Breaking Out the Miniatures & Props

First Post of the Day

During our Saturday morning gathering in my office (a tradition I have come to love), the girls made their final decisions as to what models they wanted, several of which I said could go home to Tennessee with them.

Kate with her dearly loved Zulu and the 1997 Toys R Us black pearl unicorn foal, (heading to Tennessee), and the 1998 blue Toys R Us Pegasus (staying a little longer with me but has her name on his tag for "when the time comes.")

Susie selected the Toys R Us white pearl unicorn foal and the 1995 JCP SR Serenity Set buckskin foal "who has such a comforting eye" to go home with her while Cosmus' tag says "Susie" and will go home another day.

It makes me really happy that the girls want these pieces and that we have had some time to make memories together with them, memories that I think will have great meaning to the girls in the years to come.

And then I did something I have never done before - I pulled out my show miniatures, props, and dolls, and let them play with them. 

I did hold back Circus Girl and Little Lynn, my two Anne Field dolls, but I let the girls play with the Breyer dolls.

 

They could not believe their eyes! 

I simply sat back at my desk and let them have at it.

And did they ever!

I only had one miniature table, so Susie flipped over a horse trough and turned it into one for her doll.

I was surprised when I saw this  horse and rider pair. I knew Kate had carefully removed Tahoe from the shelf (I'd taught both girls how to do that), but I thought she'd put him back after adding her name to his tag.

I didn't realize that she'd added a rider to his back and was using him as part of her scene.

But I didn't say anything and continued to let her play with him. (And she is very careful with my model horses.) When she moved on to another model, I quietly set him aside.

The play was very creative and, Tahoe-surprise aside, I enjoyed watching the girls create and make up stories as they played.

We all took a break to grab breakfast and get ready for the day, and then we headed into the sewing room.

It was time to perform surgery on Mercy.

Stay 'tooned!

More from the Boxes: Horses & Dolls

Although I do not have  a lot of them, I love the horse and doll sets that Breyer puts out. (And I learned a long time ago to leave them as is in their boxes - retacking up the horses is very difficult.) Several horse and doll sets were tucked away in those big boxes in my closets.

The Spanish Flamenco Horse & Rider set was released in 2009. Only 2500 sets were made. I've never taken the doll out of the box but the next time I have the set out of the tub, I'm going to turn the doll's left hand around to a proper human position!

This Starlight and Carole Cross Country set is difficult to find. It is also historically important as Carole is the first Black doll produced by Breyer. 

The Brenda Breyer Gift Set was an early horse and rider set produced by Breyer. Made from 1980 - 1985, it came with a bareback pad, bridle, and Brenda Breyer. (That doll's elbow makes me feel a little queasy.)

Lippizaners are one of my favorite breeds and I was really glad when I found this set, complete with all its tack and doll on eBay.  5,000 were made in 2001.

Those who've read the blog for any length of time know that I collect circus horses. Bimbo may not be a horse, but I did watch the old Disney movies of Circus Boy when I was a child. Corky's face was modeled after actor and singer Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees, and I grew up watching that show when I was young, too. This set is not too hard to find.

In the 1990s, Hartland re-released a Dale Evans set with Buttermilk and Bullet. 

I bought that set along with Roy Rogers and Trigger from long time hobbyist and artist Sheryl Leisure, now a fellow Hoosier who moved to Indiana to work for Stone Horses. 

I think I have a few more horse and doll sets around the house, but they are in places that are difficult for me to get to. The next time I do a major cleaning, sorting, and rearranging of my collection, I'll take some photos of those and share them here. That's a good winter project so it will be a while.

But, I'm only about halfway through what was in the boxes I did go through, so stay 'tooned for those!

Little Lynn Prepares to Sew

In December there was a new challenge in the hobby - barn raising! Called the Bridle Tree Barn Raising Challenge,  people worked on building a barn or a part of a barn. It was so much fun to watch and see what people could do. Many shared tips and suggestions that I filed away for when I make my own barn.

Since I had been wanting to make a mini barn for Little Lynn and Circus Girl, I ordered the 1:144 scale barn from Sinny's Mini Art that had been used by several people doing the barn raising challenge. (Recognize it? It's a copy of Breyer's traditional scale barn.) I knew I would not have time to build a barn in December, but I do plan to tackle it later this winter.

Going to Sinny's online was going down a rabbit hole. There were so many neat things to buy! I poked around a bit at the premade items, and then I began looking at kits. Those are much like the barn - you put the things together yourself.

This was a must-have and went into my cart along with the barn. After all, Little Lynn is supposed to be me at 17, and I was sewing my own clothes at that age. My doll NEEDED some sewing supplies. (This is called rationalization. Haha!)

Unlike the barn, I did not set this kit aside but began working on it shortly after it arrived.

I began by preparing the labels for the bolts - cutting them out and carefully gluing them to the ends of each wooden piece.

Next, I ironed each piece of fabric (I was delighted that the print on two of them was in scale and would look realistic.)

Using the wooden bolt to measure, I  practice wrapped the fabric around the bolt to make sure there would be no loose ends or that the fabric would not be hanging over the ends.

