Angelina Ballerina chairs

Here are two more Angelina Ballerina pieces that I received in my eBay purchase: the kitchen chairs. Considering that these were made for stuffed animals to sit on, I find they work quite well with dolls the appropriate height(s). I also don't think missing the table is a big issue. Tables are a lot easier to create than chairs, and Angelina's table doesn't seem to be as stand-out as the chairs.

First of all, however, I want to show a couple more pictures of the dresser and chest. jSarie suggested that the mirror might be throwing off how the Barbie size doll looked standing next to the dresser, so I got Snow back out and took a picture of her next to the pieces again.

Now I almost like her better next to the chest but am not so sure about the dresser! Ah well. These pieces seem to have a juvenile touch to them, with the painted on flowers, so I don't know that an adult Barbie size doll would get them anyway.

Since I had Tonner's 12" Alice in Wonderland doll out to take pictures seated on the chairs, I put her next to the dresser and chest as well. She's close to a Barbie in height, but Barbie is an adult in her world, while Alice is a tween in a world of 16" adults.

Alice is wearing a night dress from Tonner's Nutcracker Ballet line. Poor Alice is barefoot because while slippers did come with this nightdress (as well as a pretty robe), I need a dolly size shoehorn to get those shoes on her feet. Adams-Harris Patterns has a free pattern for a Marley (Alice) sized shoe that I really should try.

And now we return to the chairs. They are even more fancifully painted than the bedroom furniture, and almost have a shabby chic look since some of the paint has the appearance of wearing off.

Again, they're made of wood, and are nice and durable. They're a little broader than some other doll chairs of a similar height, but they ended up working pretty well with dolls the proportional sizes.

We'll start off with Alice and a Kripplebush Kid. (I really ought to give those poor Kids names.) Both look fine here. The Kid might have to scramble a bit to get up, but what little kid hasn't had to do that at some point?

The Kid also doesn't look badly standing next to the chair. Which makes me think that these chairs would also work for a similar doll like Kish's Riley. Some people have inserted Riley into Tonner's world to be the little girl, instead of the Kripplebush Kids.

I thought these chairs would be too broad for the Barbie sized dolls. Maybe for a Barbie in a bathing suit, they would be, but Snow with her wide skirt makes it look acceptable.

Lastly, I took a couple of pictures with Snow by herself with the chairs. I know many of you that read here have more Playscale sized dolls than Tonner sized ones.

Once again, these are two pieces which I am glad to have in my collection. I often prefer to have my dolls sit on chairs rather than be in stands, if I have the space, so the more chairs, the better!

Happy Easter

I hope that all of you who celebrate Easter had a happy and blessed one. My family and I did.

Just a quick note about the header I threw up. Since I don't really have anything doll/Easter related, I put up pictures of two of my dolls in their best Easter straw hats. On the left is Madame Alexander's 21" Cissy. On the right is Ashton Drake's 16" Gene, whom I no longer own. Her dress and hat were made by me. :)

Angelina Ballerina Dresser and Chest

My Angelina Ballerina furniture arrived today! Well, most of it did. I couldn't find the stove in the pile of newspaper that everything came wrapped up in. Still have to talk it over with the seller. But everything else is fantastic! I decided to stick to the wooden dresser and chest, because otherwise this post would be way too long. I'll highlight the other items in later posts.

The chest and dresser are very nice pieces, made of wood, with what I think is called fiberboard at the bottom of the drawers and the bottom of the chest. They also are marked on the bottom with HIT Entertainment (who owned the rights to Angelina Ballerina, at least the animated series) and American Girl, who distributed the stuffed dolls and furniture.

I forgot to take measurements! Let me know if you want a particular measurement. But you can get a pretty good feel for how big the pieces are by looking at the dolls I thought worked best with them. First up are some pictures of the dresser and chest by themselves.

A couple of the dresser drawers are very loose; the small drawer on the top right is very tight. You might be able to see how it fits a little crookedly into its slot.

There are some marks on the front of the chest. Nothing serious.

Because the chest used such thick pieces of wood, I feel like it looks a little funny on the inside, proportionally. But it's a very solid piece, which is the main thing.

First up to model is Disney's Snow White, by Mattel. As an aside, I realized while I was taking pictures that the dress Snow White is wearing is over ten years old! I got it in a dress swap, as a member of a doll board I don't even remember anymore. Actually, it might have even been an old-school bulletin board. Anyone else active on those back in the day?

She doesn't look too out of place here. The chest looks a little small proportional to her height, but the dresser isn't bad at all.

The mirror piece on top of the dresser is completely separate, giving it even more play value, as it can be moved around on top of the dresser or used by itself.

I wonder if this is a magic mirror?

 Next up is a J-Doll, Melanie.

Being more petite, I think she works better overall than Snow White. Possibly it might be a little too big for her, but I don't think so. She looks right sitting on the chest.

Lastly, we have my 8" Kripplebush Kid by Tonner. At the moment, I think she works with these pieces the best.

 

The mirror tilts (although it doesn't stay in a tilted position) so anyone could sneak a peek in it, but I like that this little girl can look right at the mirror.

I also had my Madeline and mini AG Samantha out, but the furniture completely overwhelmed them. So I think these are the ones in my collection who would work the best.

Obviously, with the flower decorations, these pieces are rather girly, so they're not for everyone's collection. Can you see GI Joe using these? :) But they're well made, real wood pieces that are going to look great in one of my doll's bedroom set. Which doll you think should get them?

Snow, Snow, Go Away

How on earth can I get inspired to take lovely spring pictures when there is snow.on.the.ground. Snow!! Okay, I will admit that it is not that much of an unusual occurrence here in NE Ohio, but I'm certainly not feeling spring at the moment.

Score!

I'm pretty sure I just won myself some old American Girl Angelina Ballerina furniture on eBay. For less than $20 including shipping, I got Angelina's dresser and toy chest, her stove and sink, her two kitchen chairs and some of the assorted accessories. Just seems to be missing one tea cup in the accessories, and maybe a pot lid. Go here and scroll down if you have forgotten the original Angelina Ballerina stuff, or never saw it at all. For me, it's a major find!!! I'll be taking pictures when I get the items.

J-Doll in Another Stacie Outfit

Still working on a J-Doll pattern! The biggest issue I'm having is with the sleeves. The biggest issue I have is usually always the sleeves. However, I suspect I'm not alone in this judging by the number of seamstresses I see who either make things that don't have sleeves, or make the bodice and the sleeve all one piece. That's not the look for what I want, so my war with sleeves continues.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my J-Doll Adelheid wearing another Stacie size dress from the When I Read, I Dream series. This one belonged to young Jo March. It's not particularly period correct, but it's a cute dress, and again, it fits Adelheid like a dream. Only the bottom snap will just barely not stay closed.

It was gray and raining when I took these pictures, and just when I sat down at my computer to upload these, the sun came out. Isn't that just the way it works?