Tangerine Teresa

Well, I finally found the perfect cable ties and was able to complete Teresa!  She's been here since April, so it's high time for her chance in the spotlight.

I'm excited about this doll because she has a fairly rare face that I'd never seen in person before, and also because she has a darker skin tone.  I've been wanting to work on a doll with something other than a 01 or 02 skin tone for ages now, but they're hard to find and can be quite expensive--even the non-Denver dolls like this Teresa.  Judging by the 2010 skin tone charts at Logan's Ladies, I think she's "light brown," or 04.

This girl's nickname, Tangerine Teresa, came about not so much because of how she looked when she got to my house...

My Twinn Teresa from 2010.

My Kingdom for a Cable Tie!

Sorry for the delay in posting.  Teresa has been virtually finished for about a week now, but as I was doing her final assembly, I realized that the cable ties I have won't fit around her neck!  So, I ordered some longer ties from Amazon, but they were way too thick for the neck groove.  Argh!  At this point I have two sets of cable ties on order from reborn doll suppliers. They're supposed to be long and thin, which would be great.  I used to be able to get the ties I need from the hardware store, but I guess the market has shifted and everybody wants thicker, stronger ties now.  Everybody except doll people.

Anyway, the first group of ties is supposed to come today, so I should be able to post Teresa's story by tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!  In the meantime, here's a little hint at what's coming after Teresa:

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Daria Dreams of Better Days

Thank you so much to those who purchased dolls from my very first group of listings!  You had to take a chance on a new shop and I'm so grateful that you did.  Saying goodbye to that first group was a little bittersweet (I get attached to all of them...) but it clears the deck for the new dolls!

From the new group, Scarlett and Willow have already made a (brief!) appearance on Etsy and sold.  I'll try to keep up my Grab Bag Girl idea as long as I have the supplies to do it!

The doll I'm going to share today tugged at my heart when I first saw her bedraggled face on eBay.  She looked like she was pleading for some help!  I got even more attached to her when she arrived at my house and I had a chance to look at her closely and take her picture.

In this photo--one of the first I took--she strikes me as such an optimistic dreamer.  She's had some rough times, sure, but she can see a bright future ahead:

1997 My Twinn Ariel.

Wig Donor Willow

Before I get started I have a quick note about prices. Etsy is incentivizing sellers to offer free shipping.  I can see why--it's nice to have the price you see be the price you pay with no surprises.  So, I'm going to start using free shipping.  This will make the base prices look like they've gone up, but the totals should stay similar.  For example, a doll I'd normally sell for $50 will now be $65 or something like that.

For Skye, who is still for sale on the site, I have a special deal for you wonderful blog readers.  I dropped her price down a tad, but please also use the coupon code BLOGSAREFUN to get free shipping! And don't hesitate to let me know if you have any problems with that coupon.

Life is getting a little hectic around my house, with a bathroom that needs to be painted, a deck that needs to be cleaned, a dog who I have to potty train for the second time, etc.  So the blog might be quiet for longer stretches than I'd like.  However, I have three more girls whose makeovers are done (or almost done) at this point, so I'll be posting them over the next few days and then offering them for sale by the end of the week.

The doll I'm sharing today is one that I bought only for her wig...well, and because I love the Kate face mold.

But mostly because I wanted the wig:

2011 My Twinn Kate.

Squish-Faced Scarlett

I changed a few things around with the design of the blog, and honestly it was just to try and make my dark pictures look better.  I hope you don't hate it!  I miss having real photography lights.

In any case, I'm delighted to introduce the first girl of my next collection to you!  I call her Scarlett.  When I saw her pictures online I knew she had the Rosemary/Caitlin face...but something was off about her.  Can you see it?

1997 My Twinn Rosemary/Caitlin doll.

The Disembodied Heads

First of all, thank you to everyone who weighed in on the fate of Teresa's eyes!  I added the results of that poll (and the decision I made) to the original post.

I'm currently hard at work on a new group of dolls.  There will be seven dolls total in this collection, and the first few of those should be ready for sale in the next week or so.  I'm really excited about this group!  I started working on most of these girls after I started this blog, so I'll have consistent before and after pictures (finally!).

In the meantime, I have two very special girls to share with you today!  I've been working on these two for a while, so I don't have pictures of every step, but--once again--a generous eBay seller gave me permission to use her photos of the original dolls...or in this case, the original heads:

Re-pour Clementine head, picture courtesy of az-duo on eBay.

An Eye Enquiry

I've been debating back and forth about something and thought that perhaps you could help me!

Here's my dilemma: I have a 2010 Teresa in my next group of dolls to restore.  She's lovely and I want to do her justice.  My rule of thumb with post-Denver My Twinn dolls is to never use acrylic eyes on them.  Why?  Because I suspect that the lower quality of vinyl used after 2002 reacts poorly with the plastics in the eyes.  I have no idea if this is true, but it's my current reasoning for why so many of the newer My Twinn dolls have faded eyes.  It could just be that the eyes themselves are of poor quality, of course.

This Teresa's original eyes look good now, though.  They're large and dark and there's no option on the market that looks just like them.  Maybe her right eye is slightly lighter?  Ahh!  So, the question is: should I replace perfectly good acrylic eyes with silicone or glass (so that the eyes never fade), or just leave things as they are (which may--or may not--result in faded eyes at some point in the future)?  Please comment or share your opinion in the poll to the right!  THANK YOU!!

What to do?

Lost Finger Lenora

Ok, this is it!  This is the last doll in my first series of dolls who will be sold in turtleneck dresses from Doll Clothes by Carole!  The next group is a bit smaller and will be wearing lovely, colorful outfits that are perfect for summer.

Anyone who used to read Toy Box Philosopher might remember The Lenora Saga, featuring this poor doll with massive stains and a missing little finger:

My well-loved Denver-era My Twinn Lenora.

How to Ruin Pearl

I've been working on this doll for so long, I can't even remember when I first bought her.  It was some time in mid 2018.  She's a Denver-era Pearl, so she was ridiculously expensive on eBay, but at the time I'd never seen a Pearl doll in person before and really wanted to get my hands on one.  She reminds me of someone I love.

Sadly, since I've had her around for so long, I only have this screen shot from her auction as a glimpse of how she looked when she first came to my house:

Denver-era My Twinn Pearl.

A New Look for Cookie

First things first: I apologize for not enabling comments on this site sooner.  I thought it would be automatic, but I actually had to go and chance a bunch of settings.  I've had a few people message me through Etsy with wonderful tips and suggestions, and I'd love to be able to share that kind of information right here for everyone to see.  Now that should be possible.

Also, I'm nearing the end of my first wave of dolls.  I have a sweet Cookie to show you today and then just one more doll to sell before I start fixing up a new batch of girls (with new outfits!). 

This 1997 Cookie is a doll I was working on way back in the Toy Box Philosopher days.  I never thought I would sell her, but I need to make some tough choices to get my doll room down to a reasonable number of inhabitants.

The Cookie face isn't ridiculously rare, but it's much harder to find than the faces I've featured on this blog so far.  In addition, this Cookie has the very pale skin tone, which can be elusive.

The only downside to this Cookie is that she came to me in pretty bad shape, with holes in her cloth body, a thinning wig, fading eyes, missing eyelashes, a loose arm, a lot of stains, and a lot of dirt!  She even had dirt wedged into her eye sockets.  I still thought she was adorable, though:

1997 My Twinn Cookie.