Customizing Caroline: Hannah Swensen from 'Murder, She Baked'

We don't watch a lot of new films or TV shows. In fact, our grandfather used to say that we couldn't watch anything in colour -- and wouldn't watch anything with actors who were still living. Not quite true, but old black-and-white films, Westerns, classic musicals, etc., have always been our favorites! But we do, occasionally branch out into newer films or shows (particularly Jane Austen themed British shows). Well, that's been the inspiration for some of our dolls, including Elizabeth's Margaret (Marie-Grace with new hair style) --- styled after the heroine of the 2004 mini-series "North and South", based on Elizabeth Gaskell's classic novel.

Here's Hannah with the first 'Murder, She Baked' novel -- which we haven't actually read yet!

Our newest addition to the family DVD shelf are the five Murder, She Baked TV shows. Mom stumbled on these at the library a couple of weeks ago, and we have really enjoyed them! The main character is Hannah Swensen, a baker in a small Minnesota town. She's very fun, perky and inquisitive. Elizabeth decided that she needed a Hannah doll -- and sooner than later. We played with the idea of using a Kit doll with a Tenney wig, but after some purchases of Tenney wigs fell through it seemed like we should consider other options. For a couple of days, Mom and I had really been suggesting that Elizabeth try a Caroline. Particularly appropriate, since we had a beautiful one who was standing unclaimed in the back of the cupboard. So, we looked at some more pictures of Hannah in the shows, and I assured Elizabeth that removing the wig and putting the part on at the side would make the difference. The eye colour was really the most perfect, so we decided to go for it! She couldn't be more perfect. At a later date, Elizabeth may paint some freckles on her, but we'll see if that happens or not. Here are photos of the doll and photos of Hannah (and Mike) in the shows.

So, Islandshire has a new inhabitant and gives a big welcome to Hannah! She is going to work for Eydie at the island's fanciest eating establishment, Eydie's Gourmets. Eydie will make all the main courses and fancy desserts, and Hannah will handle all the cookies!

Decision Made: Meet Bix and Phoenix

Okay, as I was saying in the last post . . . we brought home two really cute Truly Me #77 dolls. This was for Mom to look at them and decide on a replacement for her Nachito. Well, she decided to keep Doll #1 with the tightly-curled wig. She's leaving him in the box until later this Summer --- that way, if the dolls come out with the "good" eyes, she can exchange him (if she finds one that she likes better -- if not, she keeps him).

Well, that left Doll #2, who was just the most perfect-cute-irresistible little chap you could look at, going back. After two days of contemplating him, he was just too cute . . . and then my sister did it! She suggested that I name him "Bix" and give him a record collection and some sheet music. I'd been trying to plan a doll that liked Bing Crosby and all kinds of the 1930s music for a year. The plan had been to use a girl doll and call her "Dinah Lee", after Bing's song. She'd get mini copies of a bunch of my Bing sheet music collection, I'd make new labels for the three records from Rebecca's phonograph set and turn them into some Bing and Dinah Washington records, and she could play an instrument. She just never seemed to work out, though.

So, here we are, sitting here staring at this adorable #77, and Elizabeth suggests that I call him Bix after the great Beiderbecke himself! That did it. I took him out of the box, put Logan's "Play Loud" shirt on him and there was Bix! He's getting a trumpet and a squeeze-box . . . not to mention the other stuff. This same weekend, I finally finished restoration work on a doll that has been a real TLC project. She was a #31 who was in such terrible condition that we weren't even sure she'd fix up --- but I wanted to try! We got two TLC dolls (#31 and #47) sold for parts on eBay at a total of $30.00 shipped for the pair. Glitter makeup had been put everywhere on them. This was back at the end of Summer. I managed to save all but the wig of #31 and the body and limbs of #47. After a lot of baking soda, Magic Eraser, compressed air, laundering and re-stringing, the #31 looks really amazing. She had to get a new hair style, so she's wearing an AG CYO "black, long, natural curly" wig. Mom came up with the idea of naming her Phoenix, since she really did rise from her own ashes!

 

With both dolls now sitting there, it seemed a great idea to have a brother and sister duo. And they both have "x" in their names! They both like to read and are going to help make screenplays for the Islandshire Drama Club. Phoenix likes to read about astronauts and space stuff, so she has a flight suit, a space suit (which Bix also likes), a stellar outfit and a mini Luciana doll of her own!

