Crafting Creatively: $15 PVC Photo Background Stand for Dolls

Tara's getting her picture taken. But she's not the topic.

Ladies, gentlemen, both and neither, you probably wonder where I take such plain backdrop shots of my girls. Well, it was my photo corner, which was basically three storage drawers with green non-pill fleece hanging from them. But that is a bit of a mess right now, hence a lack of reviews. Plus, I couldn't really move it around. Pictures had to be taken there, or they were taken nowhere. Okay, occasionally outside, but not with my green fleece. Well, that has changed. This pic of Tara--with Grace Brand clothing and earrings--was taken outside on my new PVC backdrop stand.

I've been spinning yarn, and one of the things I found a design plan for online was a niddy noddy--it's a way to wrap yarn to see how much you have--out of basic PVC pipes. I got it put together with all the sizes I'd want, and it's worked great and allows me to take it apart and store it as needed. So why not do the same with a backdrop stand? 

I can't take 100% credit for it, since I found a similar design on Dandelions on the Wall, for a $20 PVC backdrop stand. But I did--with the Bae's help because I can't measure for butts--work out the math for a short doll one. When put together it's a little over three feet tall. And well, this is something that I would like to share with other doll photographers. So as long as you point back here to show where you got the design, that would be sweet. Also don't make these to see on Etsy or eBay. This isn't for profit, it's for assistance.¹

Below the cut for instructionables!

Clothes Reviews: Shimmery Gold Dress (2003)

Ring in 2014 with Tara and some shiny gold!

So we've got a day left in 2013, the first year in Western Year recording since 1987 that had four unique numbers in the date. We got Hanukkah near Thanksgiving, a government shut down, some terrifying terror and bright blessings and famous births and deaths, and personal deaths. We got Princess Twilight Sparkle, Equestria Girls, all new Monster High, new Pokemon released worldwide simultaneously, and that movie based on the Snow Queen in the sense that there was snow and a queen--and that had no influence on AG's plans for dolls, contrary to what stupid shit posts in my tumblr tags said.¹ It's been a year of ups and downs and tears and joys and transitions, and I'm hoping that 2014 will be good as any year can be. 

In the AG fandom we got the year of Chiplote Mayo Artistry for our GotY--ugh--and stuffing Molly and Emily into the AG Vault--eh--and steady data that next year's Girl is another in the pattern of white privilege--fucking bells. I added two girls to my AG gang--both secondhand--and a lot of outfits and accessories. And also I started this blog and got my hands on almost every AG mag and every paper doll, and made lots of friends and a couple haters I keep to the left. 

I had debated doing the Year 2000 outfit today, but I may do it the first of the year. New, fresh start to the blog with an outfit old enough to sign up for sites all by themselves. Abbi and Naomi's sets have a lot of fiddly bits that we'll get into soon. And Felicity? Well book canon says she goes to her holiday dance on January seventh because long holidays were and are long, so at least by then. Don't rush me, I give you good detailed reviews, the least you can do is be patient about it.

So Tara is back again, in her own holiday set that doesn't belong to Samantha. I'm following silver with gold. Look at that, I'm far too clever. After Tara arrived in summer 2009, I needed to get her a holiday dress because everyone in the gang had holiday outfits and it was very important that I keep this fact up.² So I started searching eBay and luckily stumbled upon the 2003 super limited edition dress, the Shimmery Gold Dress: a gold dress, cream tights, gold shoes, gold hair clips, a gold and rhinestone choker necklace that my set came without, and stick on earrings. The dress was more limited than most holiday items because it couldn't be ordered via catalog. It could only be ordered online from the website or picked up directly in AG stores. Of which there were exactly two, one of which--the NYC location--had just opened that year. And it was shut down in 2004. Limited as fuck. I paid $24.65 which is a touch above the original cost of $24. Damn last second snipe attempts. It can be found on the secondary market for about that range and up to about $40 for a full set--with of course, the stupid price hikes that come with a lot of AG things and that you shouldn't bite down for.

Let's get this New Year's partying started right.

Historical Clothes Reviews: Samantha's Cranberry Party Dress and LE Mini Doll

Holiday Party Time with Tara Johnson!

