My Favorite Things tea

Yesterday my mom, grandma, little sister, and I got together for a tea. We haven't really done this in a while, for a lot of reasons, but we used to it with some regularity! It's a phenomenon that predates my blog, even. I'm sure we've been doing it for at least twenty years at this point. (I think I have only posted pictures of a tea once and that was almost ten years ago.) It's really an excuse for my mom and grandma to set a pretty table, which they adore! And of course we get to have little treats!

Any excuse for a tea will do. It doesn't have to have a theme. But you bet we have had Valentine's teas and Halloween teas and have had some very specific themes, such as the old Disney cartoon, The Reluctant Dragon. Our theme for this tea was The Sound of Music, specifically the song "My Favorite Things."

I inivted myself to use two of my Blythes as a centerpiece! As you can see, Olive and Tiphanie are the "girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes," and they happen to have "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes!" There are some flakes I punched out with one of those decorative paper punches that I stuck onto their faces and hair with small shreds of washi tape, and there are also tiny jewels I pressed on here and there, for additional effect! My mom made place cards that are "brown paper packages tied up with strings." And, I found some old fake roses that I've had for eons and stuck some of those itty bitty blingies to them, for "raindrops on roses."

This is the kind of theme we could have gone overboard with, trying to represent everything mentioned in the song. But we came up with the idea only a few days before the tea, so we just did what we had time to do!

My grandma hosted the tea in her tiny and very dark dining room, so mostly, my pictures didn't come out. I didn't take too many, either. I felt self-conscious making people move aside for me and stuff, and of course I had a heavy bias towards mostly just wanting to take pictures of my dolls, hahaha. I did not get any good pictures of the food; they just didn't turn out at all! The following couple of pictures are from my mom's phone:

The treats were pretty! There were petit fours from a bakery, tiny cinnamon rolls, cheese on wheat crackers, a few varities of tea sandwiches, scones (blueberry and cranberry orange), and fruit skewers. I don't drink tea so I had some cranberry juice, haha. And it was so hot that nobody wanted hot tea. Iced tea was served instead.

After the tea, we four ladies sat in the cool living room and had a family sing-along. So von Trapp. I know y'all are not surprised that we do this with regularity. While it does depend on who's present for the sing-along and who knows what songs, as to what gets sung, it's very often folk songs from the 60s ("Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "Teach Your Children" and such) that older members of the family know, or other songs that at least a couple of us know and can sing through. And family songs, you know? For us, a family song would be "The Ugly Bug Ball" from Summer Magic. A beloved staple for us, but maybe not well-known to most.

You better believe we sang "Edelweiss," "My Favorite Things," and "Do-Re-Mi."

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recording music

Of late I have taken on some new band duties: mixing! My band likes to record the songs we do. It's fun to get them nailed down and have that crystallized product, so to speak, that reflects our efforts. Historically our drummer has been the one to mix the tracks properly. But unfortunately he's taken a sabbatical and it's not looking like he'll be back. So the mixing duties have fallen to me and another bandmate who's interested in that process.

Mixing is a brand new beast to me! In a way, fun and satisfying, but definitely a Whole Thing. Like, a whole skill to develop. I am babie at it! I could really talk at length about my experience with mixing, but that's not my main point.

Mixing for the band is one of the things that has solidified and brought closer to me a long-standing interest of mine: recording my own music.

It's not that I am an artist who writes her own music (I have written a couple of songs in my life, but just for funsies) but I do really enjoy playing music in general. Since I picked up the guitar in 2011, I have always randomly recorded myself playing songs for friends, or just for my own self...

(These are all screenshots from videos I've recorded of myself playing/singing covers for the last fifteen years.)

Since getting my Omnichord I have found songs I really like playing on it and have shared clips of that on my omnichordcorner side-Insta. With so much music in my life, and with mixing being a skill I have been slowly adding to my repertoire, I have felt an increasing interest in those covers being properly mixed. And of course, I have had thoughts like: What if I could just record my own background music for my videos?

Now, having gained some experience with mixing, I have taken a step towards being able to produce an entire song myself. I got an audio interface (a Scarlett Focusrite 2i2) and have been experimenting with some lo-fi bedroom recordings! Fortunately for me, way back in 2015 I bought myself a fairly good-ish microphone for doing video voiceover recordings, because I have been able to utilize that mic for vocals without having to make another expensive purchase.