They both like music, and Bix is always playing records or practicing his instruments. Together, they've adopted a dog from Bessie and Zaida's Islandshire Animal Rescue --- a black and white French Bulldog. Her name? Dinah Lee!

So, a new duo has moved into Islandshire. This is good, since so many just moved out. The boys were getting pretty worried there for a bit about their numbers dwindling. These are just some preliminary pictures of Bix and Phoenix, so I'm sure they'll feature in some more posts later on!

Introducing the All-New Harriet (aka: Bunty)

Customizing dolls and creating personalities for each doll character is a lot of fun. Somtimes you hit it right on the head from the start! That's what happened with Benny. I bought a wigless Nanea doll, unpacked it, tried on about ten different wigs and knew the minute that dark brown "Johnny" wig went on that I had a perfect little boy sitting there. And it didn't take more than three minutes to come up with his name, because he looks just like my Dad's really cool cousin, Benny!

But sometimes it can be a very long journey with a lot of stops along the way. Such has been the case with one of my very favorite dolls, Harriet. Any of you who have been following this blog probably remember a previous entry about her and know that she's undergone quite a change since arriving last Summer. Well, here is a final change (yeah, I know . . . it's been final a couple of times, but I have now bonded with her and really enhanced her character) that took quite a while to come about.

This shows Harriet #4 with some of the paintings that inspired me to make this doll and character.

One of my very favorite American Girl dolls is Rebecca. The doll only, that is. I can't stand her clothes, but she's a really beautiful doll. For a year, I tried to buy one, but it was one failure after another. You never knew that so many bad things could happen in the mail to a doll! Finally, I gave up and decided that Rebecca was not for me. Months went by, and we ended up with a TLC Rebecca in a lot of dolls. Her wig was bad, but she cleaned up very nicely and has the dark hazel eyes that I love. I decided that I'd try to re-wig her and make some kind of addition to my collection.

Some time ago, we had been able to buy a variety of AG CYO wigs in a variety of styles and colours. They are great wigs, and the "red, short, curly" wig was particularly appealing. It is the same type of curly hair that you get on Rebecca (in red), but instead of being the longer length, the hair comes just to the shoulder. So cute! So, I put that on the Rebecca doll and decided that Harriet could have a cousin called "Bunty". The doll was adorable, and making a character for her fell into place almost immediately. She likes wool, knitting, felting and sheep. She particularly likes rare breeds of sheep that have been place on the Conservation lists and enjoys fund-raising to help with the protection of these rare breeds. Everything was falling into place, and I was bonding with Bunty way more than Harriet. In fact, she was heading right up to the level of Nanea, Benny and Eliot --- my three super-special dolls! But there was one hitch . . .

The red hair caused the vinyl tone on the Rebecca doll to look very green. This can happen when putting red wigs on AG dolls, and it was very obvious in this case. Her vinyl doesn't look green at all when wearing a brown wig, but the red really didn't suit her -- plus, she looked very similar to Harriet (one just being a Marie Grace face mold and the other a Josefina mold). The green tone hampered the doll, because she looked pretty bad in almost any coloured clothes I tried. We dug around through the wigs some more, and there was a beautiful "brown, medium, curly" wig in there. Basically, that's just a Rebecca replacement style (without the thin areas common on the character doll wig). She looked great and the green effect disappeared. 

You can see the original "green" Bunty at the far right.

By now, I was really bonding with Bunty, and Harriet was fading away a bit. But Harriet is a key character for some of the story and pieces that are my favorite parts of the doll collection, so dropping her character was out of consideration. Mom and Elizabeth came up with the great idea to combine the characters! One doll named Harriet but called Bunty. She could like the family history, dressing up and sheep, all together. She could organize little fund-raising bazaars and would make a great sister for Eliot. Bunty is very outgoing and energetic, which is the total opposite of Eliot! They make a good team. The idea of combining the characters was so great that it only took me a couple of hours to do just that. 

While we were talking about all of this (I think we were washing dishes, actually . . .), Elizabeth throws out a passing comment that she thought Harriet (being the Marie Grace with a "red, natural, curly" wig) was the most gorgeous doll in the house. It so shocked me that I didn't even say anything. Right then, though, I knew I would just give her the doll. While I liked it and thought it was beautiful, it certainly wasn't my favorite. And if something appeals that strongly to someone else, then it's my pleasure to gift them with it. 

