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Lightbulb Moment: I think that I finally get it

Written on November 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Musings with tags:

Socks over tights?

I never really understood the appeal of struggling to put tights and leggings and socks onto the legs of Blythes. To me, it’s a chore. I mean, they’re nice to look at, but they’re just a challenge to put on the dolls. I have a hard enough time with putting tights on me because I don’t like pantyhose. But it’s not like there’s a way for me to find thigh-highs for Blythes with accompanying garter belts (unless you happen to know of someone who does make them, in which case please leave a comment below with a link to their store!). And while I am capable of sewing tiny doll clothing, I occasionally have a feverish case of the Lazy and I just can’t be bothered. Which is probably why I don’t sew as much of my dolls’ wardrobe as I’d like.

But I’m rambling.

My local Blythe group (an absolutely wonderful group of ladies from British Columbia) had a great person who took on the task of organizing a group order on some popular site (you may have heard of them, they sell eye chips and tights and things like t-bars and scalps and may have the name of an animal in their site name). This was a fantastic idea. And a bad idea. Fantastic because group shipping is cheaper than all of us paying for our own shipping costs and bad because it made me go “Ohhh, I could buy X, Y and Z and save on shipping? SOLD!”. I’m weak, I really am.

Of my little bag full of goodies, I bought some nude fishnet tights. Nude because I didn’t really want them being obvious. To me, the nude fishnets would be the tights that remain on the doll for a long, long, long time. Only to be removed when they start getting dingy.

But then I went and tried to put socks onto my doll’s leg after having put on the fishnets (that fought me the entire way – I had to see a little bit of baby powder on her legs first). And they [the socks] slid up the legs without fighting me. It was like a lightbulb moment where I realized that there was an actual benefit to leaving fishnets on my dolls. It makes putting socks on so much easier.

Fantastic, isn’t it? I finally get it.

Now if I could just remember to put shoes on my dolls when they leave the house.

And jackets. It’s cold here and it looks funny when there’s snow on the ground and my dolls are out and about without a jacket on.

Question of the Week: The maximum you would spend on a doll?

Written on November 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Question of the Week

Whenever I go by the toy department and look at Monster High dolls, I cannot seem to bring myself to fork up the $30 (yes, they’re more expensive in Canada) for one of those dolls. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I can always go back to the store and buy one? Oh, and then there are Lalaloopsy which retails for around $25+ here. But my first Blythe was $200. To be fair, they’re all dolls. What’s the big deal about spending $30 on a doll?

I enjoy the rarity of Blythe, even though sometimes it feels like that everyone and their mother has the same stock dolls as me in their collections. I enjoy the fact that not everyone knows what a Blythe is. I enjoy that aspect of it.

But it has still made me reluctant to buy a $30 doll. Which seems strange to me because I’ve spent much more than that on a Blythe. For the cost of my first Blythe, I could have purchased nearly 7 of them. That’s a lot of Monsters. But there’s something very special about Blythe that just commands access to my wallet (unfortunately). Which is likely why I had absolutely no problems forking up the money for a Kenner. Suddenly it seems like such a great deal because, you know, Kenners are expensive! So for non-Blythes, I’m just down-right unable to pay for them. I freeze a few steps away from the dolls aisle and just put the boxes back, somewhat reluctantly. I love admiring them, but I’m afraid that they won’t be as loved in my dolly family as the Blythes are. Even though I’ve recently added my first ball-jointed doll to the mix, Blythe is still my number one.

What is the maximum you would spend on a doll?

Freebie Friday Five: 005

Written on November 25, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags:

Every month’s last Friday (or just once a month, sometime on a Friday) is part of a feature on BlytheLife.com, Freebie Friday Five. Welcome everyone to the fourth instalment! I mention 5 things I love every month that’s free to do/read/see.

If you have any suggestions for next month’s Freebie Friday Five, please don’t hesitate to email me! Maybe you have a site you think that I should feature or a pattern that’s free and up on the web? Tell me!

For the month of November, I found quite a bit of things that I liked! And some things I just ‘rediscovered’, because it’s always nice to find new gems. Everything is crafting and DIY-related this week, so get out your crafting supplies!

  1. In the world of Flickr Groups, I absolutely love Doll Coordinate Recipe and other pattern mooks. While there are no free patterns, people will post up photos of things that they have made, as well as scans of the finished item pages in the books so you can browse to see if you like the styles of the clothes available in the books first before buying them! I used this group to check out the inside pages of a few of the DCR’s that I ended up buying after deciding that I liked the styles and fashions inside.
  2. The very lovely and generous Kathie Pendry posted up some knitting patterns on Blythe Kingdom back in February and I’m still trying to find the motivation to work on such tiny needles. But regardless of my motivation (or lackthereof), you can go and check out the patterns yourself! You will need an account on Blythe Kingdom though, so be sure to sign up!
  3. Also in the DIY-stream is a website on how to build dollhouses called let’s build a dollhouse. I love it, it’s such a cute website and has great tutorials. My favourite project that I hope to do sometime soon? Making my dolls a couch!
  4. For more DIY craftiness, I found a fantastic blog that doesn’t have very much in terms of actual tutorials, but there are a lot of photos of in-progress projects and the level of detail is astounding. The blog is called Fashion Doll Shoes and many of the shoes lately have been geared towards Monster High dolls, but ideas can always be adapted for your favourite changing-eyed doll.
  5. Last in the world of crafts, Tiny Zippers has a great tutorial on how to make your very own dolly clothing-sized hangers.

If you know of a site, group or activity that you think I should highlight in next month’s Freebie Friday Five, let me know! Comment below or email me.

ScrummyLand Giveaway: The Winner!

Written on November 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Giveaway with tags: ,

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the ScrummyLand giveaway! There was such a huge variety of favourite shirts currently available and a lot of fun and creative ideas that you all had for Vicky for potential new designs! I’m sure she finds it all very helpful and maybe you’ll even see your suggestion popping up in her shop.

A special thank you to Vicky of ScrummyLand and Chicki.co.uk for sponsoring this fun giveaway!

And just to remind you of the prize that will be rewarded…

  • One lovely knit hat
  • One fluffy top
  • Handmade miniature food items

If you didn’t win, you can still check out ScrummyLand and use the code FREESHIP for free worldwide shipping until the end of the month.

And the winner is… Click to read more of this entry.

Treasures for Dollars: Item 6

Written on November 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm by Michelle
Filed under: Article with tags:

Treasures For Dollars is a mini-series that is completely focused on things that I actually find (and buy) from dollar stores and other similar stores. It will alternate with Blythe On A Budget articles for the next little while until the finale of the mini-series (at Part 10). I hope you enjoy the series!

I really like cute things, which is one of the reasons why I like cupcakes, baby animals and Blythe (not necessarily in that order). What cute things generally have in common is that they’re generally small, or have exaggerated features that work in their favour, or just some whimsical little thing that makes they really awesome. I found the cutest thing ever at the dollar store a week or so ago. Wooden clothespins. There are 45 in a package at a dollar per pack. They also had coloured ones, but I felt that the plain wooden ones were a little bit more realistic. I don’t recall the last time I ever saw coloured wooden normal-sized clothespins for sale, but I do remember seeing plain wooden ones. So they’re this week’s treasure because they’re a) super adorable, b) realistic-looking and c) very affordable at a dollar per package.

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What’s a good inexpensive dolly-find you discovered recently?

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