haul out the haul-y

Ah, how I do hate to make another "look what I got!" post, but hey. It's that time of year, baby. And I seem to be closing out 2025 with a tummy bug, juuuudging by the amount of times I've vomited the last couple of days. Sorry for the TMI. But the concept of making this post cheered me up! And I always think appreciating the gifts you've been given and one's own savvy shopping is fun. So don't consider this so much a "what I got for Christmas"/haul post as a post I am making to enshrine and appreciate!

For myself, using gift cards/my own money, I have bought a) this cream-colored quilted jacket; b) this gingham backpack; and c) this rust-orange velvet weekender bag.

I have a rust orange jacket (it's my favorite color) but my mom and I are taking nightly neighborhood walks and try if we can to wear light-colored things so we can be seen by drivers. Our neighborhood is very busy. We use our phone flashlights to try and light us up but I just felt the need to get a white sweater or jacket so people can see me easier. This one looks really cute.

The backpack I got because I just need something other than the tote bag I've been using to pack up my music-making stuff (mini amp, wireless dongles, chord notebooks) whenever I bring it anywhere, and I liked this one!

And the weekender tote, well, I don't strictly need it for anything. But I was gifted the matching cosmetic pouch set from my little sister for Christmas! She said the color reminded her of me -- which of course is spot-on. And I really love the baggies. I haven't shopped at Target in a couple of years due to the boycott but I had a Target gift card from last Christmas and got another one this Christmas, so I said what the heck and got the matching weekender bag when I saw it. Matchy-matchy!!! Depending on the size of the weekender bag (I bought it online so I don't 100% know) I can use it as a camera/tech bag or a crochet project bag for knitting club.

Sisters really made the stockings GOOD this year!

One sister got me a crazy blind box and a coloring book (which is so cozy! Colored several pages in it already!) and the other got me this bag set and a couple of figurines relevant to my interests! As you know, I have a number of Stitch figures, many of them from this sister. She found a real cute one this year. But this series looks to be harder to collect. Seems to be from the D23 Expo? I have found a few on eBay but couldn't find a picture of this figure anywhere! So I did take it from an eBay listing, lol.

There's the guy that was in the blind box. Love his lace overalls!

In my family, Nephew aside, we mostly just do stockings now, instead of bigger wrapped gifts. But I still really got some good stuff, as you can see! I also wanted to feature this little thing that was in my stocking at my grandmother's:

It's a little strawberry stationery set?? Full of little mini supplies! A tiny stapler and staple remover, a hole punch, some small tape, scissors, binder clips. Soooo freaking cute and useful! Love it!

On the strawberry tip, I also just now acquired a few things I've been looking for since October!

Five Below has these fashion sets inspired by the '80s Strawberry Shortcake. When I saw them in August I thought, "That looks like it might fit Blythe!" So I got the cutest set of the three available then and tried it out on Aury and Fey.

Not every item fits and not every item is, like, one I want. BUT, for $4 a set, that's such a great price for some little t-shirts and dresses! I freaking love the sunflower dress and the cute Orange Blossom tee. IMO the shoes and bags and hats are better for, like, scene-setting props. So I went back and got the other two sets, which were Blueberry Muffin and Lemon Merengue.

Since then I've been on the lookout for the other sets, which I saw online circa October. But my local Five Below didn't get them until, like, RIGHT NOW! I checked a few times and they were never on the shelves... UNTIL TODAY! YAY!

I'm really excited to have completed the collection and excited to open these up when I'm feeling a little better and see which pieces are the best. Been meaning to do a post all about these sets, and hopefully I will also do that in 2026. I have never been super into getting, say, Skipper or Barbie or Bratz or random other doll items for my Blythes. I prefer the bespoke handmade stuff, I guess. But these sets are an exception. Cheap items, yes, but also really colorful and fun.

The holidays this year were really busy. Craft market; band; lots of singing with family and friends and dinking around on my Omnichord; nightly walks; family coming into town. It is definitely a bummer to end it feeling run-down with this bug, whatever it is. But I enjoyed making this post, even if it is very consumerist.

See y'all in 2026!!!

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I got an Omnichord! :,)

I AM SO ELATED! As I mentioned in my craft market post, I have been saving up for an instrument! I've been saving up since spring. Prior, I had been saving up to buy Time After Alice. I used part of what I'd been saving up to scoop her, and put the remainder immediately towards this, a Suzuki Omnichord OM-108, which is a really cool (and also really twee) synthesizer.

