May I introduce the recently restored Charlene ?
Now Playing: "Tremors 3" - DVD rental. Cute, if a bit gory.

 

Current Mood : Relaxed and pleased.

 

You *always* get the new stuff here first ! So here's ‘Charlene', fresh from a hair transplant and dressed in the latest of my efforts, the plaid dress I sewed Friday. She's seated in the plush blue ‘moon chair' that came with the Kennedy ‘Un-Fur-Gettable' doll Beloved Hubby bought me Friday, too. I'm still thinking of going back for the purple chair that goes to Chelsea... Same photo, a bit larger, will be on the Home page later tonight. But I like posting it here first.

 

Charlene was missing three hair plugs in front, and it showed badly. Perhaps it was the blank, never-rooted spot just behind the empty ones, but she really needed the hair there. It's funny, because the late 80s dolls I'm used to have so much hair, even empty front plugs wouldn't have mattered much. Just like real hair transplants, I cut a few from the very back and bottom of her head and rerooted ‘em in front. Those locks are shorter than the rest - I will say that Mattel did great hair styling back in the day, it was all even and wavy, even after a flea-market found play doll's possibly 29^th birthday -  but it doesn't show much. Hard to believe, that SuperStar dolls debuted in 1978, nearly 30 years ago.

 

I both loved and hated the SuperStar dolls. Perpetually blonde with a rather vapid smile, she was both glamour and trash to me. I was supposedly growing out of Barbie when she came out, so I never got the one I wanted for Christmas, etc., and I'm sure that added to my psychological conflict. The fact that Mattel rarely used any other mold for nearly 20 years made it seem boring and too-often-seen. Now there's about 30 molds, it's hard to tell ‘Teresa, 1996' from ‘Racquel, 2007' sometimes, and I've come to appreciate the beauty of the SuperStar. I just needed time and distance.

 

Charlene seems unusual to me, now. Her bottom eyelashes are the same blue as her eyes, not black. And she actually has a flirty but friendly look on her face. I may someday replace her earrings, but for the most part, I remove those. They get hair tangled around ‘em, and it's often a snarled mess by the time I find the doll in a ‘donate' box or jumbled in a flea market trunk. I'd thought to reroot the blank spot with the blue fake hair I bought for the Casey head, or any of the black/red/brown colors I have left from other reroot projects, but it seemed too...dramatic, maybe. Get this, I actually wanted her to be blonde. Any of the ‘real hair color' streaks made her look like a refugee from a skunk costume factory, and the blue didn't seem right either. She simply looked best blonde.

 

Under her first picture dress - she was wearing a snug green Christmas gown - she had a pair of vinyl shorts from the first RollerBlade Barbie. The one with the 'flashing' skates that ignited someone's gasoline-soaked underwear back in '91 or '92, thus making themselves a laughingstock. They were badly deteriorated, and flaking. Took me about 20 minutes to get that stuff off her, and I trashed the shorts without a second thought of saving anything off 'em. Ugh.

 

Rest of the day was spent napping and looking idly through doll books. I'm considering doing another online photo album with all my dolls modeling those classic ‘Best Buy' fashions. Sort of a personal supplement to the Sarah Sink Eames Barbie Fashions books.  

 

Wanna quick irony ? I still haven't used the full 20meg that was my ‘free' space with Tripod ! I'm at something like 19.3. It's funny, I was so worried for so long about using all my web space. And I haven't yet !

Settling down after a good day's prowlin'.
Now Playing: "Hoodwinked !" - DVD rental, not that bad, but *everything* has to be about the kid...
 

Current Mood : Happy and daydreamy 

Spent on dolls and sewing today : $3.73

 

Kind of a quiet day - went to Hancock Fabrics to get elastic thread. One day, I'll learn to read the pattern directions and supplies needed before I start sewing ! While I'm gonna leave yesterday's sleeves alone, I plan on sewing it again, with the sleeves according to directions. Got the thread and two spools of glow-in-the-dark thread ! I saw that stuff *years* ago, at $4. a spool. Neat, but not something I'm likely to use, and rather expensive. Well, evidently, it'd been around so long, the tags at the spool ends had fallen off, and two of ‘em ended up in the clearance basket for 50c each ! Whee ! I even ‘tested' it, and yup, they glowed a faint green in my cupped hands. Also found a reel of jewelry elastic for 50c. I actually got out of a fabric store without buying an inch of material !

