Byul-tiful Photo Contest

Dear Readers,

I bought a Byul doll a month ago.  I wanted to participate in the Byul-tiful Photo Contest organized by the Dal House Forum so I got myself a Byul Cocotte who is a doll collaboration with Angelic Pretty, the Lolita clothing brand.

Byul is made by the South Korean company Groove, the same company that creates Pullip and Taeyang dolls.  She is Dal's best friend.  Here below is a quick introduction to these dolls and their relationship to each other (from Wikipedia):

Pullip (풀잎) means "blade of grass/leaf" in Korean

Namu (나무, tree); he is Pullip's former boyfriend

Taeyang (태양, sun); he is Pullip's boyfriend

Dal (달, moon); she is Taeyang's younger sister

Byul (별, star); she is Dal's best friend

Isul (이슬, dew): he is Pullip's younger brother

Yeolume (열매, berry/fruit); she is Pullip's future daughter

Are you still following me? :)

Dal is my favorite doll but I had yet to purchase a Byul.  I love Lolita fashion so I decided to get Byul Cocotte.  I named her Delphine.

Here are my entries for the photo contest which spanned over 4 weeks.  We had to submit one picture each week according to a chosen theme, for a total of 4.

Week 1: Beautiful

"Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"

Since "Beautiful" is the first theme of the Photo Contest, I thought of the vain Evil Queen jealous of Snow White's beauty. Pullip Merl takes on the role of the Evil Queen and Byul Cocotte as Snow White.

Week 2 : Crush

The second theme for the Byul-tiful contest is "crush" so here is my take on it. Delphine has a crush on Isul so she wants to let him know. During class, she asks Yeolume to pass to Isul her love note.

Week 3 : Best Friend

The third theme for the Byul-tiful photo contest is "Best Friend".  Delphine's best friend is always there to lend a sympathetic ear to her stories.

Week 4 : Oh My!

"The awkward moment when you walk into somebody who just got out of the shower... "

The last theme is "Oh My". Byul has to be in a scene where she shows her trademark surprised expression.

It was a very fun contest and I learned a lot because the judges would post their critics of the pictures.  It was informative and I am thankful to the judges and organizers.  I am glad to have participated although I don't think I would win anything!

To view the other photos submitted in the Byul-tiful contest, you can go to the  Photo Contest Flickr Album HERE.

I hope I will be able to take better pictures of my dollies in the future :)

DAL Tweety

Dear Readers,

I would like to thank you all for your kind encouragements about the DALICIOUS Photo Contest.  I hesitated for a long time but once I read your comments, I realized participating in this competition would be a great opportunity to learn :)  I bought a new DAL doll just in time to send in my application to Dolly Market.  I named her *** SCOUT *** !

I have quite a history with DAL Tweety.  I bought a DAL Tweety a few years ago.  She was my second DAL after DOTORI (I could no enter Dotori in the contest because her arm is broken :/).  Her whimsical outfit and amazing face-up were too cute to resist.  And she has orange hair!!!   But then I sold her off during a time period in which I resolved to only collect 1:12 scale figures and miniatures and forget about 1:6 scale.  My resolve crumbled quickly and I had lost a few dolls in the meantime.  I was very sad to had let DAL Tweety go and often regretted this decision.  I kept wanting to buy another DAL Tweety after that but her price was always very high so I gave up.

As luck would have it, I found a DAL Tweety in a Tuesday Morning store just a few days ago.  I just couldn't believe it!  She was only $39.99 (faints).   I bought her right away I decided to jump in the DALICIOUS Photo Contest.

I only have a cheap camera and I my photography skills are terrible but I figured that I never play with my dolls as much as I would like to so this is the perfect opportunity to explore my hobby.  I have tons of clothes, furniture, houses and accessories for my dolls but I never really set them up in any interesting diorama.  I have always been an admirer of people's photos but not really a doer (if you know what I mean).  So this is my chance to have fun too and learn about dolly photography. 

I don't know how I'll be able to keep up with the challenge schedule but I hope it will be feasible.  I usually have to wait until the kids are asleep to set up any kind of photoshoot.  And then I have to take it apart before my baby rips through everything when she wakes up.

I gave my DAL Tweety a name that I love.  Scout is inspired by the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird.  She is brave, has a quick temper but has a golden heart beneath that rough exterior.  DAL Tweety gave me that fearless vibe about her so it was a matter of seconds to choose a name.  Scout is also the name my husband wanted to give our daughter but I rejected that option because it was too tomboyish.  I was thinking about how strange it would be if she was named Scout but would become very feminine and into ballet and dolls.  Funny enough, she turned out to be a super tomboy (I should have known... with seven boy cousins, it was hard to avoid).

