If you’ve been participating in a 365 project this year, and you started on January 1st, you’d be on photo number 305 of 365 today. When I was doing 365 (the first time around), it was hard to be creative past the first fifty photos. And even harder after 100, and every subsequent photo after that. By the time I got to 365, I was over taking photos and I didn’t really take any pictures of my dolls for the month or so after that. So for all those lovely people on photo 305 or even photo 30, here are some photo ideas for you:

1. Have your doll take a “selfie” – bonus for having it at an odd angle (e.g. up the nose!) and blurry, like real selfies.
2. Your girl with the top 15 clothing items or shoes that she wears.
3. Dolly + Me photo
4. Your doll with her very own cell phone, texting her dolly BFF.
5. Have a coffee or dessert date with you and your doll.
6. Have your doll sewing her own outfits for a change.
7. Carefully balance her on top of your cat or dog (and hope they stay still with the promise of a treat!).
8. Give your doll their own pet (I have a doll who would recommend a pocket T-rex as the ‘perfect pet’).
9. Doll up your 365 girl in a red carpet-worthy dress.
10. Take a photo of her reading her favourite Blythe blog!

Retail stores have already started to roll out Christmas decorations and it reminds me that some people do start their Christmas shopping early. Unlike me, as I tend to leave it until the week or two before Christmas and end up having to brave busy malls because there is no way that I can have things shipped to me in time and this results in me complaining about crowded malls and the impossibility of finding what I need during the holiday season. But I digress. Some people are much more savvy shoppers than I am and begin early. I could only wish that I had the forethought to remember about Christmas before November and actually do some holiday shopping.

As the holiday season is approaching, I do sometimes get emails from people wanting to buy Blythes for their loved ones. Either for their child or for a spouse/significant other or, very generously, to a friend. And if you’re giving Blythes for Christmas, I would love to be your friend as well! I usually get about 3-5 emails every year about this time where someone’s wondering where they can go to buy a Blythe. And if they’ve heard about Blythe before, they ask where they can go to make sure that they’re buying a legitimate Blythe.

Some great holiday ideas for the Blythe lover in your life could include:

• Doll books! Some titles by Gina Garen include This is Blythe and Blythe Style.
• Pattern books for the sewers/crafters in your life – I would recommend the Doll Coordinate Recipe books that are geared towards new/beginning sewers. They don’t have a volume/issue number attached to them and they are very straight forward with step-by-step photographs
• Fabrics with tiny prints can be a great size for doll clothes or, even better,
• Doll clothes from Etsy or Artfire – just search “Blythe” with dress, outfit, shirt, pants, shorts, skirt and you will come up with a lot of listings in many types of styles

If you are set on buying a doll though, and don’t want to run the risk of getting a “factory” or “fake” doll, here are some suggested websites to try:

• Junie Moon – they are an official retailer and “the” retailer for Blythe, they primarily carry newer releases and also carry other Blythe/doll-related accessories
• CC Toys – they have some older releases as well as newer releases, but prices on some dolls may run higher than you would find on eBay
• Dolly Adoption – a Facebook group, members are required to follow rules that include listing if the doll is a factory or fake

Some commonly faked dolls include: Simply Mango, Simply Guava, Urban Cowgirl, Last Kiss, Ultimate Tour, Ten Happy Memories (anniversary doll) and, unfortunately, most of the translucent/semi-translucent dolls (e.g. Miss Sally Rice, Penny Precious). Many of the fake dolls come in a stock box and clothing or nude/without clothing. If you are not sure about a doll’s origins or suspect that it may be a factory/fake doll, I would recommend asking someone who’s opinion you can trust regarding the legitimacy of the doll, or to post in a Blythe Facebook group to ask for opinions.

I think that dolls make great holiday gifts and whomever you’re buying a doll or doll things for is a very lucky person. Happy shopping this (early) holiday season!

Brainstorming for Halloween costumes is difficult. After all, how do I top a squid outfit? (I know, that’s old news by now, but I still adore the costume.) I’d love to come up with something witty for this year, mostly because Halloween is a creative time and I think it’d be something fun to do.

