The Next Big Thing

I’m not dead! Things have been pretty busy around here, but the Big Ongoing Project is that… the dolls are getting a house! First I procured a little bit of space in our playroom after a large reorganization effort. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth. I was not expecting to find a "house" so easily, but I found an old wardrobe at Hope Chest that my dad actually pointed out to me. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it was relatively inexpensive, and it had doors - one of the top things on my wishlist. Doors = no cat wandering in and chewing the dolls' fingers off.

As you can see, with the dimensions of this thing, it was either going to be 2 huge floors/rooms or 3 cramped floors. I opted for two huge rooms and I'm going to squeeze in an extra room on the top of the wardrobe. It's been a slow process so far, but at this point we've got almost all the raw material we need. I hope to have more photos soon as we get closer to a finished product.

Review: Friendly Witch Outfit

When I got Elphaba, I knew one thing: she needed a broom. I think she's spent more time as a space alien than a witch, but she still needed a broom.

Then I found out that American Girl has offered witch costumes in the past!

The Friendly Witch Outfit was available from 2008 through 2009.

The Witch Costume was available 2013 through 2015.

Both outfits come with that same model of broom. I think the boots are the same too. After looking at both of them and comparing the prices on the secondary market, I opted for the first one.

The dress has sleeves puffed at the shoulder and a layered tulle skirt. It comes with pointy-toed boots that velcro at the back, a curved hat, and long striped socks.

The broom is hard plastic and surprisingly heavy. You could use it as a bludgeon.  The details are great - wood grain on the handle, detailed straws even on the bottom. I love this broom.

Due to Elphaba's variations from AG dolls, there are some slight measurement discrepancies. The shoes were very, very tight on her, and the broom handle does not quite fit over her four fingers. 

But still, Elphie finally had her broom!

Here she is in her original outfit - dress, shoes and hat - with the broom.

I actually got this back during the summer. Now that it's fall, I decided to break the dress back out for a cold-weather look. (That's another nice thing about it - it's very versatile. It doesn't have to be a witch costume.)

This time, rather than risk damaging the boots, I paired it with her original Mary Janes. I feel like the collar of the dress seems a little plain, so I added a scarf.

And that brings me to another find: Dunkin Donuts. They offer little lip balms shaped like coffee cups, and they are both adorable and perfectly to scale. Now Elphie can have pumpkin spice.