Bookcase Dollhouse

Dear Readers,

I didn't realize how long it has been since I posted on Blogger!  Free time is a luxury nowadays so I usually post pictures on my Instagram account because it takes less time than to write a blog post!

Thanksgiving weekend has given me a little bit more leisure time so I finally got the chance to post about my present project: a bookcase dollhouse.  Or rather a dollhouse in a bookcase.  

I have a few folding Barbie dollhouses but the display was never permanent and I had to store everything away once I finished taking pictures.  They serve their purpose and I am happy with them but I also wanted a permanent display of my Re-ment collection and doll furniture.  

I didn't want a big Barbie dollhouse because the accumulating dust would drive me crazy (I already have quite a lot of dusting to do with the little Sylvanian Families dollhouses!).  So I opted instead for a bookcase or cabinet with closing doors so I can keep the dust away!

Since the bookcase fits dolls of about 9 inches tall, I decided to give this dollhouse to Licca and Dal dolls yet.  The furniture from Licca, Re-ment and IKEA brands can fit these dolls very well.   The Licca furniture set I have right now is available on Amazon.com. The Re-ment furniture are available mostly on Ebay (at very high prices) but there is a new collection of furniture being gradually released so I am hopeful that Re-ment will eventually remake some of those rare items. 

Right now, I only have two shelves furnished but I am not done decorating them yet.  I intend to set up all four shelves eventually.  

Do you have a dollhouse in a bookcase too? If not, how do you solve the dusting problem with an open display dollhouse?

Have a lovely week!

2015 ADAW 3/52

Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my previous ADAW picture.  I really appreciate your words of encouragements!  I am not a good photographer and I have so much to learn in this field.  Sometimes it's depressing to look at my photos but I am looking forward to learn new ways to improve so it gives me hope when I read your response to my blog posts ^_^

Today's picture features Dal Cinnamoroll 10th Anniversary!  I wanted to do a shot of boredom and this Dal doll was the perfect model because her eyes are somehow a little sad.  She is looking outside her house, her elbow against the window sill.

"Mélancholie quand tu nous tiens."

(Melancholy when it holds us.)

I don't know why the picture posted on my blog is so dark.  The one I have on my computer and Flickr is much better!  If you want to see the difference, here is the link to my photo on Flick. 

The dollhouse is the Barbie Totally Real Dollhouse which is quite a versatile house because of all the different walls for each room.

You have probably noticed that my ADAW photos are mostly of Dal dolls.  It's because I have decided to showcase them in this photo project so people can see how beautiful they are.

I am afraid that Groove, the company that produces Dal dolls as well as the better known Pullip dolls, will stop making Dal dolls, There have been only 2 Dal releases last year.  Groove had already discontinued their collection of Ai-dolls and J-dolls so it is a real concern to see the Dal production dwindle down to only two in 2014.

I will maybe let my other dolls into the ADAW project from time to time but for now, Dal takes the spotlight.

I hope your Saturday was less boring than it has been for Dal Cinnamoroll!  Enjoy your weekend :)

2015 ADAW 2/52

Dear Readers,

How are you?  Have you kept your resolutions so far?  I have been very busy at the office so it wasn't an easy schedule. But finally it's Friday and I have some free time at last.

I am one week behind on my weekly photo project "A Doll a Week 2015" (ADAW) so I'll post two pictures this week.

The first one is Little Dal Lady Vixy on a Picco Neemo body.  I gave her a new wig and I think she looks much better with long hair.  

The picture on Flickr is better than this one.  For some reason, my picture look so dark on blogger! 

The horse and riding clothes are borrowed from Barbie Chelsea (who came in the same playset as the horse).

The background is a quick watercolor painting I did in a few minutes.  It was fun to paint again so I'll probably do some more for my future backgrounds.

I plan to take another picture tomorrow to post it on time.  I really hate being behind on my projects so hopefully it can be done :)

I hope you will all have a lovely weekend!

Dalicious Challenge 3

Dear Readers,

The third challenge of the Dalicious Photo Contest was: VINTAGE! One single idea came to my mind and I did not have any other so I went ahead with that initial plan. Can you tell what is going on in this picture?

Gerda (Dal Dotori) is having a yard sale and she is horrified to see Scout (Dal Tweety) fighting with Dal Cinnamoroll (She does not have a name yet!) for a much sought-after Kenner Blythe doll.