I hope Scout will inspire me to come up with interesting ideas for the Photo contest!

Thank you again for your help!  Wish me luck :)

miWorld Mrs. Fields Cookie Shop

Dear Readers,

This weekend was over in a blink.  I really wanted to make a full review of the miWorld Mrs. Fields Cookie Shop because so many people had requested information about it.  I squeezed in as many pictures as I could take in-between cooking, cleaning and watching the kids.  Anyhow, I wished I had more time to do it but many projects are scheduled so this will be a very concise review!  

Dimensions: 7 3/4 inches wide and 8 inches tall (or 19.5 cm wide and 20 cm tall).

The counters and stool were in between 1:12 scale and 1:6.

The food items were a little bigger than 1:12 scale.  They are comparable to a lot of the Re-ment minis I have but not as detailed and are made from rather flimsy plastic.  The trays and cookies are very very thin (as in almost flat).  

The set is packaged very securely in a colorful cardboard box with pictures of other mall sets.

The content is listed on the front of the box: 2 wall pieces, 1 floor piece, 31 accessory pieces.

 The side of the box gives a more detailed account of the content:

• 12 chocolate chip cookies
• 6 sugar butter cookies
• 1 plate
• 1 hot chocolate cup
• 1 cookie cake
• 1 cookie display and display cover
• 3 cookies trays
• 1 cash register
• 1 display counter and display cover
• 1 counter
• 1 bar stool
• 2 walls / 1 base

Not mentioned on the box but it should be noted: there are stickers provided to complete the look.  Those stickers do not stay put and they come off constantly while I was taking pictures. 

VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WITHOUT IT, THERE WILL BE A GAP BETWEEN THE WALLS: there is a tiny piece to connect the top of the walls.  Included is also a long piece to be used if you want to connect another store to yours.

Content is packaged tightly inside the box.

And here is what it looks like once set up.  It looks pretty but do you notice something?

My set is INCOMPLETE!  The cookie cake, hot chocolate cup, 2 chocolate chip cookies and 1 sugar cookies ARE MISSING FROM MY PACKAGE!  And I am sure it didn't roll down the floor because I emptied the content in the box itself to make sure I would not lose any piece. - UPDATE: THE MISSING ITEMS WERE IN THE BOX GLUED to the outside shell!  Look at my 2nd picture in the clear round bubble! Silly silly me! >.<

But fortunately for me, I did buy two Collector Packs ($2.99 each) when I purchased the Cookie Shop.  Each pack contains different items to complete your Cookie Shop.

One pack had 6 triple chocolate cookies, a bag, a pumpkin chiller (the cup with the cream on top), and the other pack had one cookie cake, a box to go and 2 small hot chocolate cups.

Now my set looks somewhat more complete.  The set is fine but the bar stool is useless because it's so flimsy.  Nothing can sit on it or it would topple over (well except maybe a tiny minuscule item like a micro lalaloopsy).

Here is a close-up.  Can you see how thin those cookies are?

But the most pressing question: how does it look with dolls in it?  Here below are pictures that will speak for themselves.

It won't fit well with the  Sylvanian Families :/

This Mimiworld doll is so cute with this background!

Yikes!

Don't mind Stacie's weird pose.  It was the only wait to make her stand.

Miki-chan and Maki-chan are a good size for this store.

Princess Tulip is grumpy: "You already know I am too small for this..."

Poor Madeline is much too big!

It's getting more interesting now.  Can you imagine a big mall for those darling Strawberry Shortcake dolls?  This is a perfect setting for them!  

Ah jackpot!  Of all the dolls, the one that suits this set the most is a Picco Neemo from Azone that I had paired with a Little DAL's head (do you recognize Lady Foxy)?

I apologize for her terrible hair day but I hurriedly put her on that body so I could show you the size comparison.  She didn't even have clothes of her own yet so I grabbed a Kelly dress because it was the only thing that seemed to fit her.

Overall, I am happy with the miWorld Mrs. Fields Cookie Shop.  For $14.99, you get a colorful room box and actual furniture and miniature food.  But let's see the pros and cons in detail.

