Hearts for Hearts Dolls on Amazon

Happy Sunday, ya'll. :)
It was a super busy weekend for us. I am exhausted!

My brother is getting married in May and we had a bridal shower for his finance this Saturday at a beautiful venue called "Prime" in Saratoga, NY.  It was quite a hike from where I live, so that took up most of my day.  After that my sister, her new boyfriend (someone we have known our whole lives as he has gone to school with us since the 3rd grade!) and a few other family members came over  for dinner. (The scramble to get the house cleaned was pretty comedic...thank God for quick-cleaning husbands!)

This morning we joined my mom and step-dad for our church's annual Palm Sunday brunch and since we moved, the church is now about an hour away as well so that was also a bit more driving.
Then after that we visited my husband's grandfather at the rehab hospital he is staying in, which was another hour away in the opposite direction.

Lots of fabulous time in the car!

Anyway, I am glad to be sitting down now at 9:30 pm.  The children are tucked in and out like little light. I had a warm and relaxing shower and  I'm now in my cozy jammies and have my snacks all set up as I type up this post.
Heavenly!

As you may know if you've followed my blog for a while, I love the Hearts for Hearts doll line.

Rahel from Ethiopia 

As you may have heard, the Hearts for Hearts doll line is being discontinued!
I read it on the lovely beastbelle's blog Never Grow Up a few weeks ago and was pretty sad to hear the news.

This was one of the first lines that I started collecting when they first appeared on my radar this past summer and I've done a few reviews since then of some that I had been able to get my hands on.  They are one of my favorite play scale dolls as they are smaller than the 18 inch play dolls and have such gorgeous faces and hair.

Surjan from Nepal 

The reason for this post is that I just wanted to let you all know that I found a lot of them on Amazon last night for close to their normal prices!  Some of the older ones like Consuelo, Rahel, Lauryce, and a few others had been harder to find unless you searched Ebay and could run anywhere from $40-$80 NIB, but now they are under $30 on Amazon!
I think they originally retailed for around $27 so this is great.
I am not sure if they will go cheaper than that, but I'll keep my eyes open.

 Lilian from Belarus 

I ended up ordering Consuelo, Zelia and Mosi last night.
Shame on me!!!

I just couldn't help myself, though, they are so cute and I think as the line fades out, they may become harder and harder to find and previously I hadn't added those to my collection as I just didn't want to pay the consistently higher secondary market prices for them.
I had a little bit of doll panic.

Nyesha from New York City, USA

About a week ago, I found a used Lauryce in amazing condition on Ebay for a great price, but other than that, I was having a hard time finding any used ones who's hair still looked nice. ;)
I accidentally went over the "doll budget" this pay period, but what can you do....it's really hard to resist when you finally see them at a good price!

Dell from the Appalachian Mountains, USA

I love these dolls so much because of their diversity.  It's by no means perfect, but I appreciate how this doll line has branched out to try to educate young girls about other girls their age around the world who may live a little differently.  I want my children to appreciate as many blessings during the day as they can and view as much of the world in a positive, loving light.  I wish for them to respect and be eager to learn about different cultures and these dolls have given me a fun way to integrate that into our lives.

If you want to see more reviews on the dolls we currently have, just click on the links below!
Dell 
Rahel 
Nyesha
Surjan and Lilian

As for now, I think the only ones I have left on my list for these girls are Shola (waiting to see if she goes below $30 on Amazon), Nahji and Tipi (both still pretty high in price.)
Hopefully I can find them at a reasonable price one of these days!

I hope you guys had a nice weekend and thank you again for stopping by...I can't believe it's Monday tomorrow already!

Periwinkle-A Disney Fairy Doll

Most of you are probably seeing clear signs of spring such as green grass, flowering trees, crocuses, and warmer temps.  Here it still feels very much like winter, there is snow on the ground and it was actually snowing yesterday!  

Normally, this would make me feel pretty depressed, but in my new approach to trying to make "lemonade out of lemons" I am excited that it's still winter-y because I have more time to catch up on my snowy doll photo shoots! ;) 

Periwinkle

Today's review is of the Disney Classic 11.5 inch doll Periwinkle.
Santa brought her for Little Button on Christmas day, but normally you can find her at the Disney Store or on their website.  ;)
She is about $14.95, but very often goes on sale for 2 for $10.

She can also be found on Amazon for a little over $12 here:
.Disney Periwinkle - ''Secret of the Wings'' Disney Fairies Doll - 10''

 Periwinkle's character is introduced in the 4th Disney Fairy movie called Tinkerbell and the Secret of the Wings.  She is a very sweet little fairy and in case you haven't seen the movie, I won't give out any spoilers.  ;)

These photos were actually taken in January, but it pretty much still looks like this outside!
We've had a couple of days this month above 30 deg F, so the creek has started to show through the snow a bit and some of the snow has disappeared, but there is still quite a bit waiting to melt.