So, all that said, I want to share a couple of covers I've recorded. Don't feel obliged to listen. Music is truly something I do for my own enjoyment. But I am sharing this here because I share about almost all my hobbies here.

First up: A cover of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Notes on this:

• there are six tracks, all of them Just Yr Girl: guitar, main vocals, two background vocals, and two Omnichord tracks
• given the original song, I am naturally sort of emulating Richard O'Brien's tone of voice; idk how to explain that to people who aren't familiar with Rocky Horror. That I might not usually sing with this particular affectation. That said, this is my first and only main vocal take, lmao
• I did background vocals for myself during the chorus, which was an entirely new experience!
• I wanted to have a music box-sounding element because the reprise of "Science Fiction/Double Feature" at the very end of the film has a music box-esque descant over the melody. It felt right!

And secondly: a cover of "Linger" by the Cranberries.

Notes on this:

• there a dozen tracks on this one: guitar, main vocals, harmony vocals (anywhere from one to three layers), a couple of vocal riffs, three Omnichord tracks, and two Stylophone Beat tracks
• I really did my own from-memory version; it is my own take, which is what I feel interested in doing (versus a 1:1 recreation)

As you can see, I made a little YouTube channel just to dump my covers onto. I mainly did this so I could easily share them with my dad, as he's interested in what I can do with my little setup. I am not seeking, like, subscribers or a following by putting songs on YouTube. (Although you can feel free to subscribe if you want.) But anyway, I picked the name "lo-lite" for this venture. I usually keep the lighting in my room fairly low since that's what's the most comfortable for me -- hence the lighting in these pics is heinous! Especially with the pink neon light I have behind my monitor. I didn't try to light the room for photography, and I just let my cluttered desk and amateur setup be what they are and look how they really look. It represents THE VIBE in my room when working on this music. If I could add a lava lamp I absolutely would. And maybe I will. So regarding this project, my brain said, "Not just lo-fi, but lo-lite." :)

I might rename my Omnichord insta or fold it into this in some way, or I might not. Don't know yet. I'm not in the mood to let the fear that I have too many places I post or the perfectionism-oriented thought that I should have some so kind of cohesive "presence" stop me from pursuing this particular joy! This is all super low-key! Lo-key, even. I'm just having some fun and trying my best to not let self-consciousness or perfectionism stop me from making stuff.

Oh, and don't worry: I won't post every cover I do here. As you know, I have sooo many hobbies and special interests that get posted about occasionally, as they may bring me comfort and happiness. Music's always been one of those things, and occasionally something weird (like my still-ongoing Litten hyperfixation) joins the rotation!

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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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dreams come true

This past week I have accomplished something major, for me! I sewed a slipcover for my IKEA Huset couch!!!

To me, the Huset... set... is iconic. So many doll collectors have it! Just looking at it transports me back in time, to a certain period on Flickr, admiring the roomboxes of those with collections that blew my mind.

As you can see, the couch comes with a slipcover in a very bubblegum shade of pink. Although I must note, the cover that came with mine doesn't fit nearly as well as the one in the product picture.

It used to be that there was at least one or two people selling covers for this specific doll couch on Etsy. Because of course! What an easy way to customize and have furniture that totally fits the look of a doll room! I bought a yellow gingham cover at some point. (You can see it in this dressup video with Mallow.) I could have sworn I had a second cover, but maybe not, as I cannot find a second one anywhere. But it's been many years since I last saw a Huset couch cover on Etsy, despite random searches over that time. Devastating!! I had always wanted to acquire many more covers!

However, debellespoupees on Etsy sells a Huset sofa cover pattern! I ambitiously bought this pattern a long while ago in the hopes of eventually being able to sew myself a new Huset slipcover. Like, this has been a long-held goal of mine. And many, many long years later, I have achieved this dream!

Although, not without immense mental pain and effort on my part, haha. My first attempt came together surprisingly well, in terms of construction, but I realized halfway through that I had cut the pattern pieces too small because I misunderstood the pattern instructions. I thought the seam allowance had been built in. (I tell you: I cannot sew, and the intricacies of construction do not come naturally to me. I lack the ability to envision a 3D shape and how every bit of it behaves and interacts as an end product.) It had not been built in, whoops! And I just misunderstood the wording of the pattern. So my first attempt ended up too small to fit the couch due to this error on my part.

