Dollcraft

While we are waiting on the new "curvy" Barbie, I wanted to review current available fashion dolls in a plus size category. I recently bought a Mimi Bobeck doll, a favorite collectable for those seeking fat fashion dolls. (I use the term "fat" because it is the preferred term of fat activists.  I don't call individuals fat unless I know that is their personal preferred term.) Although I don't require or expect many/any of my dolls to have realistic human proportions, I do want to have curvy, fat, and other shapes of dolls to in some way reflect that world we live in. I believe all bodies are good bodies. Mimi comes with a working bag and hand mirror; Drew gets a coffee mug and non-opening briefcase. Mimi Bobeck and Drew Carey are characters from "The Drew Carey Show," which aired in the mid 1990s. Their doll personas were made by Creation Entertainment in 1998. I never watched the show myself, but I found this nice essay about Mimi while ...

I love watching the  My Froggy Stuff  crafting videos for Barbie and other dolls. They are excellent and creative guides, plus just fun to watch! I finally got a chance to create a Froggy project with my nieces during Christmas vacation. So, this is a review of how well someone can mimic a Froggy project. Here's the original video: Time Commitment Obviously, the video makes things look easy, but this project took much longer than I expected. I spent three vacation days on it, maybe 15 hours in total.  It would be a challenging project to finish during a busy season. Cost The cost was much lower than I anticipated. I only spent $14 since my mother-in-law had many basic craft supplies already. The instructions are clear enough that I got everything I needed on my first trip and only took a second trip to the craft store when I had difficulty making the chairs. Scrapbook paper costs vary. Hobby Lobby had a sale, only ¢22 per sheet. Michael's were ¢66. I co...

China Sprout sells a number of Chinese dolls on their website .  This company is in America, and promotes learning the Chinese language and culture with many books, crafts, toys and other resources. (I got a free catalog with my doll- very interesting variety for a single company.) Yue-Sai Wa Wa varies in price from $20 to a $350 Chinese Bride doll that comes with a display case. I'm not sure what differences in quality the more expensive dolls have. There are also some discontinued dolls on Amazon.  I purchased two more affordable dolls that came with great outfits and lots of kitchen accessories, my favorite! I love their beautiful boxes and display. Yue-Sai Wa Wa Chef and Style Yue-Sai is the name of the designer; Wa Wa is "doll" in Chinese. I think the dolls were originally sold in China, then given a new story as an Asian-American girl. Similar to the Queens of Africa story, Yue-Sai was sad to realize all the Barbie dolls in China were blond-haired a...

Articulated (jointed) dolls are more fun. They walk better, sit better, and are simply interesting and fun to pose. Pocahontus can't get comfortable on the couch. Re-bodying dolls is a way to combine an interesting or attractive head with a body that has better articulation. I found helpful guidelines from "How to Play with Barbies" in the post How We Re-body Dolls . Re-bodying is generally my first step with a new doll, before hair or re-painting. Re-bodying supplies Basic summary: protect doll hair by wrapping with paper towels and a rubber band warm neck joint with hair dryer slowly pull head off pry with tiny screwdriver if necessary Optional first step: cut a slit in the back of reject head to remove easier. I do this with Liv doll heads. I frequently purchase old Liv dolls and articulated Barbie dolls, like old Fashionistas. Posing with my favorite bodies I've been disappointed with most of the athlete Barbies, like gymnasts, because...