That left me with the Rebecca-style Bunty, now wearing the Rebecca-style wig. She's an adorable doll, but I couldn't get away from the fact that Harriet/Bunty needs red hair. The girl she's named for had the brightest red hair you could imagine, and it was a family characteristic. To be truly Harriet, she needed red hair. Boy, it's hard to try and get a doll with the exact personality and colouring you want.

Everybody reading here knows that GOTY 2019 Blaire was a disappointment to me. I'd been hoping for a much more unique doll and theme. Luciana seemed like a really unique package, but Blaire is rather run-of-the-mill. That said, I really liked the doll and think it would have been a great addition to the regular Truly Me line-up than a Girl of the Year. But as far as a doll goes, she's lovely. Her wig is quality, her skin tone is the new shade of pale vinyl, and her eyes are a grey-green. The problem with her (in my mind) was that she looks like a red-headed Rebecca, which makes her too similar to another named doll in the AG stores and current collection. But it hit me, after giving my red-headed Marie Grace to Elizabeth, that what I needed was a red-headed Rebecca! And Blaire was made with a special vinyl tone that handles red hair without looking green.

The two photos above show Bunty when she arrived (left) and dressed but still wearing her original wig (right).

Mom and I went to the AG store in January and spent a while looking at Blaire. I didn't want to buy another doll that I just wouldn't bond with. Harriet/Bunty needed to be perfect, because I already knew she'd be one of my very favorite dolls. We held up all kinds of outfits to the various display Blaire dolls, and she never looked green. Perfect! I decided to wait and order her with my Rewards certificate this month (having since been through the miserable AG Customer Service experience outlined in the previous blog entries, I'm so glad I didn't wait --- because I would probably not have purchased her). Waiting seemed irritating, but it would make her a better price. Then, we found out that the Navy Exchange had a great coupon that applied to AG dolls! My Gramma was willing to order her for me on her NEX account, and the total price was $84.00 shipped! 

Bunty arrived on one of the coldest days of the year, but she looked beautiful! In fact, it was really thrilling to get a doll that looked so cute right out of the box. I really wanted her to wear the CYO "short, red, curly" wig, but the idea of taking a wig off of a brand-new doll seemed scary. I dressed her up and let her sit around for a week, but she really needed shorter hair for her personality. So, just this past Sunday afternoon, I decided to go for it. I got out a spoon, disposable gloves, non-acetone nail polish remover and some cotton balls. Quite amazingly, her wig was one of the easiest that I've ever removed! They did not use much glue at all, and there was already an area at the bottom back edge that was coming up. The wig came off in less than twenty minutes -- without a tear or stretch on it! Bunty put on her new hair-do, and she's just great!

So, Harriet has undergone a final change here, and she's very happy. She has a lot of personality and all kinds of accessories. She wants a pet lamb, so I am in the process of needle-felting a lamb for her. One of the conservation breeds that she loves is Leicester Longwool. With some serious looking and e-mailing, I was able to purchase Leicester Longwool locks, so her little pet lamb will be made of the authentic wool!

Check back in the coming weeks for more photos and fact about Bunty!

Welcome to Islandshire, Robin Elizabeth!

Trudy here. I always love welcoming new little girls to Islandshire. It's my favorite part of being a reporter for the Gazette! I'm a bit behind in introductions, because there are already a lot of us here . . . but today we're welcoming a brand new arrival: Robin Elizabeth!

Trudy welcomes Robin (left) to Islandshire with fancy balloons!

Robin came in on a bus last week and arrived with long black hair and bangs (Mom says she was #4. see previous post for pics of Robin trying different wigs.). Here are some pictures of her as she came here . . .

But Robin really wanted to have a makeover at the Islandshire Spa, so Mom and Aunty set about giving her a whole new look. Robin's hair is being donated to one of Grammy's newly adopted little girls who has been sick and has no hair --- and she's always wanted long black hair with bangs!

Robin is very proud of her name, because she is named for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans' little daughter, Robin Elizabeth. The real Robin was born in 1950 and was a precious little girl who suffered from Downs Syndrome and heart problems. She blessed the world for two years before going home to Heaven. Dale wrote a beautiful book about Robin's short life, and it was this book that was instrumental in showing people everywhere that they didn't need to be ashamed of their little children suffering from Downs Syndrome. God used the real little Robin to make great changes!

Robin holds her favorite book, "Angel Unaware" by Dale Evans Rogers.

Here is a video that my sister made to Dale's son, Angel Unaware. There are a lot of films and some video of the real Robin!


