Current Mood : sleepy after a good workout.

Beloved Hubby needed help with the cargo trailer today, so that took up a good chunk of the day. Boy, what a mess that thing was in ! We got the map chest unbolted from the walls when we took the walls down, but unfortunately, it began to rain before we could get it inside. That thing weighs a ton ! So it's gonna sit and get rinsed by rain, and Beloved'll bring it in tomorrow. He was planning on buying a dolly cart anyway, and this'll need one to get inside.

Not much else going on. Tidied up the studio a bit in anticipation. I know where it'll go, and which patterns will go in what drawers. Hope to replace the drawer pulls soon. If it's anything like the rest of what we found in the trailer, the ones on it now were was bits and pieces of leftover from various projects or give-aways.

Got to look at the new Haute Doll and Fashion Doll Quarterly issues. One had a pattern in Elphie's size, but it was for Ellowyne and much too girly for our green girl. Well, it wasn't so much ‘girly' ruffles and lace - that I can skip - but the design itself suggested that someone not yet into their later teens would best suit it. No real darts or anything a woman's figure would need to fit well. The other had a pattern for SD13, which is about Elphie's size, but it wasn't anything I didn't already have. There was much ink involving ball-jointed dolls, like the SD13, but I'm simply not into it. Also not sure why there's suddenly tons of paper dolls within the issues, but it probably makes other readers very happy. Again, not my bag.

(snort) That coming from a woman with three magnetic paper dolls on the fridge !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:18 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Daydreamy 

Spent on dolls today : $2.14

I guess the Happy Meal miniature "My Scene" doll I got last week was a sign or something. Because I bought the Chelsea ‘Roller Girl' doll today. I just couldn't resist ! She was on markdown for $9.99. Then there was a 30% off all Barbie dolls sale. And I had five $1. TRU coupons from the McD's "Monopoly" game. Ya can use five of those coupons on one purchase, so she was only $2.14, when everything was said and done and spent. Sweet !

It's kind of sad the "MS" line is going out on this. The packaging was fairly easy to open, and I only needed scissors to cut threads and plastic. The skates are just adorable, and the outfit, while a bit too skin-baring for my taste, is useable with other pieces and nicely detailed. There was even a second outfit - a cute cartoon character dress - included, that, for some reason, I never noticed before.

Of course, I had to get Chelsea. Between the green outfit and skates, and star-themed jewelry and sunglasses, there was no other choice for me ! I think the brown hair/green eyes thing wasn't even a consideration - but it was nice that it was all there in one package ! Shame the sale ended today. Not like we could eat five more large fries in one day anyway.

Just not sure if I'm keeping her. She looks so different from the other dolls. And she also skirts the edge of having that p*rn-star mouth I don't like. Her eyes are more wide open on the box packaging than the doll's actually are, so she sort of looks as though she's getting a lot more out of skating than I ever did !

They also had the Hillary Duff doll. She was already on markdown for $6.98. Minus the discount, she was less than $5., so with my coupons, she was free. But I could easily make her dress, I already had most of her props, and I didn't like the doll itself. I've seen several Fashion Royalty dolls wearing her dress, with the waist bow removed. It's a simple dress, though. Thought about getting a Fashion Fever outfit - they're $5.95 there - but my dolls just don't need more clothes. Heck, they don't really need the ones I make for ‘em, but I love doing it !

It was a shame the discount was for dolls alone - I'd have probably bought the Island Princess playset instead, since it'd have been less than $10. with the coupons.  Mostly for the screen. It has cutesy animals on it as-packaged, but I could fix that right quickly. The shape is unusual and versatile. But $20.99 was a bit much. There's also a version with a doll included, for about $10. more. Here's the one I liked -

http://www.toysrus.com/product/prodpop.jsp?LargeImageURL=http%3A//TRUS.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-3586191dt.jpg&displayTab=enh&productId=2647195&totCount=0

I could easily pop out that cardboard, replace it with some plain white paper, and be happy. Or use scrapbooking paper for a decorator touch. Not sure what I'd do with the vanity and monkey, but I'm getting fairly handy with a spray paint can these days...

Planned on touching up the castle today, but never got to it. We had a guest, my Beloved Hubby's brother, today. He's the one who gave me Harley Quinn for Christmas a couple years ago. They played pool, and I agreed to do some sewing for him. Not entirely sure how I'm gonna do this, but it's more a matter of ‘gear down and just do it' than anything else.

