Doll Sale at Pottery Barn Kids!

Another quick post today. :)   Pottery Barn Kids is having a 20% off sale on all of their dolls, plus free shipping!  The sale lasts until December 12th. 

I checked the website, and it looks like only the dolls themselves are included in the sale, not any of the doll outfits or accessories.  However, the outfits and accessories are still part of the free shipping.  Also, their doll bunk bed is 20% off today only (it does not have free shipping, however).

The 18" Pottery Barn Kids dolls have the same face molds as the current Gotz Precious Day dolls.  I think they're cute, although I prefer the earlier Precious Day face molds myself (such as Hailey's). 

Anyway, I thought I'd post this just in case anyone is interested.  You can go directly to their website HERE.

Happy Shopping!! :)  

Four More Knit Sets from Debonair Designs

Okay, I took a peek at the four new knit sets from Debonair Designs, and they were so cute I just had to share them with you, too! ;)  I am seriously tempted to bid on one...I just can't decide which is my favorite!

Here are the four sets Debonair Designs listed today (once again, all pics used with permission):

This caplet ensemble is called "Cumbrian".

HERE is a link to the original auction.

Julia's ensemble is called "Catskills".  (I really like this one!!)

The original auction can be found HERE.

This is the "Autumn Ombre" Caplet Ensemble.

You can find the auction HERE.

And here is sweet Emily in the "Aspen" Caplet Ensemble.

You can view the auction HERE.

I love all of the different colors and Debonair Designs' unique names for each set.  I was thinking that these would have great potential for mix and match, too, especially all of those darling hats!  Oh, and for those of you who are curious, like I was, the turtleneck caplets have buttons in the back, so they should be easy to get on and off. :)

For those of you interested in her past work, here is a link to Debonair Designs' gallery page:  Debonair Designs Gallery.

Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I do! :)

Great 18" Doll Sweater Sets on EBay

I just wanted to let everyone know about a some great items up on eBay right now.  EBay seller tekay-intl has started listing her new fall line of 18" doll knit sets through her Debonair Designs portion of her eBay store, and they are just lovely.  I have never personally purchased anything from this seller, but I have drooled over her doll knits for several years. :}  She also has 100% positive feedback, with 1149 feedbacks to her name...pretty impressive!

This seller is also the one who got me interested in collecting Gotz dolls in the first place.  I fell in love with her beautiful doll photos and knew I had to have at least one doll like the ones that modeled her work!  I'm so blessed to have 3 Gotz dolls in my collection. :)  She has an excellent eBay guide to Gotz play line dolls...I've put a link to it in a previous post, but I'd like to put another link in this one.  This guide is perfect for anyone interested in getting a Gotz doll of their own, or anyone who wants to know more about the Gotz Precious Day and Little Sisters dolls.  You can read it HERE.

Here are the 4 knit sets she has listed on eBay right now (pictures used with permission from tekay-intl/Debonair Designs).  :)

"Blue Ridge" Caplet Ensemble.

The full listing can be viewed HERE.

 "Blue Ridge II" Caplet Ensemble.

You can view the full eBay listing HERE.

"Autumn Flame" Caplet Ensemble.

HERE is the full listing.

"Royal Shawl" Knitted Shawl and Headband Set.

HERE is a link to the full listing.

As you can see, she does absolutely beautiful work, and her items are very reasonably priced, with starting bids at just $15.99 plus $2.25 shipping.  The current listings have 6 days left at the time of this posting. 

Debonair Designs has 4 more knit sets for her Gotz girls and 1 knit set for her Alexander Girlz doll that she will be listing soon, so keep checking her eBay store for more great items for your doll's fall wardrobe. :)

Oh, and for those of you who just HAVE to have a Gotz doll after seeing these listings and reading Debonair Designs' eBay guide, there are a few Gotz Precious Day dolls listed on eBay right now.  Just look up "Gotz 18 doll" in the Dolls and Bears category. :)

Re-stringing Emily Part 2

 Okay, so I FINALLY finished putting Emily back together.  I've decided that I really don't want to restring my dolls unless it's a dire emergency, because it is a total pain!! :} 

Taking the limbs off and getting the plastic cup out is actually not that bad.  And even doing the first brass insert (the one that goes inside the leg itself) isn't too difficult either.  It starts getting tricky, though, when you're crimping the brass insert that goes inside the body.  This time around, on the second leg, I didn't have my hubby to help me.  It's extremely difficult to get the elastic in the right spot and to crimp the brass insert tight enough while working around the material of the doll's body. 

