Bay Update - Where The Heck Did I Go?

Hey all!

So, you're likely wondering where in the heck I got to for two whole months while I wasn't posting here, aren't you?

The short answer: I was adjusting to a big move across the country and a new job that's kept me busy for a couple of months.

The longer version: I've been stockpiling photos and stories to tell you all this time while trying to find a routine in all the change I've been through the last few months. This move was for the best for me, although it has kept me busy up til now. I do have plenty to show you though, and you can look forward to lots of new posts! 

From dolly fun finds to new characters and dolls in the collection, new creations for  my dolls and another installation or three in the Most Influential Dolls segment.

I look forward to sharing with you all!

-Bay

Angela - Story Time - My Most Influential Dolls #2

So sorry for the long delay between posts! We've been in the middle of the move Bay talked about in her interruption to Kate's message. On that note, here's part two of my most influential dolls series - Disney Classic Sleeping Beauty Aurora doll circa 1990.

Kate PSA - Mental Health & Dolls

Hello there. I know we haven't met before...my name's Kate and I'm the one who makes sure all my friends are doing alright mentally. I'm sworn to secrecy about what they tell me in session, but I can tell you things aren't always as easy as we make them look here on the blog.

For Bay and friends here, their doll collection, the stories that go with each doll and the time spent looking for and fixing up new dolls...that's what brings them joy each day in the midst of the crazy that is life.

Even for them, people aren't always as kind as we might like. It's going to happen. People will look at you funny for walking around with a doll, even make comments at times. But that's okay. You do you, as long as you aren't causing anyone else harm by it.

Don't let someone else's opinion be the thing that stops you from doing what you love.

Time for me to interject here. Bay here to give you an update!

Part of why we've gone quiet the last month is because we've been getting ready to make a big change in our lives (that will hopefully have a positive effect on this blog and our Instagram) -- All of our dolls have been temporarily packed away to prepare for a move to a new state, but they'll be back at the end of June or beginning of July and better than ever! With special guests, too!

Where does this fit into this blog? Well, we've been a little bit less than a hundred percent lately. Our motivation for the blog has been a little less than we'd like. Hopefully this switch of locations will fix things for us, let us get back to the joy we had hoped to put into this blog, for ourselves and for all of you too!

-Bay

Angela - Story Time - My Most Influential Dolls #1

Hello everyone! Angela here, with another one of my long and somewhat random posts. This time I thought I'd give you another look into my doll collection. But this time, I'm going to do it as a series of posts spotlighting the dolls who have most influenced my collection/me as a collector.

And today, we're going to start with an old friend from my childhood. I was roughly two years old when Hot Skatin' barbie came out in 1994 and I don't remember where or when I got her, but she was my first articulated Barbie. She bent at the knees and elbows besides the usual hips and shoulders and I was too little to realize she was a roller skater, so she spent several years as a gymnast in her bright rainbow splattered jumpsuit.

Thing was, she spoiled me. After her, even the old click-knee dolls bothered me with their lack of being able to sit at the dining room table effectively and permanently straight or bent arms. I wanted more jointed Barbies like her.

When I was six or seven, the elastic in her legs finally weakened and gave out all the way, leaving her sadly legless and broken. I asked my brother to fix her for me, but he didn't know how to at the time and neither did I - I couldn't save my childhood Hot Skatin' Barbie, but I have since replaced her with another to keep an old friend in my collection.

Why is she so significant to my collection? Hot Skatin' Barbie's tragic accident (and later, my 1991 Disney Classic Aurora's accident) were part of my motivation to learn how to repair and restore used and broken dolls. I never liked having to throw away a broken doll, especially not if there might be a way to give her new life.

In my current collecting habits, I tend toward buying dolls second hand to bring them home and give them a second chance. Sometimes I can simply clean and restore, other times it takes a little bit more than that with reroots and repainting. But either way, the dolls I bring home do get a new lease on life.

Tune in for the next edition of my most influential dolls!
--Angela

Bay Update - Who came home with us from Girl AGain!

As promised, I'm back with the second part of our Girl AGain visit - Who came home with us from the pretty little American Girl boutique in White Plains, New York!

