Big Boys

 Big boys Big boys

What cha gonna do 

What cha gonna do 

When I dress up you

I got Maui!  He's a Target Exclusive, or so I was told.  I found him on Amazon.  

He's bendy at the knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, and neck.

He's also a big boy like Hagrid.

WARNING

  NEKKID DOLLS AHEAD

DON'T LOOK, ETHEL!

This is the backdrop from his box.  I hope to salvage it cuz it's so pretty.

Hagrid is mostly a normal Ken type, but with a (butter)beer belly.  Maui is just huge and tattooed.

Either way, hard to shop for.

Except for the britches, they can't even wear each other's included outfits.

Shirts I know fit Hagrid

But first, britches.

Maui is wearing stretched out shorts that have no identifiers.  I think they were on a stuffed animal at some point, but won't swear to that.

Hagrid is wearing sweatpants made from an old sock.  He can't keep the shorts up over the belly.

Maui in the Flavas outfit that I use for a pattern for my ugly work shirts. 

The wine bottle sweater goes onto Maui much easier because he's beardless.  He's happy he'll get to dress for Christmas.

I saw some folks online got this hoodie onto Maui.  Like the wine bottle sweater, his lack of beard made it easier.  Unlike the wine bottle sweater, the fabric didn't stretch well over the big muscles.

Here they model my home-made ugly work shirts.  Since I'm not the best seamstress, my seam allowance wavers.  Hagrid's about popping his seams but Maui is comfy.

They're made from my old T-shirts.  These two are from shirts that have the big design on the back and a smaller one on the front. Maui is advertising Huck Finn's in the Smokies and Hagrid's says "Whoa dude I am so high.  Up on this mountain."  Also Smokies related - it says Clingman's Dome under the beard.

Hagrid: Our wardrobe is some slim pickings.

Maui: Jeanie needs to get on the ball.

Winter Projects: Part Three

 

Didn't even make to February.  I was outta food and climbing the walls, so I braved the cold.

Ambulance is done and patio almost there.

This is what I'm dealing with.  Ugly.

Dollar Tree to the rescue!  This small sheet of peel-and-stick wallpaper (aka contact paper) and roll of duct tape are more than enough to finish the job.

Oven door now looks like an oven door.  I might replace it later with something reflective.

I forgot to point out last time that I found a bit of cardboard to put behind the shelf.  

That pink is a perfect match!

I really wanted to focus on the pink flowers. It was challenging to work around the birds, but I managed.  There is one spot, but I doubt anyone will notice.

I covered the last remaining bit of the other wallpaper.

Iris is trying to get Jimin or Sally to give her a drink out of the minifridge.

This will work great with my picnic stuff! 

Ambulance is retired to the dolly parking lot. 

Patio is too tall for my folding-set shelf. 

But not as tall as the Hogwarts Express Diner!

Who made this mess on my project table?

Hogwart's Express Playset

 If you do not have a passing familiarity with the Harry Potter franchise, please seek out your favorite Potterhead to explain anything that might confuse you.  Also there will be spoilers if you are new to the Wizarding World.

Taking a break from my winter projects to open my other new toy.  When I bought Jeff, I noticed the price on the Hogwarts Express had gone up a good bit, so held off to research similar (cheaper) options.  Anything I found that met my criteria cost even more!

I was never happy with my DIYs for a diner... even had to turn Sunburst Diner into a cafe during my Barbie Soap Opera.  When I saw this, my first thought was DINER BOOTH!  That might seem strange to you, but I'm a strange woman... as you well know.  

But that's for Walmart's "My Life As" dolls, you say.  The scale is way off, you say. Look how small Snape and Bellatrix are next to it, you say.  I've had a lot of experience with using this scale for my Barbies.  It does work with a little ingenuity and imagination.  

Anyway.  Here my volunteers stand beside the freshly opened playset.  It really is coincidence that I grabbed a couple of Harry Potter characters.  They were the two dolls closest to my work table. 

The white cardboard under the window opens to be a backdrop.  I'll be keeping this, although usually folded down so my dolls can make use of that window. 

The big picture was enclosed in the backdrop.  It's meant to slide behind the table window. 

This other stuff was in a Hogwarts envelope.  There's a cardboard rug, instruction booklet, stickers, and the boxes for goodies from the trolley.

Also Harry's first letter, its envelope, and two train tickets.  These are large for my dolls, but could work as wall art.  We shall see. Snape's toes for scale.

Sticker in the frame and Hogwarts outside the window.  The opposite side of that window card is a night view, for if they take the midnight train to Hogwarts.  Hedwig says "get me outta this dang plastic".

 The big blue box and plastic hold even more goodies.  I popped the trolley together and put up curtains.  Snape and Bellatrix noticed the height of the tabletop, but I told them I have a plan for that problem.  More on it later. The table folds down against the wall.  Because reasons. 

The little balcony thing on the rear was easy to install.  That lantern has a working light which I will never use.  The batteries will be removed so they don't corrode. I also remove batteries from the headlight and interior lamp.  

 

Photo is sideways because I am lazy.