I first saw this instrument on Instagram when @blackforager posted a story of her playing and singing with her Omnichord; I'm not sure when it was because I believe the story's not been archived. If I recall correctly, the Omnichord wasn't much in-frame so I couldn't really see what it was. I was like, "That is so pretty." I scrolled away... Then I scrolled back, all, "What is that, though??" And Alexis mentioned in either a caption or a comment that it was an Omnichord. And I immediately looked up Omnichords to see how much they cost!

A lot, is the answer! ($500-1000, depending on if you are getting a vintage one from the 80s or the newer model, and whether it's new or used. It can also depend on the condition of a specific Omnichord and its location and the seller from whom you purchase it and whether it's an auction or direct purchase... I'm sure you can imagine the variation.)

For a while I talked myself in and out of saving up for an Omnichord. "It's so expensive. Do I really need it?" After I joined the band during the summer, I really started noticing which songs would benefit from a touch of synth, and this was really what made me feel more enabled in my desire.

It is a big purchase for me and feels pretty frivolous. It took me seven months to save up. Doing the craft market finally put me in the black, soooo I went ahead and bought it, and aaah!!! It was scheduled to arrive on December 22, but it arrived on the 16th! Way sooner than expected. I have been in absolute HEAVEN playing it! Like, I can hardly stop playing it!!

Here's a little video I took to send to my great-aunt:

It basically makes everything sound like sparkly fairy music!! (Pardon my voice, though. I wasn't warmed up! Do you recognize this song? It's from the Rankin Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and is sung by Clarice.)

I would say that the Omnichord is very easy to play. It's nigh impossible for it to sound bad. Just developing that muscle memory regarding the placement of each button is going to take a bit of time yet. I still don't know what absolutely every button does in order to manipulate what I am doing in a timely fashion. But I've been playing it constantly. Especially Christmas music. It's perfect for Christmas music, since it has that bell-like tinkly magic-y sound, and often Christmas songs are fairly easy. Right now I prefer playing without any tempo or chorus accompaniment. I just want the strumpad flourishes for what I am doing.

Playing Christmas songs on both the guitar and Omnichord and decorating our tree recently has really made the season feel like, well, the season. I also have a small pink tree (which you may remember from past years) which I decorated and which looks real cozy at night. My mom and I take walks every day at 8 P.M., regardless of cold and rain, and have been enjoying the holiday lights so much.

To close out this post, some selfies. I attended church with my mom this past weekend and got maybeeee the most compliments I have ever received in my life?

So many people said, "I love your hat." Approached me specifically to say so! (And I love this, because while people have complimented my berets on rare occasions, I have moreso felt somewhat teased about them, and like I am somehow dressing in an eccentric way even though I don't think I am.) I also got compliments on my dress and shoes. One lady said, sentimentally, "You look so beautiful." WHAT??? I mean, dang. Make my day, why don't you! Validate my desire to wear berets even in the face of Prince references and being spoken to in French!!!

And then I posted one of these pics on my Instagram stories to be like, "wow I got so many compliments," and I got yet more compliments, on the clips in my hair and my mitts? Hahah!

Okay, I peaked for the year! It's all fug and slug from here on out.

No, but really: I feel really self-conscious about my silver hairs that stick up everywhere so I'm taking all the compliments about my beret to heart, so that I may gird myself against the self-consciousness I feel about that feature specifically.

And: Getting to make this big purchase, and it arriving early, and being able to enjoy it so much right out of the box really puts a gentle and soothing yet bright cap on what has been a challenging year for me. I want to recognize the moments of enjoyment I've had, remember the compliments and the gingerbread cake and the time spent with my mom this month.

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a little Christmas card

While I was editing pics of my styled IKEA bookcase, I took one of the pictures I took and edited it into a little Christmas card. It's cringe but I am cringe, and I am free.

But seriously, thank you to anyone who reads this blog. I have been enjoying posting here this year and I appreciate your eyeballs passing over my pictures and words and thoughts and feelings. Hope you have a happy holiday season, whatever you celebrate -- or don't celebrate.

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holiday dressup

Final video of 2020!

She said, as though she has been making videos for more than a couple of months.

Well, four videos is a lot to make after several years abstaining from such a thing! That's a whole lot to suddenly do. I've really got no plans for how I want to spend my hobby time in the upcoming months, but I may take January off from making doll videos so I can do other stuff: work on my novel (which I've had a hard time with the past two months), crochet, maaaybe get some stuff up on Etsy, finish up other video projects. Or I might film another dressup! Who knows! I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT!

