Winner of the OHC fashion pack is ...

Dear Readers,

There were 5 participants for the giveaway to win a fashion pack from Only Hearts Club.

1. Emily
2. Capucine
3. Sonia
4. April
5. Lolote

I used random.org to generate a random number.

And the winner is: Number 4 so it's April! 

April, please send me your address to mabebecherie @ gmail dot com :)  I know you are all the way over  in Japan so I hope the package can reach you before Christmas!

I will announce the next giveway during the upcoming week!  The whole family has been sick with a cold so I have not been able to blog much lately.  Hopefullly the illness will run its course and we'll be in top shape for Thanksgiving :)

Have a wonderful week everybody!

Skipper and Stacie

Dear Readers,

I posted previously about Only Hearts Club clothes which are a perfect fit for my Licca and Dal dolls. One of my follower asked me about the fit on Skipper dolls.  So I did a quick try this morning (baby woke up at 4:30am). 

I am very pleased to say that both dolls seem to wear the clothes well, except the pants are too tight for Skipper.  The shoes fit too both doll very nicely (without socks).

A view of their back.  The skirt is a snug fit on Skipper.

She is such a pretty doll!  I should take more pictures of her!

I wished Mattel would release more clothes for Skipper and Stacie.  Thank goodness for the Only Hearts Club fashion packs though!  They came in really handy for my little dolls.  

If you are interested, I am giving away this nifty rocker outfit from Only Hearts Club.  It comes with a guitar, long-sleeve shirt, a jacket, pants, scarf and shoes!  Ideally, I should have tried it on my dolls so you can see more clearly but it was already 6am when I finished the photos and I had to go to work!   

Let me know if you are interested in participating in your comment below.  You have to be a follower of my blog to join the giveaway.  Deadline is next Friday November 21st at 9pm CET.  I'll announce the winner on Saturday.  Good luck and have a wonderful weekend everybody :)

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. I was not paid or received gifts to write this or mention any stores or website. You may find a better store in your area.

Licca Castle Small Shop in Tokyo

Dear Readers,

Did you know that Licca Castle has opened a store in Nihonbashi, Tokyo!  It's called LICCA CASTLE SMALL SHOP and it will sell Licca Castle and Jenny dolls, shoes and outfits!  And they apparently sell rare dolls and dresses that are exclusive to that store!

Photo from Licca Castle Website

The shop has recently opened on August 1st, 2014 and I only saw a very few photos of the store so far.  But the most memorable pictures are from this fantastic Japanese blogger Kokeshi Diary !  She has an incredible collection of Licca dolls, Blythe dolls and Azone Pure Nemo dolls!  Her blog is such a pleasure to follow because of her super beautiful pictures!  It's thanks to Chloe Liu from MoonRabbit_Ly's Miniature World that I found out about the blog!

The photos I am posting here are however from the Licca Castle Official Website and are not that blogger's personal photos.  I wished I could ask Kokeshi Diary for her permission to repost her pictures here but her blog is in Japanese and I don't know how to navigate around to ask her nor can I write in Japanese :/

Photo from Licca Castle Website

So you must take a look at the Licca Small Shop on her blog entry!  Can you imagine rows and rows of dreamy doll's dresses and shoes?  It's a Licca Heaven!  

Photo from Licca Castle Website

The dolls themselves are super kawaii cute and for the fist time I am considering buying a boy Licca doll (they do exist!).  I think the pictures are showing Charles (Licca's cousin from France who has blonde hair).  I didn't know boy's outfits could interest me this much but they look fabulous on these dolls!  I found a close up photo of the boys in this other blog entry (scroll all the way down).  I am also in love with the sailor suit and dress shown on that post.  Aren't they amazing?

Oh to go to Tokyo and buy all these goodies!  One can dream.  What is your dream shop?

Only Hearts Club Doll Fashion Packs

Dear Readers,

Have you ever heard of the Only Hearts Club Dolls?  The dolls are soft and poseable and seem to be a good starter doll for young children.  But I was more interested in their clothes to be honest. 

It's because I rarely find clothes that fit my 9 inches dolls like Licca, Dal and Skipper.  Since the Only Hearts Club Dolls share about the same measurements, I bought a few outfits to test them out.

I am glad I did because they are almost a perfect fit for Licca dolls.  I have yet to try them on my Dal and Skipper dolls but I heard they do fit Dal dolls really well.

