The girls prepare for winter

Happy Holidays!

Blythe Meet...In My Bedrom

So I hosted our Flickr Group, Dollmarvalous Collectors, for a holiday party Sunday, Dec. 12. While the fireplace was going in the living room, and there was plenty of food in the kitchen, everyone gravitated to the bedroom to see my doll house (Blythe Manor), and pretty soon, the entire party was in the bedroom.

There were 9 adults, two nieces and approximately 65 Blythe dolls. Add a few Wonder Frogs (3), Nikki cats (2), Odecco, Yatsuba, Miu (a Dal), some Dynamite Girls and Fashion Royalty, not to mention my Barbies, and we had more than 80 dolls in the group picture and more than 120 dolls in the room, plus assorted porcelain doll heads and three sock monkeys!

Everyone oohed and ahhhed over each other's Blythes, noting how even the very same doll, such as a Disco Boogie or Factory Girl or even a Kenner or really, all the Blythes, can look so very different! Everyone was dressed in their best, so much so that we had to take written note of the very best places to shop on Ebay and Etsy for Blythe fashions.

A little romantic triangle developed between my Wonder Frog "Frog," and Shelly's pink Blossom and Holly's ever-popular Leonard, the only boy at the party. My niece Abby, 13, attended her first Blythe meet with her Blythe Rosalie, and Maggie's niece Zinnia, who is an old pro at 10, came to yet another meet. Zinnia had awesome knee-high lace up Converse-like tennies on. She also brought her Mini Me American Girl doll.

Our gift exchange was great fun; everyone brought wonderful stuff, and our food spread was fab. I put out meatballs (a new recipe with apple grilling sauce and blueberry jam), cupcakes that Abby and I made, cheese, crackers, pickles, olives, cherry tomatoes and chips and salsa. Many kinds of cookies arrived, and Maggie brought a relish tray and a Panettone fruit bread from IKEA!

A wonderful time was had by all, I'm pretty sure. We wrapped up early as I had to take Abby to the airport so she could zip back to Indiana in the snowstorm. Several of the gals continued the party at Maggie's and had a knitting lesson, and a couple gals went on to a Cookie Exchange. (One reported making 700 cookies the day before!)

I was proud to show off my dollhouse, and after hanging out in the bedroom around it, everyone agreed our next party should be a slumber party! Here's a picture of my Brigette at the party also.

Sweater Dress I crocheted for Molly

Shhhh!
Originally uploaded by Gina2424

What started as a sweater from a vintage Barbie ski sweater pattern turned into a dress, but perhaps still managed to look cute. Or perhaps cute Molly just makes anything look good. I used baby cashmere yarn so at least someone's getting a cashmere sweater for the holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving

Come here often? About once a year.
Originally uploaded by Gina2424

From all of us at Blythe Manor!

Molly poses with mom's sash

Picture 004
Originally uploaded by Gina2424

Mom is a much bigger person. MBP. Molly is a Blythe Scout. Mom was a Girl Scout, and before that a Brownie. There are badges all the way up the back of my sash too. Little wooden scout found on Etsy.

Joey's back! The making of a Frogumentary, and new scenes from Blythe Manor II

All this fun in one day! Of course, it is always fun when Auntie Maggie comes to visit. I wonder if my nieces and nephews say that about me? Auntie Maggie took home poor Joey, who has been traumatized too many times to count, to make her lovely blond Disco Boogie scalp and bob haircut a permanent fixture. Since Joey is a CCE with a funky dome, it was a tricky fit. Much work had already been done on poor Joey by the talented Pheisty also. However, Joey was looking babyish, although cutely impish, in a pink mohair Elfins skinny scalp, and I just feel this bob "fits" her better, even though it doesn't fit any better than the pink scalp did.

Then Aunt Maggie, and her photographer's assistant Holly Woods, as well as her Wonder Frogs, Butter Cup, Francie and Penelope came over to 'play Barbies' and film a little frogumentary called, "The Secret Life of Wonder Frogs."

Meanwhile, I added some more little touches to Blythe Manor II, and here's an update....