5 useful tips for DIY doll clothes on a budget

Crafting supplies may be expensive, but sometimes it only takes a bit of creativity and inventiveness to save some money. Speaking specifically of sewing doll clothes, while making my tailoring experiments for Monster High dolls I learned some cheap ways to gather supplies (like fabric, trims, lace...).
Here they are, I hope they'll be useful for you too!

1) Raid your house (and closet)

The cheapest way to find some fabric is using old clothes (or blankets, pillowcases, tableclothes, ...) you no longer use but are still in good condition: even a plain black t-shirt could be turned in a doll-sized cocktail dress (that's how I made Cleo's dress in this post)!

2) With a little help from your friends

If you have friends (or relatives) that are into sewing, ask if they have some unused fabric scraps to give you (when I was I child I started sewing for my dolls using fabric leftovers my grandmother gave me).

3) Party hard!

Party and wedding favors are often decorated with ribbons, lace and small fabric flowers: all these things can be used to add elegant details to your doll clothes and accessories.

4) Fat quarters

Dolls are way smaller than humans, so you don't need great amounts of fabric to dress them, a single fat quarter is enough to sew a lot of doll-sized things: try searching for quilting fabric fat quarters, usually they're reasonably cheap and come in a great variety of patterns (you will soon see my Sweet 1600 Draculaura in a Valentine chocolate themed dress ;)).

5) Chinatown

Chinese shops and dollar stores often carry a selection of basic sewing supplies at very cheap prices. Here's what I took home from my nearest chinese store for only 5€ (about 6.50$), when I started sewing for MH dolls:
- 1 spool of golden embroidery thread;
- 1 package of velcro straps;
- 1 package of snap buttons in different sizes;
- 1 package of tiny hooks;
- 1 set of silk ribbons, in 5 different colors (each color was 2m long, about 80")
- 1m (40") of elastic band.
- 1 package of pins
That's a lot of stuff for that price, just think at how many doll clothes you can sew with it!

Make up review: Essence Stampy Nail Art Set

Stamping kits aren't a novelty in the nail art world, I always found them interesting, but since they usually weren't easy to find in italian stores, I have never tried them. Until Essence (a brand that can easily be found also here in Italy) released a basic stamping set, with different design plates and special stamping nail polishes, sold at a very low price, how could I resist?

Well, I haven't, so last Sunday I went to the nearest shop and bought a basic Stampy set plus an additional design plate and black matte stamping polish, all for 6€.

The basic Stampy set contains a design plate, a scraper and a stamp, sold separately there are four different design plates and three stamping nail polishes (black, white and silver, but I only found black).

Since it was my first time trying it I decided to watch and follow the tutorial provided on Essence's Youtube channel (here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9ofLFhtYfc&list=PLDg6S58u7v-cccGEL-j8cpmk2KLLJXovD&index=4&feature=plcp ). 

After several attempts (including three complete manicure failed and redone), the best I could get was this:

Maybe I'm not the best nail artist of the world, but honestly I was expecting someting better after all these attempts :-/ as you can see better from the picture below, the stripes don't cover entirely the nail and are a little smudged.

The truth is that this "technique" isn't so easy to catch: you have to be very quickly applying the polish on the plate, scraping and then stamping it on your nail because it dries very fast, also it takes some practice to obtain smooth and clean stamps. Another problem is that the smallest designs, like the heart, paws and swirls  of the basic set, are carved with very little depth on the plate so they didn't work very well, only the patterned ones gave me some decent results.

My last complain is about the stamping nail polish: not mentioning that you waste a lot of polish (and dirty a lot of paper towels and cotton swabs) during the whole process, you are forced to use it, because normal nail polish don't work with the design plates (maybe it's not enough dense), and this limits a lot the color choice, plus once applied on the nail it scratches away very easily, so you have to be quick putting on the top coat, but be careful, use some very light brush strokes or the design will smudge!

My overall rating: 2/5

The idea (and the price) is good, but if you need a quick and easy nail art solution , nail stickers or fake nails are still the best in my opinion. Once you learn how to do it right and quickly, you can obtain some nice results (I've seen beautiful nail arts on the web), but I don't think I'll buy other Essence design plates in the future (but I'll probably try again with these when I'll have some spare time).