On this particular day, I took Spectra, Frankie and Peri with me for one of my afternoon walks to this little secluded field that I really like.  It's so quiet and peaceful here and I always end up seeing some sort of wildlife which totally makes my day.

Periwinkle is one of the "frost fairies" and lives in the Winter Woods  Her and her friends have the task of preparing winter on Earth and keeping things frosty and cool.

Image found here. 

Here's a look at her animated character for comparison.  I think they did a really good job of capturing her features, although I kind of wish they did her face differently, but more on that later.

Her outfit is adorable and pretty movie-accurate.  She wears a strapless soft, sky-blue tunic made to look like a leaf with soft fluffy "fur" around the edges.  It velcros together in the back directly under the spot where her wings are attached.  The top is asymmetrical giving an off-the-shoulder look without straps.  She's also wearing cropped satin capris.  The colors are a little different than the movie version, but still very pretty.

Her shoes are tiny ballerina flats and are just like Tink's, but an aqua-blue color. 

Her face is sweet and fairly movie accurate, but she kind of looks confused or like "oh gosh" or maybe even like she's getting ready to roll her eyes, lol.
I'm not sure but it's something I can't quite put my finger on.
Her eyes are sky blue to match her outfit with tiny white spokes to add depth to her irises.
Her eyelashes are painted on and delicate as are her tiny eyebrows.
She has a wee button nose and coral lips sort of turned up in a little smirk.
Her ears are very pixie-like and adorable!
Her frosty hair-do is pretty true to her animation and is fairly soft (not too gelled up), but kind of bluntly cut along the top.

Her wings are just like Zarina's except this lovely blue, glittery color.  When you press the button, they flutter which has a fun affect during play.
 The dress fits neatly below (even though it looks like I velcro'd her up sort of sloppily.  Whoops!)
Here you can also see the asymmetry in the back of her dress, which balances out the front top portion.
By the way, her articulation is just like Zarina's as well.  She has 9 points (no wrist or ankle articulation and click knees.)

She was a lot of fun to pose and photograph.  It's fun to have a winter-themed doll that looks right at home in this setting!

Just chillin'.

Every time I go to this spot, I feel very connected to my dad and grandparents who have passed away. Since this was my grandparents' farm I also get a sense that they're "around" and I sort of feel like my dad is always with me.  I've decided that whenever I see rainbows, that is my sign that they are there-especially my Grandmother. :) Along with hearts, of course for my dad!

So as I watch the rest of the snow slowly melt around here, I'm going to scramble to get the rest of my winter photos up before it's fully into spring.  I don't mind dragging out summer and autumn on this blog, but I'm ready to be done with winter!

Overall, I think this little doll is cute and has a spunky little way about her.  She's a great addition to our Fairy collection and I hope this review has helped anyone that was on the fence about getting her!  I have to admit though, she'd probably be best for an older child or maybe one that is a die-hard Disney Fairy fan as my girls have kind of lost interest in her already.  That's ok though, as I am happy to have her sit in my office with the other dolls and come outside with me on these chilly photo shoots.

I hope you enjoyed my review and thanks again for stopping by. :)
xo

Feel Good Friday :)

Happy Friday!  Happy first day of spring (it's snowing here right now...HA!) 

I can't not smile watching this.  I love to dance.  I'm an awkward robot, but it's so much fun, I really don't care. :)  If you can, get out and dance tonight!  

Spectra Ghoul's Night Out-Monster High

The daughter of the Poltergeist.  I'm scared!
Today's review is about Monster High Ghoul's Night Out Spectra.

Ghoul's Night Out Spectra Vondergeist

Yeah, I know, I need to do something with her hair!  This was an "au natural" windblown day. 

When I decided I wanted to start collecting dolls this past summer, I was unsure of what I wanted to collect and I was a bit all over the place.  There were so many dolls that I felt like I HAD to get.  Basically I read Emily's blog from start to finish and had them all on my wish list.  Overwhelming!

Since then, I have decided to focus on a handful of different lines and this has made it easier figure out my doll budget, which ones I want to review and how to organize displaying them and things like that.
Monster High has been one of those lines that I am really attracted to so I have slowly been building a small collection since this summer.

Since there are so many MH dolls out there and a lot of the earlier ones are hard to find, I've decided to try and just get 1 of each character that I like.  Preferably the classic 1st wave version of each if they are still reasonably priced, but in some dolls I actually prefer a different one over the signature release.  Spectra is one of them!

