New Crissy and Cricket dresses

 Crissy has a new up-cycled dress I made from a thrift store knit top.

 Cricket's dress is a pattern I have used a lot.

 Not a new dress, but Velvet wanted in the pictures too!

DIY Dollcase

I love doll cases and doll trunks.  

When I was a little girl, I loved the idea of being able to pack my doll in a portable dressing room/bedroom and take her to grandma's house.

I saw this Betsy McCall case and LOVED it!

But, the price was a bit high.  Sigh.

SO, as usual I thought, "I wonder if I can make something?

 I've had this little case sitting around for a long time.

I think it once held stationary.

 It has a magnet that holds the lid closed.

It's a cardboard box covered in vinyl and fabric.

 I made a little mattress.  Eggcrate covered in fabric.

 A cardboard headboard covered in satin, with just a tiny bit of

batting to give it softness.

A matching pillow and fabric bedcover.

 For storing small items I took a cardboard
jewelry box and covered it in matching fabric.

On the top of the box I added a ruffled skirt.

Ta da! A side table and storage box.

BUT, it still needs something....A background!

Went back to my computer and created a

backdrop similar to my dollhouse

backgrounds. You can see our whole dollhouse here.

dollhouse backgrounds

 AH!  Much better!

Add some decorative pieces and...

Betsy and Ann complete our case.

And everything fits back in the case for storage 

or a trip to Grandma's!

Betsy McCall knee crack repair

This is my Betsy McCall doll.  You can see her restoration by clicking this link.

Restoring Betsy

She had these knee splits on her left leg.

 I used some aluminum foil to protect her joint.

 I used some liquid nails as a first try.

I just wanted to stabilize the knee so the cracks would not get any worse.

I dabbed some liquid nails into the cracks and left a ridge across the top of the knee.

This is the dry liquid nails after I removed the foil.

This is her knee after initial sanding.

Slightly blurry but here is her knee after sanding.

I used an emoryboard for sanding.  

The repair is so small I don't plan on painting the fix.

 Here she is all done!
The cracks are slightly visible, but stabilized.

Oh yes, she also has some new shoes.

Alice and Betsy both have new shoes!