Blog Archives

Opening Gifts

1/31/2021

Hans and Elora were very excited about their gifts....

"Oh, wow!!"

"It's the baby Jesus in the manger!!"

"It's the newborn King!"

"There's even a shepherd, and a sheep! And the three wise men too..."

"I knew how disappointed you were yesterday, when you couldn't get to see the Baby Jesus for yourselves, and then after you were gone, I remembered I still had a few sets of nativity figures left from my old wood-carving days....."

"Grandpa worked late into the night making the stables for them, so he could give them to you today..."

"So now you can enjoy the scene whenever you want..."

Gifts for the Children

1/30/2021

After dinner, everyone gathered around the tree as Nora pulled out one of the gifts she and Nick had brought....

"This one is for you..."

"Can I open it now?"

"Yes, you may..."

What could be in it?

Then Nora motioned to Hans, "We have one here for you too..."

Hans suddenly felt a little shy.... "Go on, it's okay..."

He had never received such a magnificent-looking gift.

What could possibly be in it??

Christmas Dinner

1/29/2021

Dinner looked delicious, but some felt a little awkward at first.

After all, how does one make casual conversation with their King and Queen?

But Elora and Hans didn't have any problems...

And soon everyone started to relax and enjoy themselves....

The King was happy to see his daughter having such a good time...

...with her new friend...

The meal was delicious....

...and they all had a wonderful time together....

A Heartfelt Welcome

1/28/2021

The King and Queen had thrown their annual Christmas Eve banquet for all the Lords, Ladies, and castle folk, the night before, and Christmas Day was always reserved just for their own family. Dinner was going to be just a small intimate affair, with only their invited guests and themselves.

Everyone took their seat at the table.....

The King rose to make a toast....

"I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of you....."

"Today we come together as new friends...."

".....to celebrate with each other on this special day."

"I wish you all a joyful and blessed Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas!"

"And God bless us, every one!!"

Hans and His Parents

1/27/2021

Then Hans and his parents arrived....

The King made the introductions....

Elora was so happy to see Hans again...

"I was waiting for you.... all day...."

The Queen took Hans by the hand, and knelt down....

"And you must be our brave little hero, who tried to protect the Princess from the wolf yesterday.."

"Well.... it turned out that he was really just.... a big dog..."

"But you didn't know that at the time did you?"

"No, Ma'am..."

"Well, that definitely makes you a brave, little hero, in my eyes..."

*That brings us to the end of Chapter 5, now available in Favourite Photos 2021

Making Wigs

1/26/2021

With Jude's outfit done, my goal was to address all the little blank dolls I have stashed away. There's three aGatti characters, and four DreamHigh Studio characters....

So I thought I'd start with wig caps. I've developed a new, faster, easier way to make them. Instead of messing with lots of tiny squares of tulle that refuse to take the glue, I tried using long strips of tulle cut from the end of the bolt, then wrapping them securely around the entire head, including the face. Then I use string to tie around the ears to help delineate them. This works best with blank heads, as it's tricker if the doll already has a faceup and lashes. then I have to leave the plastic wrap in front of the face loose, and I can't wrap the tulle or string over the face. But these four heads are all blank...

Once the tulle is wrapped in many layers, and is nice and smooth, I apply Gemtack glue all over where the wig cap is going to be. I use Gemtack since it dries waterproof, so the wig can be wet afterwards...

Then I take a sheet of plastic wrap, cover the glue, and press and massage it into the tulle...

Once the entire wig cap area is saturated with glue, I let it dry....

Once the glue is dry, I brush on another layer of glue and let that dry as well. I decided that FID Grace needed a new wig as well, so wrapped her head too, being careful to avoid wrapping tulle or string over her face, so as not to mess with her lashes....

After the glue has dried, the twist ties can be removed, and the heads removed, and the wig caps trimmed to shape. I've added this new technique to my Hard Wig Cap Tutorial

I've not made the wig caps for the aGatti guys yet. They have face plates, and the backs of their heads won't come off their bodies without unstringing the entire doll, and since I'm not keen on working with such musculature, naked guys, they need bicycle shorts made first. So they just went back in the box.

Yesterday I chose the mohair for Grace's wig. I pulled all the auburn mohair I had, then went with a less red 'Chestnut Brown', since my camera makes auburn hair way too red. I sewed mohair fringes, and glued the centre stitch lines. See my tutorial on Making a Hard Cap Wig. This morning I glued the mohair strips onto her wig cap....

Then after wetting, combing , and letting it dry.....

Grace looks so much nicer now. Her new wig is roughly the same colour as her other one, but without that synthetic fly-away look. The scale of the mohair fibres is much better. So Rosie got the auburn Ellowynne Rose wig back, that she originally had but Grace stole, so now she's beautiful again too.

Now to decide who to do next. The two Averies will get auburn, boy and girl wigs. Archibald will get a white wig like my Santa, and Nolan will get a helmet sculpted from Aves Apoxie, with bits of hair peaking from underneath. I figured it would be safer to build a helmet over a wig cap. Also less likely to scratch his head.