Zaara's New Home and Updates

Hi guys!  Just thought I'd give you a few updates.  First off, my Zaara doll is now officially in her new home with my aunt.  Last Friday night, my aunt invited me over for a "Bollywood Night".  :) 

She and I have both really gotten into Bollywood movies, and she's always enjoyed East Indian food.  In the past, I've always been uninterested in trying traditional Indian cuisine, but since I've been watching all these movies from India, I figured it was only right to at least try it once. 

My aunt was excited to hear of my change of heart.  She went to one of her favorite Indian restaurants and ordered everything.  Then we sat and ate our Indian food while watching a Bollywood movie on Netflix.  It was so fun! :)

Because of the theme, I thought it would be an appropriate time for Zaara to move to her new home.  We took some pics with her and the food, as you can see below.  We had a great time together.

Zaara is ready to eat! :)

Our yummy dinner.  And sorry, I don't remember what everything was called.  My favorite was the chicken tikka masala with rice (the two long dishes on the left hand plate), the delicious mango smoothie (in the disposable cup at the bottom...it probably has a more authentic name too), and the amazing dessert.  I don't know what it was, but it reminded me of a doughnut hole dipped in a sweet sauce.  Yum!!

Our Bollywood movie...Yay!! :D

Zaara (with slightly wild hair) thinks she's going to like it here. :)

In other news, my Claire doll's auction ended on Saturday afternoon.  She will soon be on her way to her new home.  And just a reminder, Ella's eBay auction ends tomorrow!!  She's only at one bid right now, so it's a great deal.  I'm hoping she goes to a good home.  I've included a direct link to her auction HERE.   
I'll be doing a few more posts this evening as I have time, and I'll be updating the "Belle's Bullitens" page on Tess and Maggie's blog as well.  Hope you enjoy them! :)

Goodies from Claire's

Hey, just wanted to quickly share the goodies I found on "date night" with my hubby last night. :)  After seeing a movie and eating a delicious dinner at Red Lobster, we went to the mall.  I happened to stop by Claires and found these cute lip glosses.  They were $3.50 each and were on a special sale:  buy one, get one free!  There were lots of cute ones to choose from, but after debating for a while, I went for these two:

 

As you can see, they are the perfect size for my dolls. :)  Of course, Emma was a little disappointed that I didn't find a Coca-Cola bottle. :)   

 

I especially love the little Hershey's Syrup bottle.  Aside from the fact that is says "lip gloss" across the top in bold letters, :) it looks just like a regular Hershey's bottle.  There were some other fun ones there too, like cupcake and ice cream lip glosses, orange and cherry soda bottles, and much more.  

So, if you have a Claire's nearby, you might go check it out and find some treasures of your own. :)  

Rapunzel's Freckles

Hi everyone!  I decided to work on Rapunzel's freckles last night and thought I'd show you how she looks now.  The more I looked at her, the more I decided she'd look better without those freckles. 

I know, I just made a point of mentioning in my last post how much I appreciated Rapunzel's appearance in the movie, and listed her freckles among the things I liked.  But before you find me hypocritical, hear me out. :)  She has freckles in the movie, but they're light and golden brown, and mostly on her nose.  My doll's freckles looked more like Strawberry Shortcake's from the 80s or something. :)  I re-watched some clips of Tangled on Youtube and realized that you don't really see her freckles unless it's a close-up shot.  I knew she'd look more like herself if she didn't have such dark freckles on her face.   

After doing some research, I got some ACETONE-FREE (very important to use this type) nail polish remover and some q-tips and began working.  After no more than 5 or 6 minutes, I had my results. 

Before:                                                                                             After:

I left the faintest leftovers of freckles on her cheeks, although you can't see them well from the pics.  First, because she did have faint freckles, and this looked closer to them.  Second, because I was worried that if I scrubbed too hard and too long, I might also remove her blush paint, and I didn't want to do that. 

Just a quick warning, if you decide to try this yourself:  always use acetone free nail polish remover.  The regular stuff can harm your doll's vinyl.  Also, the nail polish remover will remove all the paint it comes in contact with (although some scrubbing is needed), so if you're not careful, you could also remove eye or lip paint.  Take your time and don't get the q-tips so saturated that the nail polish remover runs all over the doll's face.  If you do, you'll have more paint removed than you originally planned!

I tried adding some golden brown freckles to her nose with colored pencil, but they didn't really show up.  I still prefer her this way, though.