 

Hit a few yard sales, too. Found some sewing feet and cams for the Singer 603 series, but the feet didn't fit my machine. It's a low-shank, and most Singers are high, but I wanted to try. Plus the vintage box was cool. Found a new package of elastic thread (sigh) for a dime, and some decorative elastic for a quarter. Found a pink minidress in an Asian-themed flower print, and a cute denim skirt, plus a pair of decorated panties for a Disney Princess-type doll. And the cutest little stuffed Wampa, from a Star Wars -themed kids' meal from Burger King. Elphie's bed will soon be buried in cute, cuddly, dangerous stuffed animals. Scored two books for Beloved, too.

 

Shortly after that, Dearest Son was home from his grandparents', and we had a nice dinner and settled down to movies and hobbies. Hope your Saturday was nice, too !

 

Ps to Michelle - sent a note to Catherine, but she's not green-lighting any new memberships until next year. I appreciate the referral anyway !

"Get Off Yer Butt" Friday
Now Playing: "Night of the Comet" - DVD rental. Gotta love the 80s !

 Current Mood : Busy and Happy

Spent on dolls today : $8.56

 

Well, I finally sewed something ! Got nearly done with it when I read the directions ‘use elastic thread to gather sleeves'. Blast it. I'd much rather just gather with thread, like ya do with skirts and such. Plus, I don't have elastic thread. I could possibly string a piece from regular elastic, but it seemed like such a silly thing to do. Gather the sleeves with elastic, I mean.

 

And when I tried it on the sewing doll, the sleeves looked kinda good on their own. Sort of 80s. So, while I'll probably sew it with elastic thread another time, I'm gonna leave it alone this time. Still have to put in the back facings and closures, and one sleeve looks longer than the other, so I may have some minor corrections ahead. But I rather like it like this.

 

The pattern's one I bought in a lot a month or two ago - I wanted the Darci/Jem pattern, but the cheapest way to get it wasn't by itself. It was buying it in a lot of three patterns. No kidding. By itself, it was $5. plus $3. shipping. The lot of three was $3. and $2. to ship. Pattern used was Simplicity 6097, not the one I wanted, but a nice one just the same. Sample dress on the envelope was plaid, too. So I used some from the baglot I got at last week's yard sales.

 

I think it'll end up on the SuperStar Barbie I got from the flea market - same weekend, I think, that I got the fabric. She needs a slight reroot - there's about three empty hair plugs in the front center of her head, and a bald, never-rooted spot just behind the vacant plugs. She has a non-working mechanism switch, and her neck is so loose, it may as well be broken. So I pushed her head down on her neck a bit. She sort of resembles Charlene Tilton that way, at least to me, and she seems to like the comparison. So this is Charlene Hyatt, a nod to the fact that, while I haven't completely made up with the blonde-is-perfect mindset, I've at least come to a sort of tired detente with it.

 

Which came in handy tonight. Beloved Hubby and I went shopping, and I ended up with a Kennedy ‘My Scene' doll. I mostly wanted her chair and phone. The insert shows a Nolee doll in the line, but the packaging otherwise just shows Kennedy (actually Barbie - is this like when they gave all the wild fashions to Francie, back in the day, so when the style went belly-up, they could jettison her and save Barbie ?), Chelsea, and Madison. Ripped the fake fur off the box and the phone. I rather like that phone. And I can make other cushions for the chair - it's attached with Velcro ^TM.

 

Curious ? Dollar General has all three dolls for $8. each. Kinda pricey for a chair and phone, but Beloved really wanted to get me a doll, and she was the only one who had my interest at all. Her clothes will probably be donated, they're all on the slutty side. Even her knee-length shorts are designed to hang low, under her waist. And the jacket's nice, but too short and wouldn't even fasten around the doll - so much for warmth ! Or maybe I'll use ‘em on smaller dolls, so they don't look so tight and tiny.

 

I'm considering getting the Chelsea doll, again for the chair, phone, and this time, her outfit. It's kind of cute, if still revealing. But I'm also considering buying my first new Bratz, for the ice skates. Mal-Wart has them for about $8. too, and ever since I found out that Lila Gamboldt (Lanard's ‘Catwalk Kitties') can wear Bratz peg-feet shoes, I've been looking at them, really, for the first time. And yes, $8. for the doll, an outfit, and a pair of skates is still cheaper than $10 for two outfits I can't use and a pair of shoes without a doll.

