They don't make dolls like these anymore...

It's been a while (ok... a loooong while) since I played with dolls. And now, in restoring Andrea's dolls, I am getting addicted.

In my previous entry, I mentioned that I have been trying to identify the dolls first by searching online so I can see what they originally looked like. Andrea's stash has 2 more baby dolls wearing white nappies (painted on the doll) with numbers on them. The dolls were marked "Tyco" at the back so this morning, I tried searching for "tyco dolls" on Google. Thanks to this site, http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/Toys_Quints.htm, I found out that the 2 dolls I have were part of a quintuplet set called Quints which were released by Tyco in the early 90's. My 2 dolls came from this set (I think they are numbers 1 and 4):


From my research, these dolls came in different varieties and they had a quite a few accessories. They are cute... and no longer available (except in ebay).

Now that I have a baby girl, I am beginning to regret not collecting dolls. The first time I saw a Barbie collection on exhibit, I started thinking about collecting. But back then I didn't have the money, since Barbie dolls can get very expensive. And now, it is logistically not possible. I have a small house and I will have nowhere to put them.

I am still obsessing about those Quints though... maybe I should go eBay for a while...

Restoring Barbie's Little Friends

Andrea inherited a stash of small dolls from her cousin Ava. Though in good condition, they were what you would typically expect from a doll after a little girl has played with it for a few years: tangled hair, missing accessories. I thought they were cute and it would be nice if Andrea can play with little girl dolls in a few years instead of the big girl fashion dolls like Barbie.

I wanted to make sure they will be ready for Andrea so I tried to buy stuff for them at the mall. I initially thought they were Kelly dolls. I thought all little girl dolls associated with Barbie were Kelly's... how wrong I was! Anyway, the mall doesn't carry accessories for Kelly dolls according to the sales person I spoke to. I tried online and still... nada!

While searching online, I discovered that my favorite doll of the stash was not a Kelly but a nameless little girl doll who was a student of the Teacher Barbie doll. Our stash has 4 of those student dolls but the one with thick, long brown hair is my favorite.

I found a video of the commercial for Teacher Barbie online and this is what the doll originally looks like.

Since there were no clothes that can be bought for this doll, I tried to make one on my own. The material came from an old t-shirt. I can't hem, so I needed material that won't fray. I didn't use a pattern and this is my first attempt so the fit isn't that great. I also made underpants, though you can't see it from the photo.

To detangle her hair, I washed it first with shampoo and applied conditioner to smoothen. Then I read somewhere that to set the hair, use heat. So I used a blow drier with the heat set to high to flatten her bangs (which were all sticking up every which way when we got her). Then when her hair dried, I reset her pony tails using purple elastic to match her new dress.

This is another doll from the stash. From my research, this baby is the patient that came with Dr. Barbie (a very small baby doll!). She didn't have any clothes when we got her so I tried to make something for her out of the same old purple t-shirt.

It was actually fun restoring these dolls. This site helped me a lot when I was trying to identify my dolls: http://www.kattisdolls.net/. Here are other dolls I have yet to work on:

Until I figure out who they are, I'm calling them all "Kelly" for now.

Weekends are precious

Things I am looking forward to doing this weekend:

• Watch "Eclipse"
• Watch "Toy Story 3"
• Watch "Shrek The Final Chapter" --> pushing it too far I guess, I don't think this movie is still showing but I really do want to watch this :( I've missed so many movies.
• Visit the Forever 21 store that just opened at Megamall.
• Not be sick.

I have been sick the past 2 weekends. Nope, not the past 2 weeks... for some reason, it just starts during the weekends X(.

Two weeks ago, I a sore throat started Saturday afternoon which turned unbearable in the evening. Sunday morning greeted me with a splitting headache that won't go away even with the pills and tablets I was popping every hour. I started taking antibiotics Monday and started feeling better during the week. Came Friday and I thought I was fine.

Until I woke up Saturday with a slight cough... which got worse during the day and by evening, I can literally feel the cough and cold taking hold of my body. I was bed ridden Sunday. Monday came and though I was feeling a little off, I decided to go to work anyway. Day by day, and I can feel myself getting better. I still have a slight cough and cold today but nothing that will keep me bed ridden tomorrow (I hope!).

So there, I haven't had a chance to do anything much the past 2 weekends except be sick. I hope I can finally take a break this weekend.