We're Back

Hello bloggers,

After some time away from blogging we are back again...me and my dolls.

The gals (and boys) have been hiding away in storage over the winter months. We live in a very cold and damp house so the dolls needed to be tucked away safely in airtight containers.

Spring is upon us now and the weather is slowly starting to get warmer which means its time for Barbie and pals to venture out.

Skipper was the first to leap out of the box today

This is the latest Vintage Skipper to join my collection. She came with a few vintage "extras"

This season, I hope to work on sewing some clothes for my Skipper's. After many months of lost interest in sewing, I think it could be safe to say the "sewing bug" is coming back...

Upon looking through the collection today, I stumbled upon a Barbie clone doll whom I am not familiar with...

The markings on the back of the head read: Totsy 1987

Are any of you familiar with clone dolls ???

The End Result

This project has been sometime in the making and feels like its taken FOREVER to complete.. (due to lack of hobby time, 9 month old baby's don't look after themselves! hehe)  I almost gave up on it, but am glad now that I didn't as I can happily say my Tokidoki look-a-like is now complete (apart from no shoes) . Of course she is not exactly the same as the original Tokidoki doll but hey! lets be honest, who wants to create something that is exactly the same???

This gal is my first custom OOAK. Not a bad effort for a first timer! 

To begin with, I didn't wipe the face off completely, I just enhanced her features and changed the lipstick colour

All the clothes are home made by yours truly. Tattoos are temporary tattoos with clear nail polish over the top to seal them. 

The hair on this doll has always been in terrible condition ever since I bought her from the secondhand shop. I tried washing it several times, poured boiling water over it several times but nothing seemed to work! UNTIL I tried washing it one last time with an Avon shampoo that really did work a treat. Prior to using the Avon shampoo, I was at my wits end with the hair and decided to cut half of it of and flock the side...that way I only had half of the terrible hair to work with!! Its like there was glue inside the head and it had seeped out into the hair! I think I have read about other people experiencing issues with glue and hair also. Mattel, what are you doing to these dolls! 

Before repainting the face

You can see in this photo how stiff and stringy looking the hair is.
VERY unmanageable!

Adding some flocking meant left less of that awful hair to work with!

Tokidoki whom my OOAK is modeled off

A Work In Progress

Progress on my hobbies has been slow, very slow over the last few weeks that's because I havn't been working on them!

I started my OOAK Tokidoki lookalike about 3 weeks ago and have not been back to her since. I do however plan on getting her finished at some stage. This project has been a real trial and error kind of project.

I'm modelling my OOAK of this beauty

The doll initially wanted to use has proved to have terrible hair! After cutting and washing her hair several times it remains stiff and also sticky. I tried to tame her hair by using boiling water to set it straight, BUT, it remains stiff and sticky! what can I do about this?

I really liked the eyes on this doll, so rather than removing the factory paint, I altered them just a tad to suit my liking by enhancing the eyeliner. The lips are yet to be altered.

Before painting

After the repaint

Now comes the fun part, applying tattoos. This should be as easy as 1,2,3...WRONG! The temporary tattoos I had bought were terrible to apply and rubbed off super easy or came off while applying another tattoo. Many tattoos had been applied and "fun" was turning into "nightmare."

Tattoos that kept washing /rubbing off 

I soon discovered one of the issues of failed tattoo application was my patience level! I needed to slow down and apply one at a time, let the tattoo dry and seal it before moving on to the next (sometimes I rush things due to not getting much hobby time). So, in order to seal the tattoos I use clear nail polish. This works a treat.

You may of noticed a different body has been used in the second application of tattoos. I decided due to the stiff/sticky hair on the other doll that I would flag using her and start again. Unfortunately the only doll I had left to make a OOAK was one with the painted on swimsuit...ARRR Mattel! why do they do such things. Not a fan of the painted on swimsuits as you can probably tell. Anyway, this issue will not stand in my way as the jumper/top I have sewn for this gal will cover up the swimsuit but still show off the back tattoo.

As for Miss Sticky Hair, she will not go to waste. I do plan on finishing her at some stage but for now she is "on the back burner until further notice"

Shes Here!

Look who arrived in the post today...



2015 Fashionista! LA Girl. Never in a million years did I ever think I'd be adding modern play line Barbies to my collection, however, when I locked eyes on LA Girl I HAD to have her. She has one of the prettiest faces on a Barbie I have ever seen. The beauty spot is rather unique too!

 The head mold for this doll is the same as the 2010 Skipper doll 

The only down fall of LA Girl is her stiff body. The legs do not bend, which makes posing her rather difficult.



The main feature of this would have to be her hair style. Long lushes blonde locks with a streak of pink in it and flocking on one side,,,totally unique!

  



Although the quality of these dolls is nothing compared to what was produced in the 80's and 90's, LA Girl is definitely a keeper, and dear I say it, I think i'll be adding more of these beauties to my collection!

She's 25!

She's been dubbed "The Best Selling Barbie Of All Time" with more than 10 million of these dolls sold worldwide, she holds the record for Worlds Longest Successful Toy Sale...that's right she's Totally Hair Barbie.



Released in 1992, more then 10 million of these dolls sold between 1992 and 1995. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Totally Hair Barbie. So, in true Mattel style, a reproduction has been released to mark the occasion, check here out at The Barbie Collection. I'm not sure if this doll is available in New Zealand yet, looks like i'll be taking a trip to the nearest toy store sometime soon to find out :)))

In the mean time, what better way to pay homage to this all time favourite then a few snapshots with the originals.



I bought these 2 beauties back in 2009. They are new out of the box. All the accessories and hair gel came with them.

  

  



I wonder how that gel is holding up! I opened the package containing the comb, rubber bands and shoes..I wanted the shoes for these snapshots. All the rubber bands had gone hard!



The hair styling booklets came with these gals also and bits of the original packaging...









And of course, with Totally Hair Barbie came a line of outfits!



  

How cool are these?! they came with a hair accessory for the child, but it could also be part of Barbies outfit.

  

And Mattel even offers some helpful hits!




Happy 25th Birthday Totally Hair Barbie 🎉🎈🎆