Now I Want a 1:12 Scale Dollhouse!

I decided to just glance at the toys before I clocked in for work and saw two very nice dollhouse sized dolls. I couldn't resist. Here they are, debagged. (They came with several small rabbits and a Minnie Mouse.)

Dr. and Mrs. Grayson

A little googling revealed them to be the Doug and Melissa Dollhouse Family (at least two members of the family--there are also a baby and a little girl available). They don't have jointed arms and legs but are quite bendy. I thought at first Dr. Grayson's clothes were homemade, since one pant leg is shorter than the other, but this is his original outfit. Mrs. Grayson is sold with a skirt and jacket. They are called a Victorian family but their clothing is definitely not Victorian.

Here they are posing in front of a small house that will belong to an Elf Doll.

I had a top that I knew would fit her, although the sleeves were way too long. I made a gathering stitch down each sleeve and shirred them up. Then I made a gathered skirt. We had decided we wanted them to be Steampunk, so I tried to make a corset for her out of a wide wired ribbon. It didn't quite work out as planned, but we liked it. Auntie Berman is going to paint black boots on her.

The strange dial thing on the right is one of Dr. Grayson's inventions and will go in his laboratory.

Behind them is a large picture of a pirate ship. I think Mrs. Grayson's outfit looks kind of piratey. At St. Vincent's, we noticed again a huge sailing ship on top of a display cabinet. It's at least 5 feet long and these dolls would easily fit in it. Fortunately, it is not for sale. It would require a whole room to put it in.

I have decided her name is Beatrice. She is named after Queen Victoria's daughter, not Fergie's. Her hair is a problem. I want to put it up but it's not quite long enough so the ends stick out. A closer examination revealed that her rooted hair only goes around the outside of her scalp. Inside, she's bald. Auntie Berman thinks we can make a wig for her. I think we should add hair to the middle. We will have to experiment.

Now we have to find a house for them.

So Much Has Happened

I found a headless Ken at Goodwill Bargain Bin. I wanted to have an equal number of girls and boys so I got him. I knew I had an extra head at home but something told me I should see if his was in one of the bins, and fortunately it was because the extra head was way too big.

This guy must be a giant!

At first I couldn't get the Ken head on his body but I kept trying (including holding head and neck under hot water, but the plastic was really hard and not at all flexible) and finally somehow wiggled it into place.

So then I started getting interested in Ken dolls and took a second look at the ones I had. They are not the really cool looking guys like the Samurai Ken or the James Bond Ken but I decided to make the best of them. Meantime, Gino and Tina came by with another armload of dolls. There was an unfortunate Cabbage Patch Kid whose body had been written on with magic marker. I gave it to the dogs. There was also a Fisher Price plastic fairy doll with lots of hair and I gave that to the dogs too. They like hair. There was a Disney Ariel doll (Barbie size) who had been written all over with magic marker and/or ink pen. I don't know if she can be saved, but I didn't give her to the dogs.

But then I saw HER:

Kennedy in her new bathing suit

Auntie Berman recognized her as a My Scene Barbie, Mattel's answer to Bratz several years ago. I think she is much prettier than a Bratz doll. She is the same size as Barbie except her head is bigger, but not oversized. Her name is Kennedy, according to Mattel, a name I decided to keep. I gave her a bath (I had a feeling she had come straight from a dumpster). Her hair had been cut, in a fairly nice way. I found a pattern for a bathing suit and used some stretchy fabric Mrs. Smith had given me. I had found a small bag of Barbie shoes at Goodwill and one pair was pink, which matches a skirt I had and a tee shirt I made her.

"It's about time I was decently dressed. Who's the weird guy behind me?"

The weird guy behind her is the last doll Tina gave me. He appears to be a 1977 Sport & Shave Ken. Someone had mercifully cut his hair. In the Keeping Ken website he has chin length hair. He actually has dimples! He is wearing the boxer shorts until I can make him some jeans.

Here are all my Kens.

We be Cool!

From left to right: New guy, Grant (1977 Super Star Ken), Christopher (1991 possibly a Sparkle Surprise Ken with a modified Alan head), Kyle (1986 Jewel Secrets Ken), G.I. Joe (we haven't named him yet), and Zar (1990 maybe a Totally Cool Ken). We named Zar after the Rottweiler who lives behind Auntie Berman. After we thought about it, we decided his name is probably Tsar or Czar but we liked Zar for the Ken doll.

I thought I had more girls than guys, but it turns out I need another girl. Here's the whole gang.

Sabra, Jasmine doll (not yet named), Bobbie, Princess of Japan (not yet named), Kennedy, Unnamed Guy, Grant, Christopher, Kyle, G.I. Joe, Zar, and Auntie Berman's Moulan doll, who is just visiting.

Mrs. Smith made this darling two-piece bathing suit for her 4-Ever Best Friends doll.

She gave me two small pieces of the fabric and seemed to think I would be willing to cut out tiny triangles and hand sew them for all my girls! Now that I discovered how easy it is to make the one-piece suit, that is what each girl will get.

Mrs. Smith is now the proud grandmother of a baby boy and has not yet returned from California.