Sylvanian Families Kitchen Cooking Set

Dear Readers,

I would like to show you in detail the Sylvanian Families Kitchen Cooking Set that I am giving away to one of my dear readers. This set makes a wonderful addition to either a home kitchen or a restaurant. I have displayed the items on a typical kitchen set from Calico Critters. 

Included in the set are :

• 1 kettle with lid
• 1 pot with lid and stew
• 1 pan with lid and 6 ravioli pieces
• 1 skillet with omelette
• 1 oven tray with 2 rectangular bread (or fish cakes?)
• 1 oven tray with 5 round biscuits
• 1 plate with pasta and tomato sauce
• 1 flour canister with a lid
• 1 salt shaker
• 1 pepper shaker
• 1 pair of oven mitts
• 1 spatula
• 1 ladle
• 1 kitchen thongs

But strangely, I cannot find the 6 ravioli pieces anymore!  I don't know what happened to them... Maybe one of my critter ate them all ^_^

All the lid and food items are removable which increases the possibilities of display.   I really like the soft green color of the pot, pan and kettle.   They look very similar to the life-size enamel cooking ware!  The word "COOKING" is engraved on the lid of the pot and pan.  I think that is a really nice design and gives the cooking ware a "real" look.

The scale is about 1:12.  It is made for the Sylvanian Families/Calico Critters but it will also fit small dolls that are 4 to 5 inches tall.  

My Littlest Pet Shop Blythe doll has nicely accepted to model the oven mitt for you to see.  She is a newcomer in my dolly world and I'll post more about her and her friends soon.

Little Dal Humpty Dumpty wasn't to happy though.  She wasn't impressed by the set.  Especially the omelette ^_^.

Another type of doll that fits well with this set is a Mimiworld doll!

The set that I will send to the winner of the giveaway will be in a brand new sealed package.

And you'll be sure to receive the 6 ravioli pieces that I was missing in my set!  You can enter the giveaway by leaving a comment in my post HERE or by leaving a comment in this post as well.  This giveaway is open to my present blog readers only to thank them for their continuous support!  Other prizes will be posted next week and it will be open to existing and new readers.   The participation period ends on Saturday 8th November 2014 at 9pm CET.   I will announced the winner that night (if I am still awake, if not, I'll announce on Sunday!).  

I was going to post a review of this set on the Sylvanian Families Forum but since it is missing pieces, I'll have to find another item to review.  Don't forget you can still have a chance to win a cute fridge (donated by the generous Mariana  from Sugarbush Valley: an Ideal Life) if you submit a review in the REVIEW SECTION of the Sylvanian Families Forum!  Closing date 23 November 2014.  Good luck 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.

MimiWorld Dolls

Dear Readers,

Do you make emotional driven purchase?  I sure do.  Once I forgot to bid on a set of Petite Jenny dolls which I really wanted because they were so rare and usually quite expensive.  I was so upset that I went ahead and bought somewhat similar looking dolls >.<.

I ended up with 5 little dolls from a South Korean company called MimiWorld.  The dolls I bought are the small size dolls but the company also offers taller Barbie-size dolls.  MimiWorld Official Website is HERE.

The small dolls are usually priced at $15 including shipping.  But sometimes they are put on auctions and you can get them for about $8 each.  In my case,  I bought them as a 5-pack Fairy Tales Set for only $7 each including shipping (all the way from South Korea!).

I don't recommend anybody buying on emotional impulse because they sometimes result from bad financial choice and/or regrets.  But to be honest, in this case, I was very happy getting the dolls!  Here below is a close-up of each of the box.

Rapunzel

Alice in Wonderland

Snow White

Little Red Riding Hood

Cinderella

They are very pretty, their costumes are so cute and they have interesting accessories.  For this blog post, I will only review the Cinderella doll.  Here she is out of her box but still attached to her backdrop.  She is tied by three ties.  One behind her hair, one at her waist, and the last one at the hem of her dress.  She comes with shoes, a headband, dress, underwear, a hairbrush and a mirror.

