Julia Has Gone to Live With Mrs. Smith

I have given Julia to Mrs. Smith, because she expressed a desire to start collecting the Small Dolls. She had to give her collection (the ones who visited us briefly) back to her mom. So I offered her Julia, since I hadn't gotten attached to her yet and Wayfarers Inn is getting a little crowded (except for men--we need more men). You can read here http://dollyfever.blogspot.com/ about how she ended up with Julia.

Another Accidental Doll

She was at Washoe ARC and I knew her fate would not be a kind one if I didn't get her (okay, Auntie Berman got her). She cost less than a dollar. We named her Julia.

She seems to be some sort of Beauty Queen or Princess, with her sash and tiara. She likes Wayfarers Inn.

"This is our bedroom," explains Dorinda, "even though there isn't any bed yet."

The checkerboard will be the bedroom wall, although it isn't affixed to anything yet which causes a few problems at times.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Edward talks to Lily.

"Lily, I think I should tell you about my Past."

More About the New Girls

I made each girl an outfit, although they aren't the greatest creations I've ever done. The black-haired one is named Lily and the formerly Amish one is Sally.

I removed the fringe of hair from Sally's forehead with acetone (accidently taking off a little of her right eyebrow) and gave her reddish brown hair. I was able to scrape the black paint off her feet, so she's no longer wearing high black boots. As I was scraping, I thought of my aunt and uncle who used to own a general store in rural Pennsylvania. The women who worked at the chicken factory would buy their boots at the general store and they always wanted white boots, "because they're prettier," they would explain to my aunt and uncle. The fact that the pretty white boots would soon be covered with chicken guts and blood didn't enter into it. I think I would have preferred black boots that wouldn't show the blood.

"You are my mother," cried Gloriana.

Sally is going to adopt Juliana, since she is an orphan.

"We'll be sisters!" says Juliana happily.

Georgia had thought briefly about adopting Juliana and now was glad she hadn't.

"Oh Alice," says Lily, "I think a pink toilet is wonderful!"

Alice doesn't have the heart to tell Lily that the toilet will be painted white.

"I don't care about your past, Edward. I really like you."

But what would Lily say if she knew the truth about Edward?

Two More Dolls

I found two dollies at work that I had to bring home. They are from the 60s, made of vinyl.

An Amish doll for Gloriana's mother! I can't wait to de-Amishize her and give her some hair and new clothes. She has a fringe of brown hair in front, but is bald otherwise. The one on the right has beautiful black hair and blue eyes. Her dress is in good shape but she wants a more versatile wardrobe. They both need their staples removed.

"My long lost daughter!"

Gloriana's not sure about this. She has vague memories of her Amishness but she likes her golden hair and pink dress too much to be sure if she wants an Amish mother. I assured her that her mother would soon have lots of hair and a pretty dress. (I had nothing against the Amish until I heard about the puppy mills they run.)

The girls are shown around the house.

"What a lovely dining room!"

Starla is keeping a close watch on Reginald, while Mr. Constantinople admires from afar. Edward isn't sure how much of his past the new dolls know, so he is keeping a low profile.

"And this is the library where we often relax," explains Cassie. 

There is a new bookcase in the library. It used to be pink but was mercifully painted. There is also a small chest donated by Auntie Berman.

Cassie Gets a New Dress; Charlie Gets a New Body

Gazing at a pen with a huge silk (okay, it's not really silk) rose attached to it, I was inspired to make a rose petal dress and picked Cassie as the lucky recipient.

I realize the shade of red wasn't particularly good for her coloring and maybe the hat is a little too much, but she likes it anyway.

Here is how I did it:

These are leftover petals. The ones I used were bigger and fuller. I folded the middle pedal down and sewed along where the pin it.

I sewed three of these together and used stick-on velcro to fasten it. The top was made from a four-petal rose. I'm not sure how I did it, but velcro was involved.

Wow! That's a lot of red. Flora dutifully admires the dress.

"Sorry to interrupt your picnic, but I just had to show off my new dress."

Meanwhile, Chardonnay was concerned about the glue and felt on her back. I tried using acetone to remove it but couldn't get it all off. So I decided to do a body transplant, since I had two available bodies (but no extra arms or heads, unfortunately).

It looks like a case of leprosy

Body comparison

Charlie's new body is taller and thinner than the old. The color actually matches her head better, although her arms are lighter. Her lovely sparkly dress is from a blouse Mrs. Smith brought us.

Lola and Glorious are relieved that Charlies won't compete with their headdresses

In the continuing toilet saga, we found what is probably a Barbie toilet but it's incomplete and I'm not sure what kind of a base we can use. It will definitely be painted!