I was eyeing my KLIPPAN the other day (the pink Blythe-sized one from HUSET, not a real 1:1 scale couch) and was thinking how much better it would look if it was a different colour. Now, I know that there are slip covers available online like via Etsy but I’m still trying to curb the spending and keep my ‘fun’ spending on the lower side of things because it’s not a necessity. Trying to live a frugal life with a luxury hobby like Blythe is almost like a paradox in a way because it’s Blythe and not exactly a frugal or inexpensive hobby no matter how you look at it.

So I got the idea that I would knit a slip cover for the KLIPPAN. I’m sure you’re all thinking “But Michelle, sewing would be so much faster” and yes, it would be, but you don’t understand how poor of a sewer I am in terms of actually sewing in straight lines. I’m a lot better at knitting, and with the mishaps that may happen it may very well be faster for me to knit the slip cover than it would be for me to sew one. I really wanted to go for a much different colour than the original pink colour (I will not be painting it as I do like the stock pink colour), so I picked out a few colours that I was musing about.

I decided on the one in the middle (the brown), mostly because it’s something that seemed like it would be a good neutral choice – mostly because while I love the reddish purple and the green, I thought a nice neutral colour might be better for now. I have my supplies (yarn, needles, couch for sizing it up against) and I’m probably going to attempt to write a pattern for all of the pieces as I work on it (in case anyone else is as crazy as I am, and for when I decide to go with another colour!). I think it’ll be fun to try to work in different stitch patterns to get the different textures for some visual interest.

Hopefully this pans out. At the time of writing, I have not started actually knitting this. I’m not sure if it will turn out or if it will be a lesson in futility. Hopefully it works out and I don’t regret wasting the time on it (and if it does turn out funny, at least I know?).

When I was first new to Blythe, I thought that sleepy eyes were just so neat. I gathered up some courage and opened up my first and third Blythe dolls in order to give them sleepy eyes. The only reason that Blythe #2 didn’t get them because it was Belarus (a Love Mission) and she’s an EBL and I was/still am quite antsy about the thought of opening an EBL (or BL, or that matter). I will open up a Kenner if it’s necessary, but getting my hands on the inside of an EBL has me going nope! in a really emphatic way.

But they’re still useful. One of the reasons why I like sleepy eyes because it gives you a great variety of expressions from an already interestingly expressive face. However, I am just not a fan of having many strings – most of the time I just want to swap from on set of chips to the next and I’m not interested (or caring) to have my dolls ‘sleep’ between colours. This is funnily enough the primary reason why the majority of my Blythes do not have sleepy eyes. I have 6 RBLs, 2 FBLs, and 1 RBL+ and only 3 of them have sleepy eyes despite them all being fairly easy to open (all 3 dolls are RBLs, 1 is a full custom and came to me with sleepy eyes). I’m a creature of habit, but also lazy with the strings. Sad, but true!

Do your Blythes have sleepy eyes or you do you dislike sleepy eyes for whatever reason?

You have a doll-related website/shop/blog and BlytheLife has your target audience!

BlytheLife.com is an active doll website with a high readership that primarily consists of women who are Blythe and other doll collectors/hobbyists. By advertising your doll-related site or business with BlytheLife, you can ensure that your ad is being seen by the people that are your potential customers. Every time someone visits BlytheLife, they’ll see your ad on the side!

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There are three spots currently available for the month of December and all sponsorship funds go towards the costs of keeping BlytheLife.com live on the internet. I provide content for free on BlytheLife.com, but just because I give something doesn’t mean my hosting company is willing to give for free too! A little bit goes a long way, and I hope you have gotten something positive from BlytheLife.com and would love to give back!

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Welcome to the 2015 Blythe Holiday Shopping Guide! This is part 1 of a 3 part mini-series to help those who are trying to figure out what to buy for themselves, or what to buy for the Blythe-lover in their life. Over the next three weeks, I will be mentioning a few things within a certain price range that I think Blythe lovers would be over the moon about receiving for the upcoming holiday season!

For the first part of the 2015 Blythe Holiday Shopping Guide, I will be looking at things that are $25 USD or less (including shipping, if it’s an online purchase).

1. The Ikea HUSET Bedroom Set – I love this set. I bought it recently for myself and I think it’s pretty sweet. It would be a fantastic gift for someone who owns Middies. For those looking for a gift for someone else, a Middie looks like this:

2. To go with the bedroom set, the Ikea HUSET Living Room Set would be a great addition. This one is a little bit more versatile because it is sized better for the full size Blythe dolls. The white Expedit is one of my favourite pieces. If you don’t think pink is your gift recipient’s favourite colour, you can also go to Etsy and search for custom couch covers.

3. I love storage boxes, and they’re pretty cheap! I get my plastic organizer boxes at Michaels, usually when they are 50% off, for $1.50. So even if you don’t have a coupon, $3 is not a bad deal at all! If you really want to go the extra mile, buy your loved one some doll shoes too!

4. I am a huge fan of tea (I even have a tea blog now!), but what is even more darling is doll sized tea sets. These can be both inexpensive and expensive. You can generally find some sets at dollar stores, you just need to watch the size and make sure they look ‘right’. You can also look on eBay and search for something like “playscale china tea set” or “Barbie china tea set” to get the right sizing – I did a quick search while writing and found a lot of sets that were priced at $10 USD or less, and many of them had free shipping.

Happy shopping! What’s coming up next week? Only time will tell!

I have quite a few wants, not needs, when it comes to Blythe. Just a few, but here they are in no particular order:

• I want an affordable Blythe doll that comes with translucent plastic that doesn’t become overpriced on the secondary market before pre-orders even get shipped out the door (and then I also want to own one, preferably with pink hair)
• I want more doll boots (because tiny shoes are my favourite things), I’d also love for Takara to produce another set of boots/shoes! It’s been almost 5 years since the Shoe Cruise Day & Night sets were released (December 2010, according to Blythopia.com).
• I want official Middie outfit sets or shoes releases! It’s also been a long time since the last official Blythe outfit set (2009).

• I want a doll with curly hairy that doesn’t look like a hot nest the moment it leaves the box. Is that so difficult to achieve? (Above is Cedar, my Monique Magnifique – this is post at least one hair detangling session.)
• I want to add a couple more dolls to my family – but being responsible is kind of making that unlikely right now! If I did have the funds, I’d love to add a BL (my first!) and another Kenner to the doll family.
• I want to craft more! When I was down about not having a job, I didn’t really spend a lot of money on my dolls because of the fact that there’s such a buy-buy-buy mentality that I can get into at times. This is one of the reasons why I tend to buy in bursts – a lot of purchases in a very short period of time, and then I sit there wondering about where my money all went! I’ve definitely tightened the proverbial belt when it comes to unnecessary spending, which makes me want to do more – which includes using supplies (that I already own!) to create things.

Some of these wants (mostly the curly hair, adding new dolls to my family at this moment in time) are a bit more of a pipe dream than other wants right now, but I do think some of them are achievable. Including the aspect of crafting more, and perhaps sending an email to the people who make the decisions about new doll and accessory designs that there are people who want more shoe sets in hopes of getting it done.

What are some things that you want more of when it comes to Blythe? Share in the comments below!