She was rather easy to unbox but it was more tedious than for Licca's sisters or the Petit Jenny dolls.

Here she is completely unboxed.

Her dress is so long you can't see her shoes so I lifted her dress up to show you her "glass" slippers.

Here hair is tied in the back in pony tails with big rubber rubber bands.

The dress is beautiful and retains its shape well.

Similarly to the Licca and Petit Jenny dolls, the garments are closed with a velcro closure.

The tag says "Made in China" and "Mimi World".

The headband is made of fabric and is tied by a rubber band.

I chose to unbox Cinderella because she reminds me so much of Miki-chan!

But the Mimiworld doll's face-up is less detailed than the Licca's doll.  Notice how Miki-chan's eyes are much more defined and her cheeks are more rosy.

Their naked body also looks almost identical.

And Cinderella has a flaw on her body like this white speck on her right arm.  It's not a flat blemish, it's like a slight bump.  Her body's seams are not as smooth as Miki-chan's.

Their feet are the same size.

And their shoes are the same size too but Miki-chan's shoes are softer and bend more easily.

I made them swap clothes and you can see they fit each other's clothes perfectly.

I do like the Mimiworld Cinderella very much because she has nice feature and very great hair!  If you remember, I had a bad experience with my Aoi doll and I disliked her thin and crinkly hair!

A major difference I see between the two dolls is the scent!  The MimiWorld doll has a strong chemical scent that I hope will disappear now that I have unboxed her.  It's unpleasant but not overwhelming.  The price of the doll is cheap enough that I would probably by another one but I must admit, it would be more for the clothes than for the doll itself.

Ai-Dolls

Dear Readers,

It was one really long day today.  Super busy and stressed.  It was also very cold so I didn't go out after work.  I just went home to cook something good to eat and to hug my kids.  I made pancakes.  They were either burned or raw.  And the vegetarian sausages had the texture of cardboard.  It was a terrible dinner.  I wanted to cry and I know it was silly but once again I ruined dinner because I am such a bad cook.

And then my husband surprised me.  He told me he had bought some dolls for me.  Earlier today he drove to a far away Tuesday Morning store.  He didn't find any J-Dolls but he found some Ai-Dolls, which are small but incredibly beautiful Ball Jointed Dolls (BJD).  That's not the kind of dolls you would ever expect to see in a store here, let alone a discount store like Tuesday Morning!  They cost $29.99 which is very low compared to their usual cost.  

Ai-Dolls were made by Jun Planning before Groove took over.  They are about 5 inches tall (12.5 cm) and are apparently made of plastic and not resin (despite their description on Amazon.com).  They are not as expensive as other small BJD on the market.  Their names are all inspired by flowers and plants.

Packaged in a hard cover box, the dolls are beautifully presented.  Very gift-worthy!  The dolls look like they could cost $100 (and some of them did when they were initially issued and still cost as much).

Their wigs and eyes are removable so you can easily customize them.  But you would have to buy an additional wig and another pair of eyes (or swap them between the dolls) because it's not included in the box although some putty is included so you can glue-in the new eyes.

Ai-Dolls are issued with three different face molds.

1) open eyes
2) sleepy eyes
3) closed eyes

My husband bought me ALL the Ai-Dolls he found.  Here below are some pictures from Amazon because I can't have the dolls inside my home yet!  I am very superstitious and I can't bring certain things in my home for the two first weeks of the year.  So they are sitting in the mail room for now and I'll go get them next weekend :)

The first one is Ai-Doll Marigold.   Isn't she adorable?  She reminds me of my little baby when she sleeps, with her peaceful and rested expression.  Her clothes and accessories are incredibly detailed and will you look at her shoes? *_*

The second doll is Phlox.  She is oh so adorable!  Her short hair and little curls in the back are so cute and she does remind me of my own baby daughter as well.   I am totally in love with her girly and cheery outfit!

There are a few more dolls but I'll write about them when I'll get to unbox them.  Needless to say, my husband's surprise presents lifted my mood considerably.  We'll probably eat toast and eggs tomorrow  for lunch and I'll try cooking again for dinner (something easy!).