Bonus pic: one of my failed attempts using a different pattern

The adventurous life of Mini Blythe

Last Sunday I received a mail from Frankie of Dolls From Planet Mu (check out her blog, she does very interesting and accurate reviews of dolls and toys!), noticing me that I had won her  Blythe Littlest Pet Shop giveaway! I was very happy because it was a while that I wanted to buy one, but usually when I'm in a toy shop my attention is more focused on the Monster High shelf, so this is my very first Blythe!
I was prepared to wait about 10/12 days for the package to arrive (that's what it usually takes for packages from the U.K.) but surprisingly on Friday morning the package was already here (thank you Frankie for the fast shipping, I hope you didn't spent too much for it ^_^).
And here begin the adventure of Mini Blythe vs Giant Dog and the Postman!
Usually when there's a package or registered mail to deliver, the postman rings the bell and deliver them in person, but this time he had the brilliant idea of just leave it unguarded on our gate, without ringing the bell (me and my boyfriend were at home, so I'm sure he didn't ring :-/).
 As you may know, I have a dog, Leila, who is good and loving, but still behaves as a puppy, in fact her philosophy about new things is something like: " Gnaw it, eat it, and see what happens". Could she resist a mysterious package left justin front of her nose? Obviously not, so she started fighting with the external packaging.
Luckily, at this point Dani accidentally  looked out to search forthe dog, and saw her gnaw something colourful, surrounded by pieces of bubble wrap and paper.
He immediately remembered of my package and ran to save it. Luckily again, Leila only destroyed the packaging and the cardboard box, while the doll and her accessories were saved by the rigid plastic casing inside.
Despite this small accident, the doll is safe (only her hair were a bit messy, but it's easy to fix) and incredibly cute!

I had already seen Blythe LPS sets in stores, but out of the box they look a lot more beautiful, what I like the most of her are the eyes: I wasn't expecting them to be inlaid, (from the shadow of the box they looked just painted on) and they also have long lashes.
The outfit is cute too, her tartan dress make her look like a mini human version of Frankie Stein (I put her near Frankie and Rochelle on my shelf), and she also has removable shoes and some accessories, my favourite is the flower headband.
I'm very happy of this prize (and I will probaby buy more Blythe in the future ;-)),thank you Frankie!

Momijigari cake (with plums and cinnamon)

Don't be tricked by the name, it's not a japanese recipe but just a cinnamon plum cake, I decided to call it like this because the finished cake reminds me of autumn leaves ("momijigari" is the Japanese tradition of going to visit scenic areas where leaves have turned red in the autumn). 

detail of the decoration

This recipe is very easy and quick to prepare (aside from the baking part, it took me about a quarter of an hour to make), hope you like it!

Ingredients:

6/8 plums
200 g of flour
200 g of sugar
50 g of butter
2 eggs
1 bag of vanillin
2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 teaspoons of cinnamon

Preparation:
Wash the plums and cut them into thin slices. In a bowl mix eggs and sugar, add vanilla, melted butter, flour, baking powder and cinnamon, then mix well. Add the plums to the mixture (save some slices for decorating), pour everything into a pan of 24 cm, previously greased and floured, then decorate the top with the remaining slices. Oven bake for approximately one hour at 160 °. Let it cool (but not too much, a little warm exalts the flavour!) and serve!

do you want a slice? ;)

Piña Colada Cheesecake

A few days ago it was my friend Valentina's birthday, so I made a cake to celebrate together with all our friends :)

I really like baking sweets, so I decided to start posting here my culinary experiments!

Today's recipe is perfect for summer, I called it "Piña Colada Cheesecake"! (though there is no alchool in it...)

Ingredients for the base:

200 gr of cookies similar to Digestive or Graham's crackers (I used Gran Cereale for a more crispy taste);

100 gr of butter or margarine.

Ingredients for filling:

200 gr of soft cheese like Philadelphia;

400 gr of  fresh cream;

50 gr of sugar;

100 gr of shredded coconut;

3 sheets of isinglass or gelatin;

a jar of canned pineapple with its juice.

Optional:

1 or 2 spoonful of flour;

some coconut milk.

Preparation:

Crush the cookies in the mixer and put them in a bowl with the melted butter.

Mix well, then spread the mixture of cookies in a cake pan covered with baking paper (instead of paper,you can use some oil or butter to grease the pan), press the  mixture with a spoon to make it solid and uniform, then put it in the fridge  for at leasthalf and hour.

Put the isinglass sheets in a bowl with hot water to let them soften. Put cheese, cream (save a little cream, about 100gr, for melting the isinglass), sugar, shredded coconut (if you want the coconut flavour to be stronger, add also some coconut milk), some tiny pineapple bits (very tiny, or they will get tangled in the whisk) and the syrup (I suggest using only half of the juice contained in the can, or else your filling mixture will end up too liquid: in this case you can add 1 or 2 spoonful of flour to fix it) in a bowl and mix them with the electric whisk until mixture is thick and smooth. Take out the isinglass  from water, squeeze it and let it melt at low heat in a small pan with the remaining cream, then add it to the filling and mix again to make it uniform.

Remove the base from the fridge, put some half ananas slices along the border (they make a nice decorative motif and help keeping the filling in place), pour the filling into the cake pan, level it with a spoon and decorate the cake with the remaining pineapple slices and some more shredded coconut.

Put everything in the fridge for at least 4 hours, then place the cake on a plate and remove the cake pan.

Here are some pictures of the finished cake, it was very fresh and delicious!

I hope the instructions are clear enough, this is my first time translating a recipe ^_^ anyway if you have any question or doubt, feel free to ask!