We had three new friends join us this trip. Two will be staying with us and the third will be going to live with a friend of ours when we fly out toward Washington State in a couple of weeks to spend some time with her.

Our first new friend is this Mini Emily doll, she stands six inches tall and she came with her original little blue and red dress. Her headband is just a red ribbon added after the fact since I don't have her headband and she is missing a pair of shoes but that's nothing we can't fix with a Lori or mini-OG fashion pack from Target, if need be.

Emily came home with us as a companion for our mini Molly (and because finding a mini Emily in any condition for purchase online can be a right pain in the rear end...she finishes our set of Molly and Emily since we do have both full size dolls and now both minis).

Our second new friend is Kirsten. Our Pleasant Company Kirsten was one of two on display at Girl AGain and aside from dry hair as dolls from the early years of American Girl are frequently known to have (and nothing we can't handle with a little clever styling) She's in beautiful shape, complete with her meet dress, apron, underthings, socks and her little leather shoes. The only thing missing was her hair ribbons for her braids and I happened to have a scrap of blue ribbon the same shade as her dress to replace those with!

Kirsten joined us for a couple of reasons - We already had the Pleasant Company edition Molly and Samantha, followed up by Felicity, Josefina and an early edition Kit - We're only missing Addy in our set of the "original" Historical girls. And the second reason goes with some friends - You haven't met Tasha yet, but Kit is her doll and Kirsten belonged to her mother. In her world, the two are fast friends despite being from different centuries.

Our third new friend is Girl of the Year 2012, McKenna. She's in her full Meet outfit down to the bow in her hair and her pretty little purple strapped flats. Aside from some dry ends in her hair, miss McKenna is in beautiful condition. And she will be joining our friend in Washington State when we fly over to visit her at the end of this week.

She fits into the story with Dusty and Maddie's little girl. Meaghan owns McKenna and Caroline both, but we could only bring one of them home and we chose McKenna this time. Isn't she sweet? Our friend will just love her!

So - Those are our new friends from Girl AGain! And we do wish we had time for another trip out to White Plains to have another look around and perhaps bring home another friend or two for our collection of American Girls.

-Bay-

Bay Update - Dolly Road Trip!!! Girl AGain Boutique!

Hey all! So, today was an interesting day and since this doesn't really fit under anyone else's parts of the blog yet, I'll do it myself. We went on a dolly road trip today! Two and a half hours in the car each way to visit Girl AGain!
Girl AGain Boutique is an American Girl boutique in White Plains, New York...all of the dolls there are donated, each one hand cleaned and refurbished by the girls of Yes She Can. It's part of a program that helps girls with varying levels of autism learn workplace skills and the profit made on the dolls goes back into the program.
What's cool about Girl AGain Boutique for doll collectors is that they tend to have some of the harder to find dolls - Retired Girl of the Year and Just Like You dolls, original Historical dolls like Kirsten, Molly etc. from before the BeForever rebranding; a lot of their clothes and original accessories and furniture.
They even have some "DIY" dolls, dolls who would need significant repair to be playable again...for those of us who enjoy customizing and restoring AG dolls on our own or needing spare parts to fix someone we already have waiting for new parts at home. 
I'll do a second post for our dolly haul tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me show you what our little friend Luciana looked like when we brought her along for the ride - 

She decided to put on her Galaxy gown, which I might add was handmade for her by a friend of ours last year, along with her Starlight accessories - So it would be easy to tell she was with us and not one of the Boutique dolls. 
The displays at Girl AGain Boutique change with the wind depending on which dolls they have on hand at the time and whose birthdays are in that particular month. Currently featured inside the door when you first walk in is a group of Samanthas, a Felicity and a Caroline or two-

These Samanthas were on sale, as were the outfits hanging beside them - the bargain area is just inside the door as you walk in, along with a small basket of assorted mini dolls who might possibly be missing shoes or clothes but are otherwise in great condition.

As you move further in, on your right is a display of various TrulyMe/Just Like You/My AG dolls along with various scenes and accessories for them - Today, there was a bike and someone's snack cart, if memory serves, alongside half a dozen dolls.

