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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Kerry Reroot

I just finished rerooting an Ideal Kerry doll this weekend.  Kerry is Crissy's Irish cousin.  I gave her new Katsilk saran hair in sunkissed.

Here she is!

This is the first reroot I've done where I actually cut bangs into the hair.  It's kind of a mess.  Normally, Katsilk responds well to heat, but this particular color hair started to melt when I applied steam.  Yikes!  I'm using some hair gel to try to tame those bangs.

Here are the two Kerrys...my reroot on the left and the original look of Kerry on the right.

Now it's off to reroot my new Nancy doll!

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Nancy Francie

My mom bought me an eBay gift certificate for Christmas, and I really wanted to add another Nancy to my collection.  The problem with wanting one is that, living in the United States, they are very hard to find here.  I have to find a seller on eBay (either France or Spain) that is willing to ship me the doll at an affordable rate.  I ended up paying 25 Euros for this doll (not including shipping), which, after I received her, was decidedly too expensive.  Her poor little feet were chewed up by a dog, and her hair had been cut.  I knew about the hair cut, but it was worse than I thought.  Of course, regardless of her faults, I love her anyway.  I have decided to name her Francie, since she came from France.

I spent some time cleaning Francie up, because she was very dirty. After she got clean, I gave her some clothes. Then she went outside for a photo shoot.

Now, the only problem I have left, is deciding whether or not to reroot her.  I think she definitely needs rerooting, because unless she is wearing a scarf, her poor hair looks a little wild (and very short).  So I wanted to take a poll and see what color everyone thinks I should use!  I really like her as a blonde, since I'm blonde, but I also have a nice shade of red hair I could use.  The only qualm I have about that is my other two Nancys are redheads, and I'd like a little diversity in my collection.

Here are the colors.  From clockwise they are:  brownette, light blonde, candy apple red, dirty blonde, copper red, and seafoam green (haha, I really don't want to use this one but I did have it on hand).  So what do you think?  What color should I use?

PollPub.com Vote

WHICH COLOR HAIR SHOULD FRANCIE HAVE?

Brownette
Light Blonde
Candy Apple Red
Dirty Blonde
Seafoam Green
Copper Red



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