Pros:

• Affordable price
• Very easy setup
• Nice counters
• Glossy stickers
• Colorful walls 
• Great for 5-6 inches dolls
• Accurate miniature of the shop

Cons:

• Incomplete package (my bad, I found them!)
• Flimsy bar stool
• Cheap plastic miniature
• Stickers do not stay put

Would I buy another set?  I would.  I want to try a set which has a chair and not a bar stool to see if it would be better.  Apart from the missing items, it was a very nice roombox full of realistic-looking minis.  The counters alone can be very useful for other dioramas, especially if you don't use the stickers and leave them blank.

When I was a teenager, my favorite place to meet up with my friends was the mall.  I have no doubt children would love to re-create the mall environment with these mini sets.  My own niece has bought her own this weekend.

I have a few dolls that don't fit in any 1:12 or 1:6 scale diorama so the miWorld Mall is a very good option.  I am thinking about gifting them to my daughter who loves Strawberry Shortcake so much.  But it will have to wait until she is at least 7 years old (which is the recommended age) because I think this set is too detailed for her now.

From the point of view of a miniature collector, I am not too impressed by the cheap quality of the trays and cookies but I feel I got what I paid for so I am not disappointed.

The scale is totally strange and it does not fit many of my dolls.  But it will fit my Picco Neemo and other 5-6 inches dolls like the Ai-Dolls and other BJD tiny dolls.  In case you are wondering,  I could not feature my Ai-Doll Phlox today because I couldn't get her to wear her dress (I'll talk about that another day LOL).

I hope my review was helpful to you and will answer some of the questions you had concerning this miWorld miniature mall.  So what do you think after you saw the pictures and read my post?  Will you go ahead and buy it for yourself (or for your children)?


EDIT: I looked over my pictures this morning and noticed the cookie cake and missing items in front of the package in the clear plastic bubble!!!  After work I checked the box again sure enough, it was still glued to the outside of the box in that clear bubble!  How silly of me!

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.

J-Doll Rewigged

Dear Readers,

I found out about J-Dolls earlier this year and posted about them HERE.  They are so pretty that I could not resist and bought three J-Dolls from Amazon.com.  They were moderately priced at $39.99 and I was very happy with them except that one of them had very bad hair.  I had chosen J-Doll Esplanadi Katu because she is so strikingly beautiful and her outfit is incredibly detailed and well-done.

This is what she looked like on the promo photos.  Her coat and purse are the best doll's clothes and accessories I had seen so far.  

The green dress looked cheap but the rest of her outfit made up for that.

But something I could not get over was her horrible hair.  It had the texture of straw and there was so little of it that I could not style her in anyway.  I didn't like her silver/grey color either.  I wouldn't have minded so much if the hair was of good quality but it was not so the whole wig was a fail to me.  

On the promo photos, the hair length looks even but in reality, it was uneven all over.  And it was too short for me to tie it up nicely or style it in a bun.

J-Dolls are made by Jun Planning, the mother company that makes Pullip and Dal dolls.  Except J-Dolls have normal-sized head and not the over-sized big heads that Pullip and the other dolls have.  Pullip and J-Dolls share the same body but the J-Dolls have no eye mechanism so they cannot close or move their eyes like the other big-head dolls.

Another difference is that J-Dolls are not meant to be customized so their wigs are not supposed to be removed and their eyes are not supposed to be changed.  One would need to break their head out to change their eyes.  However, the hair can be replaced.  Although their wigs are glued to their head, it is possible to unglue the hair with a hot water soak with a mild dish detergent.  I read about this tutorial on Diane's Dolls and Kitties Blog.  

After the recommended 30 minutes of soaking, the wig still felt very hard and did not budge so I let it soak for another  30 minutes and added a little bit of boiling water to the existing water.  So after a whole hour of soaking, I noticed the wig cap was starting to become weaker at some points and so I used my thumb to push it along the edges.  It took a good 5 minutes of pushing to dislodge the wig completely from my doll's head.

I was very worried that I would break her head or her body with all that pressure so I was extra careful while handling her.  It was still a nerve-wrecking process because I was sure she would end up snapping a limb!

Once her wig was removed, I was able to give her new hair!  Many months ago, I bought a size 4 wig for my Little Dal doll but I didn't use it yet so I gave it to this J-Doll to try it first!

Oh it's so soft now!

So what do you think? 

The size 4 wig is a little big for her but I think it would be stay in place with double-sided tape.  Now that she has new hair, I feel she is worthy of display again.  I gave her a Re-ment outfit to try out and it fits perfectly!   I can't wait to try other wigs on her and give try some other clothes as well.   Happy dolly times at last!

Have a great week everybody!