It was at this point that I said "Where's Scabbers? He's supposed to be in this set."  Found him in the trash, right where the little traitor belongs.  Which reminds me... if we've got Harry's first letter, why is Crookshanks there?  Chronologically confused much? 

Pocahontas is 18 inches tall. She's a lot skinner than the intended dolls, but will serve to demonstrate the size of the pets.  Crookshanks is supposed to be a big boy.  Not a lion cub! I'm debating if he'll work as a Barbie pet.  I've had some huge cats in my time.

Even as skinny as she is, Pocahontas still takes up more than half the seat.  Snape and Bellatrix share easily.  This is one of the benefits of using larger-scale items with Barbies.  This picture makes me giggle.  Like they're Pokey's kids and Bellatrix says "Feet on the floor, Mom!  Gawd!"

Like the children they resemble in that photo, the table-height problem can be resolved by sitting on a suitcase or stack of pillows.  Come story time, I'll probably make risers out of Lego and use camera tricks to hide them.

The table folds back and the benches become a bed.  No blanket, though, unless you rip the curtains down.  The gray bolt behind the seat back is one of the two that hold the smokestack on.  Smokestack is off here because I was removing the batteries.

My dolls are very happy with this playset.  What they can't use will have a home, probably with my favorite Potterhead.  I'm not fussed about keeping the set complete.  Not a collector.  These are toys.  Play with them!  Or maybe I can use the pets to ward off home invaders (Crookshanks and Hedwig are heavy!)  

Teeny Tinies

Five Below sells "Teeny Tinies".  They are sets of minis.  The scale varies even within the set, but most of it works with Barbie scale and a little imagination.

Ty with the TT kitchen.  It's the perfect size for my Chelsea/Zoe hybrids. 

This grill was way too short for Barbie.  So I glued on some legs and we're good to go.

Besides the grill and kitchen, I have bought things like Greek Food, for the more unusual pieces. Today I picked up Holiday Party.  For the big ole ham and the lamb, mostly.

Front of the package. We can see all the goodies!  I usually pick the set with the best stickers/paint, but this was the only Holiday Party and I had to settle.  Most of the pieces are painted plastic.

The back identifies everything so an ignoramus like me knows what she's getting.  I will take the fifth on some of the silly mistakes I've made with these sets.

Behind the plastic tray holding the goodies, we find a lovely scene that matches the box front edges. Not sure why it's so orange, but they're all like that.  The lovely Aegean villa in Greek Foods was very blue.  Like we're looking through colored glass.

Dolls for scale comparison. Pumpkin pie and baking setup.

The underside of the gifts.  They do come apart but then have things sticking out the sides.

Gifts and a cracker.  The lids do come off the boxes! The cracker does nothing if you tug the ends because it's solid plastic. Imagination is required. 

Glass of milk, mug of cocoa, donuts, shaped sugar cookies, and (chocolate chip?) cookies.  

Frosting bag, sprinkles, and wafer twists. Labels are stickers.

The box of cocoa is just that - a box.  The macaroni and cheese is a sticker.

Fruitcake and mince pies.

Lamb and Ham.  Yummy! 

    

 

Downsizing Is Hard (Part One)

 Since I came to the realization that Barbieville had gotten out of hand and decided to stop the soap opera, I have been really strict with myself about what can stay and what must go.  I started with the standing sets.

Here we see Bellatrix laying on the floor of Sulu's Greenhouse, the denuded hospital exam/waiting room, and a giant couch in the grocery store.  I'm sure you can guess that I had already started work before thinking to take pictures.

The exam room walls became a wall full of graffiti.  I kept the canyon sunset, as it can be either a mural (as it was in the waiting room) or simply the view.  Green felt for grass, and I have a permanent spot for the playground.  The children will hang out here full time.

Sulu's greenhouse and the Witch's Cove ticket booth combine with the grocery store to become a kitchen/pantry.  New wallpaper and the barn backdrop, cut to size.  (I need to construct an oven door.  Or make one of the refrigerators into a sideways-opening oven.) 

The grocery space is now the classroom for adolescents to hang out.  I kept only the Harry Potter and Creatable world dolls, with the exception of Claudia.  Claudia is a Babysitters Inc Skipper (Asian) on an extra Hermione body.  Classroom is obviously is a work in progress.  Ignore the phone charger cord.

Non-dollhouse-family babies will live in this crib. It keeps getting moved back and forth between kitchen and playground.

It really doesn't matter for the blog, since I'll be doing stand-alone stories with an ever-changing cast and characters, but for simple play off camera, this is the new dollhouse family.

These are the adults I'm keeping.  Before I reorganized, and purged, each of these pockets held two or maybe three dolls.  Granted, the third doll was often a child, but still...  

Honestly, I'm still waffling on a few dolls in the donation bag.  The top of the tall shelf is covered with things like the cash registers from both the grocery store and greenhouse.  But the hardest part is done.  

Funny story: I started my downsize and Sister Number One told me about a convention of sorts, buying and selling "collectables".  I playfully scolded her for undermining my efforts.   Then The Boy's mother made this quilt for my dolls.  So of course I had to playfully scold her as well. 

Then a friend of mine shows up with this! 

LMAO