Tomorrow, I'm helping Beloved clean out the cargo trailer. That means I get the map chest ! It'll be so great for storing my print-out patterns. I can't wait !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:19 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Pleased

In a surprising turn of events, today I found out that the GoodWill ‘World of Cinderella' doll I bought Wednesday is not one whit like the ‘World of Ariel' I bought new last year. I figured the head mold was different - I knew it wasn't the same one, my Aria has a much bigger, rounder head - but the body would be the same. I mean, they're made by the same folks (Playmates) only a year apart. Goss knows Mattel uses the same body for decades in their dolls !

But this time, it's not even close. While searching for clothes (and shoes, ironically) to fit her, I kept hearing "Gloria" by The Doors in my head. I'm not really a Doors fan, but I figured that was her name. So, ‘Cincy' is now ‘Gloria'. Cincy was kinda tacky as a name anyway, it was a mistype the day I got her.

Anyway. Aria's clothes fit Gloria like a bag. I mean, they were all huge on her. Only one pair of elastic-waist pants fit, and the white blouse only fit because I cinched it in with the experimental bodice. It's funny how it looks great to me ! It's sort of like having a SuperSize Jem !

Her shoes were a real challenge. Her feet are tiny. Much *much* smaller than Aria's. Nearly all the doll shoes I owned were too big. Crissy's were too big, and Gloria's feet were more narrow and flatter than the little-girl Disney Princesses'. In fact, Ken's shoes just barely didn't fit. Gloria needed just a twitch more width and length. Hmmm...

The finger shoes I bought for Elphie also almost fit. Too tight. One pair was big enough, so there's one pair. And a pair of flip-flop type ‘Shoozies' fit OK, so that made two.  Another pair that was too big for Elphie fit Gloria fine - they came from a markdown Victorian-style dress-me doll I bought a few years ago. I also found an outsize pair of Ken sneakers that could be persuaded to fit, but not something I'd leave on her for long.

Tonner's shoes for Matt O'Neill (Fiyero Matthews here) were also too big, but the Old Navy athletic shoe keychains that fit him also fit Gloria, it's not as obvious that they're also rather big. They'll work for photos, at least.

While I was messing around with doll shoes, I stored a bunch of ‘em I've had scattered around. Finally sorted through the baglot of stuff I bought when I got Gloria, and it occurred to me - I have Bratz shoes now. And the Catwalk Kitty doll I bought years ago also has the peg-feet thing for shoes. I wonder...Yup. Lila Gamboldt (see the Home Page Histories for more and photos) can wear Bratz shoes. Only problem is, she's a violet cat, so that rules out skin-tone shoes, but boots and sneakers should be fine. I got one complete pair of bootz, and those work. Cool ! And the flea market's coming ‘round again next weekend...

One thing I just realized about Bratz. Much is made about the multiethnic quality of the dolls. But most of the shoes I've seen have basic white-person skin tones. Don't those look weird with the dolls of more vivid color ? Or is each doll stuck with her color (or even style ?) shoes ? Guess no one else has noticed, or thought to ask.

I wonder why I'm more obsessed with doll shoes than footwear for me ?

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:17 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Tired and somewhat detached.  

I got to sleep in until 6:30 this morning, but I'm still tired. I think I mostly stared into space today. We retrieved the new cargo trailer from where we had to leave it Tuesday, but that only took three hours. The map chest is bolted in, but Beloved Hubby says he'll get it out this weekend for me.

Got to visit with DM&FIL, who loved the trailer and the dollhouse. Beloved got to play pool with his folks, while, again, I think I just stared. I don't know what's wrong with me.

So I'm going to bed. Hopefully, tucking in early will shake me out of this stupor !

Posted by dorriebelle at 9:47 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:17 AM CDT

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 Current Mood : New Doll Happy !

Spent on dolls today : $5.40 

Still recovering from last night's late night. Dearest Son had complained of headaches yesterday, and the last time he did, he had a seizure. So every little sound he made woke me in worry. Plus, for some odd reason, the 7-11 parking lot - normally pretty dead after 10pm - was rockin' all night long with some wannabe drag racer and his ‘I can only prove my meager, pathetic existence by annoying the rest of the planet with crappy music' boom-bass stereo. I hope someone wrecks his sleep by being a jerk real soon.