Ghoul's Night Out (beautiful photo in that link on Flickr by dms_a_gem ) consists of 6 different dolls.  Spectra, Laguna and Rochelle were all sold individually, and there is a 4 pack featuring Clawdeen, Venus, Ghoulia and Rochelle.  All of them can currently be found on Amazon and the former three are marked down from their original prices of $19.99.  Get them while you can! ;) 

Fang-tastic! 

How cute is Rochelle?? 

When I first saw Spectra, I didn't think I'd be adding her to my collection.  I wasn't really drawn to her character in the webisodes and the features of the doll weren't originally very appealing to me. Since then, she's really grown on me and now I think she's really cute and I love the little details that came with this version of her.

Spectra comes dressed in her classic color combo of purpe, silver and black.
She wears a one piece tube-dress with a translucent, sleeve-less purple jacket over it, fastened with a silky lavender belt.  I love how you can see the tiny stitching details in the hem of the jacket.  So cute.

She also comes with long silver earrings, a silver chain necklace and has a cute black hat with a ribbon (I have it on her backwards in these photos as I liked how it looked better!)

Her shoes are silver and with purple soles.  They are covered in chains and the heel is actually made up of a larger chain and bolt at the end.  Super cute. The chains are a common theme for her.

Here's a closer look at her earrings, which look like a long, dangling chain attached to a lock.

Her purse matches her shoes (is that still a fashion rule?)  

The chains covering the purse are actually removable :)
I have unfortunately misplaced her little black iCoffin phone so it will not be making an appearance in this review.  :(  You can see it above in the photo of her still in her box.
I can't even blame the girls as I am pretty sure I dropped it into a large box that was filled with a bunch of stuff and I haven't had a chance to dig it back up yet.  :)

Her last accessory is a small gray makeup compact that is meant to look like a little lock.  Both the iCoffin phone and compact fit nicely inside Spectra's purse.

I decided to stuff Spectra into my coat and take her along for an outdoor, winter-y photo shoot.  I also stashed Periwinkle and Frankie in there as well, but more on them soon.  :)

Here's a look at Spectra without her jacket, belt or hat on.  Lucky for her, she's a ghost, so the weather didn't bother her.

The hair is looking a little wild.  I'm not going to lie.  It needs a good boil wash soon.  The color is beautiful though.  It's mostly purple, but there are gorgeous magenta highlights as well as some streaks of very light lilac. I think once I style it a little better, she'll look even more amazing.

Spectra's tube-dress is black with pink and silver intertwining chains. Instead of her signature clear hands, this version of her hands are painted purple to appear as though she's wearing gloves.

Her face is really pretty.  Her skin tone is stark white.  Her cheeks are absent of any sort of blush.
As you can see she has very arched pastel purple brows and pink shadow extending down into the lower lashline.  Her irises are bright turquoise with gray shadowing and her sclera's are light lavender.  Her lips are a glossy, dark, vamp-y purple.  I love how the tips of her lips curve up a little, which reminds me of Catherine Zeta-Jones. I think she has a slightly softer look than Classic Spectra.  Her cheekbones don't look as gaunt to me.

Her profile is lovely and her ears are "human" shaped and very cute, don't you think? They are sculpted so nicely for a 12 inch play doll.

She is so much fun to photograph!  I never expected to like her as much as I do.
I recently watched a little of the new Monster High movie, Haunted and I think her character is super cute and like-able in the film.
Even though I will probably not add the Classic Spectra to my dolls, I would love to add at least one more to my stash.  Currently my favorite Spectras are "Dead-Tired", "Haunted" (although I can't find her anywhere!) and "Ghoul Sports".

Either way, I am so happy to have this one as my first Spectra Vondergeist.  She's cute and photogenic and happens to be Little Button's favorite!  Must be all the purple. :)

What do you guys think?  Do you like Spectra?  Do you have a favorite one? 

This one is definitely one of my favorites so far.
I hope you enjoyed my mini-review.  As usual, it seems to be a tad incomplete as I always seem to have some accessory or piece missing.  That just seems to be my style, right?
It's all for fun, anyway :)

I hope you "ghouls" out there are able to have a "ghoul's night out" in the coming days.
I know I am in need of one!
Happy Spring and Happy Weekend to you all.
See you soon. xoxo

Zarina -A Disney Pirate Fairy

Hi everyone!  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.  Today I have a quick review of the Disney Store Classic 10 inch Pirate Fairy, Zarina. 

I love her!

Zaria is one of the new fairies introduced in the 6th Disney Fairy movie- Tinker Bell and The Pirate Fairy.  She is a pixie-dust keeper fairy who ironically always run out of pixie dust. She later discovers blue pixie dust and ends up teaming up with a deceiving and young Captian Hook after feeling outcast by the other fairies in Pixie Hollow.  Tink and the others end up finding her and helping her make things right again.

My girls loved it-especially Pumpkin Pie and she really loved Zarina.  Lucky for her, Santa brought her one for Christmas and she was kind enough to let me borrow her for a quick review.