On the left, the start of the Historical doll displays, beginning with Addy and Molly on the end shelf unit - There are multiple of each doll, most in Meet outfits, although some wear their holiday, school and other outfits - some of it depends on what's on hand and some simply to show off alternate outfits. The second shelf unit held Kirsten dolls and more Samanthas, the first of which made me smile since Kirsten has been retired for a while now.

 The third of these historical doll shelves held an assortment of Kit and Felicity (with her friend Elizabeth), each with accessories and furniture setting the scene. The final shelf of Historical dolls on this wall held Josefina and Kaya, although it's not clearly visible in these photos for some reason.

Across the room, with their backs to the large front window, an array of Molly, Emily and Julie (this amused us because our Molly, Emily and Julie are all very good friends with each other) and a few oddball others, a couple of TrulyMe/Just Like You and a Felicity who crept in there somehow to hide among the Molly dolls.

And hidden off in the corner just beyond the Molly and Emily dolls in the window, there were our Girl of the Years. This time, the display featured Kanani, Marisol, Mia, Saige and two McKenna dolls, all grinning at us from the shelves.
There were some Bitty Babies at the bottom of the shelf that housed Kit and Felicity on the other side of the room and a large section for Historical dolls' outfits and one for the MyAG/JLY/TrulyMe doll clothes as well as a shelf unit lined with various American Girl books, from the advice books to the character books that match the dolls and including a row of brand new mini dolls in their boxes, just awaiting someone to take them home.
Girl AGain is a paradise for the AG doll collector, and aside from a few particular dolls who seem to be harder to come by, their prices were worth paying for dolls in the condition most all the dolls were in.
I wish I'd had more time to explore the collections and accessories, but it was still a complete blast to visit Girl AGain Boutique!
Check back later/tomorrow to see the girls we brought home from our visit to the boutique!
--Bay--

Angela - Story Time - My Collecting Story

Hey all. Angela here. I decided to follow a trend I've seen before...people seem to enjoy telling their own 'how I began collecting' stories and reading others' stories. So, here's the story of my doll collection and how it began.
I was twelve when it started. I'd had dolls before that, a handful of Barbies and a few baby dolls, but about that time, Bratz and My Scene started to turn up. For once, Barbie wasn't the only doll with a presence in the toy aisles.
It began with a My Scene Club Birthday Barbie...I was originally buying Nolee as a gift for my best friend and I wanted Barbie so bad, with her purple makeup and dress and those big blue eyes. I can remember asking Mom, and at first she said no, I couldn't have a birthday doll when it wasn't my birthday. She did eventually give in and therefore, I got my first My Scene Barbie doll to add to my collection.
I added a few more dolls, started paying closer attention to the toy aisles and when I could find the time, I would search the internet for information, photos, which dolls had been released, which would come next, store exclusives and collectors editions, every variation of every character, I knew them. I would search ebay for older ones although I was too young to have an account to buy them, it was just fun to look.
I would pack my whole collection of dolls and their accessories and clothes into my favorite pink backpack and take them to my friends' houses to play dolls. But at the end of every play date, every doll was put back in the outfit she came with and her hair brushed and styled neatly, if not in the original style she came with.
...I admit, I got protective of my dolls. To the point where I would rather buy and gift my friends dolls to play with than let most of them touch my dolls. Some of my friends were the type to lop off Barbie's long blonde locks, mangle her hands and feet and then blame a younger sibling for the damage done to their dolls. I was very particular about how my dolls were played with and handled, I still am...maybe more so now than I was.

