The great thing about cushions is that there is a huge range of ‘standard’ sizes’ for the 1:1 scale crowd (that being us!). For Blythe, I wanted to make some throw cushions for that great Ikea HUSET couch (modeled after the KLIPPAN). My real-life throw cushions on my real couch range from 12″x12″ to 16″x16″ which, in 1:6 scale, would be be 2″x2″ or 2.67″x2.67″.  The nice thing is that you can make these in a variety of sizes, or all the same size. Click to read more of this entry.

Every year, many people who make New Year Resolutions usually include something about eating healthier, exercising more, save money, or just spending less of it on things that they don’t necessarily need. Contrary to popular belief, Blythe is not a need (I know, I know), it is a want. As many of you may already know, I am a student and currently unemployed. I sadly cannot live off of sunshine and clean air, because if you know anything about British Columbia in the winter months, is that there are many days with zero sunshine.

A personal challenge to myself for the first month of 2015 is to do a No Spend month, and it sounds as fun as it is. My exceptions are: tuition, groceries, gas, regular bills, and other necessary things in life. Necessary things would be like medication, and not doll shoes. (Personally, I think that doll shoes are a necessity in leading a cute life, but somehow I don’t think that would make it a challenge if that was an exception…)

“More dresses for me? Great!” – Kitty Brighton

So in addition to my current goals for the new year, I will also be including a limit on dolly-things-spending until August. To make it fun, I want to limit myself to $15 a month (starting from February) to put towards doll things or crafting materials to make things for my dolls. It’s a high enough budget that I could definitely purchase shoes or a dress, but not so high that I’m adding to my stellar designer dolly frock collection, if you know what I mean. $15 a month is an affordable amount of frivolous spending money, for me. An affordable monthly budget for you  may be different for you, based on your own income and financial responsibilities.

August will be my ‘big’ dolly spending month because, hello BlytheCon! and I will be employed by then *knocks on wood*.

For my set limit when determining my budget, I looked at what I spent on dolls and doll things last year, divided it by 3 and then divided it by 11 months (since January is a no spend month). That way I’ll be spending less this year (overall, hopefully, despite August) on dolls and doll things. Three cheers for keeping things under control!

The thought of my Blythes taking part in hobbies that I partake in just tickles me, so I had to find a way to get them involved in knitting. If you already know how to knit, this DIY will be a lot easier for you. If you don’t already know how to knit, you will need to learn how to cast-on (I use the long tail cast-on) and how to do the knit stitch. I find that KnittingHelp.com (very appropriately named!) is very helpful when it comes to learning knitting, they have many free videos! Click to read more of this entry.

I saw this adorable string of bunting that was designed to be strung across the top of cupcakes on skewers. It was super cute, and came in a variety of designs (football! minions! robots!). It was also $7.50 per package and I knew that was just too much, I could definitely make something that was more size-appropriate for Blythe at a much cheaper cost. So I did.

You will need:

• String (or thread) – 30cm long (I used extra pull string cord – $1 for 3 colours, 11m/12yd total)
• Washi/paper tape (as many or as little designs as you want!) – I paid $2 for 3 rolls of tape
• Ruler
• Scissors

Directions:

Cut your string or thread so that it is 30cm long. You can make it longer or shorter if you’d like. Knot the ends. The knot helps the dolls hold the bunting a little bit better!

Cut pieces of washi tape to be 4cm each (approximately 1.25″).

Fold each piece of washi tape over the string, make the ends meet (even out with scissors as needed).

Put one piece approximately every 3cm, or evenly across the string.

Using your scissors, cut out a small triangle from the rectangle of tape.

Hang around your doll house or have your dolls have in a photo. And you’re done!

I am always on the look out for things that are cute and scaled for Blythe. Most recently, I went to a popular Japanese import store that sells all sorts of knick knacks, snacks, and other fantastic things – mostly for $2 a piece. And I came across these near their baskets section (yes, they have an entire section for baskets):

Small chairs! In dark pink! They had other colours too – I saw blue, green, and yellow. If they had black, I probably would have gotten black instead.

So for $2 a piece ($4+tax), I came home with two fantastic plastic chairs. Each chair came with two stickers – one was on the back, and the other one the front – the front one was a lot easier to remove. I still need to remove some of the gummy residue, but this is definitely one of my favourite recent dolly-related purchases. Aside from my cat, but that’s really a story for another day.

Cameo is wearing Plastic Fashion (dress) and Endangered Sissy (leggings).

Bonus! For easy storage (or shipping…) the legs of the chairs can detach, and then be simply snapped back into place.

Definitely not a bad price. I believe these chairs were originally meant to prop up cell phones, so that might be something you want to consider using as a search term on sites like eBay. Of course, if you are planning on coming to Vancouver next August for BlytheCon Vancouver, you can always visit the shop in person. And perhaps meet Cameo?

What are your fun and inexpensive finds for Blythe?