I did my best, in my next attempt, to build in some seam allowance onto the pattern pieces. I did this with a ruler. But I'm an American so I didn't have a ruler with mm on it, when the pattern called for a 5 mm seam allowance. I said, "A quarter inch has gotta be close enough to 5 mm, right?" Well, maybe. But that allowance tacked onto every pattern piece combined with where exactly I was sewing my seams resulted in a cover that was far too large.

What a Goldilocks kind of problem, right? Going from a first attempt that was too small to a second attempt that was too big!

I attempted to save my hours of effort with this second cover by padding it out in additional places to give it some more structural integrity... I feel like you can see, between the first and second pictures above, that this idea did help ever so slightly! But also, I think it needs to be gathered on each side -- peep the sewing clips pinned there in the second picture.

I think if I were to make some bows or something and attach them there, gathering in the process, it could actually be cute, maybe! Who knows!

It's still wonky in its construction because everything I make is pretty wonky. It's literally asymmetrical, which is really irritating and something I can't really fix with padding. But I really like this fabric so I'd like to be able to rescue this too-large cover in some way.

This bright checked slipcover is attempt number three, and I'm pretty happy with this version! It is still a leeetle wonky, which is just down to me and my relative lack of skills. But it also is way better than my first two attempts, and I can't lie, I'm gagged that I pulled this off.

The fabric is from the craft section of Dollar Tree, which has fat quarters, though not a huge selection. It happens to be a fairly thick cotton (thicker than a quilting cotton) which added a tad more structure to this particular slipcover, so that's one reason I used it. It does seem a lot sturdier. I also just thought a checked pattern seemed suiting for a couch.

HONESTLY, even though the execution of the pattern is imperfect and the fabric wasn't my first or even second choice, I am so, so proud of myself. Just managing to complete this project and get something not-too-shabby in the end is, for me, a huge accomplishment. I think many people with sewing experience would find this pattern easy to understand and put together, but for me it was really challenging. Taking several swings at it, each attempt being hand-sewn and everything... whew. I really stuck with it. I must take pride in my mediocre sewing skills because I have truly slavishly raised them from subzero.

Another Dollar Tree thing: They had these mini wooden pallets and wooden craft cubes that I thought I could make into a coffee table-type thing! And dang!!! It's so cute! I wonder if I should attempt to stain/seal it, or if that would just be spending money for no good reason when it looks pretty cute as-is.

Other sofa cover notes:

• I added in yet another quarter inch of seam allowance along the bottom of each pattern piece because I wanted to be able to hem the cover. (I hemmed each piece individually, before joining; hence the hem doesn't line up exactly from one piece to another.) This wasn't in the pattern!
• I think the weight of the fabric actually does matter somewhat, for this. I found the thicker cotton behaved a lot better than the thinner cotton and it just seems like it will hold up better and not stretch or get super wrinkled. I guess you could use interfacing to add some structure if you really liked the pattern on a thinner fabric.
• I did not sew in the padding as the pattern instructed, either. I felt confounded by the mere idea. I actually saved the padding step for last, cut each bit down to shape directly to fit the exact area, and glued it in with Aileen's. I was pretty sparing and this seemed to work really well, although I can imagine sewing the padding in is much more secure and I might need to re-glue some spots in the future if the padding starts to come loose somewhere.
• I left off the little closure mechanism that goes beneath the cover -- at least, on the IKEA slip cover, there's a little strap with velcro on it that could help keep the cover in place. I didn't feel like it was necessary... although it admittedly intrigues me...

I think I will give this pattern yet another attempt, not only to see if I can improve even more in my construction of it, but to give myself a couple more options in terms of vibes. I have had dreams the last two nights in a row about sewing this pattern...

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birthday gworl

Tiphanie pics?? On my birthday??? Of course! I am just over the moon with this little dressup. I love the double-down on florals between the top and the skirt. It doesn't match, but -- doesn't it?? There are hints of cream in the skirt! And I love that the skirt matches her front-facing brown chips! The petticoat I have used for her before -- but can you blame me? It's the perfect color for her. Gosh. Tiphanie really is my most striking girl.

Blouse: YlangGarden (which seems to have shut down)
Skirt: gifted to me by Anne
Petticoat: MINIJIJO (years ago)
Socks: I made 'em!
Boots: Takara (Someone's stock? Can't remember! Haha)

I really have to say, I am so glad that I learned to sew little Blythe socks, because it's such a boon to my dolly wardrobe to have socks that match virtually any dressup!

