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."
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.
So I know I said that I felt like doing some more doll-dressing, but what I actually ended up doing is taking off all my dolls' clothes. All twenty-one Neos are standing around nakedly in my room this past week.
I did this because:
I wanted a blank slate for all the girls. Some of them have been wearing the same 'fits for a really long time (over a year) because I liked them, and I just realized all of a sudden, "I'm never going to want to change some of these outfits, but I should anyway."
I wanted to see every single pair of shoes I have, specifically!
I wanted to see if I had proper storage, still. All my dolls being totally undressed is a thing that never happens, really, but I wanted to see the state of my storage options. I need to change some of what I'm doing; boxes are overflowing as it is.
I wanted to see if all my girls had underwear. A couple don't! I don't strictly think they need panties. Some things fit better without that layer in the way, taking up valuable space. But I also irrationally don't want any of them to feel less loved because they don't have undies. Hahaha.
Just really want to do Blythey stuff right now. I want to do dressups I've never done before. Revisit my doll wardrobe and find pieces I've never used (I have many, haha) and use them, finally. Maybe even declutter??
I kind of had fun grouping my girls somewhat, as I put them all back where I keep them (atop my desk and on a ladder shelf). All the blondies and peachies. The gingers. The sandies/brunettes. I love seeing new (old) girls like Olive betwixt Fey and Zasha. I love seeing Lamb and Holland side by side -- those curly girlies. It's inspiring me. And the utter hilarity of Klara and Tiphanie sitting on the same bench when they have scads of hair that fells them so easily...
So, I'm going to have to dress all these girls again, when I hardly have the time to even do so right now! Because I am trying to do a lot of stuff right now. So as ridiculous as that sounds: Dressing all these gals again officially falls under the heading of Lofty Ambitions. I'll post about another Lofty Ambition I am undertaking quite soon. I feel insane for trying to load more onto my plate these days, when I have sort of bitten off more than I can chew already.
Finally -- and this has nothing to do with any of the rest of this post -- I did some light Halloweening with some cat ears and makeup for a family party. My mom took this pic of me and my nephew, who has grown so much lately. He is fifteen months old, a big boy who has started walking and can say "hello," "bye-bye," "kitty," and "night-night," and I have been treasuring time with him especially of late because he and his parents are moving a few states away in just a few days time. So this is just an addendum of a memory, for my own enjoyment.
New girl alert! Aaahh!! I mean, you already know, if you actually read my posts, but: I gifted myself Time After Alice for my birthday. She arrived very quickly and I thought it would be really fun to post an unboxing video on my birthday. For funsies and specialness. So I worked hard over a couple of days to film a video and get it ready to go by May 7th. Unboxed her on the 5th, edited hard on the 5th and 6th, and managed to get closed captions done at the last moment!
As always, I make unboxing videos for my own memory's sake. My own enjoyment's sake. It transpired that I filmed this one and felt, even as I was filming, that I was doing a terrible, terrible job. I had nooo energy. I was like, "I look terrible. I'm incoherent. The time has come to take myself off the screen again." (I used to not show my face at all and only filmed the doll, but over time I added in b-roll of myself filmed from an additional angle.)
I recall the last time I filmed a doll stuff haul video, I felt much the same. I remember feeling like I had basically salvaged what was unusable footage. Unusable because of me and how I looked. Another self-esteem battering issue is that, by the time I am done editing a video, I am so sick of my voice, my face, my mannerisms, my sense of humor... everything. I feel so much self-hate by the time I'm exporting the finished product that it almost becomes a joke to think of "promoting" the video. I have to battle against my brain telling me how ugly and irritating I am.
Otherwise I genuinely enjoy the editing process of a video. I like pulling in extra images and referencing memes and doing audio transitions and making all the little extras: hand doodles, writing out names, easter eggs in the closed captions. (There's always extra jokes in the CC.) It is a creative outlet for me. And years later I can revisit the videos and see the dolls for the first time again, et cetera!
Anyway, I am in straight-up love with this girl!!! I named her Tiphanie (which I know is a bit OTT, spelling-wise).
