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--