Last year, it was my Kenners that got involved in the Halloween and the year before it was Belarus (Love Mission). I think this year it may be my FBL fraternal twins who get in on the action, I just need to come up with a doubles/twins costume idea that will work for Moxie (Simply Bubble Boom) and Mollie (Simply Sparkly Spark). Who are Moxie and Mollie? These two lovelies…

Boo!

They already do spooky so well, as Blythes without eye chips in are likely to do! But I still need some costuming ideas. And then the time to actually put them together, because that takes time (and effort) as well! My favourite part about Halloween is actually the day after. Discounted chocolate? Discounted candies to put me on a sugar high until Christmas? Don’t mind if I do! Sugar is as sugar does, I do enjoy getting to munch some on some goodies while I’m in school because it helps keep me awake.

So far I’ve been considering the following ideas for their costumes – do you have any suggestions?:

• The girls from The Shining
• Insects of some sort
• Mummies!
• Something science-fiction inspired

The dreaded “D” word that nobody wants to hear: diet. Specifically, I am referring to the phrase dolly diet. As a dreadfully unemployed, full-time student who spends all of her “free” time either studying or online (socialization doesn’t typically occur in my life – sad but true). Due to this unemployment state, I don’t get to buy as many dolly things as I would like. With unlimited funds, I would probably do things like… Buy a Parco or pricey custom doll on a whim, buy a minty Kenner or all the Middies just because I could. But I don’t have unlimited funds, so what’s a girl to do?

Dolly diet time!

Because I do budget some small amount of funds towards “fun” purchases, I’ve reduced the amount that I feel is appropriate to spend because the ‘fun’ money needs to also cover eating out, new clothes and other fun things. I’m sure that I’m not the only person in the doll community who needs to budget for dolly shopping. I tend to ‘binge’ shop, mostly because I have to go periods without buying doll things. So for the month of October, and until the next of the term (December), I have decided to not spend more than $10 a month on doll-related purchases.

Time to sew?

This means no doll purchases, and likely no purchases until December when I can combine all the funds into one purchase. It will be a good break from spending because I’ll be keeping myself on track by not spending copious amounts of money on dolly goods. The best way that I can ‘save’ is by shopping locally – like when others in my local doll group is purging out sundries! In addition, I could also spend time crafting for my dolls – I do have fabric, thread and elastic (not to mention all the patterns that I have!). It could be less expensive overall if I only use supplies that I have on hand!

Like with all things in life, it’s important to consider how much you can afford to spend and to factor in extra costs before making a purchase – like shipping! Things you should consider before making a purchase online:

• Cost of item
• Cost of shipping for one item (or multiple items)
• Potential custom fees

Generally speaking, when you’re buying an item online the cost of the item is just the beginning. There’s always additional costs to consider, especially when you’re making an international purchase that requires shipping and has the potential of incurring custom fees!

So I have this Human, you know, who seems to forget that I am the sole reason that she decided to go on to collect more Blythes. And I am the reason that she ended up getting “Princess Prim” (gag me). But yes, my loyal readers, you all read her admissions that she plays favourite and that she would leave me behind in a fire if it came to it. And even worse, I found out that she had been buying gorgeous dresses and keeping them from me.

Case in point? Proof!

See? She’s always “blah blah blah, KENNERS” when she should really be focusing on me because I am the reason for everything. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that she acknowledge this on a regular basis with material goods, is it? She spends so much of her time with the precious Kenners and fixing their hair and making sure that they have new things to wear. And what do I have to wear? I’ve been wearing the same outfit for a week, you guys! This is cruel and unusual punishment! (I won’t be showing a photo of that, I cannot bear to be more humiliated to my peers!)

I hope you are all being taken care of much better than my Human does when it comes to me. And if you have any tips to make your Human care about you more than those pesky old and cracked “vintage” dolls, let me know! I may have to hold a garage sale when my Human isn’t looking and get rid of them, Toy Story style.

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.