 

It's like it's come full circle. In the late 70s, early 80s, it was often easier and almost cheaper to get a whole new doll in a flashy, theme-headlining outfit rather than find and buy Barbie clothes. Now, it's actually cheaper to get a Bratz doll than it is to get Bratz doll clothes. Hmf.

Don'tcha hate autumn colds ?
Now Playing: Wii something, the guys are playin'.
 

Current Mood : Headachy and slightly ill

Spent on dolls Tuesday : $1.08 

 

Yup - I forgot that I bought another lip gloss shaped like a round ice cream container at Dollar Tree a few days ago. It was still in the bag, so I was lucky I found it before I recycled the bag for trash. I use about two Mal-Wart type sacks for garbage a day, which holds down our bigger bag expenses to about $2. a year. Gotta save where we can, with all my wild doll spending ! And I need to get photos of them for the site.

 

You'd think that, after a week of party planning, I'd lunge to the sewing machine in a fervor, desperate to sew anything. Well, sort of. I got the studio cleaned up, and more stuff put away. Decided to put in a divider for the lace, ribbon, and trim box, as I can't ever find anything in there anymore. Cut a stepped-on piece of foamcore until it fit, and got it all sorted. Why is it that, when everything's loose in the box, it's not nearly full. Put in a quarter-inch piece of board, and I could barely close the thing.

 

Used up the last of the wood-spool thread, cheap-serging the new fabric from the yard sale bag. Now when I need to cheap-serge, I'll just have to go with what I either have plenty of or doubt I'll ever use otherwise. It took me about three years, but I used up all the wood-spool thread. I'll miss those things. Hopefully, I won't be cheap-serging anything, it's not like I need new fabric for anything, ever !

 

Then Beloved Hubby came home early, so I'll have to do the rest of the serging later. We're gonna have an early dinner, and turn in early. I caught Dearest Son's cold, and it's kicking my round rump ! All I really wanna do is sleep !

 

Oh, Michelle - thanks for recommending Dizzy's Place, it sounded like fun. But I couldn't register. No matter which of the eight names or two e-mail addresses I entered, it said 'this user name has been disallowed' every time I tried. The FAQ advised that I contact the owner/admin, but without a login, I couldn't, and I didn't want to go through Christine's website for that.

 

So either the registration is buggy, they don't like my ISP, or maybe something I've said here or on another board (coughPregohack) has garnered me the shunning I probably deserve. Oh, well. A girl gets used to it after 41 years. Don't let it worry ya, though - I'll keep spewing my crap here, at least my only censor is somewhat disengaged !

Happy Halloween !
Now Playing: "One More Time" - Daft Punk, on the MP3 player. Yeah, you know I kept that one on !
 Current Mood : Still Sleepy. Very Happy.

 

It's all over but the candy-induced tummyaches ! Dearest Son loved his costume so much, he asked to sleep in it tonight. His class had a great party, and while very few parents participated, we had lots of fun. I made treat bags and had glow bracelets, plus the music (more later) and lighting effects. I used this image for the door as a sort of joke, with an image from Worth 1000. No kidding, I looked up ‘haunted disco' (something I didn't come up with until this afternoon !) and there it was. Made myself a matching ‘Staff' badge. I was the DJ, of course !

 

Another Mom, Mrs. C, brought in a ghost windsock project, and led the class in making it, which they loved. Two other parents came, and I'd say two others contributed. So the table wasn't laden with food like it normally is, we still had plenty to go around and leftovers.

 

But I was so frustrated with the music. Napster wouldn't let me download music into a playlist, then download the playlist to the MP3 player. Nor would it download into a playlist already on the player. Since some of my music's not kid-friendly, I ended up wiping all my stuff on it and putting on just the party music. It's not a big deal, I can always reload my music later. It's just a PITA that I had to do it that way.

 

As expected, no doll time tonight. Studio's a mess. I purloined ribbon for the treat bags and fabric for the tablecloth from there, and didn't put anything away yet. Beloved Hubby got McRibs for dinner for us, and I fell asleep on the sofa for two hours. Well, that ‘Tanks' game is nod-inducing to me !

 

BTW, Mrs. C has decreed we start planning for the Winter party in two weeks. (sigh)

Calm before the party
Now Playing: Wii Sports - Beloved and Dearest are bowling 'training'

 

Current Mood : tired but eager

Guest Image : Hamtaro by Dearest Son 

Spent on dolls today : $1.62

 

The other mothers have come through in fine style, so I think Dearest Son's class will have a great party tomorrow. I've bought enough drinks for a small army, so at least no one will go thirsty ! Still and all, I'll be glad when this one's over - although my co-Homeroom Parent is already working on the Christmas Party ! She is sooo organized and creative !

