the great dolly makeover

It's no secret that I have recently become obsessed with Waldorf Dolls - even more so than I am with cloth diapers, which anyone who has seen Ryleigh's room would know means I am like really, really obsessed. The problem with these dolls is that despite the fact I have now successfully sewn about half a dragon, I am nowhere near crafty enough to make one, and they are eye-wateringly expensive. You quickly get desensitized to their prices when you fall in love with them though. At least I and about 1211 other people that currently belong to a Facebook group I now spend hours a day in seemed to. Suddenly now anything under $200 seems like a bargain, and every doll maker I stumble across promptly gets "liked" and then I drool over the upload pictures and sometimes even try to cart them just for fun. I usually then realize I am completely insane and cannot possibly justify buying another one of these pricey beauties and drop them from the cart. Sometimes I don't. And sometimes when I do I really regret it later.

So the hunt has been on for a bargain doll, and I kept finding myself coming back to one on the adoption page. She's not my usual type (yes, I already have a type, thank you) but I thought she was kind of cute, and in great need of a makeover. Plus I thought, for $50 (and I know the pragmatic of you are still flabbergasted at that price) I wouldn't be scared to take her out of the box like I am my dear Bamboletta Zara (www.bamboletta.com) and new addition this week Dragon's Fly Hollow girl Nairobi (www.dragonsflyhollowshop.com). Here they are by the way, works of art don't you think...

So anyway, I keep coming back to this little redhead squish, a Gumdrop Kid (http://www.etsy.com/shop/crazybaby) custom that found herself relogated to the closet. I got her for a steal and decided that she would be my little project doll. I like her skirt and shoes well enough but I think tube tops on dolls, much like on people, are a little slutty to be quite honest. I also want to play around with her hair and if I'm brave enough make her eyes a little bigger and darker but we'll see about that. I'll be damned if I don't think if I can make her nearly as cute as her $300 counterparts. I might be overly ambitious, time will tell becaus right now, she's got a long way to go. This was the photo posted that I kept returning to. Amidst all the gorgeousness, she was looking a little unfortunate, which along with the pricetag drew me to her. I have a soft spot for the underloved and appreciated, she was there for so long, and the kid has potential, you know?

 

Scarlett arrived today. While I realize her name is not original at all, it's quite appropriate and, in spite of her tube top, classy. After we got her out of her shoe box I immediately was transformed back into a little girl and spent an hour playing with her hair, trying out messy buns like the Bambo's often sport, a number of different braided options and eventually settling with something rather simpler that allowed her abundance of hair to really be on display.

I'm sure I will re-do it a thousand times before her makeover is complete but for now, I have a new appreciation for her long red locks I thought I wanted for sure to choke in messy buns. Perhaps this early on in my journey I am realizing I cannot imitate the Bamboletta look, and we will beat our own path instead. Again, we'll see.

What she desperately needs is some new rags, and I found a really sweet seller on etsy who custom knits for dolls (http://www.etsy.com/shop/DollysFavorite1). I know you are now thinking I have gone completely round the bend, and I may well have done. Either way, Mary Ellen is knitting up a cute little turquoise number just like this for our little project girl, and I can't wait for it to arrive!

This also further solidifies my need to learn the art of knitting so that I can make doll clothes. Maybe even matching doll and daughter clothes. When I start making a trio of matching clothes for dolly, daughter and mommy feel free to smack me hard, preferably with something heavy.

Whilst shopping around Etsy I also found another couple of cute outfits that will match her hair and cute little shoes from Lisa's Little Lasses Boutique (try saying that over and over), http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisaslittlelasses for when she needs to get dressed up for tea. Ok, I realize I am starting to sound like a lunatic...at least you didn't get to see me squee over them and excitedly buy them as if they were Coach purses or puppies.

So just when you were enjoying the dragon-making posts, I am diverting and going doll crazy with my makeover girl. Sorry. And the expensive and already perfect beauties shall sit in a box until Ryleigh is old enough to know that drooling on your doll is not allowed unless it costs less than a pair of mommy's jeans, which sadly for her means not even little Scarlett gets unsupervised play. Mommy wears cheap jeans so you can have expensive dolls you can't play with, sorry kid.