Cool crisp fall weather means new fashions and a closet clean-out sale!

Maggy and Lilly model some of their new fall clothes as well as some of things mom is selling for them. You can find some of these fashions and more on the This is Blythe.com forum under the sundries section and my user name: Gina2424. A link to my sale is here. You can also see more things we have for sale in my Flickr set: fall cleaning here. Things were getting a little out of hand at Blythe Manor, so it was time for a little sale. Any questions, you can contact me through comments here or on Flickr or TIB.

Lots of Blythe Clothes for Sale on TIB, See also me sets on Flickr

And now a word from our sponsor....(that's me). I did my first closet clean-out as the Blythe people call it on This is Blythe (TIB) forum. Here's my items for sale and one picture here to tempt you. Please respond through TIB or Flickr. http://blythe.swedenunlimited.com/newforum/viewtopic.php?t=84629 or http://www.flickr.com/photos/lillysoflondonish/sets/72157605800998923/.

Look Out Beach, Here We Come!

The waiting is over, and tomorrow marks the departure to North Myrtle Beach for half the Smith household and one-fifth of the present Blythe Manor household. So, who is going? Stay tuned for in-vacation photo posting. I will say the lucky girl was chosen on the basis of whose earrings were not going to get lost, whose hair cooperates and who is an all around sweet-demeanored girl. Oh, and it was also based on who is not claustrophobic since she will be traveling in this swell dolly carrier, custom-made for me by Becca of Sew Pixie http://sewpixie.tinfoildreams.com/blog using Vera Bradley placemats.

As you can see, Mystery Girl has her shorts and sunglasses at the ready as well as her tote bag with laptop and $35. I wonder how far that will take her shopping? It won't last long if we find any vintage Barbie or Skipper clothes or some fabulous old-school Barbie cast-off at the outlet shops.

Meanwhile, Lilly has decided she wants to become a famous photographer like Gina Garan http://www.thisisblythe.com, for all intents and purposes the "founder" of Blythe here in America, not to be confused with Blythe in America http://www.flickr.com/groups/BlytheinAmerica, the group I co-administer on Flickr. B in A is having a Blythe pajama party on April weekends, so Vi...I mean, Mystery Girl has several sets of pajamas packed for her trip, along with her beach towel, swim ring, umbrella, cooler and VW Bug for beach cruising. I wonder how many weird looks I'll get photographing that?

We're Feeling Spring-y at Blythe Manor

Just a quicky post to say we love all our new fashions from Louos of Singapore. Louos swears on TIB http://www.thisisblythe.com that he has elves working in sweatshops, but we think it's just HIM and his incredible talent. The girls got "Louos Loves Elephants," a pink hoodie with striped thigh highs, contrast stripe short sleeve T, solid skirt and matching headband as well as an awesome tote. Oh so fun to be a size 00000000.

It's also fun to put and place the various muebles all over the house and to mix and match our vintage Barbie finds, etc. My latest is a Bratz 70's egg chair. It looks quite groovy, baby, but I can't decide if I like it or not. My other find, or maybe I should say "finding," is that if I go to out-of-the-way little discount stores, not Dollar Stores but just weird little mom-n-pop-like variety stores, I can find old Barbie stuff on the shelves that is somehow both cheap and perfect.

The B.I.Y.ing Continues, and Lilly was No Help AT ALL

As you can see, Lilly begging to help in the pool house didn't turn out so well, for me anyway. She promised to grout the tile, and before I knew it she was prone and on her cell. So, since everything was so messy, I figured I'd just let her stay there and watch the stubborn chicken on the grill. She looked so cozy in her Effiedalshop Hello Kitty pj's and Stella stuffy from nanajones, both on etsy. Sleeping bag is Only Hearts Club.

By 3 a.m. I was getting tired and cranky, after painting the paneling (who has dark paneling anymore anyway? But, Lilly kept saying, "Go retro, mom!"), the grill, the stove, the washer, the window trim and the counter top. We were going to go with multi-colored, inlaid Italian tile, but that didn't happen. I started it out pink and turquoise, however. Let's just say, eeeewww!

Gotta work on the bedroom floor, and get out their VW, but afraid the DH may have a heart attack, so have to ease him into it. He asked today if he could set up Hot Wheels all over the house. I don't think he is getting it. Besides, the Blythes are in a (quite nice) open closet. I think "open closet" may be an oxymoron, but hey. The previous owners had open shelving and no closet doors for their toddler girl. So, I guess now I'm the toddler girl. Must. Go. Do. Real. Work. Now.

Blythe It Yourself! Sweet! Say Lilly, Maggy & Violet

The girls have been a bit displaced the last couple of days because I've been remodeling their pad, Blythe Manor. I lucked upon this vintage Barbie beach house, and after de-Barbie-izing it and cleaning it up, I began to add "wallpaper," valances, blinds, plants, artwork, flooring, rugs and more. It is just one more artistic and creative outlet.

So Blythe Manor is coming right along! Lilly was the first to check out the new roof-top pool, of course. She was just out in the snow the other day. Next you can see Maggy checking the weather from the office window: valance courtesy of me. Then, there's the new wallpaper, room divider (so 70's), furry chair, throw pillows and etagere, again by, well, you get the idea. It's called design on a budget or Blythe It Yourself, B.I.Y.