I am posting this on my birthday for no reason other than I can, and because the colors of the dressup are so severely "me" that it just felt CORRECT! It's also because I am gonna sneak in a "little me" photo collage. I put one together for one of those Instagram "add yours" tags stories, but these photos in particular are from birthdays long past...

I was in preschool in the first one, so, pre-kindergarten! Estimating perhaps 1987 or '88. I remember my mom brought some kind of treat and a bunch of helium balloons to hand out to the class, and I remember this dress which was peach, and this pink plastic headband perfectly. (Not pictured, but I am wearing jelly shoes, also, haha!) I recall getting the peach balloon to match my dress, and taking the balloon home after preschool... Of course I went outside with it and accidentally let go of it, and had to watch it float away into the sky. Tough lesson. But the balloon is immortalized here, huh?

I think I was turning nine or so in the picture with the homemade puff paint watermelon t-shirt. I got a BOOM BOX, as you can see! Just a tape deck -- no CD player yet. I think also got rollerblades that year! Sooo 90s!

In the left bottom pic, I am wearing the pink geometric sweatshirt/stirrup pants set that I referenced in this recent Fey 'fit post!

And finally, in the last picture, I seem to be turning sweet sixteen! I had to count the candles in the cake in front of me in that picture to figure that out. I look forlorn, which is typical as my resting face is pretty sad-looking, and although I had glasses by this point, I am for some reason not wearing them in this picture. But as you can see, I had red highlights in the front of my hair. This would have been 1999. I really beat the scene/emo look.

Some more random recent pictures, just for posterity.

Life feels dark these days. But how fortunate am I to be able to enjoy a hobby like Blythe that has expanded my creative horizons with crafting, sewing, photography, and video editing, and brought me into contact with fellow creatives all over the world? How fortunate am I to get together and play music with kind people every week? How fortunate am I to have my little precious hyperfixations like Litten and berets?

Other things I will live my forty-third year of life anticipating:

• I am going to be an aunt, AGAIN! My little sister is expecting another baby!!!
• I live ever-hoping I'll spot cute Blythe-scale things or miniatures out in the wild, and this actually is something that keeps me going in this world, haha.
• Another year of dressing my dolls and hopefully making things for them!
• Making a new-to-me object or learning a new-to-me skill. I hope!

With all that said, just one more Tiphanie pic. To grow on, as they say.

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bday 43 incoming

Taurus season? Another birthday on the horizon, a mere week away? Again? Already? Also, holy crap, why does 43 sound significantly older than 42?

Well, as an adult -- heavy airquotes right there -- I have for the past several years simply asked for monetary donations from any family members interested in giving me such a thing, in lieu of gifts, so I can put the money towards larger puchases for myself. Such as a chair for my sewing table. (I've moreso used the chair while playing my Omnichord but it's still been wonderful for using my second desk for any purpose!) And last year, of course, I had saved up for my gorgeous li'l Tiphanie, and it was so exciting to get her for myself in time for my birthday!

This year I'm sort of thinking that I'll spend whatever funds I get on a new tripod. I have three tripods I use on a weekly basis to film band videos. They reside permanently in the studio space now. That means if I wanted to film a doll video or something, I'd have to decide that well in advance, and make sure to take my most heavy-duty tripod home, get the filming done between band seshes, and take the tripod all the way back to the studio... whiiich is in a different town than where I live, and on the second floor of an old gutted building. It'd be a lot of toting and carrying up and down a steep flight of ancient stairs. That's why I just leave the tripods there now! So I'm not carrying them back and forth every single week! I was doing that for a while.

But, not having my tripod has effectively quashed my ability to film anything for YouTube, as I can't do anything spontaneously. A tripod is a piece of basic equipment I need to film any long form doll video. So I think I'll just get the exact same tripod (or the closest I can find) again so I can have one at home, too. I need one that can hold my DSLR and its lens, which are very heavy. And for me, it's not a bad thing to have another heavy-duty tripod!

Other things: I'm interested in properly recording/mixing music, so I'd love to get an audio interface; I need another micro SD card; I need another cute trinket display case because my Stitch figurine collection has seen some growth and now need their own case; this specific Litten plush (yes, I am still dreadfully Litten-pilled); and finally, tickets to see Micky Dolenz (of The Monkees)!

