Effie Trinket
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Finding Your Inner Ha! Cha! Cha!
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Such a quiet girl . . .
. . . until you put a bunch o’ fruit on her head!
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name. What did you say it was?”
It was then that I learned that I kind of know how to read lips, because the tall – for a doll, that is – girl standing before me made whispers sound like shouting, but still I understood.
“Miranda!” I exclaimed. “How pretty!”
As I got to know Miranda, I learned the reason for her quietness was that she was extremely shy. Not sullen, not sad, just shy. With Halloween just around the corner, I knew just what to do to get Miranda out of her shell…
Thus begins the adoption page for Miranda. You can see it HERE. She ends this Wednesday.
Our Miranda is a 21″ Effanbee Anne Shirley mold. It’s no secret I love Anne Shirleys! I’ve used them before in previous O.L.D.’s . . .
Interesting how a slight change of skin tone and eye color – and wigs, of course – can change a girl’s appearance. Katniss Everdeen, Effie Trinket, May Flowers and Carmen Miranda.
I’ve been wanting to do a Carmen Miranda for a long time and was waiting for an O.L.D. named Carmen to come strolling through my doors. Therefore, it took a little time before I figured out that a Miranda – even an extremely shy one – would do every bit as well!
In anticipation, I’d been swooping up mini fruits whenever I see them in thrift stores. In all that time, I only found one bunch of grapes! Thank goodness I got the little bag that contained them. It’s just not a Carmen Miranda without the grapes!
A previous Carmen Miranda also made a wonderful contribution. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Our Current & Future MAYOR!
Also a very shy and retiring girl!
And GENEROUS.
When she found out I was going to do a Carmen Miranda, she instantly gave me the fruit jewelry she made! Famous Fruit!
VOTE FOR JULIE FOR RE-ELECTION THIS COMING NOVEMBER 3rd! WE CANNOT LET THIS RARE FRUITY GENEROSITY PASS US BY!
Plus, she’s been a very good Mayor.
Miranda also comes with street clothes, and I made a hat stand for that hat! After all, there’s more to life than cha-cha-cha-ing! Or is there…?
Speaking of generous, I am so very lucky to have so many generous people in my life. SO MANY! If I named them all, this would be a novel rather than a simple blog post.
This time, a shout out goes to Janey! A new old friend that I’ve never yet met. She sent me a box of goodies, and in that box there was a pin to wear. A HAZEL TWIG(G) pin, from the 1940s! It’s made from Bakelite and REAL hazelnuts depicting hazelnuts hanging from a twig. And purchased from a seller in…Iowa! How nifty is that! Thank you, Janey!
I tell you, the signs they are-a overwhelming…
Sweet and brave Gracie went to…Elaine D’A, in Midlothian, Virginia! Thank you, Elaine! I know Gracie will find it easy to be brave in your beautiful state. Especially this time of year. How I love it!
And with that, I leave you! Happy Autumn!! You’re my favorite!
We Need a LITTLE CHRISTMAS
At 13″ this Shirley Temple puts the “Little” in Christmas. Good things come in small packages!
I’ve said it before: while other dolls may receive other names from their little humans, 99.9% of the time, a Shirley Temple doll will always be named Shirley Temple.
So without further ado, meet Shirley Temple! O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 23. You can see her adoption page HERE.
I confess, I didn’t see this picture of Shirley Temple as Santa Claus until just last night, unfortunately. Do you see that fur around the bottoms of the real Shirley’s pants? Wish I’d thought of that! You’ll soon learn why.
Shirley Temple in “Little Miss Marker.”
Believe it or not, it takes me all week to do a doll. To clean her and do any repairs and then make two outfits plus accessories…Therefore I wanted one pair of shoes, which I also make using my stash of different colored leathers, that would work with both outfits. Black boots were required, because we decided Shirley should be dressed as Santa. It’s pretty hard to make boots that work with a dress!
Then I saw this picture of Shirley Temple from “Little Miss Marker.” It’s reportedly her favorite photo from her movie career. Yes, she’s wearing shoes and socks rather than boots, but the effect is the same and I liked it.