Anyway, here's a double dolly dressup!

My heart squeezes when I see these girls.

Have a nice Christmas, y'all, and STAY SAFE.

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video: Get Beatrix and Fey Ready With Me!

Greetings, loved ones. (I really like saying that, because... Snoop Dogg.)

I finally got to work on a video, so here it is, if you like those. I kinda piled on the dolls in this video. I had to show off Aury!!


(I made that last shot into a Christmas card. Now I have to email it to my mom.)

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Whatever happened to Willa Ford? ("Gimme Gimme Gimme")

I've posted my rando Christmas lists a few times in the past, so here's this year's:

Wow, 2 and 3: books! I don't often ask for those. I've done the KonMari method this year without even reading the book, just having learned about it from videos and blog posts. It's been extremely effective for me even though I've just done my own spin on it, and I'd like to read the actual book. I bet it will be inspiring! I've also been very slowly studying Tarot, and this was a recommended book.

There's always some thing I don't really think I'll get, but you never know. This year it's a geode (5). All I can really find are Smash Your Own Geode kits, or whatever, which makes me nervous because I can't tell what I'm going to get. I'm just a smidge too anxious to want to take a random chance and to have to break it myself. What if I completely ruined it??

So that's my Christmas list! What's on yours? You can tell me. Geodes and books about cleaning = no judgment here!!

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It's the holiday season.

Yup, holiday delights and stressors are definitely popping up in equal measure. Music, decor, baking, socializing... shopping, wrapping, shipping, worrying about packages arriving, feeling a lack of control over things and fretting about pleasing people...

I'm really 'bout our mantel this year. I only made those "noel" letters last year and we've never put those little conical angels there either. It looks happy!

Here are some snaps of our tree (plus Smokey underneath it; it's his favorite hideout).

You have no idea how many Santa mugs there are in this house. (I'm talking... 70, at least.)

I feel beyond scatterbrained... so much on my plate, not just for the holidays, but in general! I'm wavering between optimism and anxiety. I for sure need to take a chill pill.

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warez

My family takes on a lot during the holidays! As if general prepping for Christmas with shopping and decor isn't enough already, we usually have a pile of projects at this time of year... sewing, baking, parties (I didn't ever blog about the ornament party for church kids we threw that took up a huge amount of time last year!), and almost always ornament-making. What kind of creativity masochism?

Every year my mom's church has a holiday marketplace where people sell things, and boyo, does my mom do a crazy amount of creative stuff. She wrangled my sisters and I on board, so one sister has made a big batch of apple butter and the other has meticulously hand-painted gift tags and distressed and painted leather for ornaments.

I personally donated some felt ornaments. 'Cause nothing says "Christmas!!!" like smiling clouds and pastel cupcakes.

I really can't bake, nor can I sew fabric, but if there's one thing I can do, it's blanket-stitch felt. Boy, after putting together hundreds of antlers for little Blythe hats, can I do that.

These will probably be priced insanely cheaply at the holiday market -- priced to sell, rather than priced by the time it took me to make all of them -- and I don't mind that. I just hope someone out there likes it cutesy. I think it's nice to have alternatives to your more traditional reds and greens.

I've definitely been in the mood to embroider, but now I've got to finish up my 2015 ripple!

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my own little tree-dition

Hope any Americans out there had a good Thanksgiving. It's my least favorite holiday (more accurately, I hate it to the point of being intolerable on the day), so my family graciously allows me to do my own thing, understanding that I still love them and am grateful and thankful for them.

This year I spent Turkey Day cooking my own little meal, playing with the kitten, and decorating my little mini-trees!

I'm finding some pleasure in changing it up a little bit every year. Last year, the pink tree had a lot of red, brown, and rust tones to the ornaments, and I also got my little $5 white mini tree to go with it. The first year I had it, I was just tickled to have some pastel going on! I called it "earthy pastel."

This year, a strong return to the "earthy" theme, but entirely in neutrals. I apparently got a package of these little burlap bows last year, but it wasn't opened, since I guess my tree was a little more fiery last year. How delighted I was to add a few this year! I've never had anything for the top of the tree and think a bow looks pretty cute on top.

Every single year, though, without fail: TOADSTOOLS.

At the base, my little silver pumpkin and my Jack Skellington Funko Pop from my bestie, E. You know how much I love "Jack's Lament," right?

Anyway, I'm going to see if Target has anything good in the way of mini-ornaments this year to put on the white tree. It's hard to find ornaments any smaller. If I don't find any, I might tie a couple of burlap bows onto it, but they're pretty huge in comparison to it! I still have plenty of holiday decorating ahead of me in the coming weeks, and I have some ornaments to talk about, too.

