a Velvet pattern, so next time, I will add a little length to the dress.  The little cat necklace was a charm sent from Japan when I ordered the Cheongsam, and it made a perfect sized necklace for Francie.

I hope everyone had a great weekend, tomorrow it's back to teaching math.



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Kirsten's Room

Kirsten is one of my top four favorite dolls of all.  I received her as a "graduation" gift when I finished fourth grade.  I waited everyday for the UPS man to come and bring me Kirsten.  Since the day she was delivered to my 9 year old arms, I have loved her.  Wow, I just realized I've had her almost 20 years.  I've been working on her room a lot lately, and I'm finally ready to share my progress.

A view of the entire room

My doll houses are made from Ikea Pax wardrobes.  They have just the right depth and size for my girls and their belongings.  The walls of the wardrobe were white, so I covered them with woodgrain Contact paper.  That was actually much easier than the wallpapering I did on Addy's and Felicity's rooms (more to come on them later).  Sam, Molly, and Josefina still need wallcoverings, so I have been looking around for nice designed Contact paper.  

Left side close-up

Most of the stuff here is Pleasant Company original, but I have added a few things.  The blue shelf on the wall is a Goodwill find ($1), and can you believe it was already painted Kirsten blue?  Lucky me :)  To hang it up, I used adhesive velcro.  Yep, it works.  I just velcroed the shelf onto the wall, and it has been hanging for several months with no sign of drooping.  I've got her carpet bag and her sewing hoop hanging from the peg on the shelf.  The other thrift find is the wooden shelf complete with heart cut-out (also $1).  It's amazing how I see things and think of which girl's room they would look good in.  I bought some blue paint to paint the shelf, but I actually think I like the wood color and am going to leave it that way.  Some of her various knick knacks are on the shelf.

Right side close-up

It's a little cramped in her room with her table and chairs and full party spread, but I still think it looks cute.  The little plate in the middle is a mini my novio found in Costa Rica for me.  It's the perfect size for strawberries!

Thanks for stopping by!

We hope you enjoyed your visit and come back really soon :)





     

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Uneeda Dollikins

Recently at a thrift store, I bought an Uneeda Dollikins doll for $20.  Dollikins is a 20" doll that was released in the late 50's to early 60's around the same time as the Ideal Revlon doll.  What is unique about Dollikins is that she has 16 joints and is super poseable! 

Here is how I got her, totally dirty and desheveled.

A nude look at all those fabulous points of articulation

She stunk to high heaven, and was dirty to boot, so I gave her a bath.  That was a mistake on her hair.  I washed her hair like I normally do, using powdered laundry detergent and water, but the hair did some kind of weird shrinkage thing.  At least she smells better. The nice thing about the joints is how sassy she is!

Here she is, feeling fresh and borrowing a dress from Anita Perez for now.

As pretty and neat as Dollikins is, I will not be keeping her.  She will be going up on eBay so I can hopefully make a few dollars off her to support my doll habit!  Buying at thrift stores and reselling really gives me the "allowance" to go and spend money on other dolls :)



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2 Fun Dolls

Recently at thrift stores, I've bought 2 fun dolls from the 80's.  I plan on fixing them up a little and making them some clothes, because they are really pretty dolls.

Before any "treatment"

On the left, is a Hasbro My Beautiful Doll Maribeth.  She has crimped, blonde hair, brown eyes, and the cutest freckles you've ever seen (don't let Francie hear me say that!).  On the right is a Tomy Kimberly doll, which is starting to get her deserved recognition in the collecting world.

Both dolls are really well made, and have painted on faces and rooted hair.  They have "strung" type bodies, with black rubbery-elasticy stuff holding their limbs on. 

Maribeth has some wild hair and some ugly pink ink on her face, and Kimberly isn't much better.  I'm going to start working on them this week, and I hope to share their new looks by this weekend!

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Francie's Debut (Warning: Pic Heavy)

For Afner's 30th birthday, I surprised him with a weekend getaway to Myrtle Beach.  I finished Francie's reroot the night before we left, so I thought it would be fitting to bring her with us to the beach to photograph her for her debut.  Without further delay, here she is:

I rerooted her using Kanekelon hair.  The color was called 27.  It matches great with her lip paint and her freckles and eyebrows.  I'm very pleased.

Greetings from the Boardwalk at Myrtle Beach!

Francie Visiting the Boardwalk

Francie and I don't know which is scarier, Tsunamis or Fireworks Prohibited.

Afner and I took Francie to a restaurant so she could have some French Fries.

After lunch, we visited the beach.  Before I left home, I realized Francie didn't have a swimsuit.  I made her this fashionable black swimsuit from an old sock.  Pretty cute, huh?

Francie enjoys searching for shells

I hope you have enjoyed Francie's debut photo journal.  You will hear more from her in the near future.  Hugs from Myrtle Beach!

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