If you don't have a Tuesday Morning store near home, you would be happy to know that Amazon.com do sell them right now for even cheaper, as low as $25.99!!!  

There are quite a few choices at a good price right now so I created a section for Ai-Dolls on my Amazon store :D  Many cost under $30 each, some are around $39.99, and a few are over that price.  

I have always wanted a pretty doll like this but never thought I could own one so I am very happy with this sudden find in a local store!  I can't wait to put them in a nice dollhouse with pretty furniture!  Once I can unbox them, I'll write a full review!

Do you have an Ai-doll or other small BJD?  If yes, please do show them on your blog!  I would love to see which ones you have!   If not, would you like to get one?

This post contains affiliate links.

J-Dolls

Hello Dear Readers,

Thank goodness it is finally Friday!  I longed for some rest after this busy week :)  I was not going to blog again until next week but I saw these deals on Amazon.com and I just HAD to post about it.

Are you familiar with J-Dolls?  They were made by Jun Planning until Groove took over (it is also the company that creates Pullip dolls).  Well J-Dolls are like Pullip but without the big head.  They have jointed limbs and a very pretty face with strikingly beautiful stationary glass eyes! 

Here below is one of the most beautiful ballerina doll ever: J-Doll Rossi St.  According to this website, she was created in 2008 and her name Rossi Street is located in St. Petersburg, Russia, and is named for a famous architect who designed a theater familiar to ballet fans the world over.

They are named after a particular street in the world and they wear very fashionable clothes.  I noticed  J-Dolls have sometimes very adult-theme clothes like lingerie as opposed to the more fairy tales and anime-like clothes that the Pullip and Dal dolls wear.  They are certainly collector's dolls and not toys because of how fragile they are and the mature outfit they wear.

I never bought one before because a price tag of $60-100 seemed a little high, especially since the dolls do not have the same eyes mechanism like Pullip dolls and their head is stiff so you cannot tilt it or move it much.  And apparently they have very fragile wrists that break easily.

While I was looking for the Little Dal dolls on Amazon.com, I noticed the price on a J-Dolls and was quite surprised by how incredibly cheap it was! Some of the dolls are only $24.99!  I checked online to see if there were more and indeed, there seems to be a sudden boom of low-priced J-Dolls at the moment.

But wait, I found out that it was even cheaper!  Apparently the stores Tuesday Morning had been selling them for $19.99 in December 2013.  And the Little Pullip and Dal dolls were $9.99!!!  WHY DO I ONLY LEARN THIS NOW? T_T

Well I am too late as usual: I went to my local Tuesday Morning store and they had no J-Dolls left... but they did have some Little Dal dolls for $9.99.  Unfortunately there were only 3 types and I was not interested in them.

There were many Barbie, Bratz, La Dee Da, Monster High, and other dolls on sale in the Tuesday Morning store.  If you are a doll fanatic, you should totally check out your local store to see if they still have some of the dolls you might like!

Amazon was then the next best thing.  Of course, the rare dolls are not on sale and you would have a hard time finding them in any store but the cheaper dolls are still very pretty and constitute a great deal.

So I plunged and bought my first J-dolls :)  I don't have them yet but  I wanted to post about the J-Dolls today so you can get them at a good price while you can.  I have updated my Amazon store and added a J-Doll section.  If you decide to buy from my store, I thank you in advance for your patronage :D

Most of them will ship for free but some of the dolls require a shipping fee so you should verify before you check out!  I admit I usually buy from Amazon because of free shipping ^_^

Tomorrow I will go check another Tuesday Morning store and maybe I'll get lucky :)

Have a great weekend y'all!

This post contains affiliate links.

Hello Kitty here, Hello Kitty there!

Dear Readers,

I was very spoiled by my blogger friends this year.   Melissa from Julia's Bookbag sent me a super adorable Hello Kitty New Year red packet!  If you like books, tea, Hello Kitty, Japanese stuff, Russian fairy tales, etc... you should totally read her!   She is super funny and I learned so many things thanks to her blog.