My collection rapidly blossomed (Although I will note the My Scene an 89% of the Bratz and Monster High are *NOT* pictured here because they're currently in storage for space reasons) from ten or fifteen dolls to well over three hundred and then over time, to six hundred or so (haven't done a count in a while).
It had a lot to do with the fact that each version of a My Scene Chelsea or Barbie doll had different makeup, different hair streaks and styles, different clothes. Each could almost be a different character if I wanted them to or the same character with different makeup. Kaycie's the writer here, but I confess to creating stories for some of the characters my dolls represent.
There was a time around when My Scene and Bratz faded out of the picture where a lot of the regular Barbie type dolls looked like the same blue eyed, blonde, blown up Lara face mold and I just couldn't see having 67 of the same dolls in my collection when the differences in the dolls were so slight as to be unseen.
For a couple of years, 2011-2014, I didn't buy very many dolls at all. I got out of the habit of walking the toy aisles and I was in college at the time, my life was fairly busy with classwork. But then I decided to take a stroll one day down the Barbie aisle and I found a doll different than any I'd seen before. Her hair was dirty blonde, not platinum, and her eyes were gray. Her face was more angular and slightly dimpled too, not your standard Barbie.

Here's a photo of Lex, Alexa Jane. She was my first of the new fashionista dolls. Shortly after I bought her, Mattel launched their 'The Doll Evolves' campaign for Barbie and I got completely sucked back into the dolly world.
This time, I've vowed not to let go again. Catching up after being so far behind is just a pain to do and having to relearn most of the dolly facts I once knew about brands and characters and different doll lines.
So, now you know my collecting story. It began with a love of dolls, a desire for more dolls and an eye for the details and differences in each doll.
-Angela

Kari's Fashion Runway - Jewelry and Accessories #1

Left: Kari, Right: Becca

Hey guys! It's Kari! I have some fun stuff for you today! First of all, here's my partner in crime for the fashion corner, Miss Becca Oldstein. She's the one who keeps me from going too completely over the top crazy with my designs and helps make some of them a reality!
Today's fashion show is all about jewelry and accessories, we've dressed our models to match their accessories - But don't mind if some of them have a bit of visible irritation going on around the ear lobes, we had to do some last minute piercings (we'll give you a lesson in another post, I promise!) so everyone could wear their earrings. Here are some of our models!

 First up, we have Cynthia modeling her purple lace dress with purple and gold jewelry set includind headband, earrings, necklace and two (2) gold bangle bracelets. Following her, we have Dawna Hokulani, our Hawaiian beauty in Unicorn Chic with her yellow and mauve earrings and necklace (not pictured: yellow and mauve bangle bracelet).

 Our next pair of models, Carly in blue and leather to properly show off her chain pendant necklace and matching blue gem earrings, finished off with a single blue bangle, and Elsie, whose flaming red hair nicely contrasts with her blue and green color scheme, from her green soft knit top to the choice of blue and pale green for her necklace, the beads on her silver hoop earrings and the matching bangle on her left wrist.

Vicky shows a bit of skin with her cropped tank, the very casual nature of her clothes fittingly accessorized by a chunky jewelry set accented with Superman logo charms on both earrings and necklace (not pictured, chunky white bangle). Jayda, by contrast, shows us a very Princess Jasmine look in gold and turquoise, the beads on her earrings matching the faux bows on her necklace and headband. (not pictured: gold bangle bracelet).

Our final pair of models today are Monique, rocking a blush peach striped crop top and matching tulle circle skirt to help show off the pastel colors of her butterfly adorned earrings, necklace and matching bangle, and Aubrey, who is not only showing off star studded pale blue and black jewelry in the form of her headband, earrings and necklace (not pictured: Blue and black bangle with star charm at the center), but a hand made, one of a kind blouse and skirt ensemble made completely from the loose knit material of a pair of socks!

That'll be our show for today ~ Keep an eye on our Etsy store for some of these jewelry sets to pop up for sale! (Dolls not included, our models need to stay with us for future shows!)

Angela's Dolly Care Corner - Hair Care Tips #1

Hey all, Angela here.

I've been seeing some stuff going around on YouTube and other platforms about how to care for doll hair. Some people say brush it often, some say not at all, some say use a comb and others say only a wire brush. Fabric softener, hair conditioner, shampoo or soap? What a mess. My way is not the be all and end all of doll care, but I will share the methods I swear by.
Today's will be about maintaining doll hair. We'll work on repairing doll hair sometime in the next while, that'll be a more involved tutorial after my next thrift shop rescue session.

