Comparing Bodies

My new gals arrived yesterday and I was quite surprised to see the actual difference in the sizes of these two darling little dolls. The D'Nenes Marieta is much chubbier than I expected her to be, but that face is so cute and I am looking forward to styling this little girl.

The quality of the doll is as I expected, but I didn't think much of the clothes she was dressed in . . . certainly not as well finished as the Paola Reina Dolls clothes. Considering I won't be using them anyway it's no great loss if I toss them!

The measurements shown above were the best I could take using a piece of string to wrap the body and then placing the string along my metal ruler . . . they will certainly do to make her clothes. :)

Storage Box Makeover (Part 1)

Firstly, using my ruler and pencil, I carefully measured and marked where I wanted the little brass knobs to go . . . first the centre and then 35mm up from the bottom of each drawer, which left enough room above the handles for the brass name card holders to be placed.

You may be wondering why I placed the knobs so low. For two reasons, (a) this would be a better position to hold the drawer once it had items inside, and (b) to allow ease of placing the name cards into the holders.

Next I drilled the holes in each drawer, making sure I held the drill perfectly vertical . . . I didn't want my knobs being attached crooked. After all there is nothing so terrible as a crooked knob!!

The drill I am using is a single speed cordless screwdriver/drill for general screw driving or simple drilling work, available from IKEA. It's called FIXA and comes in a neat little pack with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, 10 screwdriver bits, 2 drills of dia. 3 and 5 mm and 1 bit holder included for $39.99.

The testing stage . . . I had to make sure they were all aligned nicely before I begin to paint.

I actually surprised myself, they were all where they were meant to be . . . and this was all without any help from hubby!!

(She takes a bow and pats herself on the back.)

I shan't be painting today, it's too darn hot! So until the next stage, I'm gonna sit in my armchair, with my feet up and do a little knitting.

A New Year, a New Day, a New Project!

A new year, is for me a time of reflection, not just about dolly stuff, but where my life path has taken me over the past year. Of course one also wonders whether there is a likelihood of any unexpected changes awaiting around the bend. I'm sure many of you are doing the same.

The new year is also when I find myself dreaming up lots of exciting new projects, all of which I have full intention of sharing with you.

However, summer is the season I adore, it's when hubby and I venture out and about more often than we aught, and we really let ourselves go! I admit, it's probably when my post writing time becomes scarce and everyone in the blogosphere gets a little neglected. So here I am, guilty as charged begging you to be patient while I finally get my act together. (To be honest, I sometimes I wonder if I ever will.)

All is not lost however, the sun was shining brightly this morning, so I thought to myself "what a perfect day for shopping". I knew hubby wanted to visit Bunnings (yes my 2nd favourite store) to purchase a couple of things and it's so very close to IKEA (my most favourite store of all) that I managed to twist his arm a little by telling him I only wanted a quick visit to purchase a set of mini drawers. (Mind you we left IKEA with more than just one thing as per the norm!)

These are the drawers (Moppe in Birch plywood AU$29.99) . . . I'm sure you have all seen them before.

Because they will sit in my Billy Bookcase, I shall paint them white. I am also wanting to add shiny gold card holders and tiny brass mushroom knobs, so the finger cut outs have to go! How? Easy peasy . . .  I'll just turn the drawers around, how simple a fix is that?

These are the card holders (eBay) and the brass knobs I chose (from Bunnings), which are in keeping with other brass trims I have on the rest of my doll room furniture . . . not exactly the same, but they were an acceptable option when I couldn't find the perfect match.

I will do my best to remember to photograph each stage of this project as it evolves and then show you what I intend them for in the coming week. So stick around if you can . . . there are many more projects in the pipeline. :)