She also sent me Hello Kitty marshmallow and Botan Rice Candies!  If you never had these, you should try them because they taste so good.  It has actually been many years since I ate one so eating them brought back many good memories.   The presents were for my son but he only wanted the money and marshmallow so I ate all the rice candies hehehe!

Speaking of Hello Kitty, did you know Groove created a Little Dal Hello Kitty doll?  In fact, Groove did a special collaboration with Sanrio and released 3 mini dolls:

1. Little Dal Hello Kitty Baby
2. Little Dal Cinnamoroll Baby
3. Little Byul My Melody Baby

And for some reasons, they are actually super cheap on Amazon right now at only $19.99 (and you can get free shipping if you buy $35 or more but it also depends on the seller because some of them will have a separate shipping fee).  I don't know why the price has dropped down so much but they are usually around $29 and sometimes a lot more (on EvilBay)!

Here below are some photos of them from Amazon so you can see how cute they are!

Each of them wear a bib and they have a giant hoodie shaped like the character they represent.  I am not a huge fan of Byul's facemold but I have to say this My Melody Baby is pretty cute!

I think they would make great presents for Hello Kitty fans and Sanrio fans too.   They are quite small at about 4 inches so it's not a big doll and they can be stored easily thanks to the rectangular box in which they are packaged.

I have updated my Amazon Shop and added the Sanrio Little Dal dolls.  There are a few more dolls that are on sale too if you want to go over there and take a look.

I updated my Amazon page for Little Dal so you can see on the first and second page the dolls on sale right now.  I am a biting my fingers because I bought the Coral doll at twice that price for my niece just a few months ago!

You can also access my shop by clicking on the pretty Mini Lalaloopsy picture on the right-hand side bar! 

I am quite excited about these dolls so I bought all 3 Sanrio Littles :)  I know I should save money but how can a woman resist a good sale?

Disclaimer : This post contains affiliate links.

My very sweet Dal Dotori

I realized I never blogged about Dal Dotori when I took pictures of her in the dollhouse yesterday.  Remember when I posted here about whether or not I should get Dal Dotori?  Well I couldn't resist this cutie pie much longer and so she is now part of my collection :) 

She is beyond ♥ ADORABLE ♥ Her face is so pretty and sweet.  And her outfit is quite amazing!  She has so many garments!  Here below is the list of items which came in her box :

- Bonnet
- Earmuffs
- Long-Sleeved shirt
- Vest
- Skirt
- Apron with lace tie
- Underpants
- Socks
- Shoes
- Bag
- Doll stand
- Card

Her clothes are very good quality and I love how it reminds me of Mori-girl fashion (Mori means Forest in Japanese and it's a look inspired by nature).   She seems to belong in the forest, talking to birds and reindeers.  After all, her name Dotori means "acorn" in Korean.

It's easy to put on and take off  her clothes but her shoes are a little tricky.  They tend to fall off quite often (maybe she wants to walk barefoot in the forest?).  I like that she came with white underpants!  It may be a detail only but I think it is a nice addition to the outfit.  But my favorite accessories are her earmuffs. So cute!!!

She has lovely blond hair braided on both sides of her head.  It gives her an innocent little girl look.  Her bangs are very short but it suits her perfectly.  I don't have a single bad thing to say about her hair except that it will probably get messy and I'll have to undo her braids at some point.

 

I named her Gerda after the tale "The Snow Queen" from Christian Hans Anderson because her dress reminds me of Scandinavian prints.  And I like how my Isul Lir is named Kai because it reminds me of the same Tale :P

She is much smaller than the Pullip dolls and I think I like Dal better than Pullip.  Her pouting face is too adorable and her body is easier to handle because it's just the right size for my hands.  Pullips are a little bit more tricky to handle.

So Gerda will now join my Pullip dolls Lola (Pullip Merl) and Tiffany (Pullip Paja).   Here she is below flanked by her two "older sisters".  I am sorry for such a terrible picture >.< !  Apart from Lola and Tiffany having a bad hair day, I ran out of time giving them a decent outfit!  I really must take a better picture for their next photoshoot!