American Girl Outsider: Crafting Creatively: Picking Perfect Prints and Fabric

American Girl Outsider: Crafting Creatively: Picking Perfect Prints and Fabric



I've been following this blog for a while. This post has helped me a lot so I'd like to share with anyone else who'd like to improve their doll sewing skills. The tips are helpful for all types of dolls not just AG.

Ever After High Dexter Charming

I finally got the Ever After High Dexter Charming doll for a great price from Amazon on Cyber Monday. Shipping was so fast. It was incredible. 

Dexter is a prince so he's a royal. 

I'm so excited. I've wanted him for a long time but I couldn't find him in the toy stores. The online price was ridiculous until Cyber Monday. 

I need more male dolls that are articulated. They're hard to find at a reasonable price. 

I can't wait until Mattel releases another boy from Ever After High. I hope they release Dexter's brother Daring Charming or the one that wears green and plays guitar in the webisodes on YouTube. I forgot his name and I don't feel like googling it. 

This is the back of his box. It has an interview with Dexter. It says his roommate Hunter Huntsman and other crap. It's in French and English. 

I'm very happy that the doll doesn't have that stupid smirk on his face. 

His hair was a complete mess out of the box so I fixed that first. I used regular old hair gel to slick it down. I like his hair best this way. He's a very good looking young man. 

Here he is wearing his glasses and crown. I don't like this look at all. These will be the first to go. 

His clothes and accessories seem to be made out of cheap materials. They aren't as nice as Hunter Huntman's. Nothing he's wearing matches. He's clashing like crazy. Maybe Mattel was going for the newest, ironic hipster look. I guess that explains the ugly glasses with no lenses. How cheap. I hate it. 

I have no idea what this is supposed to be. Don't care, either. It's hideous. 

Here are his high top sneakers. Hunter's boots are much better. 

There is simply no excuse for this sorry backpack. It's made out of dull looking, hollow plastic. It doesn't even open. Precious natural resources were wasted to make this. 

There isn't anything I can do with this thing. I'll probably throw it away. I don't even want it taking up space in my tiny apartment. I couldn't get it to show up very well in photos. Just ugly. 

At least, Hunter's bag can open and close and you can put stuff in it.   

I'll buy Dexter a new one soon. 

Dexter and Hunter have the same exact hands. Why? I just don't know. 

Here's Dexter and Hunter. Great looking guys. 

I put Hunter's boots on one of my Taeyangs. I broke a foot prying the boots off Taeyang's foot. I glued his foot back together the best I could. 

I learned a very valuable lesson. I'll never put a pair of boots on a Taeyang ever again. 

Here are their stands. Pretty much the same. 

Here are Liv dolls wearing Apple White's and Dexter's glasses. 

Hunter and Dexter are much better looking than Liv doll Jake but Jake has more dexterity. He can do crazy poses. He's just real ugly. 

These two look like they're more than roommates to me. 

Hunter has inherited the crown. Dexter doesn't mind. It looks better on him. He looks like a Persian prince. 

Guess who makes a cute couple? 

Here's Hunter wearing his new crown and sitting on his new throne. He makes a pretty good royal. 

Robotica

Little Pullip Rida

I ordered a couple of dolls from Amazon.com during their Cyber Monday sale. The prices were excellent plus free shipping with no tax so I decided to get a Little Pullip. I'm still not willing to buy a regular Pullip doll.

I didn't take that many photos of this doll because I really don't like it. There is nothing special about it. 

She's a mini version of this Pullip:

I don't own this photo. I got it from Google images. As you can see, this Pullip looks pretty awesome. Her outfit is really nice. I'm not crazy about her wig but I love everything else about her. I don't know anything else about this doll. 

Anyway, I'm stuck with this thing:

Here she is right out of her box. Hair is a mess. Boots and socks are painted on. Her clothes are cheaply made. It was hard to get her on her stand with her jacket on. I was happy that she, at least, came with a stand. Her eyes are big and crazy looking. She's about 4 1/2 inches tall. 

She came with a little button which you can see in this photo. Whoopie!

This is the back of her box. 

Here she is with a Littlest Petshop Blythe. I have several LPS Blythes. I like them muck better. They have much cuter faces, better made clothes, real shoes, were cheaper and came with pets and accessories. A better buy, IMO. 

Unfortunately, LPS Blythes have been discontinued but they can still be found for sale online for inflated prices. 

Here's a close up. Not a good photo. I did put gel in Rida's hair to tame it. It looks much better. She has eyelashes that are shorter than Blythe's. Her eyes don't move. 

She fell off of a shelf. Here's how she landed. I get tired of her falling over. The stand isn't sturdy. 

RIDa with my new Taeyang Alberic that I also ordered on Cyber Monday. They've become fast friends and they look so cute. But, whatever. I'll never get another Little Pullip doll again. 

Robotica

Our Generation Mini Lana Doll Review

I went to Target over the summer and decided to pick up one of the mini Our Generarion dolls after seeing them on a few other blogs. There were only two left so I'm assuming that these dolls are popular. They cost around $10. That's seems like a lot to me now because I'm getting used to the thrift store prices. 

Here is Mini Lana. Her box was a little beat up. She stands around 6 1/2 inches or 14 cm. 

There's a bunch of dumb crap written on the back of the box. 