And a word of caution:  I ended up crimping the brass insert too far down.  You remember how each insert has one end that is wider?  Well, that wider circle is what keeps the insert from moving once it's attached to the little white cups.  If you crimp it too close the the wide end, then the insert doesn't stay in place.  All that to say...Emily's left leg will probably have to be re-strung again eventually, because I messed it up.  The leg my husband did is absolutely perfect (of course). :}  That being said, her legs are still better than they were, so it was worth it to re-string her. 

The other thing that's a bit time-consuming is getting all of that stuffing back into the doll.  There's a whole lot of stuffing for that small body cavity.  It's actually amazing how much stuffing they cram into these dolls!!

Look how stuffed the body is, and how much stuffing still has to go in there!!

I also found that I couldn't reach all the way down to make sure the stuffing was packed tightly.  So I actually ended up using the round end of a wooden spoon to pack Emily's stuffing.  I would grab a handful of stuffing, push it in and shape it with the spoon, then grab another handful. I repeated this process until all of the stuffing was back in.

Finally all stuffed!!

Then it was just a matter of replacing her head and tying her neck strings again.

And Voila!! Here she is, all better! :)

As you can see from this pic, her legs are much tighter.

Overall, my re-stringing project was a success.  I just hope I don't have too many dolls who need this in the near future!

Fun Accessories for your 18" Doll

     Hello, everyone.  Well, I had this really nifty video that gave a tour of my doll collection and shared ideas for some inexpensive and unique items you could use for your dolls.  Unfortunately, my camera appears to have deleted it without my knowledge.  Since I don't have the video anymore and have no clue whether I'll even set up a YouTube account, I thought I'd just take some pics and share my info with you, my faithful blog followers and readers. 

    First off, how many of you have heard of Scrabble Tile Necklaces?  I just discovered these on Etsy.com this past summer and I LOVE them.  Basically, it's a necklace pendant made out of an old Scrabble tile.  There's an image printed on the front and sealed with a glaze so it doesn't come off.  There are hundreds of designs to choose from.  I love using them for my dolls.  Here are the Scrabble tile Necklaces I have for my girls: 

This one belongs to Tess, since she's such a Jane Austen fan. :)

Here's Maggie's.  I was so excited to find this pretty unicorn Scrabble tile.

Danielle loves "The Wizard of Oz", so this Ruby Slipper pendant was perfect.  Also, she was named after my favorite contestant on the British TV show "Over the Rainbow", as I've mentioned before.  This pendant was even more appropriate for her because the winner of the TV show won the pair of Ruby Slippers they'd be wearing at the West End. :)  The sea shell charm was one I bought on my vacation to the ocean.

Katie loves the movie "Roman Holiday", so when I found this Scrabble tile with a picture of Audrey Hepburn in that movie, I knew this was the right one for her.

Lucy loves ballet and Barbies, so what better pendant for her than a Barbie ballerina? :)

Ella's necklace is a little bit different.  It's a glass tile pendant, so it's a little larger and made differently (I'm not exactly sure how).  She loves musicals, and "Singin' in the Rain" is her favorite, so this was perfect for her.  Incidentally, this glass pendant is how I found Etsy.com.  It came up when I googled "singin' in the rain necklace".  :) 

    Similar to the Scrabble tile pendant idea is the Bottle cap pendant, as shown here with my Emily doll:

I couldn't find a "Monsters Inc." Scrabble tile anywhere, but I found this bottle cap one that's perfect for my Pixar-lovin' Emily (especially since "Monsters Inc." is her favorite).  As a side note, her shell pendant was purchased at the same place as Danielle's.

    There are lots of these out there as well.  I really love the Scrabble tile and Bottle cap necklaces because you can get a perfectly unique necklace for each doll that tells something about her interests or personality.  And of course, they're great for people, too. :)  So be sure to head to Etsy.com and search for "scrabble tile pendant".  Or, if you're good with your hands and want to try to make some yourself, I found a great "how to" video for these on YouTube, done by user michellelovespaper.  I've posted a direct link HERE.

      You can use other things for doll necklaces, too, such as this Hello Kitty child's bracelet I used for Hailey's necklace...

     ...and also this red beaded anklet I used for Felicity's coral necklace, since the seller I bought her from didn't have it.  Instead of paying around $30 on eBay for her real necklace, I paid $5 for a set of 3 beaded anklets at Wal-Mart! :)

     One other thing I discovered is that postcards and greeting cards make great doll posters.  Most of the ones I have I found on eBay.  If I had a specific movie, actor, or animal in mind, I just typed it in the search box.  For example, for Emily's posters, I put "disney pixar mini poster" or "disney pixar postcard" in the search box on eBay.  Here are some of the things I found:

These postcards came in a lot someone was selling on ebay...they came from Hong Kong! :)

This one was also from Hong Kong (from a different seller).  I found this when I typed in "pixar mini poster".  It looks like it might have been a promotional flyer handed out for the movie.  It's an even better poster size than the postcards.