My plan in place, and with Shirley’s enthusiastic agreement, we went to work. The Santa pants would tuck into the boots and blouse over nicely and the boots would look good with this dress. Perfect!
Here she is in her blue velvet coat and hat. Between that, the green velvet Santa bag and the red velvet Santa suit, it’s a wonder her name isn’t Velveeta.
There’s just nothing like a Shirley.
But guess what? Turns out, if you make boots to fit snugly around a little girl’s ankles, they will NOT go around velvet pants! Oh sure, it seems obvious now…
If I have time, I’ll add some cuffs to the Santa pants, although I’m currently hard at work on the next O.L.D. She too will be adorable (I hope! I think!).
TRIXIE! Ah, Trixie. I was right, she was not everybody’s cup of tea and went for a song. The good news is that my sweet sister Carol, who lives in Arizona, was able to adopt her. Every now and then she bids when there’s an O.L.D. she likes. See? So there IS someone for everyone! And a bargain to boot! But JUST YOU WAIT:
And with that, I leave you. Merry Christmas! I’m going to be saying that as often as I can, because with the luck of the draw (and the calendar) this will be the second shortest Christmas season on record, darn the luck. Happy Wednesday! You’re my favorite!
The Trouble With Tribbles
Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket.
Our Trixie, with faded features, exaggerated cupid’s bow lips, and no hair.
Oy! What a week this past week was! It goes like this: you get an idea in your head, your muse whispers that It Can Be Done, and that’s it. You have to go for it and there’s no time to second guess yourself! So O.L.D. (Once-Loved Doll) No. 22 is a bit, shall we say, unusual.
Her name is Trixie and she just so happens to be the same type of doll as the previous O.L.D. Kat: a 21″ Anne Shirley. This girl had no hair and her features were a bit faded, not unlike the Effie Trinket character in the latest “Hunger Games” movie, Mockingjay Part 1. Not only that, but you could tell Trixie had a rough life. Her fingers were broken in a most unfortunate position. Look if you dare!
Different day, different lighting. It all depends on the weather in my sophisticated studio. I spare no expense when it comes to photography!
I have since repaired them, the muse was whispering, so off we went. Trixie’s lips had also been repainted with fingernail polish, a fix I usually abhor. But this time, for this character, the exaggerated bow worked. I didn’t remove the paint, I filled it in.
Here is the Effie Trinket character in her glory days. I love the mix of eras: there’s Elizabethan, 80’s, 40’s you name it!
What to do for her hair? THIS is why I rarely throw anything away. Why else would I have kept the partial acrylic silver/gray wig intended for humans? I never thought I’d use it, but I kept it anyway, as has become my mantra: just in case. And THAT is where the title for this post comes from.
On December 29, 1967 an episode of Star Trek entitled “The Trouble With Tribbles” aired. In it, an innocuous life form, pretty much a fur ball, is brought aboard the Enterprise. The problem with this small life form is that it is born pregnant. Soon Tribbles were overtaking the entire space ship, getting into various systems and eating all the supplies.
In this picture, just one “Tribble” is showing.
A better view of both Tribbles.
The term “Tribble” entered my brain several times whilst working on Trixie. For her signature wig, I took some of this wig hair and wrapped it around two styrofoam balls, stitching them shut. They looked just like Tribbles! And they were very troublesome to attach to the wig I created too, let me tell you. I finally got it to work and after a spritz or twenty of hair and glitter spray, she was finally done.
Meanwhile, Kat is the 11th O.L.D. headed to our dear friend Michelle E.’s home in Colorado! Trixie may end that streak, as she is just So Strange. Despite all the Trouble (with Tribbles!) that I took, not to mention that it’s Thanksgiving week, Trixie might just go for a song.
You can see her adoption page HERE. No matter what, I adore her and I wouldn’t change a thing, Tribbles and all. Neither would Trixie. Because just like the Effie Trinket character, she secretly has a heart of gold.
I’ll leave you with this last funny that I stumbled across, right after I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for YOU. You’re my favorite!
Now, here’s the funny:
D5 Creation