baby brother's baby blanket

ICYMI: I'm going to be an aunt! Again! My baby sister is once again expecting, and so of course, I am making baby boy #2 his own little ripple. His big brother got this one, wherein I alternated colors (lime green, aqua, and rust orange) between stripes of white.

I want baby brother to have a matching blanket, but also for it to have its own vibe. Again I'm doing light stripes interspersed with three different colors. But this time I'm using an ivory yarn instead of a brighter white, which really changes the appearance so much. And because he is due in October, I wanted it to have autumnal feel... but without it being Halloween-y. So for the colors, I am using a darker red, a milk chocolate brown, and a lighter red that is called "terra cotta." I really like the color scheme, actually!

This has been really soothing to pick up and work on, lately. It's nice to do something other than band (which is an endless hamster wheel for me). And I get peaceful vibes working on something for an anticipated family member. I try to weave in my intentions, so to speak -- my love and my hopes for this little boy. I think about baby brother lying on this ripple for baby pictures, or getting covered up with it while he's in his car seat. I think about him being a younger sibling who is probably going to come into a lot of hand-me-downs. I hope in the future he'll know I made him his very own blanket so he won't have to share it with anyone, or have something that was someone else's first. It's something his auntie made for him especially!

Of course it's a gift for him, but it's a gift for me too, because I really like to make ripple blankets.

It's exciting to think that come Christmas, baby brother will be topside; we'll know his name; we'll have a really good idea of his personality; my parents will have another grandchild to dote on. My nephews are a bright spot amidst the chaos of the world.

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June gloom

Been raining a lot here, which means it's constantly overcast and humid -- but also that the grass is a very vivid green. I saw these cheerful flowers on the back deck and took Mallow out there for a pic with one of the reliable ol' Michael's springtime decor benches.

She's wearing this $10 Disney ily 4EVER fashion pack inspired by Daisy Duck. I got it back in April, curious about how the clothes from his particular doll line (which I have almost no familiarity with) might fit Blythe. The shoes are ludicrously large, but I guess I prefer that to too-small heels.

I was attracted to this particular set because of the purple daisy sweater! I love daisy anything, as I'm sure you know. But also this is my favorite purple. I love a lavender. The top is pretty large on a Blythe; you can see the sleeves are all pushed up on Mallow.

Overall I prefer handmade items for my dolly wardrobe. The tactile experience of these mass-made sets for various playline dolls can be, uh, scratchy and slippery. And I just think I prefer stuff that fits my dolls' bodies well. I almost never buy Blythe clothes off Etsy if I can see they are made to fit bodies other than Neo Blythe or Licca. They always fit strangely when put on Neo bodies, and I end up feeling like I wasted my money on something that doesn't actually look good on my dolls. Many such cases. When the clothing's at such a small scale, fit is very important.

But! That being said, there's still something really fun about finding some doll clothes when out and about. Do you know, I have had many dreams over the years about finding vintage or handmade Blythe clothes in weird stores or places where it is a surprise to find such things. In my dreams I am frantically trying to decide what to buy.

Hard to take a single dang doll picture outside without this goober getting all up in my biz. LOOK AT HIM!

I have several things to post about, and literally several posts in draft format. But I have been feeling like some of the things don't really warrant a whole post, haha. I was trying to think of how to consolidate some of the topics -- like grouping them into like-ish items -- and thinking, "Maybe I can just do a post purposefully hopping between several discrete things?" And then June got away from me.

And good riddance to it, I must say!

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new and old minis

I finally got one of those jewelry boxes that are shaped like sofas and just so happen to be playscale! I took it as an excuse to set up a scene! Olwenn and Plummery joined in! They were both already dressed but coincidentally I realized they're both wearing green boots.

Real quick:

Plummery's romper: Reve de Rui yearssss ago
Plummery's boots: Takara Eye Love Shoes White set
Plummery's strawberry bag: I made it!

Olwenn's sweater: gifted by Anne
Olwenn's dress: PrincessPiccolina yearssss ago
Olwenn's boots: Takara Knees and Toes Serene set

I loooove the color of Olwenn's sweater. Such a gorgeous yellow-toned green.

I like the greens in this jewelry box sofa, too. The pattern is, I guess, not especially attractive to me, or not my aesthetic, per se -- but I also think it'd be really great in a midcentury roombox or scene, with lots of wood tones, and gold or brass or amber accents! And I do like the colors!

That's what it looks like inside. It doesn't have any kind of closure so it flops open when you're just holding it, but still, I think it is such a fun piece. I'm glad I finally got one because I recall seeing these on Instagram over a year ago and really wanting one! Mine was $13, which is a pretty good price, imo, for a piece of doll furniture that looks this nice. Not just a hunk of plastic, but covered with fabric, and well.

I propped this Michael's shelf piece on top of ye olde Huset cube shelf for some height and had fun filling the shelves and cubbies.

Such a pleasing conglomeration to me! Although I still suck at setting up scenes.

Another couple of things I wanted to use in this scene:

Recently I spent a Barnes and Noble gift card and got this so-called "Teeny Tiny Turntable." They have a lot of small novelty type gifts of this size cluttered around the checkout area. I was in line buying a Calico Critters miniatures set (it's got miniature fruit and a little toaster and blender, heh) and decided to get this too, just hoping it'd be Blythe scale! Also I really want MGA's Miniverse Real Music Record Player but it's sold out, and I thought it might scratch the itch.

Well, in my opinion, it is not really properly scaled for any kind of doll, since it's just a novelty item and not a proper miniature. But I'd say it's more American Girl doll-sized. Like, it's pretty big, and the records for it would be about the right size for one of those chonky American Girl hands. Waaay too big for Blythe! And I think it pokes off this shelf a lot. But, hey. It doesn't look too bad...! Especially paired with these miniature speakers from Daiso!!! Honestly! I got these little black hunks of plastic today and I'm kinda tickled with how they make it look like a real little setup, even if the scale of everything is kinda iffy! Vintage turntables can be kinda big, can't they? :)

Decided to load down my little DIY dollar store coffee table, too.

Featuring the miniature knitting needles/project I made back in 2015!!!

The top of this table is vaguely coaster-sized, so it's making me think about finding some fun coasters to possibly use as tabletops...

I have to say, it's been gray as heck outside for the last few weeks. Every time I want to take pictures I am suffering for sunlight. I wish these pics were so much brighter -- as it is, I threw on a lot of vibrance/saturation layers, plus a warmth filter at a low opacity, and they still have an odd gray tone. Ah, photography.

Still, as always, arranging little miniatures is a form of play that does me good! Still really needing any source of fun I can get.

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