So I'm pretty wiped out. Not sure why I didn't take a nap instead of going out this morning, but I had some minor errands, and I'll always take a thrift store trip when I can squeeeeze one in. And, as you probably already noticed, I found a doll. This is a ‘World of Cinderella : Cinderelly's Surprise' doll, found at the bargain price of $2. at GoodWill. Originally, long gloves hid her elbow joints, and she had a few extra props ( the usual Disney ‘animal friends'), but I don't need those. Her hair took about an hour to tame. I hate it when doll companies root a row of long hair *under* the bangs, and comb them through. But then again, Playmates only had to sell ‘shiny Cinderella doll in a box', not ‘wrecked hair generic blonde doll with ratted hair'. Still, pulling hair strands back and through over and over got old fast.

Ya gotta admit, she's quite lovely now that she's been brushed up a bit. And I take back all the sighs about dolls obviously played with but the hair still in the factory set. I'm starting to understand how and why that happens now. And appreciate it when I find a used doll that way ! Much as I'd wish for all dolls be loved and enjoyed, let's face it, by the time she/he/it gets to me, it's doubtful the kid wants the doll or the imaginary adventures she/he/it represents anymore. Her hair's much like Toddler Belle's - frizzy on the ends, something fierce. ‘Cincy' here may end up with a haircut.

I also scored a bag of various doll shoes and props. Mostly got it for a pair of Kelly-green Mary Janes. I'm such a sucker for those. There were Bratz shoez - four, all mismatched. About six handbags, three pair of Barbie boots, and a magnetic paper doll set of Barbie and Teresa from Princess and the Pauper. It's kind of cute. Some odd star-shaped hairbrushes, in two sizes, and unidentifiable plastic pieces. In short, it's a good thing I got the Mary Janes out of it, because aside from the fridge magnets, that $2. grab-bag didn't have much else of interest. Oh, and that one pair of boots is actually Bratz - so does anyone need three mismatched pumpz (one with a chewed heel) and a pair of funky-weird bootz ?

Dollar Tree didn't have anything new, save for some wooden placemats. Yup, quarter-inch thick wood planks painted black, and buffed to a high shine, blank on one side, silver circles inset on the other. So I got one. It'll show up in photos soon, I'm thinkin'. By the time errands were done, it was time for a quick lunch, then off to Dearest's school for my volunteer duties. I hope our friend the deaf dragster moves on to another parking lot tonight.

I'll probably start up with the castle on Friday. Dearest is out of school Thursday and Friday, and I'm too weary to mess with anything that might be permanent today !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:17 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Domestic Exhaustion

Lightning Molly started up just fine this morning, so I caught up on the grocery shopping. Also (sigh) bought a gorgeous blue Asian-theme floral remnant, and a thin cotton pink one. The pink one I didn't need, but I simply can't resist fabric that's marked "10c". Also bought another can of regular spray paint for the castle. Not sure when I'll get back to it, but I want to get it done. Just don't wanna wreck it.

I then spent about three hours doing dishes and housework. Ugh. It was bad how far behind I let it get, but I'm happy that it's tidier around here. I was just settling in after Dearest Son's parent/teacher meeting, thinking of sewing, when Beloved Hubby came home. He'd found a cargo trailer at the price he wanted...only one problem. It was on the other side of the state.

So we packed up some road stuff and hit it. I knew we'd be out late, but it'd be an adventure together. Dearest had just earned enough coupons for his latest Transformer dream toy, so he was eager to have some play time.

Long story short, we got the trailer, but it blew a tire about an hour out from home. Ended up leaving it with a note in a gas station parking lot, and coming home without it. Beloved's going up for it first thing in the morning, getting the tire fixed or replaced, and then bringing it home. There's a bunch of misc. stuff in it, and I'm sort of looking forward to seeing it in daylight !

There's a map chest in there. And it's all mine ! It'll be perfect to store my printed-out patterns in ! And now it looks like Beloved's running out of stuff to want. Right now, all I want is some darn sleep...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:16 AM CDT

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 Current Mood : Still racin' around.

