Tiny Tim Gunn

Mattel came out with a line of Barbies styled by Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame.  While I do intend to buy the mattel dolls as money permits, I couldn't imagine having Barbies styled by Tim but no Tim!  So I decided to make one. 
First I looked through EVERY listing for an action figure head on Ebay to find one that would be suitable.  I think I really lucked out when I found this guy:

 

It's hard to find an action figure head that isn't scowling (because wars and action and stuff are serious business) so this guy's almost near half smile was a great find.

Next, Tiny Tim Gunn needed a body.  Luckily, I have a lot of headless bodies around.  This one was, I believe, a Hannah Montana character, long ago beheaded. 


 
The existing neck on the body was actually too long for the action head, and I didn't want to take a blade to the head since it was new, so I used my dremel to shave the body's neck down to shoulder level.  Very quick and easy.

 I needed a way to attach the two, so I formed a neck post out of some Billy Mays' power putty (it's a two part putty that you blend and then shape and it hardens.  I cut off a glob, blended it, crammed half of it in the neck hole and shaped the top part into a shaft.  I put the action head on top of it to mold it into the correct shape then removed the head and let the new post dry).

While waiting for the new post to dry, I painted the action head's hair greyish-white.  I may need to go slightly darker, but will see at the end. 

Next I added some glasses I had made previously,

And suddenly he's starting to take on a real Tim Gunn feel! 

Now he had to borrow some ill-fitting Ken clothes, but I'm going to do some shopping for him as soon as I can, so for now he's just going to Make It Work. 

I already feel like he's judging what I'm wearing. 

So how do I follow people now?

I can't find the follow button on the new blogger interface.  Someone help me, I'm e-tarded.

Great Thrift Store find

Sometimes in thrifting you find objects that make you wonder, "What on earth were these people thinking".  Other times you find objects that make you exclaim, "I know what they were thinking and what they were thinking was AWESOME".  This is one such find. 
Meet the Debby Doll  Clothes Knitter.

When I first saw the box I thought it was a neat idea--I love anything that encourages craftiness at a young age and hey, I wouldn't mind learning to knit on a spool.  So I dropped the 1.98 and opened her as soon as I got to the car. 

 Well hey, Debby!  Now clearly the previous owner never quite got the hang of spool knitting.  But they were kind enough to leave both spools in the package and leave Deb in her super sweet lemon jumpsuit AND go-go boots.  She had kind of the typical hollow barbie knock off feel to her, until I stripped her. 

 Check out that articulation!!!  Articulation at the shoulders, neck, waist, hips, knees, ankles, wrists, elbows, upper arms AND lower arms.  DAMN!  And I guarantee this was a cheap doll when it was made (the hand mold is very cheesy and badly done), why can't they make cheapo dolls like this now? 

 Now her pupils are not even.  But that is easily fixed.  Debby has earned a spot in my collection just for being such a surprise.  Now I have to scour ebay to see if I can find any more little Debbys. 

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love thrift stores. 

Amazon.com is clearing out LIV dolls and accessories

While looking for a play set that my 7 year old wants, I came across some Liv dolls/accessories on sale for 5-6 each.  They even have "black" Alexis, who is a great skin match for a lot of the brown barbies.  Go!

Another sale

http://www.gilt.com/sale/children/barbie-7975
Gilt group has a sale on Barbie DOTW.  I have ordered from them before and they have good prices.  A word of warning, though--they process orders and ship them very slowly.  The last thing I ordered (I believe it was Grace Kelly) came about a month later and the box was badly packed so the box was damaged.  It didn't matter to me, but if you're an NRFB person, you might want to consider that.  Happy shopping!

Hurry! Cheap princesses!

Good today (6-18) only, the online Disney store has 4 of its classic princesses on sale for 4.99.  Even if you don't need a princess, these dolls have articulated elbows and wrists and the old style click-bend knees.  http://www.disneystore.com/donalds-daily-deals/mn/1001262/
They have Tiana, Ariel, Rapunzel and Cinderella.  Go look!

Ru Paul for president!

Integrity Toys' RuPauls are on sale right now--http://www.integritytoys.com/shop20/home.php?cat=12
Thanks to the post on the doll page for the heads up!