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.

Karol Goes Hiking

I have been wanting to make John Paul II, Doll Pope, another outfit or two. St. John Paul loved the outdoors; I went in search of old photos to see what he might have worn on a hike or a kayaking trip.

For the pants, I used the Eva pants pattern from Imagine Gnats. They work very nicely, and I found that I could push them up over his knees for a shorter look.

The shirt is modified from Pixie Faire's free polo shirt design. I basically just flipped it around so that it opens in the front, and skipped the placket. The main problem I had was that the sleeves came out extremely tight and narrow, even the shoulder seams.

Anyway, I eventually finished up and was happy with how it turned out.

I have to find him some good shoes now. His feet are nowhere as big as Elphaba's, but I had trouble squeezing him into my more unisex-looking Springfield and Battat shoes. He can wear the AG girls' dressy heels and ballet flats just fine, though. I need more boy shoes.

But he doesn't need shoes to go walking behind my house.

I love that peaceful-looking smile he's got.

Finds!

I went to the local fleamarket today! I say local, but it's kind of a drive, so I don't go often, but this week I was very happy with what I found.

So we have a mug, a Christmas wreath, a male Barbie child (I've been looking for one of these forever - he has no shoes and his shirt is torn, but it's okay) and a doll-sized toy train.

Then we have the books. I hit the motherlode! There are several books from the Running Press Miniature Editions line, then a Little Little Golden Book in really good condition, and finally, one of the mini American girl books, Meet Samantha. I actually made a high-pitched squealing noise when I saw this. I'm going to need to get another bookshelf.

You neve know what you're going to get. There were also plenty of things I passed over because of price or because they just weren't quite what I was looking for. I saw a doll with a Gotz head (the seller wasn't sure whether it was on the original body), and strongly considered that, but it was kind of high in price for such a TLC doll. I mean, I've got Gotz on my wishlist, but this doll did not look good.

Recent Finds: featuring Tim Holtz

Last week, I went to JoAnns and picked up some things.

First on my list was some satin, so that I could finish the Korean outfit from Sewing the International Doll Wardrobe:

You can see the outfit I wanted to make on the right of the cover. Here is my version:

I made an important discovery: satin is horrible. I made that jacket twice. But I'm fairly happy with the finished version.

I also found a camping chair at Goodwill for the dolls, but my main find was from JoAnn.

Silverware!

This is Tim Holtz Idea-ology, found in the scrapbooking section. This was mentioned on the AGPlaythings board as being a good size, and boy were they right. I also grabbed some little tiny bottles that come with old-fashioned-looking stickers. This line has a ton of miniature decorations that could work for 18" dolls. 

The utensils are about 2.5 inches long. You get three sets in each package and they are gorgeous.

I always love accessories that will fit into various time periods. They even have pretty detailing on the handles. These will work very nicely for the dolls' Thanksgiving dinner.

September 2017Photos

The power was out for over a week after Hurricane Irma passed through our area. We were running on emergency generator, so we dried our clothes on a clothesline.

Meanwhile, Larkin decided to wander around and see how it looked outside.

My brother helped with the photos, so at his request, I'm including this one too:

Dolls from Heaven: John Paul II Review

There is now a line of 18" dolls based on Catholic saints. It's called Dolls from Heaven. So far, they have St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Joan of Arc, and Pope John Paul II. 

JPII, doll pope, came home recently. I got the basic model, which comes with cassock, cap, and red shoes. (They also offer a little boy's sailor suit for him, and accessories including a red cape, a rosary booklet and a prayer card.)

I scrounged up a Bible and rosary for him.

His body is made just like an American Girl Doll's. I did notice that his body fabric seems darker than his skin.

He is gorgeously painted, with blush on his knees and cheeks, and detailed fingernails and toenails. I picked him because I liked his face mold better than Joan and Therese's; he also has lovely deep blue eyes.

I also wanted to try him out in some clothes from other lines. Here he is in modern clothes from the Springfield Collection.

They fit pretty well. The shoes were the hardest to get on and were a bit too small. I want to try some boy doll clothes from other lines when I get the chance, which may be easier since more lines are making boy dolls now. 

He fits in well among the dolls and brings some variety to my collection. His head is proportionally larger than theirs, which is noticeable when they're together. As other reviewers have pointed out, these dolls also have much fairer skin. In American Girl Dolls, even the lightest skin color is not very pale, and they tend to have a somewhat olive cast.

Future plans: I want to make him some skis.

In the meantime, I do know where to find a very small kids' Mass model set. So . . . John Paul II gets to celebrate Mass!

Grab&Go Monopoly

This was my brother's find - a little game of Monopoly, which he thought would be the right size for the dolls. He was right!

Can you see the little dog, car and battleship?

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