Here are some various postcards and pics I attached to the dolls' closet (made from an old bathroom medicine cabinet) to use as posters for them.  The "Singing in the Rain" one at the top is a postcard modeled after one of the original movie posters.  The girl on the top right is Danielle Hope, winner of "Over the Rainbow".  I printed a picture I found online and colored it with colored pencils to give it a touch of color.  There's a black and white pic of Emma and Mr. Knightley at their wedding (also a computer print out), and then pictures cut from books of Prince Char and Ella ("Ella Enchanted") and Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy ("Pride and Prejudice"). 

     I'm so happy I found Maggie's beautiful unicorn "posters"!  These were greeting cards that came in a collectible tin.  The artist's name is Ruth Sanderson.  I've never seen more wonderful paintings of unicorns in my life! :)

(and yes, I know the top poster is horribly crooked!)

Just in case you're wondering, I attached these with photo splits (from my scrapbooking supplies) so that I can easily remove them later if I need to.

    Something else I've done is take pics of my dolls and develop them in wallet sized prints.  Then I searched through thrift stores and dollar stores and found miniature picture frames.  These are really easy to find!  When you put the wallet sized print in the mini frame, it makes a perfect picture just the right size for your doll! 

I even had some developed in black and white, just for fun. :)

     Another fun thing I've discovered, mostly at yard sales, thrift stores, or used book stores, is little miniature books.  These books are actually a little big, but close enough to regular doll size to work.  I've found some great ones!

Sorry, blogger was stubborn again and wouldn't upload this in the right direction!

It's so nice to have actual books for your dolls.

     Can't find the book you want?  Make your own! :)  I found some mini blank books sold by lovvbugg on eBay and covered them with scrapbooking paper to make my own books for the dolls.  There aren't any words on the inside, but at least they look great on the outside.  Here are some pics:

For this one, I added a picture I'd printed online of Lizzy and Mr. Darcy.  It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. ;)

Ella loves the book "Ella Enchanted", so I cut out this pic of Anne Hathaway as Ella from a book I found on eBay.

For the back of the book, I used colored pencils on a pic I'd printed, then copied the back of my own "Ella Enchanted" book. 

    I used to be an avid scrapbooker.  Now I'm really behind on my real scrapbooks.  When I was at a yard sale, though, I found this really cool Mary Engelbright mini photo album, designed to hold wallet-sized pics.  When I saw it, I thought, "Why not make a mini doll scrapbook?"  So here are some pics of Hailey's scrapbook.  She's worked really hard on it! ;) 

    The nice thing about such a tiny scrapbook is you can get pages done in a snap! :)  It's a lot easier than my people-sized ones.


    I've had a lot of fun searching for Pixar toys for Emily.  Most of them were on Ebay, and most of them came from Hong Kong or China.  I especially loved these little miniatures made by the Tomy company.  Here are some pics of Jack Jack from "The Incredibles" (still in his package, which, by the way, is just the right size for Emily), Gill from "Finding Nemo" (in his own little fish tank), and Boo from "Monsters Inc".  They're really small, but painted surprisingly well for their size:

Wall-E and Eve were also eBay finds.  They're really cool.  Both of them are poseable, and the perfect size for Emily.

     Lastly, I just wanted to share some pics of some everyday items you may not have thought about using for your dolls, but they work great! :) 

     Here's a cute jewelry box designed to look like a dresser.  I found this at a Yard Sale for only fifty cents!  The drawers open and close (except for the top row, since the whole top of the dresser opens).  I use it to store doll hair stuff. 

     Interested in Barbies or My Little Ponies for your dolls?  The Barbie dolls sold at McDonald's work really well, as Lucy is demonstrating here.  The Ponyville My Little Ponies are great, too.

     Pretty much any miniature McDonald's toys work great for your dolls.  I also love using the TY Beanie Babies and Madame Alexander Dolls from there, too. 

     The best thing I can say is use your imagination!  As you're shopping around, look for things that would be the right size for your dolls.  You don't have to spend a fortune to buy the spendier name-brand doll items.  The fun thing about finding these types of items is that then you'll have a fun story for each accessory or piece of furniture you find. 

     Hope you found this article helpful.  Have a great week! :)

Hailey got Glasses! :)

Hey guys!  Just wanted to share some pics of Hailey in her new glasses.  She was having trouble seeing, so we thought we'd try glasses.  She decided she wanted pink ones since it's her favorite color.  You can catch Maggie's exclusive interview with Hailey on her blog.