I saw back in the winter months that THEE Micky Dolenz was going to be in MY TOWN on MY BIRTHDAY and was like, eyes emoji! "Oh? On my boifday?? Should I go???" But, I don't go to concerts too often, and it didn't even really occur to me to ask for tickets or ask anyone to go with me, or anything of the kind. So I wasn't intending on going. I was just like, OH VERY INTERESTING MISTER DOLENZ... I SEE, I SEE YOU ARE IN TOWN TO CELEBRATE ME...

I was oddly sitting here working on this post when my dad texted me outta nowhere to ask if I wanted to go!

SO I GUESS I AM GOING TO BE SEEING MICKY DOLENZ NEXT WEEK!

I have only mentioned it here once (way back in 2012 when Davy Jones passed) but I am actually a lifelong Monkees fan. As I mentioned in that old post, "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" was the first favorite song I remember having, as a literal toddler. I have always listened to the Monkees on a regular basis and have my top jams and one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar was "You Just May Be the One." But when Mike Nesmith passed in 2021 I went on a big Monkees bender and it reignited my long-standing love. Later in the lifespan of the band, the Monkees worked with Adam Schlesinger (RIP) who was a musician I really admire, so that was really fun and cool for me as a fan of both. So I am actually super stoked to go see Micky. How fortunate am I to be able to see a Monkee when I have loved the Monkees so much all my life!!!

Seriously, I think my heart might beat right out of my chest!

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🗝️ chatelaines part 2 🗝️

Featuring the triumphant return of the twin mayors of birthday town: I made a couple more chatelaines for my girls! I wanted to make a silver one and a gold one, and here are Vesper and Citron to model them!

Lowdown on the silver one: Wow, I found some little tassels amongst my craft supplies that I got to attach to the miniature suitcases I made YEARS ago, and since there was an all-silver one, I thought, "Sure!" I don't know what the item could represent in terms of a tool or useful item for Citron, but hey, who knows. But upon further inspection of charms at the craft store (I went back to get more chains for these chatelaines) I actually found one that had tools, specifically! Two types of saws (I used one on here), hammers, wrenches. That's so funny to me. While the wrench might have been the most useful for an artificer-type gal, I liked the shape of the saw the most! I believe this one is a hacksaw, specifically! And I found a fork charm at a local bead store, as well as whatever the one on the rightmost in the photo is. I don't know what exactly this is, other than a drop-style charm, but in my imagination, this could be some kind of scent pot or holder for some little tool or gadget!

Again, I used a gear for the medallion portion of the chatelaine, and just jump ring-ed it on.

For the gold chatelaine: Another local bead store finding, but there is this little gold clasp-looking charm, and I don't rightly know what it is. But it looked like some sort of pocketbook or a cover for a notebook, so that's what I'm pretending it is. (It might be a clasp, but I'm really not sure.) There's also a clock hand from the gear packet, and a colorful charm from the Explorer packet I got for my first chatelaine. Also, I made a little keyring out of a jump ring and several small key charms from a packet I got at Michael's. Even though the keys aren't bright gold, I still felt like it gives the chatelaine a more lived-in, vintage and useful look, instead of just being fancier-seeming items.

I didn't put a medallion on this chatelaine since I didn't really have anything I liked for that.

But here's Vesper's full 'fit...

As you know, I like more elegant looks for Vesper. Things that make her look, dare I say, elfin! While nothing will ever look as beautiful as her stock, which to me is exquisite, this outfit gives her the vibe that she is the keeper of a little fairy garden. One surrounded by a rock wall; one with an ancient well hidden within, which may or may not be a wishing well. She strolls and tends to the flowers in the fairy garden.

I don't think I listed all the outfit deets for Citron in my last chatelaine post, so I will do that now!

Vesper's deer headband: made by me
Vesper's leaf crown: made by me
Vesper's peplum top: Sugar Mag (I got it in 2010 off eBay)
Vesper's skirt: CraftyCoraShop on Etsy
Vesper's shoes: her own stock

Citron's goggles: her own stock
Citron's black blouse: HelloCoolCat
Citron's skirt: CraftyCoraShop
Citron's shoes: Time After Alice's stock shoes

Finally: "the twin mayors of birthday town" is an old My Brother, My Brother, and Me reference (I was an early MBMBAM adopter back in the day, and also an early MBMBAM abandoner, haha) and when I Googled it just now to find the episode I was referencing, the first result was not MBMBAM, but my own blog post about Vesper and Citron??? Whoa. Wild. Real snake-eating-its-own-tail stuff.

