Dollhouse Saga, Part One!

I've known since I started collecting American Girl that I was going to need something HUGE to display my dolls and their gigantic furniture. I read on various AG boards that some people have Pax wardrobes from Ikea. I decided it was my favorite method of displaying AG items, and went out to get one for myself!

I finally built it, rearranged my room, and found a space to put it in two nights. I found out after it was all put together that I skipped a step and nailed the back on upside down. Oops! It would only be a problem if I was going to attach it to the wall for support, but I'm not going to do that right now (as I intend to move at the end of this year). When I move, I DO want to attach it to the wall, but I think I can pry the nails out and fix it if need be. It will be a lot of work, though. SIGH, IKEA.

Here are some pictures of the wardrobe after I kind of threw everything in it, in the formations I sort of think I want.

I bought the shorter of the two units, and as you can see it almost reaches my ceiling. At some point I had dreams of putting another scene on the top, but nothing will fit up there! I made the middle room taller than the other two.

The top room will eventually be shared by Isabelle, Rebecca, and Samantha. It will have the window section of Caroline's parlor, Rebecca's bed, and Samantha's bed. But I don't have Rebecca, Samantha, or Samantha's bed yet, so for now it looks like this. Ha! And Grace doesn't have anywhere to go yet, so she's making friends with Isabelle.

 I wanted to show here that there's lots of room above the doll's heads even in the shorter rooms. There's even a tiny bit of room above Caroline's parlor! The Pax is gigantic, but it looks so nice and roomy in doll pictures.

The middle room is pretty much going to stay as it is, with Caroline's fireplace section, the NOLA bed, and the NOLA desk. I'm not sure who is going to share it with Cécile in the future, but when I get a second wardrobe, Marie Grace is going to have a room of her own with the NOLA courtyard furniture, Grace, and Grace's silver cupcake cart. So many aspirations, so little money, room, and time.

The bottom room is the saddest, haha! It's going to be Addy, Kirsten, and Caroline's room, with Caroline's shelf section, and Addy and Kirsten's beds. But I haven't quite figured out how to arrange it yet. And I don't have Kirsten or Caroline yet, so Addy's sitting on her bed all alone. She doesn't stand up very well by herself because she's old, so she has to sit. But the room is the same height as the top room.

Eventually, I intend to wallpaper each room and maybe get some stick on wood flooring. I was going to buy the wood grain shelves at Ikea to have mock-wood floors, but the wood grain color was all sold out, so I just got white because I'm too impatient to wait for it to come back in stock.

The specific Pax unit I bought was this one: m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/20214566/ with two shelves to make 3 rooms. Eventually I'm going to buy doors so I can close it up, too.

Anyway, I just want to post updates of my dollhouse as I make it, and here's the first installment! I hope it helped or inspired some of you thinking about making an American Girl dollhouse as well!

Cecile's Parlor Outfit Review

 I think Cecile's Parlor Outfit is one of the most daring outfits American Girl has ever done, simply because I don't think it appeals to their target audience at all! I know a lot of adult collectors who aren't fans either, of either the colors, fabrics, or patterns. I had to get it because I'm trying to collect all of Cecile and Marie Grace's collection, and found I liked this outfit much more in person.

I styled the outfit in this photoshoot with Cecile and Marie Grace's Fancy Boots. I think these crazy gold boots go well with almost all of Cecile & MG's outfits, and it's fun to pair them with everything!

The outfit comes with the white collared shirt, the gold and purple jacket, a purple patterned skirt, and two purple hair ribbons.

One of the top complaints I've heard about this outfit is the see-through, plastic-y feel of the fabric of the jacket. I like that it's shiny, though, and the Mardi Gras colors have grown on me. Two of the brown buttons on the front conceal velcro behind, and that is how you close the jacket over the doll.

Matching hair ribbons are always a bonus!

I love the collared shirt, and love even more that the collar sticks out of the jacket.

All the way around!

Bonus picture of the adorable Fancy Boots!

Here's a shot of the shirt by itself. It's so beautiful and perfect for a classic look in any time period.

I give this outfit an A-, just because it's not as dazzling and drop dead gorgeous as some other outfits, but I have nothing to complain about! If you don't hate the colors, I definitely recommend it. It's perfect for a doll living in New Orleans!

Happy Belated 2015!

I took this snap of my dolly lineup in their holiday dresses, and finally found the time to post it! I already have a new girl in my doll family, and all six are already dressed for Valentine's Day, so I'll try to post that shot soon!

Rebecca's School Play Set Review

I wanted to hurry up and get this review posted before December 31st, when this outfit will no longer be available!

