A little something to all those knitters out there in the Blythe community – a pullring dishcloth. But you don’t need to use it as a dishcloth. You could knit many of them and make a blanket, or knit a few and make cushion cover, or just knit a set for yourself because – why not? Or even just the one would make a nice little doll blanket. Who wouldn’t want to snuggle with a blanket that has a pullring on it?

Needed knitting skills: casting on, knitting, purling, casting off and being able to read a chart.

Click here to download the free knitted pullring dishcloth pattern.

There is still time before the fourteenth to get things together for day of love for your Blythes!

To help you out a bit, here’s a fun little freebie that you can print at home to make some that all of your dolls get a little Valentine. There are 24 different styles, all using vintage images, so that should be more than enough for all of your dolls – unless you really have that many dolls! Each page prints out 48 individual cards.

Stylized like the Valentine’s that I used to get in elementary school, the front is the design and the back is left blank for someone to scribble a little note of wishing someone a happy Valentine’s day.

Click here to download the printable Valentine’s Day cards.

You can find more freebies available on BlytheLife.com on the Freebies page.

Move over pink, there’s a new colour in town. I know there are some people who adore the colour pink, but it’s just so over by now (sorry, Eden!). With the Olympics right around the corner, I want to remind you all of some really great colours: gold, silver and bronze. More importantly, you should all be decked out in these colours. Now, maybe not necessarily bronze (that is third place, after all!) but definitely gold and silver. More gold and silver, I say!

Gold and silver look great – regardless if it’s super shiny or kinda dulled down to not look too flashy. You can’t be too covered in sequins in the office (or so Michelle tells me), which is kind of boring in a way, but if you want to stay employed in order to buy more friends like me it may be good idea. Now, there is such a thing as “over doing” something. You don’t want to be like my little sister Eden and only ever wear one colour. That’s just awful and, frankly a bit boring. No, if you’re going to go with gold or silver, you should pair it off with another colour. Maybe one that won’t over power the metallic sheen because that would defeat the purpose.

Here’s a look at some of the clothes that I’ve pulled together. Now wearing all of this would be a little overkill (because, hello, wearing two dresses at the same time?), but a little gold or silver here and there works out well! And with that, I’m all ready for the Olympics as I cheer on Team Canada, how about you?

Sophie is a mostly stock Cappuccino Chat that came to live with me in June 2009. She loves shoes, new clothes, playing with her hair, fashion, magazines full of fluff and shopping. She aspires to be a model and would like to model for some of the ‘great’ dolly fashion houses one day.

I find that one of the best ways to avoid shopping on forums (and Etsy shops, and eBay) for new dolly clothes is to start shopping – in what I already have! Sometimes dresses can get tucked away under other dresses and be ‘lost’. When you unearth them it’s a little like finding something new again. That and making new outfit combinations with a handful of items means more mixing-and-matching (gotta love separates!) and less spending money.

Tights are fantastic and can add a great *pop* of colour to an outfit. Using existing items – like stock from dolls that you don’t use often, can be mixed and matched with newer items to make them ‘fresh’ again. Like that fur coat that came with Cappuccino Chat? Bam, new again. And why not? It’s a well made piece of stock that goes quite under-appreciated. Like most doll collectors, I own a fair bit of doll clothes. And like quite a few Blythe collectors, I keep the stock items that my dolls come with. Sometimes I even seek out items that come with other dolls. Knowing that I’m bad about letting dolls go, it would be a very expensive option to go ahead and buy all the doll that are released with great stock just to get a hold of their outfits on the idea that I would be able to resell the dolls afterwards (most likely, they would become permanent members of the household).

What I’d like challenge you all to do is to consider what’s the least worn item, and try to build an outfit around that. For me, it would probably be the Love Mission police outfit. I rarely use any of the pieces, so I decided to utilize the pants and the shirt-and-tie. Pairing them up with a different pair of shoes (remember, LM came with both heels and loafers!) and a different jacket, it’s possible to put together new combinations all the time and it makes for a fun exercise for making something ‘new’ from the old.

From head to toe, I’m going to be sharing the wardrobe staples that are used on a regular basis within my doll family. Staples to me means things that can go well with many outfits, can be classic designs that won’t go out of style (but it’s dolls, so who cares?) and mostly solid colours. Not that prints or designs can’t be wardrobe staples as well, but solid colours tend to go better with more things (such as black or white). Here are some of the things I’d come up with!

Basic black helmet (or hat). Just something good to travel in, it helps keep the bangs in check and the hair from going every-which-way when your plastic sidekick is in transit.

Solid colour tops – including shirts and cardigans/sweaters. We like a “classic” look here, so a white collared shirt and a cute cardigan is the way to go.

Jeans. Jeans, jeans and more jeans. Notice I’m not showing you dresses or skirts. I wear jeans on occasion and they are fantastic for just looking smart from day to day. Dark coloured ones are best to add to this ‘staple’ collection. (Please, for the love of all things Blythe, do not leave dark coloured clothing on your dolls for long periods of time or have on dark coloured denim on them without tights/leggings on first. Blythes can stain! Don’t put on a pair of jeans at the expense of her legs!)

Now shoes. We all know that I love a good pair of doll shoes. Today is no exception. I utilize the plain, solid-coloured ones the most because black and white go with so very much but never under estimate the beauty of a good pair of brown, yet detailed boots. The brown ones are stock shoes that came with Monique Magnifique and they are darling and I love them. I want a pair for me. And being brown in colour, they can go with quite a bit!

These are just some of the wardrobe staples that exist in my dolls’ ever-expanding closet! What are some of the staples in your dolls’ closet?