When I was satisfied that I'd gotten the fit right, I unrolled them and then rerolled them onto the bolts, gluing each layer to be sure that the fabric did not shift.

I am so happy with how the bolts of fabric turned out - they are in scale and look like what you really do find when shopping for fabrics.

Next I tackled the teeny, tiny tape measure. I wanted it to look like my real tape measure, but the directions said to cut it out, cut in half, and glue the sides together, then fold it or roll it up.

Mine is made of cloth and is usually in a pile on the table like this when I am sewing. Could I make that happen with the paper tape measure?

I decided to try curling the paper just as I would some curling ribbon when making a bow - by gently sliding the paper across the blade of my scissors. I practiced on the edges of the tape measure that I had cut off before trying it on the real deal.

Success! Little Lynn's tape measure looks very much like my own.

The last step in the directions was to paint the scissors handles black. I looked back at the photo on the package and didn't like how that looked.

Besides, all my scissors, rotary cutter, and shears are Fiskars, and they have orange handles. 

I decided to leave the scissors as is and, if I change my mind and decide to paint them, then they will be orange to match what I really use.

Now, if only Little Lynn had a sewing machine, she could make a new costume for Circus Girl!

A Recommendation from Anne

Recently, Anne Field wrote a blog post about her "doll army."  In it, she showed a stacked storage set she used to store her dolls and props. It had a handle on top and could easily be carried to shows where it would unstack and you had everything you needed without worrying about where it was or if it were protected from damage.

I've got seven Breyer dolls tucked into the drawer of a tub

and three Native Regalia dolls tucked away in another. The rest of my props and things have been jumbled together in a box, and whenever I wanted to use something, I have had to go through that entire box looking for it. 

There was no organization and worse, no protection, which is especially important now that I have Little Lynn and Circus Girl.

So, I messaged Anne and asked where she'd gotten her storage containers. She was happy to share - Target! I ordered three sets (they come in pairs) thinking I'd use two for the dolls and props, and then keep the other for sewing supplies or in case I bought more dolls and props. (A distinct possibility - talk about a rabbit hole!)

They arrived yesterday and I could not wait to begin organizing.

Little Lynn and Circus Girl are in the top tier along with an empty mini storage box. 

Tier two has props for scene set ups. 

The third one has folding chairs and Breyer accessories plus a doll stand.

More Breyer accessories plus several pairs of chaps that Anne made me. (And an extra pair from an old Brenda Breyer.)

In the fifth tier I put my oldest Mini Whinnies, the things I'd made to decorate a Christmas tree scene, and a Hallmark Barbie ornament from 2007 that I came across when decorating my own Christmas tree.

When I pulled it out of my Christmas ornament tub, I thought of my Pawnee Stables days and how I used to use my Barbie things as a child for the stable I had created.

Wouldn't it be fun to do a scene of Little Lynn having her own miniature Pawnee Stables? So instead of packing the Barbie House ornament up with the rest of my Christmas things, I put it in with my dolls and props.

 

Each set comes with one blue tray. It's removable which makes the storage set versatile and even more usable.

Recognize these things? The sixth and last tier holds the items from the 2020 Breyer Advent Calendar.

Thanks, for the tip, Anne. While I don't (yet) have a doll army like you, I do have enough things to make purchasing this storage system worthwhile. I feel much better knowing that my dolls and props are secure and safe, and that I will be able to find things when I need them.

Now, to go order three sets for my sewing and embroidery supplies...

Setting Up the Two Day Photo Session

Since I had Anne's beautiful things to use, I wanted to have a nice backdrop for my performance photos. Knowing that outdoor photos can turn out really nice, I took a couple of things out onto the patio. It was a beautiful day and the temperatures were in the 60s. 

This patio table would work nicely - it was a good size, at a height that would not kill my back, and my neighbors' bushes were far enough away to make a nice screen behind the photos as well as not look out of scale to the model horse and dolls.

I started setting up and immediately had a problem - the wind. While it was not really windy, or even breezy, there was just enough air motion that it was knocking my things over. That was not going to work!

Across the street from our home is a park with a nice picnic pavilion on the lake. I could set up on the tables that were in it - would that work?

But I could tell right away that the houses would show.

No matter what angle I tried, I still had homes in the background. Plus, it was windier on the lake than it was in my own back yard. I was going to have to set up indoors at home.

I walked back home and began packing up the mess I had left on the craft table.

I wasn't sure what models I would be using, so I brought several likely ones downstairs.

Soon I was taking over the living room - rearranging furniture and clearing tables so that I could have all my things out and easily accessed. 

It's a good thing our kids no longer live at home and need to practice the piano!

I dragged Grandma Honeywell's antique table over next to the player piano along with a chair for me to sit in while I worked on tacking up models and placing them where I wanted them to be.

Setting up an entry using flags that I have tucked away - each one represents a place someone in my family has visited.

And then I started snapping away...

105 photos later, I was tired, my fingers and eyes hurt, and I had to stop for the day.