So, what do you think?  I'm pleased with the results.  I think she looks a lot closer to trhe movie now. :)

Disney Store Tangled Dolls

I've had the Flynn Rider (aka Eugene Fitzherbert) :) and Rapunzel dolls from the Disney Store stored in my bottom drawer for about a month now.  I had some extra Disney Reward dollars, and these were selling like hotcakes right before Christmas, so I bit the bullet and bought one of each, just in case they sold out.  Then I put them away for a while, partially because I'm technically not supposed to buy things for myself before Christmas, :}  and partially because my oldest daughter was thinking about having a Tangled party for her birthday, and I knew these would make good presents. 

Now, Christmas is over, my daughter is not having a Tangled party, and I couldn't wait any longer to open these beautiful dolls! :)  I took tons of pics to share with you all. :D

                                Here are Eugene and Rapunzel, still in their boxes:

And by the way, if you're planning on giving these dolls to a child, be sure you stick around to help with getting them out of the box.  I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get Rapunzel out.  She had so many twist ties and rubber bands and plastic pieces and threads...it was insane!

Eugene came with Rapunzel's tiara and what is supposed to be a child-sized tiara to match.  As you can see from the pic below, though, it's a little small.  Hailey's excited to have her own Rapunzel tiara, though! :)

Now for some pics of the couple, much happier now that they're de-boxed. :)

Rapunzel came with her brush, a small paintbrush that she can hold, and of course her little chameleon, Pascal! :)  Eugene came with Rapunzel's tiara.

Pascal is one of my favorite things about these dolls.  None of the Mattel dolls come with a Pascal, and he's painted extremely well for something so small!  He has a little plastic loop on one foot so that Rapunzel can hold him.

I thought I'd give a basic overview of each doll and tell you what I like and don't like about each.  We'll start with Rapunzel. 

I'd give Rapunzel a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest).  She has a cute face, although I wish they'd toned down the freckles a bit...they were much lighter in the movie.  I may try removing them and adding my own sometime later.  Because her eyes are looking to the side, it's rather difficult to make her look at Eugene directly (this may not matter to some people, but it's frustrating when you're trying to do pics). :)  As a side note, I'd like to say how much I appreciate the fact that Rapunzel is not a drop-dead gorgeous princess in the movie.  She's cute and perky, but not necessarily beautiful.  She has a round face and freckles and *SPOILER* ends up with short brunette hair.  I think she's a much more relatable and attainable princess than some of the others that Disney has dreamed up.  She's still way too skinny, but hey, at least she's on the right track. :)  Okay, moving on. :D

Rapunzel has articulated elbows and wrists, which make posing her really fun.  Her legs are like regular Barbie legs, with the same type of bendy knees.  The only downside to her poseable wrists is that they make her a bit more fragile.  I'd be reluctant to let a child younger than 5 or 6 play with her.

Rapunzel's hair looks really impressive.  It's very long, as you can see from the pic below.  It even feels the way you'd imagine her hair would feel:  thick and heavy.  Her hair also has glimmery iridescent strands intermingled with the normal hair to give the idea of magic glowing hair.  The downside is it tangles very easily.  Appropriate, I suppose, given the title of the movie, but an unfortunate quality if you're planning on giving this doll to a child.  Quite honestly, I wouldn't give this doll to my daughters unless I cut the hair or put it in a braid and made them keep it that way.  And what's the fun of having all that hair if you can't style it?  Rapunzel's hair was shedding all over and getting wild just from a few brushings and from posing for these pics.  So, she's a great doll for a collector, but not so much for kids.  It's really a shame.    

Rapunzel with her brush.  "Flower gleam and glow..." :)

Profile shot:

Here's a close-up of Rapunzel's bodice.  I applaud the Disney Store for their careful attention to details; the dress really is beautiful.

Now it's Eugene's turn. :) 

I'd give Eugene a 10 out of 10.  This is a great doll.  I saw the Mattel version of Eugene/Flynn and was really disappointed with the way they painted his face.  He looked a little goofy.  I think this face mold does a better job of capturing his lovable roguishness.  It would have been nice if they had made him with rooted hair, but then again, it might have been hard to do his particular hairstyle that way.  Also, all of the Prince dolls in their line have plastic hair, so it's to be expected.