Part One// Tools//
Your tools will vary slightly per which doll you're working on, but for the vast majority of dolls, a wire bristle brush (American Girl, Our Generation and My Life As all make these specifically for dolls, but one made for wigs from your local beauty supplier will work as well and/or the wire brushes meant for use on pet hair.
You do not want to use said brushes on your own hair or your pets' hair as it will transfer oils to the doll's hair and potentially ruin certain dolls' hair.
As a side note, doll hair comes in various fibers, some of which are more heat resistant than others. For best results, use boiling water for hair treatments that require heat such as straightening or curls - don't risk using flat irons or curling irons on your dolls unless you can control the temperature to a very fine degree or there will be the chance you'll melt your doll's hair. Ditto for blow dryers, only use COOL settings.

If you must use heat tools to style doll hair, make sure they have a very, very low setting and avoid straight heat on Barbies with Saran fiber hair.
*Side note number two, AVOID boiling/hot water on Mattel dolls both Barbie and Disney if they have a tendency toward the glue hair syndrome. To tell whether your doll has the glue hair syndrome before you boil, give her head a good squeeze. If she's hard to squeeze/straight up rock hard, she has a large amount of glue in her head. Avoiding boiling water/extreme heat and avoiding excessive brushing at the scalp can and will help not to exacerbate the issue.
You'll also want a small spray bottle. For Barbie and other rooted dolls done in Nylon, Saran or the lower grade Kanekalon Barbies tend toward using (Bratz, Moxie Girlz, Descendants and Disney Princesses etc.) You can use a mixture of one part fabric softener (unscented is best if you don't want your doll smelling like a dryer sheet) to three parts water. For more expensive, wigged dolls, you simply want to fill your spray bottle with water.

Kaycie's Story Snippets - Mermaid High Council

L to R: Meriel of  Pearl Caverns, Aralyn of the Hidden Deep, Ryanne of Gemstone Cove, Naia of Sunset Bay and Lunessa of Starlit Hollow, Angela's Mermaid Council of repainted Dreamtopia Mermaids in their handmade underwater habitat room 

The City of Poseidon has risen to the surface once more. The Ancestors are returning to our world. Aralyn's thought echoed through the room, her gaze shifting to each of her mermaid sisters. With Father leading the Pod Guard to investigate, I will sit on the Council in his stead.

He would not leave you in his place if he did not place his full trust in you, Naia's response echoed in Aralyn's mind, her attention flicking to the Sunset Bay mermaid, Therefore, we must trust in you as well, Aralyn. What are your thoughts on where the Hidden Deep Merfolk will live? We share our homes, but your pod needs to be united once again.

I have a scout team out searching for viable homes, Aralyn assured her, It will not be much longer we will impose on you and the other Merfolk of the Bay.

We thank you for that, Naia nodded, her gaze searching the rest of the room, Is there any other business to attend to?

Our oysters, Meriel's response came quickly, They do not produce as many pearls as they once did. We fear the Moonstone's power may be fading. 

The full moon is tomorrow night, Meriel. The Merfolk of the Hollow will be holding the Moonlight Vigil ceremony to restore the Moonstone to it's proper power, Lunessa looked across at Meriel, You are welcome to join us and observe if you wish.

Wait! Ryanne's voice joined the fray, the other four Mermaids suddenly silent except for the sound of flippers in water and scattered voices from outside the Council Chamber, Listen. The Pod Guard returns!

They're early! Aralyn turned suddenly, swimming toward the entrance of the caverns, concern written across her scale-patched features, Something's wrong!

Behind her, the other four Mermaids of the Council followed, fear etched on their faces. Not many things could bring the Pod Guard and the Mermaid King back early from a trip to the surface and none of them wanted to think too hard about the few things that could.

Angela's Dolly Care Corner - Glue Hair Cure

So, this is for those of you who have had a Mattel doll in the last several years that has come down with the dreaded glue hair problem. When your doll’s head is full of hard, sticky glue that seeps out into her hair and makes it all sticky, clumpy and nasty.

