Precious Moments Angel

I love Christmas Angels. Growing up, my mother had a collection of them that would come out every year around Christmas time, from tree toppers, to hanging ornaments, figures for display, or giant plastic light up angels for the front yard. There’s something very serene and calming about being surrounded by a bunch of beautiful and peaceful angels.

Growing up, we always had an angel on top of our tree instead of a star, and its something that I kind of decided Id like to continue doing now that I have a tree of my very own as an adult.

 

Iv had an angel on top of my tree for the last couple of years. But while I like her a lot, I always felt she was just a smidge too small for the tree. So Iv wanted to get a bigger angel. I also grew up around the Precious Moments illustrations and figures by Samuel J Butcher. Precious Moments was always a brand I really liked as a kid, with its iconic soothingly cute and peaceful style. But I haven’t had any Precious Moments items in my collection… until now.

When I saw this Precious Moments angel for sale at an extremely good price on Ebay, I knew that this was the angel I wanted for the top of my tree.
Shes absolutely adorable and beautiful, with an innocent childlike face that almost exudes the proclamation of “Peace on Earth, goodwill to Men”.

I was happy also, to be able to find a tree topper that was more doll-like then figure-like. Most angels have molded hair and cannot be moved or posed. This Precious Moments angel, while not nearly as articulated as a doll, can have her arms moved up or down, and her wings are malleable and able to be positioned as one desires. Non-molded hair is certainly a plus as well! She will likely grace the top of my Christmas tree for many years to come 🙂

Nutcrackers

On the hunt as I am every year around this time for more additions to my collection of Christmas ornaments and decorations, here are three absolutely adorable nutcracker tree ornaments I picked up today. These are just cheapie little dollar store finds, but they are super cute, and my collection was lacking in any kind of nutcrackers, so I grabbed them on a whim.

Just a guess, Id say these little gents are around… 3 inches tall? Give or take.
They are very photogenic! I tried to pick out three that differed enough in look to be unique from each other and I think I have a good trio.
Their mouths are even fuctional (well, they open and close… I wouldn’t try to crack a nut in them), with a lever in the back!

Super cute little additions to my Christmas tree 🙂

Pinkie Pie Boutique

As you may recall, I am collecting the Deluxe body Equestria Girls dolls, so I was very excited to hear that Rarity and Pinkie Pie where the next to be released with Deluxe bodies. Rarity I have not found in my local stores yet, but I was super hyped to find the Deluxe Pinkie Pie.

Unfortunately instead of releasing Pinkie Pie the character that we know and love from the show as a Deluxe model, they chose to make a Deluxe version of the Pinkie Pie Boutique line, which is not my favourite. I kind of get what they are going for with it, and I am actually a HUGE fan of pink and black as a colour combination. So while I think on a visual level the Pinkie Pie Boutique line LOOKS really nice, it dosnt really make sense to me on a purist level because it dosnt suit Pinkie Pies character at all.

First of all… theres actually a character in My Little Pony that is a fashion designer and runs her own boutique. Its Rarity. Wouldn’t a fashion centric series make more sense to focus on her? Pinkie Pie is a fun loving party girl. And goth… really dosnt fit Pinkies personality.
Anyways, all this is to say that I really wanted a Deluxe Pinkie Pie of, well…. Pinkie Pie, not Boutique Pinkie Pie. So I picked up both the regular Pinkie AND the Boutique Pinkie, and switched their heads and shoes. I have a dress coming for Regular Pinkie Pie, but Boutique Pinkie Pie has grown on me enough as her own thing that I don’t think Ill just abandon her either.

The more time I spent with the Boutique doll (now with the normal body instead of the Deluxe body), the more I actually really like it. I don’t really consider her “Pinkie Pie” per say, but shes kind of adorable as her own thing I think. Her hair is really glossy and flowing. Its not as curly and wild as the regular Pinkies hair, but is more “fashionable” and stylish.

Actually to be honest even as I write this post and look at the photos I grow to like the look even more.  Yes, I may need Proper Pinkie in my collection, but theres room as well for Boutique Pinkie. She comes of course with two outfits, and I really like the first one best. It pops a bit more on her, whereas the glossy one kind of just blends with her skin. I am happy to note though that the dresses both completely cover the white painted on top that the normal body comes with.

Kind of really glad I decided to buy both Pinkie Pies!
The other Pinkie is woefully naked at the moment however since the normal body only comes with a removable skirt so the outfit wasn’t transferable.
So Im currently waiting the on the dress I ordered for her, and when that arrives, I will show some pictures of how my vision for Proper Pinkie Pie turned out 😀

Dee Dressed and Fixed up!

