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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Grace Kelly-a lovely Barbie-Throwback Thursday

Oh Grace...so beautiful, so timeless.
Grace Kelly was an American Hollywood actress born in 1929 who really made her mark on the film industry in the 1950s.  She married a prince, became a princess and had a very interesting life.   
She also has one of the most gorgeous faces I have ever seen.  


    Image source here

When I realized they made a Barbie version of her, I knew I needed to have her!

To Catch A Thief -Grace Kelly


Here is Grace Kelly.  Isn't she gorgeous?  The first time I saw her, it was actually randomly on Amazon.  I was looking through my endless wish list and somehow stumbled upon her. 
Her Amazon price was STEEP, though, and having not completely realized the over-inflation that can sometimes be Amazon, I kind of figured I wouldn't really be getting her any time soon.  
She originally sold for about $35, I believe. 


Then I found her on Ebay, used (display only and came with her stand) for about $30 so I said "Heck!  Ok!"and she arrived a few days later.  


The first thing I noticed was, of course, her beautiful, unique face.  When it comes to dolls, the face is 1st for me, then the hair, and then the articulation.  She has a unique face mold that I have never seen on a Barbie before, and I really thought she bore a good resemblance to the real Grace Kelly.  
Not exact, but good enough.


As you can see here, she came dressed in a gorgeous, flowing two-toned blue gown.  This is definitely something I could picture myself wearing.  The fabric drapes beautifully around her and is accompanied by a long, elegant, light blue sash.  I think it is a stunning dress and works beautifully with her blonde hair and blue eyes. 

Underneath the chiffon is a form-fitting slip made of silk.  The overall stitching and look of this gown is very nice, but would've looked a little nicer if the ends were hemmed. 
Just needs a little tiny iron.  


The shoes were a little boring, but the gown covers them up, so I guess that's ok. :}
They are fairly easy to get on and off. 

Grace also comes with a simple light blue clutch.  It doesn't open unfortunately, but I'm sure if you were a seamstress, you could fiddle with it to make it more fun.  My seamstress skills are pretty rustic at the moment, so I was happy to leave the clutch alone and keep it strapped to her hand. 


Grace's hair is pulled back into a tight chignon/bun style, and there doesn't appear to be very much hair, so I was not interested in messing with this style.  
Her dress also snaps shut with one little button clasp.  I will have to say that this did pop open from time to time.  The sash is also attached to her shoulder by a small bit of sticky stuff, and once I peeled it off, I noticed that it slipped off her shoulder quite often (dang!)


Grace's profile.  
As you can see, the hair is a little messy from the side.  If you look closely, you can see tiny silvery highlights throughout the golden strands and I thought this was a really nice touch to tie in the blue hues of her dress. 
 I really like her profile.  She has cute, detailed ears, a nice, sculpted jaw, great cheekbones and a gorgeous, prominent nose. 

Image source here
As you can see, Grace's prototype is a bit more elaborate then the doll I received.  She looks fierce!


You've probably noticed already that this doll has pretty limited articulation.  This was definitely a bit of a big old bummer.  She only bends at the neck, shoulders and hips.  Transferring her head to a better body might be an option I'll explore down the line, as I feel like photographing her would be a lot more fun if I could pose her in more realistic ways. 


Here is an example of Grace's articulation.  Womp, womp.  Pretty bad. Display only!


She's also noticeably much thinner then the Barbie's I am used to.  Look at those thighs!  
What thighs?


Sitting, she's not much better.  This is as far as she can bend.  Looks painful!
Abs of steel.


Here she is compared to another Barbie we have.  Teresa? Nicki?  I am not sure who she is...we rescued her from a garage sale.  I was surprised to see that she couldn't sit very well either!


Grace has some swagger in her step.  You can also note the different hip set up here. 


Other Barbie clothes fit, which just amplified the play-factor a bit :)


This lovely face is what lured me into buying her.  I love the actual shape of her face, especially her shallow forehead and wide cheekbones.  I think her face paint is remarkably well done.  Her eyebrows are slightly asymmetrical, which gives her a bit of sas and I adore the smokey-neutral tones of her makeup.  The lips are nicely sculpted and a lovely rose pink. 


The face.  This was the selling point for me, for sure.  Teresa (?) looks very cartoon-ish next to Grace's more realistic features.  


Grace's face wins by a landslide! 
Lay off the Valium, Babs..
;)


If you haven't already guessed, I adore this doll.  Besides the limited articulation, I think she is a stunner and I look forward to finding more beautiful clothing to dress her up in. 
There are a few other Grace Kelly dolls in the Barbie collection, which you can see here.

This one is my favorite!  She is called "Rear Window" Grace.  Loooove her. 
Image found here
Same shoes, but in black, lol. 

Thanks for stopping by, you lovely group, you.  I hope you enjoyed my review of "To Catch A Thief" Grace Kelly Barbie and I'll leave you now with a few more photos of this lovely lady.   






Image found here

Have a good night, everyone (I know I say this in all of my posts, but I always end up posting them late at night, haha) :}
I am sooo happy tomorrow is Friday!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Happy Fall Equinox!

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere...I wanted to wish you a Happy Fall Equinox! 
 (and a Happy Spring Equinox to those of you below the Equator) :)
Equal light, equal dark.
I'm ready!