Like her namesake, our Robin loves to wear Western themed outfits, and she's looking forward to getting a cowboy hat and a guitar of her own. She is part of the Islandshire Girls' Choir, and her favorite song is The Bible Tells Me So . . . written by Dale Evans Rogers!

Check back in tomorrow, because there will be a full story about Robin's makeover!

Welcome to Islandshire, Lauren Elizabeth!

Ordinarily, Trudy would be writing this blog post, but I've decided to take over for this one! This is something really exciting! A new little girl has joined the Islandshire group, and it took a long time in coming . . . about 22 years, actually! Meet Lauren Elizabeth:

Trudy (right) welcomes Lauren Elizabeth (left) with celebratory t-shirts and a fun balloon!

Back at the end of 1995, when the first "Girl of Today" dolls were released, Elizabeth fell in love with #11. This was a medium-skin Addy mold with long black hair and bangs. She decided that she would call her "Lauren Elizabeth" after actress Lauren Bacall and Queen Elizabeth. There wasn't money for her at the time, and she wasn't an historical doll, so we saved some old catalogs and continued to admire her. Well, when we got back into the swing of our AG doll collections earlier this year, I told Mom that we needed a #11. She's been long retired now, and we've not seen one all year while we've been watching eBay for old AG dolls. That is, until August 23rd!

Mom and I were sitting in the computer room, and she told me to come over and have a look at the doll auction she had just found! I couldn't believe it! There was a poor little #11 doll in the photo, no clothes on and sitting against a blank wall. I stuttered out the fact that it was Lauren Elizabeth and probably said "buy it" at the same time! It was only on as a seven-day auction, but Mom e-mailed the seller and asked if he would consider a Buy-It-Now. He said that he would, so for a total of $68.75 --- Lauren Elizabeth was ours!

I couldn't believe how excited I was (and still am) about finally having a #11. And she was so much more beautiful in real life than even the catalog showed. There was a short moment of heartbreak when she arrived, because she was dirtier than the seller and advertised, and there were some chew marks/nicks on her left hand and right foot. But we just couldn't send her back! Elizabeth took her upstairs and did an amazing job smoothing the marks out by heating the area carefully with a hairdryer (do not do this if you are a child or nervous about doing it). This worked well, because her limbs are the older softer vinyl of the PC era dolls (even though her body is already the early Mattel era with the "2008" product number). She just has a few scars now, but you hardly notice it. We gave her a baking soda clean up, shampooed her hair with wig shampoo, and Elizabeth re-strung her and re-stuffed her body with all new stuffing. She's as good as new! Here she is meeting some of her new friends (Trudy and Nanea).

1996 Catalog Photo

At the moment, Lauren Elizabeth is wearing an old bathing suit set from 1998 ("Swimming Outfit"), topped by a hot-pink t-shirt from AGP Chicago. Her shoes are the AG jellies from the 1996 outfit, "Culotte Dress". This isn't what she's going to wear forever, though, because I am on the hunt for the overalls and t-shirt from the 1996 "Earth Day Outfit". I've already got the sandals and the hair piece, but she needs the whole outfit. The reason? Well, that was the outfit she modeled in the original 1996 catalog photos, and that was the picture that we fell in love with when we were little! So, it will just be a matter of finding the two pieces.

Lauren Elizabeth now has a happy new home. To make it even cooler . . . last week, another of these old #11 dolls came on eBay, and Elizabeth was able to get it! She hasn't arrived yet, but we'll post about her soon.

Check back for more Islandshire fun . . .

Welcome to Islandshire!

Hi! My name is Trudy, and I'm the one-and-only reporter for the Islandshire Gazette. You probably want to know where Islandshire is . . . well, it's a perfect tropical island paradise where my siblings and cousins (all American Girl dolls) live! If you want to learn about our home or learn about all of us, just click on the buttons at the top of the blog.

We do all kinds of fun things here, and there are always more little girls joining the crowd. Sometimes they stay for a little while before going to new and wonderful homes . . . but it seems like most of them end up staying! It's a big job to adopt little girls, but Grammy and Grampy and Mom and Aunty are really good at it. They give us a great home, and we rescue a lot of little AG girls from terrible homes where their owners abused them. They get fixed up, and then they usually become part of the group! There are a lot of boys here, too, although the girls still have them outnumbered.

I have a lot of stories to write, so check back often!
TTYL,
Trudy