You may recall that a short while ago I posted some pictures of my old childhood doll Dee. I didn’t have a lot of hope of ever getting him into decent shape, because he was so ratty and run down, but I have succeeded I think, in making him presentable again 😀

First of all I tracked down some acne cream with benzo peroxide, and treated his face for about a week. The pen marks came RIGHT OFF! Im very excited that he has a bright clean face again. Then I gave him a good wash, and unfortunately discovered that his body really is quite permanently stained that grey colour, unless I wanted to bleach him or something, but really the simpler solution seemed to be to clothe him, so that’s what I did.

I got the outfit from a lovely little Etsy shop. AM – PM Creations makes adorable handmade clothes for Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins dolls, which turn out to have almost the exact same measurements as my Dee. I don’t remember what clothes he originally came in, but Iv always associated him with the colour blue, so blue is what I went with. I think these pajamas suit him to a T!

 

No, he dosnt look “like new”, and never will again. But he looks presentable now am I am tickled as punch to put him on display now. Hes spent much too much time buried at the back of a closet 🙂

Catty Noir

Its time for another Monster High doll!
Id seen a bunch of reviews of her online and was kind of enchanted by her so I thought Id track her down. She came and went pretty quickly from my local Toys R Us so I didn’t get a chance to snatch her off the shelf, but was very pleased to find her offered on Amazon with free shipping, so here we go.

Pink and black is one of my absolute favourite colour combinations, so I was instantly taken with her appearance. Shes also a kitty cat, which I absolutely love. I LOVE anthro dolls, they have a lot of appeal to me, and they look great!
Shes absolutely stunning with her big hot pink hair and Im a huge fan of her massive pony tail. I do wish that the hair wasn’t so messy though, its a tad matted and brushing it dosnt really help. Im sort of afraid to touch it too much lest I make it worse, but it is very pretty.

Probably the only reason I waffled on this purchase at all (and as a result, missed getting her in store) is because Im not really sold on her dress. I like the huge pink ruffles, but Im not a huge fan of the broken glass pattern on the top. It looks a bit like spiderwebs to me and I don’t really think it fits. But she IS meant to be a music idol, so we can let a crazy outfit slide. I think it would be really fun to dress her up in a tiny Lady Gaga or Nicki Minaj replica outfit!

Here she is on the shelf! Brings my total of Monster High dolls to four.
Theres clearly some space for more 🙂

My First Dolly

I thought Id take a brief interlude from posting about new awesome stuff and talk a bit about something a bit older.
I have only recently started really delving into doll collecting, and as I gaze at my quickly growing collection of Monster Highs, Kurhns and Disney Characters, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at one of the oldest toys I own and the first doll I ever owned.
Meet Dee.
Now I don’t collect baby dolls, but Dee has been with me almost me entire life and has a lot of sentimental value to me. He is very ratty now, in extremely bad condition, but I love him anyways, because he is a piece of my childhood. I don’t know what type of doll he is, (Update: I have discovered that he is a Uneeda doll!) and Iv lost anything he ever came with.

Im going to try to get him cleaned up. Ill try to either make him some clothes or track down something for him to wear, he has been naked for years now!! He also needs a good scrubbing as his plastic bits are all stained and grubby. Don’t know how Im going to get the marker off though, that might have to stay. If anyone knows of a good product for removing years old marker off of plastic dolls, please let me know! 🙂

Its also a shame that his eyelids don’t function very well and hes missing eyelashes, but hey. Its an old, very well loved toy, so Im not too worried about that. If you’ve read the Velveteen Rabbit, you know what I mean. Hes real.

One of the oldest toys I own today, and very very special to me.
Id be curious what other collectors cherish from their childhoods! Whats your oldest toy that you never let go of for sentimental reasons? Is it in good condition, or did you all but destroy it with love and play? Is your current collection in the same vein, or did you go in a completely different direction as an adult?

Dee is a very special doll to me, even if hes not much to look at 🙂

Kurhn Photoshoot

No new dolls today, but a quick photoshoot to throw up here.
I generally just snap some nice shots on my iphone when I want to take a variety of photos of my dolls, but my husband is actually a professional photographer.
When he asked if he could take some shots of one of my dolls as a composition practise I was giddy with excitement to see what he could do with one of them as a subject.

So here without further ado are the shots he took and edited. He chose his favourite of my collection, one of the Kurhns 🙂

CATBUG PLUUUSH

If you haven’t seen the new internet phenomenon that is Bravest Warriors, I highly HIGHLY suggest you go do that now. Because Bravest Warriors is awesome and Catbug is the cutest thing this side of the internet.

These Catbug plushies hail from WeLoveFine and are OMG SO ADORABLE.  They sold out once already, are sold out again, and are likely to be brought back and then sold out a third time. If you want one, keep a very close eye on WeLoveFine because they don’t stay around for long!

Its easy to see why, too. Apart from being the most loved little critter on the internet that isn’t a Pokémon, this plush is very well made and looks fantastic. Its literally a little real life rendition of the character, completely show accurate. How can you NOT love his CUTE LITTLE SQUISHY FACE?

