Cleo and Draculaura-Monster High Frights, Camera, Action

This post has been sitting in my drafts for a little while, but I thought it was high time to get it posted! 

Snow photos and all. 

It wasn't my initial intention to review so many Monster High dolls in a row, but I've collected quite a few since the summer, they have been really fun to collect, and I enjoy photographing them quite a bit.  They have been easier to stuff inside my coat during my winter walks. ;) 

These two dolls are from the Monster High Frights, Camera, Action movie.  

They are both "budget dolls" and I purchased them each for about $11.99 on Amazon. 

Black Carpet Draculaura

The cheaper "Black Carpet" line features Clawdeen, Cleo, Lagoona and Draculaura.
I ended up getting all 4 of these ghouls and they were actually my first versions of each character!

Draculaura's outfit is a simple black and pink dress with a pink belt and pink (fabulous!) shoes.
The dress is really cute, and is designed with pink long-eared bats whose wings resemble spider-webs.

Her jewelry includes long black earrings and a simple black necklace (sorry I didn't get a better photo of that.)
Her hair is mostly black w/ a few pink highlights and is pulled up into a high side ponytail with side-swept fringe.
Her make-up is surprisingly pretty natural looking for a "black carpet" event.  I don't mind how they paint her fangs, but it sort of looks like she has a mouthful of milk and it's dribbling out the sides.

Here's a closer look at her shoes.  I love the little lips!  Monster High shoes really have amazing details on such a small scale.

Her belt has so many little details as well.  It's decorated with little beads, jewels, chains and charms.  There's a tiny skullette charm, lip charm and bow charm.  The bows are made to look like bat wings. :)

Her purse is very Rocky Horror.  :)   I am just now noticing the tiny bow on the top! :) 

Here's one more look at the back of her dress so you can see a bit more of the details.  The hem is cut like the shape of a bat wing which is very clever.
She is totes adorbs!  ;) 

And now onto Cleo. 

Black Carpet Cleo De Nile (you are beguile, even though you act so vile) :)

Such a beauty! 

Cleo has sort of a 1920s vibe going on with her outfit and style.   She is dressed in gold, green and black and I absolutely love her dress.  I think she is my favorite Cleo so far, but I am really looking forward to getting the Boo York 2-pack with her and Deuce.

Her make-up, like Draculaura's is kept simple and clean.  Her red lips are the perfect balance to her strong, but not over-done eye paint.  It's hard to tell by the photos, but her lids are a fusia/pink color and her upper and lower lids are yellow.
Her brows are defined and sharp, but I like that they colored them a medium brown instead of black, which gives her a softer look.  Of course, she has her signature jewel placed over her right cheekbone.

Her head piece is really nice as well.  I kept it "stapled" to her head for now just so it would stay nicely on her head, but I've since removed it so I can brush her hair better.  I think that squigglely thing is supposed to be a coiled snake on the side slithering up the head piece.

Her hair is really thick and soft.  This is one of the few Cleos that doesn't have any tinsel, which in my opinion is good because I feel like the tinsel can be difficult to keep looking neat. Initially there was a bit of gel in her bangs, but it was pretty easy to comb out.

It may be a little hard to tell, but one of the features I find really enduring on Cleo's face mold is the tiny dimple she has on her left cheek.  Since this is my first and only Cleo, I am curious to know if this is the same on all of the releases.

Sweet kicks. 

Golden accessories. 

Cleo is like the "Angelina Jolie" of Monster High dolls. (Not personality, just looks!)   Her features remind me a lot of her -the cat eyes, great cheekbones and full pouty lips.  I think Cleo dolls have a tendency to be a bit wonky-eyed as you can see above, so I would recommend always trying to buy your Cleo dolls in person to get the best one on the shelf.

Glittery Golden Girls. :) 

Not loving the snow so much. 

Eekkkk!  

"Oh, it's not that bad, Draculaura...the snow makes me look so beautiful, doesn't it?"

"Get me out of here."

Overall, I am happy about the quality and price of these dolls and am really happy they made their way into my Monster High collection.  They still retain the awesome detail as the regular full price dolls that come with the stand.  I like both of their styles.  I think their faces are cute.  I love their dresses!  I will probably add more Cleos and Draculaura's to my stash soon enough, but I will always think of these two as my first versions of both and they will always have that significance in my collection. :)

I took these photos in February.  

It was 70 degrees today. :)  

For anyone missing the snow (ha!) I hope you've enjoyed these photos.  

See you soon! 

xo 

Feel Good Friday-Little Button and the Baby Cow

Hi guys, Happy Friday!
There are so many new calves on the farm that were born this winter.  I'm not totally sure how many (50? 60? 100?) but they are everywhere and so cute.
There is one in particular that has stolen our hearts.  The girls have named her Casper and she's adorable!  She is being bottle-fed as her own mother doesn't make enough milk.
She is a very friendly and curious little thing and Little Button has taken quite a liking to her.
I hope you enjoy this little peek onto the farm and have a great weekend! :)

xo

My First American Girl Doll :)

After about 9 months of contemplating, I finally decided to purchase my first American Girl doll.  :) 

I have enjoyed so many photos and reviews of American Girl dolls, clothing and accessories and have, of course, like I have with Monster High, Ever After High, Tonner Cinderella scuplts, Disney princesses, and on and on, fallen in love with this doll line.