The inspiration for my photo came from two sources: one is from reading stories about doll collectors hoping to find a very rare Kenner Blythe doll for cheap at yard sales.  They Kenner dolls were the very first Blythe dolls but they were discontinued very early on.  It's extremely difficult to find them nowadays, especially when they are in their box.

The other source of inspiration was from my own experience at a Tuesday Morning store.  I spotted a DAL doll and took her in my hands to see.  Suddenly another customer ran toward me and took all the remaining dolls on the shelf!  Then she looked at me and my doll.  I thought that she was going to snatch it from my hands LOL  She asked me if she could look at it and I showed her. She complimented me on my find and left.  I then realized that I took the ONLY DAL doll from the shelf... all the other dolls in her shopping cart were J-dolls for which I did not really care to buy.  Well I like J-dolls but I am very particular about which one so I only like a few models.

So that was not a fight but it was such a surprising reaction from a buyer.  I never had seen somebody so eager to get the dolls!  I think she regretted that she could not get the DAL!

The most difficult hurdle I had for this challenge was to position my dolls to stage a realistic fight!  I could not make them stand up on their own.  So I put Scout on top of Dal Cinnamoroll.   Posing them was so much trouble because I could not get them to look like they were really fighting. I had to re-position them at least 10 times.  I took at least 50 pictures this time, more than I have ever done before in the contest.

Many of my pictures came out blurry during the two first challenges but for this one, I received some help!  My husband bought me a tripod from a garage sale (we do love going to yard sales!).  It was only $5 and in excellent condition.  Thanks to the tripod, I didn't have as much blurry photos.

Here is a behind-the-scene photo :)

I was excited for this challenge!  I got to use THREE of my Dal dolls and I took some time choosing among the "vintage" toys I have.  This picture also marked the return of Gerda (Dal Dotori) who had a broken arm.  I gave her a new body (an Obitsu 21cm).  She is a lot more sturdy now but her neck is floppy so I might have to cut the neck in half to fix that problem.  Otherwise, that new body is a dream compared to the Dal stock body.

It was a very fun challenge and I love having three Dals on display!  But I am terribly unhappy about my photo.  I wanted to redo the scene but time ran out so I sent in the best pictures I had.  I hope the judge will like it enough T_T  Wish me luck :)


EDIT: All the contestant's photos are now up!  You can view them HERE.

Barbie Fashion Fever Build a Room Kit

Dear Readers,

I have been wanting to build a roombox for quite some time so I can take pictures of my dollies.   I even chose the wood planks at the craft store but I am no good at this.  Fast-foward 4 months and still no roombox so I decided out of desperation to try the Barbie Fashion Fever Build A Room Kit.  It was a whopping $25 dollars on Amazon.  I told you I was desperate >.<

The outside box looked so promising.  It included two different wallpapers and ridges on the floor (which means I could re-use it for other wallpapers of my own),   There was also a thin shelf and a few accessories like yellow stickers for the floor and other non-memorable plastic items. 

The walls are made of two cardboard pieces that you can insert in the ridges you see on the floor.  One side is covered with a rather hypnotic and annoying pattern of pink and red roses. The shelf is super thin and could probably carry only a frame or other light objects.

On the other side of the wall is another equally hypnotic pattern composed of white, green and blue diamond.  Notice the gap in between the two walls?  That's a design flaw.  The miWorld mall store solved that issue by providing a small triangular plastic piece that connected the top of the two walls.  I used tape on the back to do the same trick in this case.

The Barbie doll shown on the front of the box looks small but I think it's because she is standing in the middle of the room and the angle of the shot made her look that way.  In reality, a Barbie doll is very tall for the walls of this room.  See below for a comparison photo.  From left to right: Barbie, Liv, J-Doll, and Licca.

I think the J-Doll and Licca dolls would be suitable for the height of this room because Barbie and Liv would look awkward in the shots unless they sit down. 

In the picture below is J-Doll Marche.  She is a beautiful doll with an awesome outfit.  I changed her into a more comfortable attire.  She is dressed in a white and green summer dress made by Re-ment.  She was blessed with gorgeous soft hair so I did not have to rewig her like I did for J-Doll Esplanadi Katu.  