Also, his back opens up and you can put things in him. He’s around the size of a wallet, perfect for loose change, your debit/credit cards, keys, anything like that. I have him holding a few sets of DnD dice right now. CUTEST DICE BAG EVER.

 

Daaawwww lookit him hanging out with Toothless :3

He’s actually quite a bit smaller then I expected. Which is really my own fault, the listing says 4″x5″ right in the description, and I am just bad at picturing sizes. But he’s so tiny and adorable and I LOVE IT. This is a seriously cute plush, just perfect for all of your heart attack inducing adorableness needs. 😀

Snow Queen Lottie

Lottie is quite possibly the sweetest thing ever.
I heard about the Lottie dolls quite a while ago, before they were available in Canada. Its a UK brand that I was extremely excited to see on shelves over here. Cant get her at the big name places like Toys R Us or Target, but I found her at a local independently run business called Loadza Toys. (When a friend of mine working there told me they had started carrying Lottie about a month ago I was so super excited!) Why is Lottie amazing? Lottie is a fashion doll that’s been built to actually look like a child rather then a weirdly sexualized adult or teen. You can read more about the concept behind her on the Lottie website and Facebook pages. I adore the concept behind Lottie, and am super stoked to add her to my collection. Iv talked before about liking a doll with minimal makeup and sexualised modern fashions, and this doll is fantastic on that front.

But now, onto the doll itself!

So this is Snow Queen Lottie. Other Lotties come in more practical, play outfits (which I love) but for my first one I have to admit I had been drooling over the lovely ballgown this one is sporting. Shes done up for a costume party, where she is dressed for the part of the Snow Queen of folk lore. I do love her beautiful Snow Queen dress, she looks absolutely darling. Im a sucker for “girly” looking gowns and dresses, I have to admit. But its really neat that not all Lotties are this girly, in fact, this is the fanciest and “girliest” of all the available Lottie dolls.

The mask and shawl are removable, and here you can see Lotties unbelievably sweet face. She reminds me a lot of Licca-chan and Kurhn, and I don’t think Id be wrong in assuming that that’s the aesthetic they were going for. Its a very childlike, innocent and sweet face, refreshing when compared to the pouty bratty look of a lot of other dolls out there. And no makeup! Awesome!

I wish she was a bit more posable however. Her knees are “clicky-knees” but the left knee on mine is faulty, so while the other works fine it dosnt help much. Her arms don’t pose at all, but maybe in the future they will release Lotties with a bit more articulation. One of the neat selling points though is that she can stand on her own without needing a doll stand!  As the box says,  “She can stand on her own two feet, always a useful life skill for all girls, big and small!”

Shes also QUITE small, much much smaller then I thought when I saw them online. Which I love! It makes them all the more adorable and collectable. Here she is on my shelves next to some of my other dolls for size comparisons:

All in all I love Lottie. Shes so cute and so well proportioned, I cant get enough of it! I will for sure be getting more Lotties, and I wholeheartedly recommend Lottie if you are looking for a more wholesome alternative for your kids. 🙂

TOOTHLESS PLUSH

My Toys R Us finally got this in. The Squeeze and Growl Toothless plush. As soon as I started seeing reviews of this popping up on the internet, I was ecstatic.
When How to Train your Dragon first came out, one of the first things I said to my boyfriend at the time (now husband) was “OMG, I want a Toothless Plush.”

At the time, there were none. Yeah, maybe you could find some neat handmade stuff like a Toothless amigurumi or something like that, but there was no official Toothless plush, which I always thought was really a shame,
But now, this is not the case. Now, there is a whole BUNCH of How to Train your Dragon merch, thanks to the Dragons TV series and the sequel coming out soon. And this plushie is EXACTLY what I was hoping for back when the movie hit theaters. This is a gorgeous stuffed animal Toothless.

  
The fearsome Nightfury at his most adorable, in chibi form! He looks amazingly accurate to the character from the movie whilst also being a much more chibified version. He even has the false bit on his tail! And best of all, he growls when you squeeze his tummy and it is SO CUTE OMG.
He cycles through three different growls. One angry roar, one neutral sounding growl, and a happy purr.

This is a near completely perfect toy. I really cant find anything I don’t like about it and Im so much in love with it.
In fact I love this plush so much that I have this childish urge to carry it around with me absolutely everywhere, an impulse that is only quashed by years of social conditioning. (Honestly I think that if it was socially acceptable for grown adults to carry plush toys around with them everywhere, people would be a lot happier because you just couldn’t have a bad day with a stuffed animal to hug all the time)

   

The detail of the scaley texture of his skin looks great too!
If you are a toothless fan, this is the plushie for you.
I seriously wouldn’t bother with the mini version of this plush, hold out for the big 11” one, it is FANTASTIC. ❤