You can see the full estate in the next picture. The girls spent their inheritance on it and scrapped the trip to Hawaii, especially after Violet arrived. Then, you can see Lilly giving some attitude pool-side. Deee-Va! At least she put a hoodie on; it's chilly out there.

Meanwhile, Maggy takes a sit in her new fur chair, so retro! and with her fabulous Valentine's sweater from Andrea in Artsymama's LOVE of Supplies Valentine Swap. The sweater has a groovy, glossy detachable pin. This sweater is extra special, because we were doing a totally-nothing-to-do-with-Blythe swap, and Andrea noticed on my Flickr profile or blog that I like Blythes, and she sent the sweater along. I have yet to find out if she made the sweater. I am guessing she made the pin, because it's just we altered art people do, but the sweater is a perfect fit! I love it!

The next house photo shows the Beach house kitchen and lanai. The pool is on the roof! Maybe you can see the girls' choice of lunch that day: Coca Cola, Wonder bread for sandwiches and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. But, they've gotten a chicken on the Barbie (That's Bar-B-Q, not a chicken on an actual Barbie, ewwww).

You can also see they've left out their bowling ball, golf clubs, bathing suit and Scrabble. What's a Blythe mom to do? At least we have a nice view of the lake. Lakefront property on ebay is just crazy!

Next, we have the bathroom with the lovely new (real) tiny sampler from SSimpson http://banchomarba1.livejournal.com/. Then, more pictures of the beach house. The gateleg table has attached barstools for which I affixed seat cushions to match my wallpaper, placemats and valances. It's kind of a crazy layout; who ever heard of a washer/dryer in the kitchen. At least they're back to back. (In reality, this was once someone's very cool toy as real running water circled through the washing machine, sink, aquarium and pool as well as the outdoor shower. And there's a built in air pump for inflatable toys and furniture. So chic! And handy, since the pool came with an inflatable palm tree and canopy. This reminds me of my daughter Adrienne's dad, who along with her step-mom, the very sweet Tess, have a double-decker pontoon with a palm tree on it. But, that's another story, kids.

Back at Blythe Manor, I converted the aquarium into a window, because I wasn't much for the fake fish, but I did visit the Wal-Mart pet aisle to try to find some tiny plants for the house. You can actually get those in a three-pack, you know. So we're really just waiting for a few other furniture pieces and accessories, before we park our VW Bug and call it Home Sweet Home.

I found a talented designer and seamstress, Shirley from Fort Wayne, IN or barbiefurnitureandfashions (just like that) on ebay who makes fabulous furniture a la Broyhill, and I have just the fabric here in mind to take to her. She normally provides her own, but I have a quilted purse (one can imagine what kind) that I want her to deconstruct.

Oh, another BIY tip, although I can't share them all: I cut up a straw placement and it made for some lovely beach house rugs, while a woven pattern placemat was the perfect flooring. I can decide if it looks like sand or Armstrong flooring, but it looks good, if I do say so!

Crochet for Me; Bath Time for Violet

The lovely Zoe Aarden, grrrlie4 on Flickr and crocheter extraordinaire, inspired me to get out my hook and yarns the day after Christmas. She and I are doing a yarn/Blythe/misc. swap, and I can hardly wait to see what arrives! I got busy making hats about 10:30 a.m. and finally quit about 2 a.m. The end result was nine different hats with time out for eating and napping and other stuff. My last one, when my eyes were bleary, actually is one of my favorites. It is the nubby burgundy one here, modeled by Maggy (ADG#3). There will be plenty of hats to go around, and others to mail to nice people (hint:hmmm?) I also made an American Eagle-like hat as my DH called it and seen on my other blog http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com which was promptly mailed to the new Isaac Zygmunt Kil of Freeport, MI. I hope Ike doesn't mind that Lester posed in the hat for photo purposes. Do you suppose a baby's head is much bigger than a Blythe's?

Meanwhile, the lovely Violet (French Trench) of the violet eyes arrived from Seattle on Christmas eve and was smuggled in without the kids and DH noticing. They just get all freaky about Blythe stuff. I have to ease them into it. As I said earlier, I thought I would be a two-Blythe family, but she was a late night deal with pleading eyes. Generous seller SeattleBlythe on TIB sent three outfits, a wig, hightops and more.

Violet took a nice long bubble bath to unwind from her trip and get settled in. She was the first to try out the new Blythe bathroom, with Fashion Fever fixtures arriving 12/26 from DirtyBootsSamantha on TIB and Flickr. I had fun organizing all of the tiny Re-ment cosmetics. I have to use Glue Dots to dissuade my cats from eating them. So far we are missing one rubber duck.

Our Friends, Molli and Zelda

Here's a lovely picture of lindajed's Blythe girls, Molli (the brunette, a Prima Dolly Ebony) and Zelda (Star Dancer like Lilly), showing some of the Fashion Fever and Re-ment goodies my girls sent to them for our swap. I think we might have gotten it just about right, because this is exactly how we pictured her girls would divide up the stuff. We're secretly wondering if sometimes Molli sneaks in gets all gussied up and girly when she thinks no one's watching! You can read more about them and enjoy their mom's wit here http://adventuresofmolli.blogspot.com/.

Getting Ready for All Those Holiday Parties

Lilly decided to start trying on her holiday fashions, these were all most all B's Fashion Fever (sounds like Beyonce' and not you-know-who). Love the Judith Lieber-like crystal clutch and the bracelets. The camisole and shrug aren't bad either! More to come.