 

I also managed to find something for me. Dollar Tree is nearly wiped out of anything that even remotely looks Halloween - they were putting out any candy they had in the former ‘fall holiday' aisles, and it was goin' fast - but I got what the party needed. And I found a luscious royal blue play hair package amid the three or four they had left. I may well return the Windex-blue hair I bought earlier. This'll work for the bald patch on the SuperStar Barbie and the wrecked hair Casey, as it goes with both dolls' eyes. With any luck, I can start that tonight !

 

Nothin' at the thrift store, but the Mal-Wart had a six-inch wide length of baby blue/beige/white/soft yellow striped fleece that was just too tempting. The scale is just perfect. 50c ? MINE ! I plan to fringe it for an Elphie blanket first, then do it some more for other dolls until the yardage is gone. I figure, if I measure where I want the fringe, then add masking tape or a straight line of stitches to the edges, I can cut to the mark, remove the tape if needed, and it's done. Heck, I can do that while I'm waiting for Dearest's bus Thursday.

 

Did the last of the laundry, it's still drying on the clothesline. Our power bill dropped $20. since I started doing that, so score ! Ran all the errands, since there'll be no time tomorrow, and rushed through lunch. I'll be sooo happy once the party is over, but it's actually been kind of fun.

 

Just not the fun I want every week, though.

General Lee and the laundry
Now Playing: sleepy house

 

Current Mood : Adapting

 

Thought you might like to see what I'm working on - sorry it isn't dolls !

 

All the parents got a note from the school - any ‘large prop' costumes are asked to remain at home. Well, shoot. Beloved Hubby was gonna make Dearest Son another foamcore costume, this time a General Lee. He probably still will, just the deadline isn't Wednesday morning.

 

So I found a long-sleeved yellow shirt while grocery shopping in Dearest's size - $10. ! - and made him a custom name-tag, like the one here. I mean, no one's gonna really know who he is without it. Yellow shirt over blue t-shirt, with jeans and boots doesn't really scream ‘Bo Duke' to anybody but us. Reminds me of the industrial-waste polyester licensed costumes I had as a kid - the ones with the character's name and image printed large on the chest. After all, it's hard to tell if a kid's Sabrina or Cinderella in a Don Post or Collegeville costume !

 

At least we're getting off fairly cheaply ($10. for the shirt, $1.50 for thrift-store boots) and easily this year. Not a lot of running around lookin' for stuff. Sheriff Woody (Toy Story) would have been much more difficult. Tomorrow, I get to call all the parents - including the ones who volunteered to do this party - and ask them to come and bring stuff. So far, all we have is what we've bought. I'll be so grateful for Wednesday afternoon, say about 3:30...

 

Between this and six loads of laundry, washed, clotheslined, dried, and sorted, I didn't have much doll time. Played Wii Sports Tennis this morning, and it was actually a minor workout. Seriously considering Wii Fit when it comes out. Tomorrow's gonna be busy, too, and the party's Wednesday, so I'm not counting on much ‘me time' until Thursday. By then, the dishes will overflow the sink again, and the cycle will begin anew...darn it.

Changes - eBay's end and SuperStar starts again...
Now Playing: "The Naked Gun" - a 50c VHS I picked up last week

 

Current Mood : There's something on my...mind.

 

Don't ask me what the heck I was doing on eBay - the simple answer is that I wanted to look at dolls, but there's other ways to view ‘em without finding something I absolutely must own. But, yeah, I looked and did find something. Fairly rare playset, less than 15 years old. I bid outrageously high - $20. plus $12. shipping and $2. to insure - but got outbid with nine hours still to go. I kept an eye on it, but it closed at $38. plus shipping. Too rich for me !

 

But it's been so long since I've even bid on anything (much less won) that eBay's new five-star rating still doesn't work for me, as you have to have at least five ratings in it to engage the average. So you won't know who thought poorly of you, I assume. I've only had one win since it started, and I think it's the only thing I've bid on in months, until today. I've come to settle into the ‘if it's something I'm bound to own, I'll find it locally in a yard sale or thrift store. I'm at those enough - I'm surprised I haven't found the Grail yet !' mindset. Plus I have so much stuff already, and so many plans and projects...

