A Great New Doll Line Fundraiser on Kickstarter

Earlier this month, I was contacted by Didier Pietri via email about his current Kickstarter fundraiser. The email got lost in the shuffle and I only discovered it today. I wanted to be sure to bring it to everybody's attention here because I think it's a great concept.

Didier and his friend Kristynn are working on a line of fashion dolls called "YouDolls". They are customizable dolls that are created and ordered online and delivered to your home. Girls can choose eye color, skin color, hair color and style, clothing, and accessories. They can even choose the background picture for their doll's packaging.

I watched the introductory video on the Kickstarter page with my three girls, and they were all really excited about it (they even took some money out of their Disneyland fund to donate). It seemed like the type of thing a lot of you might be interested in, too.

The Kickstarter campaign only has three more days left, so be sure to check it out soon. I'm thrilled to see that they have officially made their goal. This morning they were still about a thousand dollars short. I'm so happy that they'll be getting their funding. :)

You can see the YouDolls Kickstarter page HERE. :)

New Hearts For Hearts Girls Revealed!!

I almost forgot to check back!!  Today, the 3 new Hearts For Hearts girls (and one horse!) were revealed on the Hearts For Hearts Facebook page (click the link to got to the page, then click the pics at the top of their Facebook page).  I don't have a Facebook account, but I was still able to view them. :)  UPDATE (3/18/12):  I just checked this link again and now Facebook is not letting me access the page without a Facebook account.  The video links in the paragraph below still work, however.  Sorry for the inconvenience! :(

The Hearts For Hearts YouTube account also some video footage from the 2012 Toy Fair revealing the new dolls.  You can view the video HERE.  There's also a video revealing the "Deluxe Editions" of Dell and Consuelo, and some new outfits for all of the dolls! :D  You can see that video HERE.

So, what are your thoughts?  I love all three of them, but my favorite from the new dolls is Mosi, the beautiful Navajo girl.  I think she's adorable!  Her horse is really cute too.  Which new doll is your favorite? :)

Veer-Zaara and My Newest Doll

Something amazing happened two weeks ago.  My husband, who'd been spending his spare time trying out some Bollywood movies on Netflix instant play, came home from his morning job with a huge bouquet of roses and carnations.  Shortly afterwards, when he went in to take his shower, he started by scrubbing the bathtub.  The next morning, he unloaded my dishwasher. 

Now, let me clarify here.  I have a very sweet, loving husband.  But he's a very busy, tired husband.  He does get me flowers every once in a while, although it has been several months since the last bouquet.  I guess I'm trying to say that the flowers weren't a total shocker.  The bathtub and the dishwasher were, though.  As sweet as my husband is, he's completely oblivious to things around the house.

This can work to my advantage, as being a mom of 3 girls 6 and under is not very conducive to a tidy house...at least for me! :}  But the disadvantage is that he also doesn't notice when I might need a hand with things.  Quite honestly, one of the most special ways my husband can show his love for me is to help with the housework.

When I asked him to explain this strange phenomenon, he said that 2 of the Bollywood movies he'd watched inspired him to be a better husband and made him appreciate me more.  All I was thinking was, Okay, I've GOT to see these movies!  And then maybe buy them and play them randomly throughout the year!!

So, we watched them together.  The first one was called "Wake Up, Sid".  I enjoyed it as a once or twice kind of movie.  It did definitely help me understand my husband a little bit more. :)  There were a few things in it I didn't care for.

The next one was called "Veer-Zaara".  This one, I absolutely LOVED!!  I'll admit, it took a while to get used to a serious movie with random song and dance numbers interspersed (and speaking of the songs, I loved the music and the guy's voice, but I really didn't care for the girl's voice).  By halfway thru the movie, though, you're totally hooked.  The story is so sweet (have a box of tissues on hand if you decide to watch it).  There's one song I didn't care for as much.  It's pretty sensual in parts, plus she's basically going crazy, seeing this guy everywhere when he's not really there.  And a word of warning:  You have to be in the right mood when you watch this movie!!  If you're in an analytical or completely realistic mood, it will seem like one big joke.  In fact, it actually surprised me that my husband liked it so much (he even teared up when we were watching it together!).  It's the type of movie that he and my brother would usually make into an MST3K commentary (Mystery Science Theater 3000, for those of you wondering what that means).

I really loved Veer-Zaara.  I even found the songs on Rhapsody.com and added them to my playlist.  It was neat to see the strong character of Veer.  It also touched me how much my husband looked up to his strength and was inspired to have that sort of love.

Okay, so for those of you wondering what on earth all this has to do with anything, :)  I started playing around with the idea of trying to make a Zaara doll (Zaara is the name of the other main character in the movie, the girl that Veer loves).  As I might have mentioned before, I'm giving dolls to my daughters and my 2 nieces around their ages for Christmas this year.  I had an extra Madame Alexander Friends 4 Life Doll that I ended up not needing for them after all.  She just happened to have the right skin and close to the right eye color for Zaara. 

I'd sold some things on ebay, so I had a little money to play around with.  On ebay, I was able to find an Indian Sari, sold by ebay seller Carpatina.  It wasn't the same color as anything Zaara wore in the movie, but it gave the idea.  I also found a fantastic wig, originally for Blythe dolls.  The ebay seller shopoholican has a great selection of wigs for Blythe dolls, and they fit AG, Gotz, and Madame Alexander dolls too.  They're a good tight fit, but they end up going down the forhead a little too far, so you have to work with them.  And I think if you got one with bangs they'd have to be trimmed.  I first got the idea of using Blythe wigs from stephenswodadancer of YouTube.  So, thanks again, Sarah! :)


The particular wig I got probably wouldn't be good for play because you can't brush it (it's a permed-look with gel in it), but some of the straighter wigs would be better.  For a collector, though, these wigs are great!  


So, without further ado, here are some pics of Zaara.  She's a work in progress.  I'd still like to add some of her jewels and things.  The necklace she's wearing in the picture at the top of my post is a necklace from Wal-Mart.  Eventually, I'd like to use the alchemy option on etsy.com and have someone design one of her actual outfits from the movie.  I'd most likely try for her Lodi outfit because it's so colorful and interesting.      

I also found these really pretty little jeweled boxes that are just the right size for Zaara and have an East Indian flair to them (see pic below).  They open up to store trinkets and treasures, and were only 25 cents each at my local thrift store! :)  The silver jingle bell anklet is one I found on eBay.  The silver anklet Zaara wears in the movie plays an important part.   I'm hoping to make this shorter so that Zaara can wear it around her ankle. 

Here are some pics of my Gotz doll Emily and my Alexander Girlz doll Maggie with Zaara's wig on, just so you can get an idea of how the wig fits them (sorry, I don't have any American Girl dolls without hair to try it on).

Emily, feeling a little odd without her blonde locks...

...and Maggie, seeing how she would look with a perm.  She decided she prefers her straighter hair. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the post!  I'll give you updates as I modify her look.  I'll also try to find some downloadable pics from Veer-Zaara to put on my blog.  And I would totally recommend watching it on Netflix if you have it.  Who knows?  Maybe you'll get your dishwasher unloaded, too. :)