If I had started collecting American Girl earlier in the year, I would have bought Rebecca's and Kaya's Limited Edition outfits this year, and maybe Kit's, too. But since it's almost the end of the year, I decided just to get my favorite one, Rebecca's! I was expecting these outfits to go on sale after all the huge year-end sales, but it didn't. Even if it had, I would have been okay with paying full price, because I absolutely love this outfit!

The outfit part of the set comes with a dress, wings, a headband, and satin ballet flats.

Detail of the fabric of the dress.

Detail of the wings. Some people are unhappy about the gold being printed on instead of embroidered, but I think it's still stunningly beautiful! It's just perfectly eye-catching, shiny, and gorgeous!

Here's my one problem with the set... one of the shoes is a lot smaller than the other. You can see the toes of the doll on one foot and not the other. Unless my Cecile has super huge feet? The shoes were also difficult to get on because they are so small.

You can kind of see the heel of the doll's foot barely even fits into the smaller shoe (foreground), compared to the larger shoe (background).

In the AG stock pictures of this outfit, Rebecca is wearing the headband farther down on her forehead, which I think is really cute! But I couldn't get it to stay on Cecile's head like that. It is really lightweight plastic and would just slip right up and off her head. It stayed on a lot easier worn like a traditional headband, but you can tell by the end of this photoshoot it was sliding up off Cecile's head anyway.

Here is the dress without the wings.

I love the gold sleeves!

And I seriously love the fabric and color of the dress.

Back view.

Here is the dress with the wings added. You just tie the gold bow ribbon around the doll's waist (it fastens with velcro) and the wings are attached!

The gold bow adds cuteness to the dress!

Side view of the dress with wings attached. It sticks out a little weirdly.

But I think the shape is really cute from the back!

Ta-da!

The wings attach to the doll's thumbs with tiny little elastic loops...

Here are the thumb loops!

Did I mention I love this costume?

The set also comes with a little box of accessories. The box is red with gold and says 1914, Rebecca's year.

Every side of the box is decorated with gold.

The box won't stay open by itself, but it has a mirror inside, and holds her two makeup containers, her makeup brush, and the program to the play she is wearing her costume for!

Rouge, blending powder, the soft bristle brush, and the program.

The brush is for the rouge, and the powder has its own application sponge.

The details on the pieces are so great!

I give this set an A, almost an A+, but I am disappointed with the too small shoes. I think the dress and wings are drop dead gorgeous, but I wish the headband wasn't such lightweight plastic. The accessories aren't incredibly useful to me as a collector (versus a child who would play with it), but they will make cute accessories in Rebecca's bedroom, which I plan to make in a dollhouse eventually.

Ruby Ball Gown Limited Edition Set: An Incomplete Review

I am in the minority in liking the limited edition Ruby Ball Gown that's a store exclusive for the holidays 2014. But I'm in the majority of not liking the coat. I couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to buy it for the longest time, but when the price was reduced I decided to try it.

I had only looked at the dress and coat before I found a problem (well, two problems). First, the scalloped tulle on the dress was super wrinkly from being in the box and of course it can't be ironed. I've read in others' reviews it can be steamed, but I don't have a steamer at the moment! So I think I'll either leave it on a doll and hope it sets properly (doubtful) or I'll try to put it under a book or something heavy with the tulle in place, but that sounds difficult/silly too.

The second and more important problem was that, in the stitching of my white coat, there is some random brown thread. Right in the front! I already didn't really like the coat, and now it has a defect? For THAT price? I don't think so.

Now I have to decide if I want to return it or exchange it. And to top it off, I've turned my apartment upside down and can't find the receipt. I'm 99% sure the sales girl didn't give me one, though it's my fault for not making sure I had one before I left. But I don't think that should be a problem, since my purchases are all recorded in their computer systems (a benefit, I guess, of having to tell them my full name every time I buy something. Sigh).

Anyway, I put the dress on Cecile and took some pictures before I do whatever it is I'm going to do with the whole set. She's not wearing any shoes (haha) because I didn't take the shoes, barrette, or purse out of their plastic, since I'm going to be returning/exchanging it. Barefoot doll in a ball gown!

 Here you can sort of see all the wrinklies on the right (doll's left) side of the dress.

It just kind of looks like a big mess :/

This is the tulle in the front.

This is how the tulle lays in the back. Bonus cat toy!

 Details of the bodice.

This is the brown thread on the front of the coat.

At this point I'm leaning toward exchanging it and selling the coat so that I won't have to pay as much for the part of the set I like. But it's kind of sad, as a collector, to break up a set. I'll update when or if I get the whole thing unpacked and modeled in the near future!

What are your opinions on this limited edition set?