What a day ! My car, Lightning Molly, wouldn't start, so Beloved Hubby had to drive me around my very necessary morning errands. First off, the flower shop, for Dearest Son's teacher's birthday present. It was gorgeous ! The florist really did a fantastic job. Even the vase was pretty. I think we now have a family florist !

We were on our way to school, to drop them off, when Beloved's phone rang. The school. Dearest was having another bad headache. They thought we were exaggerating when Beloved told them we'd be there in thirty seconds. But we were. Talk about yer double-takes ! Dearest really was suffering, so we got his homework assignments and took him home. And she really loved the flowers.

Then it was off to the Post Office - time to mail some important, long-delayed documents. They needed additional postage and postmarks, so I went in while Beloved and Dearest hung out a bit. That done, we went home. I'd been feeling a bit ill myself, and shortly after lunch. Dearest and I took a three-hour nap. I think we both needed that.

I've decided to let the Castle dry for a bit, after the crackling. I probably won't go near it until Wednesday, at the earliest. Before that too-long nap, I'd planned to sew, but what was still up in the air of my cloudy  mind. Well, tonight, while Dearest played in a bubble bath, I went to clean up that case I bought back on the 5^th. The one in the satin photo. It'd clearly been used to carry crayons and markers, and the inside was marked up. Outside wasn't unscathed either, but it's harder to tell at a distance. Ended up ripping out the already-coming-loose inside panels and covering them with that ‘star field at night' fabric I bought that same weekend. Much better ! Also recovered some Velcro that may have gone to straps or something, I'll probably never know.  But it's vastly improved in my book.

Unfortunately, I couldn't really do the inside sides that way, so I'm back-burnering some ideas. Sharpie pen didn't work to cover the marks. Fabric paint ? Spray paint ? It's thin plastic covered with velvet-like flocking. Hmmm... I'll delay reattaching the star-field panels until I either figure something out, or just say ‘heck with it' and put ‘em back  in already.

You may have noticed I have a weakness for storage containers. If I'd have known about that in time, I'd probably have a few dozen empty storage boxes that don't have any fabric in ‘em at all !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:54 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Contemplative 

Well, I think I've come up with a new way to keep myself from buying more fabric. Remember all that satin I bought at a yard sale on Oct. 5th ? Well, it had a sort of musty scent, and the red bled on just about everything it touched...and if the newspaper it was wrapped around was any indication, it'd been sitting since 1967. Definitely needed at least a good rinse. Consulted my copy of More Fabric Savvy, found that it didn't need to be pre-washed if it wasn't going to get washed later. Well, still...I wanted to clean it, but the idea of cheap-serging that huge pile was less than appealing.

The book recommended a hand-wash in warm water with a mild soap. That I could do in the bathroom sink. So I did that today. What a back-breaker ! If I had to do that for all the fabric I bought, I'd have a lot less ! All the satin, except the red, left a light yellow color in the wash water. The red left a bright pink, so I tried various home color setting techniques. Lighter, but still pink. I'll just have to remember to line it.

 It took about an hour, just for the satin, but I got it all done. It was so pretty, hanging on the line. Even wrinkled as a shar-pei, it reflected glossy light around. Tossed it in the dryer for five minutes - it smells fresh and clean. Ready to use - once I iron it. It's still very crinkled ! None of the stains from contact with the red came out, but that's OK. Many of the "stains" are quite pretty.

Turns out ‘satin' isn't a fabric. It's a characteristic. You can have silk satin, rayon satin, or polyester satin. ‘Satin' refers to the way light reflects off it, the sheen it has, no matter what it's made from.

Got the rest of it - the thin yellow cotton at the core of one of the satin bundles, the variegated ‘star field' fabric, and the flannel pieces I bought Thursday - cheap serged and ready for the wash. It's all been hung out and brought in, so there's another basket-load of fabric I need to put away. I gotta quit buyin' this stuff !

Decided to try a coat of paint on the castle. Worked sort of well, sort of bad. Check it out on the ‘This Old Castle' page. Man, I have sooo much work to do on that thing, and it's maybe three feet from my new dollhouse...

I confess, I've lost quite a bit of my ‘drive' to finish the castle, now that the dollhouse is here.

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:55 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:16 AM CDT

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Current Mood : So Happy 

Man, you would not *believe* the effort it took for me to get the same green as what's used here on the ‘fridge' part of the Blog here. Tripod evidently has it trademarked or something. Couldn't cut/paste it. PaintShopPro's ‘Capture' feature worked on everything except the blog, and trying to match the color by eye simply didn't work. It was always just a shade or three off, and I started to brew up a headache from the effort.