In other news, you guys, I'm so close to being done with my 2015 ripple, which as you know, is a gift. It's the hugest blanket I or probably anyone else has ever made, yet it still needs to be a foot longer! I can't go get my final skeins of yarn until I get my paycheck, though, or do any Christmas shopping. I would've been done by now if I wasn't so broke I can't buy yarn, so I'm having to sadly accept the blanket probably won't be delivered to its intended before November's over.

In less exciting news, I've had a sore throat the past couple of days. If I get sick, I'm going to be very upset, because I was just sick in September/October, and karmically speaking, I don't deserve it!!

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Merry Christmas Eve! (Also, a video!)

First, here's a shot of Lamb under our tree!

Okay, so you guys would simply not believe the amount of Christmas cookies made in our house the past couple of weeks. I didn't get pictures of them all, but this is only about a third. I helped pipe on these as well as the chocolate horses/teddy bears below, but mostly, these were made by my sisters for parties and friends and such.

(Oh, my little sister made these candy sleighs for her boyfriend's family's kids!)

And one last shot of Fidelia with Jack Skellington. I'm listening to The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack right now!



Finally, a video... a vlog, I guess. This was a request. Took forever and ever, as usual. I keep thinking I've got this whole process mastered, but nope. :)

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Over the river and through the woods...

Today we decorated at my grandma's. I'm so thankful to have so much family in town. Here are those Noel letters with their elves I referred to back in my post about making our own Noel letters.

So cute! Here are some little bits from my grandma's tree, as well. I was getting some practice in with my 50mm lens (which I still suck at using).

This little red bird ornament was made by my younger sister and given to my grandma, who loves to bird-watch.

Here's my other younger sister, clutching a mug of hot apple cider. Dat bokeh though.

I always decorate the staircase with these cute stuffed things my grandma made at least thirty years ago. They have ribbons on them and we just tie them on, and they form a line marching up the stairs. They're so kitschy, and that's why I love 'em! I also haven't seen any similar decor anywhere else in my entire life! Garlands go on all the railings.

These may be boring to others, but to me, they are the height of nostalgia and instantly bring me back to lots of Christmas afternoons where I'd be camped out on the landing just behind these guys, all my loot all around me, happy as a clam...

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Santa baby, slip Oofuri under the tree for me.

Whenever I make a Christmas list (at my mom and sisters' behest) I always think of that "My Grown-Up Christmas List" song. My list -- this year, taking the form of an Amazon wish list -- always makes me look like an 11-year-old. As I grow older, the harder I find it to figure out what to ask for around my birthday and Christmas, especially since I don't really enjoy receiving clothes or jewelry as gifts unless I've already picked them out myself.

On it this year: 1) Ookiku Furikabutte!, 2) Tamagotchi P's in pink, 3) various Tamagotchi P deco pierces, 4) Madeline Hatter Ever After High doll (shush, y'all, she's so cute), 5) this super cute Danelectro Honeytone N-10 Guitar Mini Amp in Aqua, 6) Leopard Sass! Like I need another Blythe.

(Nah, I would never ask anyone for a Blythe, but it's certainly something I might buy myself, if given Christmas money... also, I sincerely doubt anyone would get me an EAH doll, either!)

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Christmas trees / room tour...

Remember my pink mini tree? It's back! I acquired another mini tree this year, this one even more mini! It's white and it was, like, $5, so. It's joined my pink tree on my sewing table.

Hey, some people on YouTube requested a room tour, so... I filmed that this week. I remember a commenter here asking me if I'd do a room tour once, too. Here it is, if you're interested.


As always, mixed feelings about this kind of thing... I don't feel happy with it (skipped over some stuff, didn't have enough lighting, hate the sound of my own voice, et cetera), but I guess I just did the best I could with what equipment I've got and I'm glad I edited the footage down from an hour to 34 minutes.

Anyway, something that wasn't in my video is that my pink tree has a string of LED lights with snowflakes on them, and they give off a blue-toned white glow. I prefer warm-toned lights so it kind of clashes with my room, but it makes this picture of my Simply Bubble Boom, named Fidelia, and my Jack Skellington Funko Pop figurine look like a scene from the iconic "What's This?" scene! 

What's this? What's this? These trees are awfully small! What's this? There's green on every wall! What's this? The teeth are smiling, what's with that, how creepy! Endless felt and rows of dolls! What's this??

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