 

So it may surprise you to know that I rather like that blonde doll I bought for her dress Friday. She's missing a few hair plugs in front, but I can transplant reroot from the back, or give her a cool color streak, so that's no big whoop. She has a switch in her back, but her neck is partly broken, so that's probably why it doesn't work. It's too small for her to be Beauty Secrets, but one of her arms doesn't go behind her head, so she has some arm mechanism I haven't researched yet. I thought it'd be easy to clean, redress, and donate her, but that's not the case. I think it's partly because after all my years of ‘I hate SuperStar Barbies - so blonde, perfect, and vacuous !', I've found one who rather needs help.

 

Her hair, aside from the blank spot, curled well and is a nice honey blonde. I confess, the platinum blondes just aren't my bag of candies ! Not sure yet if I'm transplanting, or going back to Dollar Tree for ‘pretend' kid hair. Gotta go anyway, so far, Dearest Son's party is down to just the other Homeroom Parent and me - the ones who signed up to do it haven't contacted any of us.

 

(sigh) I swear, next year, I ain't volunteering for nothin' but Book Fair ! My whole week is revolving around Dearest's party. I whine, but it's only because when I sign up to do something, I actually do it ! Hmpft.

 

Big thanks to Michelle for ID'ing the ‘leather' jacket as Tariq's, a luscious hunk of stud tartare from Integrity Toys' Janay 2004 ‘Fashion Insider' line. She thoughtfully included a link - it's in the "Reply" beneath the 10/26 entry. Yup, that's it, all right. All I ever saw were two of the Janay girls. Tariq, I'd have bought ! Appreciate it, Michelle ! I had a hard time finding out that Janay = Integrity = Jason Wu, even on the Integrity website, but I enjoyed the chase !

 

It's kind of shameful, but I don't know squadoo about Integrity, except that they were founded on the premise that ethnic dolls made by yer big-box toymakers don't look ethnic. My ignorance is mostly because I don't like Fashion Royalty, and when their own site doesn't acknowledge the lower-price-point Janays, like they're ashamed of ‘em or something, I have no reason to linger.

 

FR's are nice, but to me they seem rather haughty and very expensive - I don't care who's designing them and their apparel, or if they're hand-crafted by just one person from a blend of starlight, titanium, and 24k gold, spun inside a web of high-grade emeralds, $600. for a doll who can wear Barbie clothes is ridiculous ! - so I'm kinda shut out of their world. But darn near every sixth-scale chat board is overrun with ‘em. I guess their extreme luxury and disdainful faces appeal to an audience I'm just not a member of. Still, I laugh my big butt off when someone dresses one in a $2. Fashion Fever outfit from Mal-Wart !

 

I'm glad there's something out there for everyone ! It's entirely possible I've never seen 'the' FR for me, but chances are, I couldn' t afford her if I did ! :)

Yard sale leather and music
Now Playing: "Battlefront" -DVD rental, nearly as bad as Collier & Co.

Current Mood : Buoyant

 Spent on fabric today : $1.25

 

Spent on general makin'-Dorrie-happy : $5.

 

Went out to yard sales today, after helping Beloved Hubby a bit this morning. I found butter-soft leather samples at one sale for 25c each. Bought the green one I liked, and a bagload of fabric for a buck. The rotating color globe light was a big $2. I'm about one lighting effect away from having my own disco...

 

I got it all home and Beloved Hubby wanted more of that leather. So I went back and bought ‘em out for another $3.75. Not sure what he wanted with that many leather samples, but I can think of lots to do with just a few ! Also found out why the disco color ball thingie was only $2. It'd get stuck and stop about twice a revolution. So we took it apart - only four screws, where's the challenge ? - and found that a plastic gear had warped and was sticking. Filed it down and put it back together - works fine now ! With this and the mirror ball, Dearest Son's class is gonna have a disco Halloween party Wednesday !

 

Another sale netted me the boombox for $3. It works just fine, but the tape ‘record' function doesn't at all. At least it plays tapes, CDs and the radio. Great sound. Went through the fabric bag - lots of Christmas scraps and tiny prints. Some plaids and itty-bitty houndstooth fabric. Also some too-large florals, a huge tapestry floral, and a set of wrecked white curtains. Hmmm...

Pumpkins and fleas
Now Playing: "Dukes of Hazard", season and episode unknown

 

 

Spent on dolls today : $8.