The chair, footrest and table are from my Hannah Montana Malibu Beach House.  The flower and vase are accessories from a Barbie blue kitchen set. 

J-Doll Esplanadi Katu was invited for an afternoon tea.  Her grey shorts and white top with blue polka dot are also made by Re-ment.  Shelf, chairs and table by IKEA and all tea cups and plates by Re-ment.  The scones and muffin are from Re-ment  Bread and Butter Collection.  They look amazingly real and the texture was even well done!  It was just too much fun to set up this scene!  But that red line on the wallpaper corner annoyed me to no end!  

I had to take a shot from another angle to hide that red line.  Don't you think it looks less distracting now that it is no longer there?  That's another design flaw.  The red line is from the other side of the wall covered with the roses.  What an unprofessional finish to leave it there for the other wallpaper! 

The floor is meh.  The yellow stickers were ridiculous and I would have preferred another cardboard insert to show a proper wood floor or carpet or something actually less tacky than huge pink tiles but hey, this is Barbie stuff so getting pink is rather the norm.

I do love that Mattel actually came up with a roombox but it could have been so much better.    Sadly, they didn't improve on the initial design and it fell out of production.  I hope they will eventually release something close to that idea but with better walls and floors and maybe allow for a window or door to be added.  That would be AWESOME!  

I think I overpaid for this and it is really not worth the $25 I spent.  I am still biting my hands over that but it may have possibilities and I will look into creating my own wallpapers... preferably without hypnotic patterns or a red line smack in the corner of the room!

Hina-chan in a Barbie House

Dear Readers,

How was your weekend?  I can't believe it's already August!  We are counting the days until school starts again!  Most of my days out of the office were spent with the kids making the most of our little time together.  I had very few moments to spend on my hobbies but I did manage to snap a few photos a week ago.

I wanted to display some of the miniature pastries that Chloe had sent me.  They are displayed below on the coffee table of Hina-chan's home.  She is one of Licca's friend that I dressed up in clothes from Only Hearts Club.   Those clothes fit Licca dolls to a T.  They are much cheaper than the Takara fashion packs and they come in many different styles as well.  I'll have to show you my Licca dolls in those outfits in another post.

But for now, here below are some photos of Hina-chan in her Barbie "My House" folding dollhouse.  I got this house at a garage sale for only $10 + a bunch of furniture.  It was super dirty and I had to scrape off all the damaged stickers and scrub the dollhouse for 3 days O_O.   I still need to add some painting or wallpaper to the walls. 

Here is the kitchen.  You'll see miniature items from Re-ment, Orcara, Barbie, Mini Lalaloopsy, and Bratz.  It took me forever to set up this kitchen but I am not happy with it.  I hate it. It's so disorganized and I need to re-think my display.  I will probably swap the furniture and appliances for others pieces and see how it goes from there.

The Re-ment stove is my favorite piece of the kitchen.  I love the eye-popping red color.  The fridge is from a Barbie playset.  

Here is a close-up of the stove.  All the cabinet doors open and there is even a broiler!  My favorite miniature item is the soap bottle and the tiny gloves!  Well I like the spice rack too.   It's from Re-ment Fairy Tales Tableware Collection which I blogged about HERE.

And here is a full view of the "apartment".  You don't see the bathroom or bedroom because they are on the other side of the walls.  Which I have not yet decorated.

Hopefully I will have some time this week to write a few more blog posts.  Have a great week everybody!

Presents from PlushPussyCat

Dear Readers,

A few weeks ago, I received a big package.   I was really curious about what it could be because I was not expecting anything.  It wasn't my birthday and it wasn't any special day at all. Turned out it was Jennifer from PLUSHPUSSYCAT who sent me a box full of miniature goodies!  Jennifer is a very sweet friend from whom I learned a lot about miniature.  I actually found out about other miniature blogs thanks to her.

I was in the middle of my cabinets renovation so I couldn't post anything for quite a long time.  Then I was busy creating my Sylvanian Families village so that took a while as well!  Finally now that it is setup, I can properly show you the gifts she has sent me!!!

It was a fantastic selection of miniature items including a super cute Re-ment Hello Kitty convenience store food set!   I was also impressed by the clay miniatures because it's handmade and each piece is unique.  I also received stickers, candies and stencils!

Here are the handmade minis!