Eugene has articulated elbows, but normal wrists.  He also has normal Ken doll legs that bend at the knees.  I love having a male doll with bendable elbows, especially since I grew up in the era when most Ken dolls had straight arms.  It always bothered me that they couldn't really "hug" Barbie.  It was like Barbie was hugging a zombie, or some guy with rigor mortis. :}  It's nice that Eugene can actually hold Rapunzel in his arms.  Once again, this might be trivial to some people, but it's a big plus for me. :) 

I don't see any reason why Eugene shouldn't be given to a child.  He's well made and doesn't have too many small parts (maybe ages 3 and up because of the small tiara).  If you're considering buying the Mattel doll, I would highly recommend going for this guy instead.  He's only $14.99 at Disneystore.com (plus shipping), so it's not much more than you would pay for the Mattel doll...and his face is much nicer!

Eugene with Rapunzel's tiara.  This also shows his nice profile shot. :)

As you can see from the below pics, Eugene's knapsack is included.  It even opens so he can put the tiara inside.

Here's a close-up of the rivets on Eugene's shirt.  Once again, Disney did a great job with little details on these dolls.

I had some fun "playing" last night, posing Eugene and Rapunzel together.  Here are some of the best shots:

Eugene, Rapunzel and Pascal:  ready for a new adventure! :)

By the way, Tangled is supposed to come out in March!  It's available on pre-order at Amazon.com and at Disneystore.com.  At Disneystore.com, they said it would be available to own on Blu-ray on March 29th.   I've already pre-ordered it thru Amazon.  Unfortunately, I ordered it before Disney Store offered it with 4 free lithographs. :(  Oh well, it's still going to be AMAZING!!  I'm so excited!! :)

UPDATE (7/26/11):  These dolls are no longer being sold at Disneystore.com.  The newer dolls have a few changes.  You can read all about them in my newer post here (the part about the new dolls is towards the end of the post).  Thanks! :)

Ella is on Ebay!

Okay, the results are in.  Everyone liked Emily as an Elizabeth Cole doll better than Ella, and I agreed.  As much as I hate to split up the sisters (Tess, Hailey and Ella), I've decided to sell Ella on eBay as well as Claire.  I put another link to my eBay page HERE so you can easily find my listing. 

I included some extra goodies with Ella just like I did with Claire.  If one of you won her, I would love it if you could drop Tess and Maggie an email or a comment every once in a while telling them how she's doing in her new home. :)  You can let me know after you win and maybe we could work something out.  That way, at least Tess and Hailey know that their sister is doing well.  I know, I know...that sounds really weird.  I've watched the Toy Story movies too many times, okay? :}  If you want to hear Maggie's take on all of this, you can read her post HERE . 

My Katie doll finally made it home today. :)  In the next week or so, I'll probably do a post with some pics from her travels.  There will be even more on Tess and Maggie's blog, perhaps an interview with the "world traveler". :)

Fun Ebay Finds

Hi everyone!  Just thought I'd share some new sellers I've found on eBay and some of their fun products for AG and other similar dolls.

First up is mzmelody808.  She has some really cute knit crochet outfits for AG dolls at great prices.  Here are Charlie, Maggie and Tess modeling 2 of them:

Here's the lovely Maggie in a yellow halter dress.

If you  want to go for a less see-thru option on top, :)  it also works over a shirt, as seen on Tess below:

This would work even better with a stretchy shirt...I just didn't have one in the right color! :}

Charlie is modeling my favorite outfit: 

This included the flower headband, twirly scarf and skirt.  Mzmelody808 has these in different color combinations, and has a variety of options, such as a skirt and necklace set or a hat and skirt.

I love this color on Charlie! :) 

Mzmelody808 also has a doll blog that she's started.  I've attached a link HERE, so be sure to stop by and check it out.   Don't forget to follow the link above to her eBay world, too. :)  Thanks so much, Mzmelody808! :)

The other eBay seller I'd like to recognize is 3weegirls.  Are you looking for additional outfits for your AG mini doll?  I found two adorable dresses from this seller that work perfectly! :)  Her prices are very reasonable and she has great communication and customer service.  Here are some pics of the dresses I got:

Mini Felicity and Mini Elizabeth, modeling the dresses.

They have easy Velcro closure in the back...

...and are very well made.

This one is my very favorite.  Doesn't Elizabeth look adorable?

Be sure to stop by eBay and take a peek at the work of these two ladies...you won't be disappointed! :)

Claire is on Ebay!

For any of you interested, Claire is officially listed on eBay!  I've included a link to my eBay page HERE.  From there, you can view my items for sale.  Claire will be among them.  I'm hoping she'll go to a good home, so if any of you are interested in bidding, I'd love it.  If one of you wins, be sure to tell me! :)  Her starting bid is lower than what I paid for her, and I'm including lots of extra goodies, so be sure to check it out.  :)