Since she was a Christmas gift, I didn't get a photo of her in the box as she came out of the box immediately after Pumpkin Pie opened her, but the box was pretty similar to most of the other Disney Classic dolls.
I just love her wild curly hair!  Very Merida.  Not quite movie accurate, but pretty nonetheless.

Zarina comes w/ a dress, pirate boots and a sword.  The sword fits into a little "metal" loop-like sheath attached to her red bubble-beaded belt.  The belt unsnaps in the back, but is attached to her dress in two different places. Her dress is all one piece with velcro in the back and is actually really accurate to her movie character which you can see below.

Image found here

Her boots are knee high "swashbuckling" boots with a nice stitched up detail in the back.  The plastic is molded to resemble slouching and movement in the boot.  There's a defined seam where the sole and heel are attached to the sides and top of the boot and I love this little detail!

In the movie, Zarina's wings are translucent like the rest of the fairies, but her doll version has gold glitter outlining the lines in her wings.  The wings are attached to her back as you can see below.  If you press the button in the middle of her back, her wings flutter back and forth.  It's actually a really cute effect.  I don't think they come off and to be honest, I didn't really try to remove them.

As for jewelry, she only comes with one hoop earring in her left ear.  The way it is pierced on the doll, makes it look like a tragus piercing, which is pretty adventurous of Disney. ;)

In the movie, it looks like it's a regular earlobe piercing.

Image found here

Look at those cute ears! 

Her face.  They went all out "sas" for this face mold.  I tried to find a movie still that was somewhat similar and this was the best I could come up with.  She has a really sweet face in the movie, but I think they really seemed to capture her spunky, rebellious side in the doll representation.

Image found here. 

Zarina has mossy green eyes with black liner, brown smokey shadow on the upper lid and lower lash line and painted on upper lashes.  I really like the effect of the white paint on the outer corner of her right eye, which gives it a nice depth.  Her brows are thin and arched and add a lot of personality to her face.

Her checks have a peachy blush and her lips are painted with a shiny coral glaze.  They even included her beauty mark on her left cheekbone.
She is so cute!!

Her profile can't be any cuter either.   I love her rounded forehead, celestial nose and pursed little lips. Very pixie. :)

Her hair is pulled back in the front with a satin blue ribbon which circles around her head separating the top of her hair from the bottom of her head.

This girl has ALOT of hair.  Obviously, she's been a bit played with a bit, but her hair is a gorgeous coppery auburn and very curly.  It's pretty soft, though, but I wouldn't recommend combing it.  Usually we keep it pulled back in a ponytail and it still looks really cute.

As for her body, she has 9 points of articulation (if you count the knees.)  Unlike Monster High, or even some of the classic Disney Store princess dolls, she does not have extra articulation in her wrists, which is a little bit of a bummer.
She is a tiny bit shorter than Monster High Draculaura, but has a thicker torso and bust as well as a larger head.  She unfortunately can't share clothes with Monster High or Ever High dolls as they would be too tight.

She has the "click knees" as I've heard them so often affectionately (not) called, which only bend about this far.  I've seen some other reviewers experience breakage of knee joints in these types of joints, so I didn't want to push it!  Sorry Pumpkin Pie, Mommy broke your doll! 

I was surprised to see that she had a similar torso to our old friend Hayden (Liv doll.)
I was hopeful that she could share clothes with her.

And she can!  Hayden looks quite cute dressed up as a Pirate. It's a bit short. Arrrgh.   Although if you google "adult female pirate costume" this is pretty much similar to what you would get, lol.

Zarina looks quite cute as well in Liv clothes.  I think the orange and blue fit her coloring and wings quite nicely!

She is really fun to photograph.  :)  I love how she pops against the duller colors of winter.  She'd be great to take on an autumn photo shoot for sure.

Sadly, when I went back to the website to include the link for where I got her, it looks like she's not listed on the Disney Store website anymore. :(  I wish there was more warning before dolls just disappear!

I did find her on Ebay and she's listed at only a few more dollars than what I paid for her ($14.95) so if you are interested, grab her while you can! UPATE 10/9/15 I also found her on Amazon listed around $17.00! Disney The Pirate Fairy Exclusive 10 Inch Doll Zarina

She is a really cute doll.  The combination of cute fairy and spunky pirate makes her irresistible to my 5 year old who adores both aspects of the Neverland world.  Little Button got Periwinkle for Christmas and I recently added a Fawn doll to my collection so we have been having lots of fun with our fairy adventures.  Now we just need Tink!

I hope you guys enjoyed this review of the lovely Zarina and thanks for stopping by!
Photo shoots of Fawn and Periwinkle coming soon.  ;)
xo

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Thank you so much! :) xoxo