Autumn in NY 2013

I am off to make a mug of hot apple cider and start my workday.  
Stay cozy!
xo

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Morning


Gosh, I love these silly cows. 
I love seeing them as I pass by the door in the morning. 




I never thought I'd be a morning person.  Having worked nights and evenings for so long, it's just routine for me to be awake, puttering around long after everyone else has gone to bed. 
But not anymore.  
With Pumpkin Pie in Kindergarten now, we're all up at the crack.  



I am usually the first one awake now, which is very odd.  To be honest, I love it.  I never imaged how peaceful 530am to 615am really is.  This is the time before the "get ready for school" scramble.  
The sky is just opening up to sunshine, the birds are chirping and the cat is eager to go outside and seize the day. 



I can sip my frothy cup of coffee in my cozy chair while either fiddling with crochet or enjoying a few of your blogs (and adding more dolls to my wishlist) :}

Once the Littles have woken up (and it's not a school day) then off we head to visit the kittens.  Our evil scheme of taming them is starting to finally work.  Sadly, we lost one to illness :(  PP was heartbroken, but we are thankful there is still one more to love.  She is stinkin' cute and we call her Betty.  :x

The day goes on as it does and after dinner we say goodnight to Millie, the chicken who usually nods off around this time.   She used to sleep on the porch each night, but we have since incorporated her in with the other chicken's and she is much happier now, going to roost in the barn with her own feathered friends. 

Then it's time for our evening walk.  


This doesn't happen every night, but if it's a pleasant evening, we try to make an effort. 


Simple summer days.  I know I'll be drooling over these photos once Winter arrives in a few months. 
Hope you all had a fab weekend.  I am NOT looking forward to work tomorrow, that is for sure!
Take care, peeps, and sleep well :)

Friday, September 19, 2014

Lalaloopsy Tinies



These things are adorable.  And cheap.  They are the Lalaloopsy Tinies! 
When the full-sized Lalaloopsies first came out onto the toy market, I thought they were creepy and I wasn't really too interested in them at all. 

 Those button eyes just weren't working for me.  ;) 

But since then, they have really started to grow on me, and while I still probably will never purchase a regular sized doll (due to their size) I really like the Littles, the Minis, the Ponies, and the Tinies.  


I mean, just look at this little tiny mermaid! :)
I have always loved mermaids...


Lalaloopsy Tinies come in either packs of 3, 5 or 10.  I think there is an 18 pack as well at Target. 
I chose this group because my daughters both really love mermaids and pirates.  
And so do I. 

This 3 pk was only about $3.99 at my local Walmart.


This pack is called "Series 1" and comes with 2 dolls and 1 pet. 
The packaging is a bit excessive, but I like the round shape and colors. 
(I am pretty easy to please.)


The back just has pictures of the little houses you can buy for them.  Clever advertising, as usual.  



Also included is a pullout sheet of all other tiny characters in this line.  
They are really unique looking and tempting to collect. 
 It even has a little box to make a check mark for each doll you have in your collection.  

Who doesn't love checking things off??




This little mermaid gal is cute and colorful. She is made out of hard plastic.  
There is no articulation at all. She actually has quite of bit of detail in her face.  
Her hair has little coils and grooves and she has tiny scales, which I thought was a nice touch. 


This spunky pirate  was probably my favorite.  Look at her little heart shaped eye-patch! 
She stands up perfectly. 
Unfortunately the other two..not so much. 
There is even little stitching detail on her cheeks and eye patch, which is such a great touch for a doll this small. 


Here is a size comparison to Pumpkin Pie's Mini (Sew Cute Patient, Stumbles, Bumps 'n' Bruises)


They make perfect Lalaloopsy dolls for my Sparkle Girlz Toddler Fariy :)  

Of course, I had to take them outside.

 During one of my lunch breaks from work, Little Button and I walked down to the creek and played "Pirates and Mermaids."  (Made-up game-no official rules :})

Ahoy!
You knew that was coming.  

"...I wanna be, where the people are..."

 ...this guy...






Little Button was just squealing with delight over these little dolls.  
I don't know what it is about tiny little things, but both my daughters love to hoard them, put them in little spots around the house, pack them up into little boxes, purses, etc.  
They just love tiny little toys and they always remember exactly where they put them.  

And now that I can reliably trust Little Button not to eat toys, we can finally enjoy them! :)


You can't hear it, but she is beside herself with squeaks and giggles every time she picks them up and throws them back in the water. 
This is like the most fun ever for her. :}




We are having a great time with these little guys.  
They are adorable and affordable.  
There is great variety, the detail for such a little toy is pretty nice and they are very easy to store due to their tiny size
 I don't personally feel the need to collect any other ones, so this is enough for us (I got one pack for them and one pack for me..:}), but there are some REALLY cute ones in other packs that I noticed.  I am very tempted by a few of the Mini's and Littles as well.  Maybe someday I will treat myself to 1 or 2 of each, just to have a little collection going.  
(Ugh, I swear, "collectoritis" is a real medical condition, lol. I have it for sure!)


Thanks for checking out my "tiny' review and I hope this Friday night finds you snug, happy and relaxed.  See you soon!  
xo