Why did I want this exact color so bad ? Well, look again at Thursday's image for "mood". Last time you saw it, it didn't match so well. It was too light, and when I tried again, it was too dark. Now it looks less like a coloring page and more like a magnetic paper doll on the ‘fridge'. Which is what I wanted. It isn't so glaring as the ones before it. Sure, I could make the images a transparent .gif, but that takes a lot of time and detail. Frankly, I don't want to spend more than five or ten minutes on the coloring pages. It's fun, and I like doing it, but I don't wanna spend time on it I could use to sew or somesuch.

 I finally semi-cheated and went into the ‘change settings' feature and cut/pasted a preview image of the Fridge theme. After trying sooooo hard to make sure I couldn't do that on the actual blog, being able to on the image editor was enough to make me laugh out loud. Finally, I had my - well, actually Tripod's - well-guarded shade of green.

And today's image looks much better ! Well, yesterday I promised some belated big news. And here it is !

That's right. Yesterday afternoon, about 4pm, Beloved Hubby started my dollhouse ! He redrafted the pattern from Things to Make for Children (hmpft ! This dollhouse is for ME ! ), making it larger and more advanced. I'll have more photos up on the site Sunday or so. But isn't it fantastic ?!

I'll tell you a secret, too. The pattern in the book is not only wrong, it leaves off many key measurements. That's mostly why Beloved had to redraft it. They show the elevator (still to come) on the right side in the photo, but on the left in the design pattern. That throws a lot of stuff off. The roof patio's piece got cut incorrectly - the stairway's supposed to go the other way, back against the far side of the patio - but we put it on this way anyway. Then Beloved crafted this gorgeous spiral staircase to fit it. And I admit, it's my favorite part of the house so far. My dolls can 'climb' it perfectly.  

Up until he installed that, the patio was my favorite. Believe it or not, we had that Lucite used for the patio railing already. Aside from a half-inch sheet of plywood, we already had everything else. Still to come are windows (we'll have to buy another piece of Lucite), a boxlike waist-high elevator, a hardwood wall or two, trim to cover the raw edges, and cabinets. Yes, cabinets ! He free-handed several flat-out gorgeous cabinet doors from scraps of maple last night, and he wants to make more !

Am I the luckiest woman in the universe ? I think so ! I have full access to about 63 partially used cans of professional-quality paint, at least a dozen more of stains and finishes, so once it's done, I can decorate any way I want. I think it's the most beautiful dollhouse in the world - just imagine what it'll be like by the time Beloved's done !

I've mentioned that he should refine the plans and sell ‘em. He's definitely changed it from the original by more than 35% ! Tomorrow, I'll have to post an image of the original plans - he's really altered them for the better. I have to ask if anyone would *not* love to have that staircase in their doll play ?

(sigh) So happy...but I've about run out of things to want !

Posted by dorriebelle at 6:37 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:15 AM CDT

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Current Mood : Daydreaming and happy 

Oh, boy, was today a busy one ! Arranged to pick up flowers for Dearest Son's teacher - her birthday is Monday, and I think I'm the only one doing anything. Not that I mind, she's fantastic, and Beloved Hubby agrees with me. I'm just really surprised at how expensive flowers are. And I hope she likes them.

Went to the Shop after Dearest went to school and helped Beloved clean up. We swept up enough sawdust to make approximately four composition dolls. When I told him about how sawdust used to be an important component in doll manufacturing, before celluloid and plastic came around, he was intrigued, so I told him all I knew. Which took about two minutes, I'm not much into compo. Porcelain, either. I've read books and studied articles on all manner of materials that make up dolls, and even read Life Like Dolls - twice ! I own a copy. -  to try to understand why I don't like porcelain dolls, even the ones I made. I think it boils down to the fact that I don't enjoy fragile. If I have to worry about breaking it by breathing, I'm just not interested. If it's worth more than my car, even damaged, I'm not comfortable anywhere near it. In my life, dolls are durable. If they aren't, I don't care how beautiful they are, or even how well-made and original their clothes are, they put me right off. Plus, ‘collectable' porcelain dolls and their gushing advertising tends to skeeeve me right out. 