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Fey's modern life

WOW, I adore Fey. Dang, she's just so cute with her Licca body. It gives her such a whimsical air, with that head-tilt. And gosh. I just. FBLs...

I'm still just so sad the mold is not being produced any longer, even though that's been the case for a very long time now. I have seven FBL girls, and I think eighteen total were produced. That's quite a lot of FBLs and I sometimes wonder if I will ever get another. To me, their faces are so incredibly sweet. Any FBL would be very loved here at Chez Maidensuit.

ANYWAY, I made each little piece of this outfit, except the shoes, which came from thehandflower -- but those, I did paint! They were just plain blue but I painted the laces and rubber bits white myself! I crocheted the earband, sewed the crop top, and made the little skirt back in 2023 expressly for Fey! This fabric is so fun and odd. The background color is kind of a sickly pinky-beige (... a good descriptor for me tbh) but it has these great blue and mint shapes that are sort of 80s or early 90s! Kinda new wave-y or Pee Wee's Playhouse or something? The color palette's very Rocko's Modern Life, actually. It reminds me of a matching pink sweatshirt/stirrup-pant combo I had circa age 10 that had little geometric shapes on it.

FEY T_T Just look at that FACE! Like a couple of my other girls' hair (thinking of Gavin specifically) it has sort of yellowed with age, but I don't mind that it leans a skosh more green than blue these days. I think that is the case for a lot of brighter Takara hair.

I like this tiny corner of my back porch, by the way. The mossy patina and chipped paint and dirt and weeds and everything. I always love pictures taken here. It's in the background of the header pic up at the top of my blog.

By the way, Fey brought you a drink. She wants you to stay hydrated. And she wants you to know the Feytorade matches her shoes.

(The drink mini is from the Teeny Tinies! Gamer Essentials playset, which came with amazing junk food options.)

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🚨 emergency chatelaine post 🚨

I made Citron a chatelaine!!! And I'm only calling it an emergency because posting about it is knocking other doll dressup posts further back in my post queue, haha!

Let's talk chatelaines without me being anywhere near a historical fashion expert. They're basically belts (more usually belt clips) from which dangle useful items a woman might want to carry around with her. These, to me, are an exquisite combination of function and beauty. What your own personal chatelaine might hold was very relative to who you were and what you might need on you at any given time, and they did range in, say, fanciness. I found this page on chatelaines useful for not just explaining the concept of a chatelaine but also its accessories.

(I sourced all these images from Google Images, so they're a mix of extant historical examples and costume recreations!)

Objects one might find on a chatelaine: a pocket watch, keys, scissors, knives, hooks, sewing supplies such as tape measurers, pencils encased in a tube-like holder, notepads, dog whistles, scent/perfume containers, smelling salts, a little purse for some coins or a hankie or something. You could trick out a chatelaine to be hobby-specific, even. Tote along all your needlework stuff on your needlework chatelaine! Are you a lady who needs a magnifying glass multiple times a day? Keep yours with you on the ol' chatelaine.

Inspired the by the various sizes of jump rings Anne gifted me, I decided to make Citron a chatelaine, and to have it be steampunk in style. I got the following additional supplies for it:

Just a couple of cheap $2 chains (one is silver and the links are shaped like hearts and the other is black) so I could harvest some links and also their clasps. I found some gear ephemera ("inclusions," the packaging says) and also a charm set ("Explorer Charms," it says) that I got particularly for the sun and moon charms. I also bought a set of tools with some pliers and cutters, since I didn't have anything like that already, which was half the cost of my purchase. But worth it, if I explore any more crafting of this sort! I couldn't have succeeded at this without them!

I decided I wanted to lean into a mixed metal look instead of an all-silver or all-black look so her chatelaine could go with any dressup. And despite my best efforts to try and find tiny charms of useful things, tools of any variety, I couldn't find anything in my local craft stores like that. No charms of scissors, knives, science equipment. Most of the charms, intended for human-sized jewelry, were on the larger-to-unusable side in terms of scale, anyway. So I just decided that it's alright if this chatelaine doesn't exactly offer Citron useful items. I did manage to find a key charm that came with a set of beads I bought off Amazon in 2022 -- such a lucky find for this project!

This was, for the most part, a super easy and quick make that I really enjoyed! I just snipped off the end of one of those chains to act as my belt, used several jump rings from Anne to attach charms to small lengths of chains harvested from the bigger lengths, and also used jump rings to attach the small lengths to the main belt. I did attempt to vary the length of chain from which each charm was dangling so I could get that satisfying drape of objects, but I think this was sometimes not noticeable because the size of each charm differed greatly.

