There's a new girl in town ...

There have been very few dolls that elicited the reaction I've gotten from the Integrity Toys Carol Roth Doll.  I've become cynical as a doll collector.  I've seen too many promotional photos of dolls gone bad.  When I get a package, I hold my breath as I open it, expecting wonky eyes, bad haircuts, stains, or even mold.  I was delighted by this doll.  ABSOLUTELY LOVE HER.  Tore her out of that package.  Haven't felt this strongly about a doll since Going Public Eugenia.

Here is her promotional photo from Integrity Toys.  There was "something" about her.  I thought her hair was a little "too poofy on the crown", her skin maybe a little too pale, her price a little too high for a doll in a basic dress.  But I trusted my instincts.  Something told me this was going to be a stellar doll.

When I got her out of the box, I had to wipe her dress with a wet cloth because there were "white" stains from the product they used on her hair.  The hair needed washing as well.  When I was finished, I took my first close up of that beautiful face.  I love a brunette with big brown eyes.

Anyone who knows me would be surprised by how much I like this doll.  I dislike dolls with side-glancing eyes.  Being a teacher, it drives me crazy when pre-pubescent girls roll their eyes at me.  I just want to walk away screaming.  BUT ... it works on this doll.   Adds to her sex-appeal.  I knew this doll could not stay on the body that she arrived wearing.  She is on a Dynamite Girl torso with NuFace arms and legs.   She is now sporting a "full-figure" body donated by Spring Forward Eugenia.  I think it suits her.  She is now a real sex kitten.

 Someone posted that she looked "fierce".  I agree.  I think she is awesome.  As I have posted before, one of my New Year's Resolutions was that a doll would not stay in a box this year.  This one didn't.  I had recently purchased a Mattel Winter in Montreal outfit from The Doll Page for $15.  I wondered how she would look wearing it.   ... Well she got the spotlight photo on Pink Parlor/Vinyl Lounge. 

 This brings me to a question I received recently about how I store all of my doll's clothes.  I am a real clothes horse when it comes to my girls.  I have asked Chaundra and some of her friends to aid me in showing you what I have done.  Here is Chaundra on a product called "The Clip It Up" carousel.  It can be purchased on e-bay or at scrapbook supply stores.  This is the base unit.  It generally retails for $45 up. 

Chaundra tells us "It twirls, girl! You can invite friends over and go for a ride! Speaking of friends, here is Toni.  She is holding one of the alligator clips to show you."

"Now when you clip this on the dress, make sure you clip it on the back ... otherwise it will leave one ugly mark on the front.  You can't even STEAM it out.  Very unsightly in photos.  But clipped on the back, no one knows!"

 "... And becase these little clips cost money, and we like to watch that stuff around here, you can clip two dresses back to back.  The carousel comes with a package of clips"

 "Let's welcome my friend Steffie ...  She is showing us that you can use the clip it with a plastic dress form.  That way you don't have to worry about damaging your clothing at all.   Hmmm... I didn't know we even had this dress.  Spring's coming!" 

" .. And if you run out of clips, you can buy some more (they are about $7 for a package of 40).  Or you can even use some of the coat hangers you already have.  Most of them work too!"

"If you want to keep complete outfits together, like with their shoes, purses, jewelry, etc., you can put everything in a sandwich bag and clip it!  That's the blue suit I wore in the last blog!"

 "Again, you can use two bags to one clip!  I had to have one of my Amazon neighbors from upstairs come down and hold these.  It was too heavy for us petite girls!"

 "You can get an awful lot of clothing on one of these; however, they take a lot of room.  (I really like this Carol Roth doll and am glad that she got a new body.  This dress fits like a glove.  I love adding it to my collection!"

"If you happen to have been lucky enough to get one of those Integrity rolling racks, the clip-its fit on it too.  See how nice they look?  I keep finding dresses I forgot I owned!"

 "One of the coolest ideas I've found is that you can use those thick plastic clothes hangers for humans.  The clip-its fit, but you have to "snap" them on.  You can put several of these side by side in a closet."

"So that ends our demonstration of how we keep our clothing organized.  Does anyone else have ideas to share?  We'd love to hear.  Next time, we'll look at shoes, props, and other clothing items.  See you later, alligator clip!  Ha!  Ha!  Sometimes I crack myself up."