Here below you can see some of my Licca girls wearing the clothes from Only Hearts Club Fashion Packs. 

Each fashion packs is packaged with one outfit and many accessories like shoes, handbags, and socks.   The garments are well made and I totally love the additional accessories. 

The fashion packs pricing range from $3.50 (on sale) to $14.50 depending on where you shop for them.    It's a real bargain for all the items included.    I found more choices on Ebay and Amazon and a few choices at discount stores like Tuesday Morning.

Compared to the fashion packs from Best Friends Club Ink that I found at the Dollar Store, the Only Hearts Club's fashion packs include the same amount of accessories but they are released with more choices.  They also target a tween fashion style whereas the Best Friends Club Ink are more teenager-oriented.

The clothes selections are tastefully hip enough for trendy kids but still maintain that children's vibe to them which I prefer to the hoochie Bratz fashion. 

This is how well the stocking fits on Licca doll's legs.

And the shoes can fit very well too except sometimes it is too tight to wear with socks.

The top is a little tight as well but it looks good from the front.  Licca dolls are not flat-chested like Only Hearts Club dolls so all the tops will be slightly tighter.

I am very tempted to buy more of these fashion packs now that I know they fit my Licca dolls so well.  I don't see many of them anymore at Tuesday Morning stores but there are so many other choices on Amazon and Ebay.  Still at good prices but I think I'll check out a few other discount stores before splurging at online stores.

Do you like these fashion packs?  It sure beats buying a single Licca dress at $20 plus $10 shipping fee!!!

Ironing Doll's Clothes

Did you ever have a problem with very wrinkled doll's clothes?  Whether the outfit was brand new or pre-owned, most of the doll's clothes I have are wrinkled, and some are twisted in a shape that makes it very ugly when worn on the doll.

I didn't know how to solve this issue since my iron board is much too big for those tiny garments!  I browsed online for a solution and came upon the Clover Mini Iron.
 

It's basically a metal rod encased in a rubber handle with an electric cord.   At the end of the rod is a flat-shaped head which allows you to iron out those tiny seams.  The mini iron includes a stand with rubber sole feet and metal holder that you can use to let your iron rest without burning your table.

I tried the mini iron this week.  It took a long time to heat up but once it's hot, it finally ironed out all those stubborn wrinkles!!!  I tried it on Licca-chan's clothes which are made with real fabric.  I did not try it on Barbie's clothes because I was afraid it would melt the plastic. 

I don't know much about Barbie's clothes because I only bought a few outfits for my Pullip dolls but I was so disappointed in their quality that I didn't dare buy more.  They had a horrible fake plastic feel to them.  It didn't feel like fabric.  Those are brand new Barbie's clothes from Target, not old or knock-off versions.  I don't know if Mattel offers better quality with the Barbie Black Label clothes.  If you know, please tell me?

Going back to the mini iron; I am very happy with this tool!  I almost regret not buying the Clover Mini Iron II - The Adapter.

The Adapter offers the possibility to change the shape of the head.  It's basically the same as the first Mini Iron but you can buy different shapes for the head like the:
 

Large Tip

 

Slim Line Tip

 Ball Tip

Or just get the whole thing (and more extra tips) with the Clover Iron II - The Adapter Set.

 

 

But I don't have any big sewing projects at the moment so I'll just keep my little iron for now.

Tiny stitches & button-holes

The stitches of those button-holes were so neat - so neat - I wonder how they could be stitched by an old man in spectacles, with crooked fingers, and a tailor's thimble.  The stitches of those button-holes were so small - so small - they look as if they had been made by little mice!

(The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter)

I received four tiny little dresses and crochet hats this weekend. As soon as I saw them, I thought of The Tailor of Gloucester from Beatrix Potter, for the dresses are so small, I don't know how they could possibly be made by human hands!

The outfits are for my Little Dal dolls (and they fit Little Blythe dolls too!) .  Look how pretty they are!

The dresses and hats are hand-made by MooKiW on ETSY.  I also received a pair of minuscule barrettes for my dolls as a bonus!  It's the first time I ordered from this shop and I should have ordered more dress because when I went to check out the online store today, all the other outfits were sold out : I'll have to wait for the next batch to order more items!

If you want to see how the dress and hat look on the dolls, please come visit my new blog Tales from the Dal House where I will write stories about my Little Dal dolls.  See what I did there? DAL House... ^_^  Ok so it's not the most creative title ever but it defines perfectly what the blog will be about :)