Holy Baby Mithras, it's a week til Giftmas. Last minute purchases abound. If you haven't ordered it online, it's not going to get there before the holidays unless you rush that shipping.¹ If you haven't got it in the store, you might not get it cause the shelf could be cleared out. And if you didn't get Molly and Emily before they sold out, then hie your ass to eBay cause they're gone, and their stuff with em. Play Taps, y'all. This is why, if you are sensible like me, you make all of December and the first two weeks in January extended holiday gifting, so that if things don't get there day of, everything isn't spoiled.

As I said in my complaint department about Molly and Emily heading out the door, while they won't be available from AG direct there's ways of getting your hands on stuff post retirement. Molly's second ed Floral PJs and Yellow Bed might be a little harder since they were only out for a year. But the stuff that had been out since 1986? Take your time, you'll find a bargain. I got a lot of the Samantha stuff I have for my gang post retirement. Like today's review.

The Cranberry Party Dress --also known as Samantha's Christmas Dress--was released with Samantha Parkington back when she was released in 1986 along with her meet stuff, school dress and supplies², and extra holiday gear--all fresh and new for 1986, ready to become the icon of American Girl for the next decade and a half. The outfit came with a red slightly high waist (for the fashion) dress with lace trim, ribbed white tights, and one of Samantha's signature ribbons to tie enormously into her hair--this one white with v-cut ends. Purchasers were expected to use Samantha's meet shoes with the set. When Mattel took over, they changed the ribbed thicker tights to thinner, white generic AG tights. The original cost of the dress was $20; as inflation costs rose, the dress went up to $22 before being retired in 2008 with Samantha's archival. I got the dress--a PC version--in Spring 2009 in a private sale from a friend. I think it was about $20 for the dress alone. I originally had plain white tights from buying Samantha's Shoes and Socks set, but at some point I got the ribbed white tights from a private gift before I was message board destroyed. The shoes came with Tara--our model--back when she first arrived, and the hairbow is my own doing, a long length of wide white ribbon cut just so. On eBay prices range from $10 to well over $50, though the average selling price is about what it was for retail with maybe $5 over. 

A bit more about Tara: Tara Johnson was sent to me by a buddy as a gift back in September 2009 to join the gang. She arrived in a homemade dress, with Samantha's meet shoes, black stockings, and bloomers, with her hair in four awesome hair wraps and needing a set of glasses and a good bath. And while she does look like a PC Samantha, she will adamantly inform you that she, madam or sir or miscter³ or neither, that she is not Samantha. She almost didn't put this dress on, in case anyone wanted to get bright ideas about calling her so. But when I explained that it wasn't fair for Marisol to have to do three clothes changes for the holidays--Marisol being my go-to-model for Edwardian and Titanic Era wear--she grudgingly said she'd put the set on. But she will only wear Edwardian clothing if she doesn't take off her glasses, lest you mistake her for anyone but her nerdy, steampunky self.

Do note that there will be two tights reviews, along with the bonus of Samantha's bloomers, meet shoes, and the LE Mini Doll. And that most of the pictures are taken with the plainer tights. Damn it, Samantha.

Braid Spray and the Ingratitude of the AG Fandom

Tara and Abbi know damn straight how braid spray can make a girl look good.

As a woman with 25 AG gang members--and many other dolls and ponies and other things with silky hair that can go rogue--I tend to invest time into their hair care regiment. And one of the centerpieces of my hair care is a big old bottle of braid spray. Not that the AG community at large really appreciates that I introduced this into the fandom. So this post is part basic care, part backstory, and part bitchiness.

Clothes Reviews: Plaid Skirt and Sweater (1999)

Tara in the Plaid Skirt and Sweater Set. Preppy-tacular.

Another clothes review. You can never have too many clothes reviews that aren't on a message board that, if you piss off the mods, results in banning for taking down your own reviews. (But I shall bitch about that shit later.) Especially when you have so many outfits, like I do. (Eleven moddies, fourteen historicals.)

Today we're covering the Plaid Skirt and Sweater Set, a nifty little set up released in 1999. It was also called the Perfectly Plaid Outfit, because there was a span where AG's names for things always had two names;. I'm sure this was just to confuse the shit out of me now when I'm trying to code up wiki pages. Our model today is Tara Johnson.¹ The outfit had several components: a sage green sweater, a sleeveless undershirt, plaid skirt, knee socks, black loafers, and a star necklace. Retail cost was $24; that's the current running value on eBay. I got it several years ago as a birthday present to me from eBay for the cheap sum of $14.25. (The necklace, I believe, came in another bundle of clothes and things.) Damn, what a bargain!