Baby powder only works on the ones with light colored hair cos’ it leaves a dusty residue. Ditto for cornstarch. A lot of the suggested cures are toxic, nasty chemicals that can remove the doll’s face paint if you get it too close and they don’t always want to work the first, second or third time out. Even good old trusty Dawn dish soap doesn’t cut this greasy mess. But this does:

Turpenoid, pictured above, is a natural, nontoxic cleaner and conditioner for paint brushes –meant as a solvent for oil based paints!

It’s nowhere near as harsh as degreasers and other cleaning chemicals and it has conditioner meant for synthetic bristles built into the formula. The best part? It won’t take your doll’s face off and the fumes won’t suffocate you!

The cleaning process for doll hair is a two to four step process depending on the amount of glue ick in your doll’s hair.

1. Start by pouring some Turpenoid into a tupperware or other dish of your choice - I used a disposable tupperware- and dip your doll’s hair into it. Work it around with your hands the same as you would to clean a paintbrush and don’t be shy about getting it on the doll’s scalp too, where the glue seeps out from.

2. Now take your doll to the sink – and make sure you use COLD water only!!! Hot water will only make the glue seepage worse as it softens the glue inside the head! – Add some Dawn dish soap to her hair and lather it up real good and bubbly before you rinse. Repeat Step 2 at least 2-3 times to make sure you've got the Turpenoid out.

**If your doll’s hair feels odd between your fingers after it’s rinsed, don’t worry, That’s as much from the turpenoid and sticky glue that has come off on your hands as anything. I repeat those two steps a second time for safety, just to be sure the remaining ick feeling IS what’s on my hand and not the doll’s hair.

Final step is to lay your doll out on a towel and let her dry thoroughly!

Thanks to the brush conditioner in the Turpenoid, your doll’s hair should come out not only clean but soft and smooth as new and easy to brush.

Don't use heat drying/styling methods unless you have a device with extra low heat settings and you know the doll's hair fiber is NOT Saran.

Courtney Blaire, before and after Turpenoid Natural wash

Emma, the tech behind this blog's layout and graphics - Left and bottom right are post wash, top right is pre-wash.

And that's our show for today, folks! Thanks for reading. More dolly care tips coming soon!
--Angela--

Kaycie's Story Snippets - Aralyn and the Mermaids

Naia (left) and Aralyn (right), Angela's fully customized Dreamtopia mermaid dolls

‘It doesn’t belong in our waters,’ Aralyn’s voice echoed in the minds of the other mermaids nearby as she swam up to examine the large, snowflake shaped thing that had landed in the ocean above their city.

'Do not start a battle you cannot win, my daughter,’ A male voice echoed in her mind, warning her away from the floating object although she dismissed it without a second thought.

Swimming toward the surface, Aralyn broke out of the water, the patchy scales over her torso glittering in the sunlight. Kelp tangled, dark blue tinted hair glued to her face, her clouded eyes almost hidden from view until a claw-like hand shoved it out of the way behind an ear.

Staring up at the spires of the large city, a hiss of aggravation escaped the mermaid, electricity sparking out of her fingertips to skitter across the water toward the city.

This thing did not belong in the ocean, her ocean. And she would do everything in her power to rid their world of it.

Angela's Tangents - The right way to collect?

Angela again, back for another tangent! I decided to split the last post into two because it was becoming quite the novel.

There is a whole world of collectors out there both young and older who enjoy dolls and toys of all kinds. For some of us, it's fashion dolls like Barbie, for others the 18 inch dolls like American Girl, Our Generation. Some like expensive ball jointed dolls or look for the most unique dolls to collect. Others like the licensed Disney, Marvel etc. character dolls from certain franchises and want to collect solely those. And still others prefer to simply collect whichever dolls we find attractive in that moment, regardless of which they are.
And this is the other trend I've seen lately - People behaving as though there's a right or wrong way to collect. There truly, truly is not.
You want to keep your dolls in the box to preserve their original hair and clothes to perfection? That's fine!
You prefer to take them out to play and pose them for photos, restyle hair etc.? Also fine!
Maybe you only collect second hand and prefer to go to thrift stores and flea markets to pick up your dolls of choice for restoration purposes? Cool!
Do you keep them original or customize every doll that comes through your hands? Have just a hand full of customs amid a bunch of originals? Collect modern or vintage or a mix of the two? Barbie? Bratz? Both? Action figures too or just dolls? Larger dolls, smaller dolls, complete sets or just those that strike your fancy? Lots of dolls or just a few choice ones? Doll houses or simple, clean shelves or perhaps you'll turn the shelves into doll houses? Store bought clothes and accessories or DIY crafting? Do you name every doll or do you simply name the few? Leave them on their shelves or bring one down to keep you company at your desk now and then?