I had to show you a close-up of the chocolate cake because it's so tiny but so perfect.  Look at those cherries and the frosting!!!  I can't even make real-size frosting curls that well!

The wedding cake was also gorgeous and it's perfect for a Sylvanian Families wedding reception!

And my favorite is the flower bouquet!!!  

Hello Kitty ribbons ♥

Kitchen pots and pans (Iwako erasers!)

Miniature Rabbits (they look like Mini Sylvanians!)

To give you and idea about the size of those items, I have displayed them in a Barbie dollhouse.  Can you spot where they are?

Yes! On the kitchen stove and counter!

Let's play this game again!  Can you spot something in the room below that's from Jennifer's package?

The Iwako Rabbits on Licca's bed!

If you noticed the Re-ment's dog in the previous picture, then you probably remember it was  a gift sent to me by MoonRabbit_Ly's Miniature World!  It came with the heater which I am also using in the bedroom.

Thank you Jennifer and Chloe for sploiling me so much and sending me those wonderful gifts!  I have setup another Barbie dollhouse to show more of the items I have received but it will take a few more days.  It was very humid this weekend and I feel quite ill because of this hot weather.  Hopefully it will cool down soon.

Have a wonderful week everybody!

Moxie Girlz Jammaz House

Dear Readers,

Are you a fan of Bratz dolls? I must admit I have never been interested in them but I adore their playsets! Maybe it’s a reaction to the eternal Barbie pink. I am usually more inclined to buy a dollhouse or furniture that is NOT pink and Bratz has issued many non-pink items. I personally think the Bratz World House and furniture are among the greatest doll playsets I have ever seen.

Unfortunately for me, I came too late in the dolly world so I wasn’t there when these awesome toys were released. But I was lucky and got a hold of some of them on the secondary market and in some cases, the items were brand new.

The Bratz World House however is usually sold for quite a hefty price and I didn’t want to buy something at such a high cost, especially when I risk getting a damaged house (which happened to me one time too many).

So I was really happy when I saw the Moxie Girlz Jammaz House. It’s basically the same design as the Bratz World House but with slight differences in colors, furniture and accessories. Beware though, the Moxie Girlz Jammaz House was released in two different models: one playset comes with a bed and bathtub, and one does not!

The Moxie Girlz House is a folding dollhouse so it takes very little space! There is an outer shell and two walls that can be flipped over to show a different background. Everything fits perfectly inside the outer shell for easy storage (except the furniture).

Here is what the dollhouse looks like from the front, when it is folded.

Although the house is now released as a Moxie Girlz dollhouse, it still shows the Bratz logo.  Not surprising since MGM Entertainment which produced Bratz, is the also the company that produces Moxie Girlz.  They were just a bit lazy here and re-marketed this dollhouse without making much changes.  Not that I complain!  It's a great dollhouse to re-release!

The back of the house.

The bathroom is by far my favorite wall.  It is so detailed and lush.

Here is Emma for size comparison. The shower door can open.

Here is the bath tub that came with the house. 

The kitchen is my least favorite wall.

It looks pretty but it's super flat!  You can't put much in that oven.

Emma does not care.  I don't think she cooks.

This is the wall that you have seen in my previous post. So versatile!

The flat-screen TV and fireplace mantle.

The bed came with a pillow.  

The closet and vanity you see here did not come with the dollhouse.  They are from a Bratz Furniture Playset, but their color match perfectly with the Moxie Girlz House and the bed.

And lastly, thhe accessories that came with the house. There were also a white hand towel, a pink towel/blanket, and stickers for the TV and Kitchen.

The main difference between the Bratz World House is that the Bratz World House came with a sofa and a dining table and chairs and some kitchen accessories while the Moxie Girlz Jammaz House comes with a bed and bathtub instead. 

Of all my folding dollhouses and playsets, the Moxie Girlz Jammaz House is my favorite. It is just so beautiful! There are so many details on these walls and they are very functional.  You can arrange your house is so many different ways!  It’s just the perfect house to use as background pictures and I can see how it can appeal to children as well just as a regular play house as well.

Licca dolls fit wonderfully in this type of house. They are about the same size as Bratz and Moxie dolls so it’s a perfect fit. I can’t gush enough about how much I love the house. I wish MGA Entertainment will keep on coming up with more great playsets like this and issue more furniture!