Her acrylic eyes are very pretty. I prefer them to painted on eyes that some dolls have. Other than that, her face is plain and simple yet sweet. 

She's a ginger with green eyes. Her clothes don't fit her very well and look a little sloppy but the quality isn't too bad considering the price. 

She's wearing a hot pink trench coat, jeggings (jean leggings), a striped blouse and (rain?) boots. 

The hair quality is nice. I don't know how this doll would hold up with a child playing with it on a regular basis. For me, it's fine because she's going to be on display, mostly. 

The blouse is a very bad fit. I may have to make her a new one when I finally get around to it in the year 2051. So it may never happen. 

The trench coat has Velcro in the front behind the buttons to keep it close. And, of course, the belt which is sewn to the sides of the coat. Don't have to worry about losing it. 

Her blouse fastens with Velcro in the back. Her jeggings are a stretchy material. The boots slip on and off easily. 

That blouse is a hot mess. 

Her arms and legs bend easily. The fabric on her neck comes up quite high making it look like she's wearing a turtle neck. That's how it looks to me anyway. 

This doll is a nice addition to my collection but I most likely won't get another one. I honestly don't know what I'd do with them. I think Lana would look much better in different clothes and a decent pair of shoes and neater hair. She doesn't inspire me to whip out the sewing machine or try to make a pair of shoes. 

Here she is with Our Generation Sadie.

I'm sure little girls will love playing with these dolls. They don't weigh anything and they're small so they can be taken anywhere. That will come in handy when the kids are out with parents shopping or in a waiting room. 

It is a good value for the price. For now, though, Lana is going to keep my Mini Kenya doll company. 

Robotica

Ever After High Apple White Fainting Couch

I picked this up from Target only because it had been marked down twice so the price was finally decent. I went to Target to get Dexter Charming but he was nowhere to be found. I'll probably have to order him online. By the time he hits the stores here, the lousy, no-good scalpers will probably snatch all of them up and sell them on EBay for twice the cost. 

This is exactly what happened with Cedar Wood. I've only seen one for sale at ToysRUs. I never saw one again. 

Anyway, this is Getting Fairest Apple White's Fainting Couch. This is a cheap, plastic toy. But the colors are nice and it has a lot of detail.  

The sheer, red curtain is taped to the back. 

These are just some of the things it comes with; a piece of fabric (to use as a blanket, I suppose), gold laptop that snaps shut, a plastic pillow with Apple's initials on it (the thing is as hard as a rock), a drawer on the bottom that opens and can be used for storage (this makes it more useful for me) and in the left corner it has a charger for her black, mirror phone. I don't like the phone at all.  

This drawer here will keep me from losing the accessories.

Here's Madeline Hatter trying out the couch and modeling the glasses without lenses, gold crown and gold, plastic necklace that also came with the couch. She looks very smart (or very blind)(that's supposed to be a joke. I wear glasses, too.) She looks quite comfortable.  

In the cushion is a small drawer. The apple on the front opens and closes it. It's a great place to store the glasses. 

Poor Alexis has actually fainted on the Fainting Couch. Good thing she was easily revived. 

Alexis is wearing my favorite Barbie dress. I bought some generic Barbie from the thrift store just for this dress then I took the naked doll back to the store. It's gorgeous. 

This couch was a great deal. It came with many accessories I can absolutely use for all of my dolls. That pillow will be going into the garbage. The glasses fit almost all of my 12 inch dolls, my Moxie Teenz and my Tonner City Girls doll and Bratz. 

The couch makes a great prop for photos, too. 

Robotica

Monster High's Robecca Steam

She is one of my favorite Monster High dolls. I like anything Steampunk, really. I don't care for the Dance Class Robecca at all. 

I made a longer skirt so she could sit with some modesty. Her original skirt was much too short. I cut her boots so that more of her skin would show. (I'm kind of regretting that. I wish I'd left them alone.)

She is beautiful. She's not a strange looking monster (not that there's anything wrong with that). Her skin is radiant. (Now I sound like an Oil of Olay commercial). Her face up is awesome. So much better looking than a Barbie doll. Her features are well balanced and very attractive. Her makeup isn't garish. It's very tasteful. 

She has wonderful bronze skin that's covered with rivets because she a mechanical robot.  

There are cogs on her shins. 

Robecca is a robot created by a mad scientist. Her internal clock is always off so she's always late for classes and such.

Her hair is very soft and nice and shiny unlike a lot of my other MH dolls. The blue adds a very nice touch. 

She is 116 years old according to her bio. Her boots are rocket boots. Apparently, she can fly, or something, with these boots. She did come with a black stand. 

I've lost her journal. From what I can remember the story in it was very good. 

This is her blouse and bolero jacket. 

These are the rest of her accessories. 

The blue thing she wears on her wrist has a digital clock on it. I think it helps her regulate time. Her goggles have an antennae on them. Her earrings are cogs and gears. I cut them because I thought they were too long. I don't like long earrings on my dolls or myself. 

I'm not sure what this is. It looks like a bird cage that she wears around her waist. She can't sit down with it on. 

Her bag does open and close. It's also a clock. 

This is her mechanical penguin, Captain Penny. He's so cute. I like the way he's waving. 

He has a jet pack on his back. His skin is also bronzed and covered with rivets. 

This is my homage to one of the best Monster High dolls in my modest collection. 

Robotica