I wasn't really expecting to order a used one as my first doll, but this little cutie caught my eye for an amazing "Buy It Now" price on Ebay!  I think she would be the perfect doll for a project I have always wanted to do. 

                                                             Can you guess who she is? 

Little Miss Elizabeth Cole. 

More on her soon!  :) 

Happy Easter!! :)

13 Wishes Frankie Stein

Hey everyone!
Yesterday was the first time all year long that it truly felt like spring.  I think it got to be about 60 degrees  here and the sun felt so warm!  I was inside working all day, but got outside for about 45 minutes during my lunch break.  Heavenly!
Today it was more of the same.  Yay!

As I watch the snow melt, I have realized that even though this has been one of the coldest winters on record, I've really enjoyed it.
I think part of that reason is that I pretty much forced myself to get outside almost every day and take a walk.  That extra exercise and Vitamin D must have done wonders on my emotional well-being!

But anyway, my goal is to get up the rest of my winter photos before the last of the snow melts so here we go. :)

I got on quite a Monster and Ever After High kick this winter.  I have to say, I find them much easier to pose and photograph than the larger, less articulated 18 inch dolls.  I'm working on some of those 18 inch dolls and trying to find some inspiration, but for now, here's cutie pie Frankie Stein!

13 Wishes Frankie Stein 

This is the first and only Frankie doll that I currently own.  She popped out at me at Walmart one day a few months ago, while I was browsing around the toy section and I really liked the genie/bohemian vibe she has going on.  Since then, we've watched the Monster High movie "13 Wishes" and really enjoyed it so I'm very happy I picked her up when I did.

I think Frankie, in general has one of the cutest faces of all the MH characters.  She has such a sweet look about her and I find most of her dolls to be very attractive.  My goal is to try to have one of each character so I've kind of put off buying any more Frankies for now until I can catch up a little on the rest of them.

Her hair is very soft and besides the gel in her bangs, it feels like she doesn't really have a lot of product which is nice  It's mostly white, as you can see with bright blue and black highlights. The texture is straight and quite layered.

She has  a few strands of gold tinsel along the nape of her neck as well.  I may try to do a "hot water" rinse on her to try to straight it out a little as I am not sure how tinsel would react to a real boil wash.

Her color scheme consists of gold, electric blue, and black.  Her stitching is yellow/gold as well.
She wears a lighting bolt corset, two dangling gold hoops that resemble lug nuts (?) , a golden hexagonal bangle (more lug nuts) on each wrist and a pretty lug nut headband that circles her head in the same design as the bangles.  So creative!

Frankie's shoes are very pretty, but fairly basic. The are golden wedge heels with an electric blue strappy top.  The front has that same hexagonal lug nut shape and I love how pretty and delicate they look as they balance out the "busier" part of her outfit, which is her dress.

 I wish I could find a pair in my size for my brother's wedding coming up next month! 

 She comes with a saddle-style stand, a brush and a blue genie lantern.  It strongly resembles the actual lantern in the movie, but made blue to match Frankie's outfit. When looking at it up close there are a lot of cute details!

It opens! 

Below are some closer details of her fabulous dress.  It comes in 3 different pieces.  A half-corset, the bodice and back of the dress, and her skirt.

The underside of the skirt (the part showing if you look at the doll straight on) has beautiful shiny gold designs.  It looks really Egyptian to me-so pretty!

The dress from the back still has this design, but it appears as a shimmery silver as the light passes through it.

The little skirt comes in 3 different layers of tulle.  The first is the plain electric blue. 

The 2nd and 3rd levels are both black tulle specked with gold sparkles. 

Such a beauty! 

Now, as usual, it's time to go outside :) 

This Frankie has one of the best face ups of any of the Monster High dolls I have in terms of symmetry.

Her skin tone is the usual pale grey-green and the little stitch on her face is gold as well.   Her eyes are the typical aqua blue and lime green colors.  I love her particular eye shape.  Her eyelids, brow bone and lower lash line are a sparkly gold  with a brown shadow in the crease.  Her full lips are a  peachy pink.  Perfect for spring! ;)

Rainbows in the sky!  :) 

Chillin' with the gals. 

 Bunny tracks. :) 

Snow angels! 

Overall, I'm really happy with this Frankie doll.  She's super cute and glamorous and I think her face really captures her sweet personality from the webisodes.  13 Wishes is a really fun movie to watch and we've enjoyed playing with her a lot since then!  She and Abbey are currently the only MH doll we have from the 13 Wishes release, but I hope to eventually add Howleen, Twyla and Gigi to my collection as well.
Darn you Monster High and all of your darn cute dolls!!  ;)

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and scroll through the photos today and since I probably won't be posting again until next week, I wanted to wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Easter.
See you soon!
xo