Introducing Nila....

Ahhhh the holidays!  All the running around - all the shopping, wrapping, decorating - all the family!  I love it love it love it!

This Christmas I received the most awesome gift - a My Life Doll - my life as a Student doll.  I know, I know - kind of silly that I should want a doll for Christmas, especially at my age, but I just couldn't help it!  I first saw her during the fall of 2015.  She was on a Clearance Rack on an end cap at my local Walmart.  I remember telling everyone who would listen about this beautiful doll.  Never did I think that my granddaughter would remember.  However, after Christmas dinner, we all sat together, taking turns opening gifts (Believe me 17 people, opening one gift at a time, takes a good 2-3 hours!)

I unwrapped the gift and immediately got choked up!  There she was, the doll I saw months ago - brown skin, brown eyes, sweet puff ball pony tails!  Every doll I have has brown or light hair and light skin which is why I wanted this dark -skinned beauty.  I want little girls to be able to see the clothes I make on dolls that are like them or that they have.

Therefore, I'd like to introduce you to my newest little friend, Nila (pronounced nigh lah) I can't wait to photograph her with my  creations and to show her off.

And with that, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2016.

Washing Doll Clothes - New Use of Kitchen Item

Sometimes little doll clothing just needs to be washed.  Personally I prefer not to include doll clothing with my regular wash and, quite frankly, I'm not a fan of hand washing either.  However, I found a much easier way to wash doll clothes or any other item that requires hand washing.  I use my salad spinner!!!  That's right, my salad spinner.  There are many spinners available but I've found the spinner with a hand crank works the best because you can spin in either direction and as fast or slow as you need.


Here's how I do it...

Wash

1. Place basket in the spinner.
2. Add a small amount of detergent and fill about halfway with cool/cold water.
3. Put the top on the spinner and spin a couple of times to dissolve and spread the detergent.
4. Remove cover and add some items. Two to 4 small items or 1 larger item (adult blouse). The more you put in the basket, the harder it will be to crank.
5. Replace the cover and using the crank, spin the item in one direction.  You do not need to spin fast.  If possible, bring the spinner to a stop and spin in the opposite direction.  Continue doing this until you feel the clothing is clean.
6. Remove cover and lift items out individually.  Check to see if any spots need to additional attention.  You may need to hand rub those spots.
7. Gently squeeze out any excess water into the same wash water.
8. Repeat steps 4 - 7 until all items are washed.
9. When you're through washing, discard the water or use it in a spray bottle for use in cleaning outdoor items or spraying pests on your house &veggie plants.

Rinse

1. Place basket in base of spinner and fill halfway with water
2. Follow steps 4 - 7 to rinse under "Wash" above
3. Change water as needed or repeat as often as needed.  You might want to add a little fabric softener to the final rinse.

 

 Spin 

1. Gently squeeze out as much excess water as possible.  You don't need to wring tightly.
2. Place the basket in the base of the empty spinner.
3. Place up to 3 items into the basket or one larger item
4. Put the top on the spinner and spin as fast as possible
5. Remove the cover, lift the basket out of the spinner and drain out the water.
6. Repeat these steps (4 and 5) until as much water as possible has been removed from these items.
7. Repeat for all washed and rinsed items
8. Air dry in dryer or hang on line. 

Hope this helps!  If anyone has any tips, let me know

Introducing Made Magical

Hello hello hello!  This is my first post on my new blog site and I am excited!  First, let me introduce Made Magical!

I make doll clothing to fit 18" dolls - American Girl, Madame Alexander, Our Generation, My Life as an example.  I also make doll clothes to fit 15" and 16" dolls like Bitty Baby and Bitty Twin, for instance.  My doll clothes are mostly one of a kind.  I use patterns that I purchase from Liberty Jane, Pixie Faire, McCalls and Simplicity.  I also "mash up" pattern pieces to create new looks as well as make some of my own patterns.  I sell my creations on Etsy and at various times throughout the year on eBay.  I also have a website where you can find news, links to my shops, links to Facebook and a gallery of photos.  You can find me at www.mademagical.webs.com.

So I got started a few years ago.  My granddaughter received an Our Generation Doll for Christmas. I made her some outfits from some remnants that I had lying around.  She loved them!

After outgrowing some of her favorite outfits, E said she wished she had outfits for her dolls made from her old clothes.  So I used the material from her cast off items to make some cute, fun outfits.  Again, she loved them and so did her friends.  In fact, some wished that they had cute clothes for their dolls also.

I made and sold some items locally and found that parents were struggling with finding unique, quality, U.S. made doll clothes that were affordable.  So, with all this inspiration from a little girl and her friends plus the backing and encouragement from my husband, daughters and grandchildren, Made Magical was born!

I am thoroughly enjoying doing something that taps into my creative side and I'm finding it very rewarding.  Since this is such a huge career switch for me, I'm finding that I really need to learn about marketing and sales while being a creative business owner. Check out my site and my shops and feel free to let me know what you think.