Plus, if you look under the ruffly, beribboned and belaced dresses, you usually see a cheap-fabric body with porcelain limbs and head. I've never been able to ‘get into' mixed body materials. Plastic and vinyl, sure. But even plastic limbs and soft stuffed-body styles don't intrigue me much. It's probably why I don't own an American Girl or clone doll. They interest me, and there's certainly enough fun props, prices are right, and clothes patterns are legion and cheap...but I just can't do it. If the doll was all-vinyl, I'd probably have at least two. I have no idea why I react this way - one of my favorite baby dolls as a kid was stuffed-and-soft-vinyl. But I just can't stand those now. It's weird.

Anyway. No offense to those who do enjoy, this is just sort of a semi-annual rambling. Look at it as a view from the other side. There's plenty of everything for pretty much everyone to like or dislike, for whatever bizarre  Freudian reasoning of their own. I just wish I understood why some things weird me out. Moving on...

There's a reason there's a bunch of mismatched shoes for today's ‘mood' image. When I bought that big bag o' Barbie furniture, there was the usual tiny things at the bottom. A few baby doll toys, the odd door or drawer, and the ubiquitous three or four solo Barbie shoes. I put them aside, figuring I'd go through the Pencil Box of Misfit Shoes sooner or later, see if I had any matches. Turns out I did - see the turquoise boots on the far right ? One was in the bag, one's been rolling around in the PBoMS for who knows how long. And goss knows how much I needed a new pair of turquoise boots...

But with my recent adventures in paint, I started to look at the PBoMS a bit closer. I always knew many inside would match, if their colors did. So I started to sort. 29 pairs. I actually found 32, but some were a perfect mold match, but were made of different materials - squishy vinyl versus hard plastic. Nope, if I was gonna spend the time and cash for paint, I was gonna make sure all the shoes fit, looked good, and were gonna look decently OK when I was done.

You probably noticed that some are tied together with spare thread. After squinting at a few thousand tiny pumps, and matching ‘em up one by one, I was not willing to do that again when it came time to paint. They're all going into a bag inside the PBoMS until I'm finished with the castle, and who knows how long that'll be. Besides, I'll put a hole in ‘em when I pin 'em down to a piece of cardboard to spray them, this way, I have a pre-drilled hole in a lot of ‘em.  

I tried to spray Fusion on doll shoes once before. It didn't work well, and three months later, still transferred paint to the doll's feet. And felt tacky and wet. Because I didn't read directions. Now I know to use light coats - I was really layin' it on heavy back then - and wipe ‘em down with paint thinner first. Didn't do that last time. I figure, if I use a base coat of Fusion first, I can paint ‘em with anything from Testors to nail polish once that base is dry. Which opens up a whole world of custom shoe colors !

Rest assured, when it comes time to do it, I'll make a page out of it ! One funny thing I found out. See the boots, second from the left on the back row ? Well, they're kind of hard to see, due to one boot having huge fabric pom-poms. It was part of ‘Baton Twirling Skipper' s issue outfit from 1992. The brown boot beside it came from a Tommy shoe and cowboy hat set, released in 2002. You can see the actual carded set here - http://www.manbehindthedoll.com/tomkc47625.htm . The pompom for Skippers boot is held on by a loop of plastic, part of the boot's mold. If I look closely at Tommy's, I can see where the loop was altered on the mold. Two odd indentations. Other than that, the boot's size and shape are identical.

What's kind of odd is not only are the uses ten years apart, but the Skipper boot is waaaay too big for Tommy. It goes up past his knees, and there's barely enough toe to his foot to keep the boot on ! They look clownishly large on him, too. While I can kind of applaud Mattel's recycling molds, Tommy already had shoes and boots that fit him better, so I'm not sure why they did it this way. Oh, well. The boots fit Aylene (R&D Susie), Honey (Bandai Cutey Honey), Fuu (Sega, Magic Knights Rayearth), Anya (Galoob, Anastasia), and the first-release Ariel from Tyco - kind of a younger sister to the Mattel Ariel sisters - so I'll probably paint them something neutral. So they can all wear 'em !

Believe it or not, there was more going on today, but this is long enough ! I'll catch you up tomorrow, ‘cause it's so exciting !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 10:15 AM CDT

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