Charms used: the tarnished-gold sun charm from the pack I purchased, the silver key charm I already have, a black gear from the gear inclusions pack, and a bronze clock handle charm also from the gear inclusions pack!

For the medallion at the top of the chatelaine, I superglued three gears from the pile of gear inclusions together and attached them onto the belt with jump rings. I thought that'd be better than just supergluing it onto the chain, in case I ever wanted to change it out again. And also because superglue is a FREAKING MESS. I already accidentally damaged my cutting mat during the process of gluing the gears together, hahaha. Lesson learned, there, but I just didn't want to superglue the medallion to the belt. For whatever reason, attaching the medallion to the chain acting as the belt was the hardest part of the whole project. It was so fiddly and wrangling all the chains to hang in the proper place while the medallion got hooked on took the most time of anything!!

BUT I DID IT! The mixed metals steampunk mini-chatelaine of Citron's dreams. Or rather, my dreams. Maybe Batman's dreams, too.

I feel like I could have made this into more of a belt clip situation with something like a pin back glued to the "medallion" made of gears. And I maybe could make the attachment of the medallion to the belt chain cleaner by sewing it on?? It might be less visible than the jump rings, and still temporary. There might be several better methods of construction in general, indeed.

Still, despite the fiddly-ness and the feeling that I could have constructed something more "accurate" or something, I'm super happy because I want to outfit Citron with fun stuff like this. I feel like I will definitely attempt another chatelaine! For her, and maybe also one for Vesper?? Doing an all-silver or all-gold one would be satisfying, and seeing if I can locate some tinier and more specific charms on Etsy seems satisfying too!

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neons of time

These pics of Citron make me want to SCREAM! I was making pterodactyl noises editing them. The editing on them is super minimal. Just boosted levels of saturation and a tiny color correction layer to try and reflect true colors. But ohhh my goodness. What a gorgeous girl. She is a Blythe I sincerely cannot believe I own. Scream, scream, scream!

Citron is one of the handful of girls I have where I am somewhat particular and picky about how I dress her, and feel I have only put her in a 'fit that I really like on her a couple of times. Like, my dressup success rate with Citron is middling at best. I really, really want to lean into more historical dress elements with her.

Here are a couple of pictures of her in other 'fits from elsewhere on my blog:

As per my Blythe family page blurb re: Citron: I have grandiose ideas [on how to dress her] but very little wardrobe to support them. Keywords: Lucca from Chrono Trigger, fire magic, metallics, vintage adventurer (think Rachel Maksy), Gibson Girl. I want to absolutely indulge in the steampunk elements of SV's concept when I can. There are so many aesthetic elements of steampunk that I love, but also there's a lot of goofy, overly exaggerated aspects of steampunk that I would like to shy away from, if possible. Liiiike the goofy top hat that's part of SV's stock!

Maybe another mood board is warranted...

Particularly of note in this mood board:

• As noted, Rachel Maksy
• Anne Shirley
• Bree from Outlander
• Chrono Trigger
• the Antikythera mechanism which I have been obsessed with for years (name-dropped it here in 2013)
• this pretty art piece

I have a few blouses and a few long skirts that I can put on Citron, but I'd love, for instance: a vest or something that resembles stays, a chatelaine type of rig (maybe I could make something like that out of jump rings and charms?), maybe some kind of other eyewear that insinuates steampunk??

All that aside, this is a super duper simple dressup, but I love this dress on her, wow! I love the tone of gray and I love the square neckline. In person it actually cuts across the plastic swells of the doll's breasts in a Regency gown type of way that looks appropriately historical for her!

The dress from MissFreyaJ (whose shop seems to only sell eyechip sheets and not clothes now -- I purchased this dress way back in 2013 and you can see it on Plummery in this old post). She's wearing Time After Alice's stock shoes, which match her dark blue nails!

Haha, well, I am going to be posting more batches of doll pics in the next few days, so!! Buckle up, baby. I think posting doll pics every day (or at least on the reg) is more of an Instagram thing, and I might post a small round-up of all the pics I've taken lately there eventually. But honestly, I just prefer blogging 'cause I wanna yap and do mood boards and stuff. I'm trying not to feel self-conscious about a) yapping a lot, and b) posting a lot. I used to post EVERY DAY here, once upon a time!

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