Angela's Tangents - Is there an age limit on dolls?

Hey all, Angela here! We're going to start this day off with our first tangent post! The question at hand for today...Is there an age limit on doll play/collecting?

Lately, I've seen a lot of questions floating around to the effect of 'am I too old for dolls?' 'should I stop playing with dolls?' 'will I be made fun of for playing with dolls?' 'Is it weird for __ age to play with dolls?'

The answer to all of these questions is so, so simple. There is no age limit on dolls and toys. If you enjoy having dolls around and styling/creating stories with your dolls, you do you! Little do you know, the girl who spends all day uploading her life to Instagram actually has a secondary Instagram full of doll photos. The kid who spends her time uploading videos to her YouTube channel for her friends? She's got a hidden YouTube account with a false name just for her doll collection videos and dolly DIYs.
And that one kid who teases you for the Monster High doll you brought to the park/school/etc last week? He's got a whole collection of Marvel action figures, he's just afraid you'll tease him if he brings them out of the house because his Dad says toys are just for kids, not for someone his age. If he knew you'd accept it, he'd want Batman to rescue Frankie Stein from the Joker on the Jungle Gym -- Because wouldn't that make an epic story?!
There comes a point where, sure, the actual acting out of the imagination stories does tend to take more time than we have to spend as we grow up. But that doesn't have to stop you from creating a character and taking a set of photos or writing a story to go with the doll in question. Doesn't stop you from having a dozen Barbies or a whole room dedicated to dolls if that's what makes you happy. It just means you've got to balance your dolls with the other things you need to do.

Hello There!

Hello all, and welcome to my blog. I'm Bailey, but you can call me Bay. We were on Tumblr for a short time, but we're moving to Blogger in an effort to move outside the mobile-only world of Tumblr and more easily connect with others.

So, let me start with introductions to myself and some of the friends who will be helping me with this blog. We'll work on giving you more about us later on.

^^ This is me. Bailey Maria Roberts. No relation to Barbara Millicent Roberts, our last names are merely a coincidence. I'm a chef on a top secret military base by night and I run the on-base library by day. I got involved in the project to help my friends out and wound up organizing the entire darn thing!

This is Karina Brooks. She prefers Kari unless you're Matteo or her brother Ty, they have other nicknames for her. She's a botanist first and foremost, but she does have a knack for fashion design. Any of the clothing and accessories DIY posts will be Kari's domain.

This is Aang and her husband Carson Beckett, they both work in medical ~ Any more serious surgical repairs (in doll terms, head swapping and limb repairs etc.) will be Aang's doing, as they require her know-how and steady hand to complete with minimal side effects.

This is Kaycie Mills, she's our resident fiction writer. Well, technically she and my boyfriend, Jeff, share the title of fiction writer, but Kaycie will be doing the writing for this blog. Any time you see a snippet of story alongside photos on this blog, that's Kaycie's work.

And finally (for the moment), this is Angela Biro. She also works in medical by day, but by night, she is our one true doll aficionado. She's our ace at identifying and restoring dolls to their former glory as well as creating all manner of wonderful dollhouse props for her dolls. She will have both dolly restoration/customizations and a subcategory of posts called Angela's Tangents, in which she will tell us what she thinks of the latest dolly drama.

We aren't exclusively a Barbie blog, not by a long shot ~ We include every doll from Effanbee's international dolls through American Girl, Journey Girl, Monster and Ever After High, Bratz, My Scene, Barbie, Polly Pocket and many others. All dolls are welcome and accepted here, so you won't find us trashing any doll line.

Please, enjoy!