Current Mood : Exhausted (and feeling a bit ripped off for payin' what I did for that stuff)

 

Busy day today. It was Dearest Son's field trip day to the pumpkin farm, and I was volunteering. Beloved decided to come along, and that made it more fun ! Another class didn't have enough parents, so ‘Dallas', a sweet little girl, toured with us. There was a hay ride, a corn maze, hay bales to jump in, plastic irrigation tubes to slide down, bicycles to ride, goats, calves, chickens, ducks and bunnies to feed and pet, plus pumpkins to select. Whew ! 

 

And, for a little while, I had a daughter. Dallas was such a sweet, happy girl. I really enjoyed getting to know her a bit. It's a shame her parents had to miss this. I'm truly one of the lucky ones.

 

Funny aside - there were so many kids and families visiting, they trucked in pumpkins ! No joke, they came in these HUGE boxes with Autumn graphics on the sides, just like what you'd see at your local Mal-Wart. Just on flatbed trucks, not linoleum floors. For all I know, they were grown there and were picked to sell, but it was kind of funny to watch the big, strappin' guys unload the things into a pumpkin patch.

 

Beloved picked me a luscious yellow pumpkin flower - it was like a cross between a tulip and a hibiscus. Bees appreciated it too, but that was no big deal. I like bees.

 

We got back to school about an hour and a half before day's end, and Dearest was now sick and tired and wanted to go home with us. He almost cried in the hallway. We hoped he'd be OK, and I told him I'd take him to the flea market if he stayed and came home  on the bus. With Dearest, you have to be specific, or his idea of meeting his end of the promise would be that he stayed five minutes longer than we did.

 

His teacher later told me he'd had a fine afternoon, and not even two minutes after we left, he was chattering away with classmates. Man, that kid knows how to play us ! As promised, we hit the flea down the street as soon as he got off the bus. He selected a large die-cast truck, a replica of a 30s-era pickup. Also a blonde PlaySkool dollhouse father figure wearing a yellow shirt. To him, that was Bo Duke !

 

I got the stuff in the photo. I think I kinda got ripped off a bit, as that cost $8. ! I know, it's cheaper than buying Bratz shoes new, and I got quite a bit for $8., but I didn't think it'd be over $5. ! Anyway, there's several new pairs of footwear for Lila Gamboldt, the Catwalk Kitty who can wear Bratz and My Scene shoes, a nice vinyl jacket (anybody know where that's from ? no tag), a tiny ‘Berry Cute' Ginger Snap doll from a Strawberry Shortcake playset, a trophy with a car on top, a Supergirl lunchbox (that'll become a MST3K lunchbox soon), the boots for the ‘Poison Ivy' doll I bought last month, a broken-neck SuperStar Barbie wearing a pretty green Christmas dress, a blue and white peasant dress (more later) and the pink dress from ‘Perfect Prom' Maxie. 

 

If you look up the Prom Maxie, you'll notice that there's fluffy sleeves on her dress that aren't on mine. One was so badly torn and frayed, I couldn't save it. So I took it off, and the other looked silly on its own, so it came off too. I hate doing that, when one's just fine, but it really did look unbalanced otherwise. It's funny that I never noticed this dress before, especially when I've bought from this seller on numerous occasions.

 

It may be that, a few weeks ago, I posted a photo of Maxie friend Ashley on a doll board. You've seen her before, several times on the main site. Immediately, someone commented that she was the ugliest doll he'd ever seen and looked like a zombie. I exercised extreme restraint and didn't comment that there's lots of dolls I don't like, but I know to keep my mouth shut around those who clearly love them. However, I let slip that this is possibly why more people don't post, and pushed the opinionated loudmouth out of my mind. Rest of the board trounced him thoroughly, so I'm not as nice as you might think. I rather enjoyed reading those comments ! But I think that had something to do with me suddenly noticing the availability of an official Maxie-line dress that's probably been rolling around for a month or two. I still think he's a jerk, but I don't have time or space in my mind for his issues.

 

The peasant dress I thought belonged to a Mattel Lucy Ricardo doll, the ‘Stompin' the Grapes' one. It even had a specialty tag. Turns out, the light in that barnlike structure isn't good. It is a Lucy doll outfit, it's just not by Mattel. It's a Madame Alexander doll's outfit. It was gathered up at the front and back, like Lucille Ball's in the episode, but I fixed that, and washed out some stains and wear. Much better ! It's a bit loose on Barbie-scale dolls, but fits, and looks especially nice on Lila. I'll have to take a picture of my doll clothes' washing machine, it's probably the same one you have. An empty 3lb butter container with a lid. Oh, and another photo of Lila wearing the dress.