I'm really excited right now because I think Tiphanie is a girl who can pull off the old-fashioned look I love so much, but also I think she can wear modern styles, and both will suit her equally! I feel like she fits in really well with my Blythe family. She and Vesper and Miette are sooo fancy to me that I really want to take a picture of them all together.
On the birthday tip, I had a wonderful day, which is incredible to me. It's rare that happens; hence my annual b-day depression. There must have been some b-day magic in the air.
Got messages from my besties, of course. L, K, E, and J!
My parents took me out to lunch! I dressed up in a favorite dress with my lace-up boots and one of my berets, and wore my hair in double braids. Favorite outfit = such birthday vibes, u know?
At the restaurant, someone else was sung "Happy Birthday" to! That was crazy because it's not a super popular restaurant and it's amazing to me that I was there at the same time as this other May 7th birthday person! And as my mom pointed out, it's as if I got sung to, but nobody was staring at me.
In the parking lot as we were leaving, and old man shuffled by me and said, "Love the beret." !!! My first beret compliment, and it was on my birthday! Usually people are low-key snarky about them but I felt a bit like if the guy had been wanting to crack a joke, it would have sounded more like a joke than it did. I think it was genuine, lol. Thank you, guy. That was a great birthday gift you gave me, sir.
Hit up knitting club with my mom, and I took a couple of boxes of bakery treats with me for the ladies in the club. I just wanted to do something vaguely celebratory, but this was an ingenious move because I raked in the birthday wishes.
One lady at knitting club told me, "You look like Anne of Green Gables." WHAT! I laughed in a flustered way and said, "I think it's the braids." But of course this was a compliment of the highest order, and on top of the beret compliment?? Sheesh.
After knitting club I got to baby-sit my baby nephew!!! I didn't know that was going to happen, and what a delight it was.
During this my aunt came by and dropped off flowers (the tulips pictured above) and it was nice to see her, and fun that she got to see the baby.
At one point I picked him up off my dad's lap and his chubby little arms came around my neck. I wouldn't say it was a hug, but he did cling onto me, and he's never done that before. I said, "This has got to be my best birthday in years." He took a nap on my lap after that. (Picture below!)
My mom made me an egg and cheese sandwich for dinner which was sooo good. I monched away on it while Nephew was sleeping.
One of my sister's presents to me was a RAT RING (also pictured above) which is just the most Jane-est thing ever. I adore it!!!
Received some lovely texts from my great aunt, who just got my digits a couple of weeks ago. Texts to treasure, honestly.
In the evening I met up with my bestie K and we watched some TV with her mom (a fave activity of mine because I like to hang with her AND her mom; her mom is my secret bestie and doesn't know it). Nice chill wrap-up to the day!
Here's a pic (courtesy of my mom!) of Nephew conked out on Anne of Green Gables. Nephew just turned nine months old on the 8th. These nine months have flown by. But all time with him has been the very, very best.
I've had a lovely couple of days since, too. Thursday was my mom's birthday and I got to spend time with her. Friday, I saw my RL friends and we went to dinner and watched a movie. You best believe I wore my lavender beret, and scooped another compliment from the waitress at the restaurant! This weekend I cooked and took the time to give Tiphanie a hair brushing and treatment with a hot water dip, then a dip in hot water with fabric softener. When her hair was dry, I also dressed her for the first time!!
Crown: made by me Dress:From the ORN on Etsy (circa 2020) Petticoat:MINIJIJO on Etsy (circa 2017) Socks: made by me Boots:HelloCoolCat on Etsy
Her hair is muuuch more orderly than it was. During her brushing I discovered she has a metric ton of hair, almost as much as Klara. She had some ringlets after her hair dried but I picked through it a bit with a knitting needle and those broke up some. I think if I give her another treatment and form the curls by hand, she'll end up with ringlets like Holland! Holland had a totally wiry bush and now she has calm little ringlets! So, I may do that, and I might give Miette a similar treatment at the same time.
This could have been two posts, but like I said, Tiphanie was a birthday girl, so she really overlapped with all this! And anyway, it's my blog!
