Halloween Party!

Strawberry Shortcake and friends went traveling over the summer and never returned. So now some Littlest Pet Shop Blythe dolls have moved into the Hello Kitty dollhouse. Tonight they're having a Halloween party to celebrate the holiday and new friends.

One of our new friends, Capucine of Capucine and Ninour blog and Cherie et sa fine equipe blogs has given us some amazing Halloween gifts, just perfect for the Halloween party. First, look at this adorable Rilakkuma Halloween cake with matching chocolate pumpkin lollipops:

Mmm, everyone agrees that everything looks really tasty. Then one girl thinks she has seen something across the room:

Ooh, maybe she saw a ghost? Or a zombie? ;-)

Meanwhile, upstairs the other girls are preparing their costumes for the party, all handmade by Capucine. They look so good in these cute outfits that one friend insists on taking a group photo:

Happy Halloween!!! Thank you to Capucine for providing the delicious food and costumes for the party. Visit her two blogs to see darling, funny stories in miniature. Next time I'll show you the other amazing minis this talented artist sent. Until then, keep having fun! xoxo Jennifer

Miniature Gifts, Guinea Pigs, and More!

Hi Everyone! I think you all know how much I love guinea pigs, especially my little Rufus, right? Sarah K., aka The Mama Pirate, of sayruhk.com blog knew I did, and she emailed and asked if I could provide a good home for a dollhouse miniature guinea pig. :-) Sarah's downsizing her miniatures collection and has consolidated her blogs. You may have followed her previous blogs, including A Little Dollhouse and The Mama Pirate. You can check out her new blog to see her work on finishing her dollhouse.

It looks like the new guinea pig from Sarah (made by Magda of 1717mk on Etsy) is going to live with Strawberry Shortcake:

Here's a close-up photo of the sweet little guy. Isn't he cute?

The real question is, will he be able to get along with the others? It looks like he might have to throw his weight around to get to the food:

Sarah generously sent some other mini treasures with the precious guinea pig:

The lid comes off of that metal teapot, and the frames will be so useful. The needlepoint rug is gorgeous! Already, the cute teddy bear book, which has pictures inside too, has found its way inside Dad's Dollhouse mouse house:

And all the other cute items will find their spots over time. Thank you so much for your thoughtful gifts, including the sweet guinea pig, Sarah! I really appreciate them. And thank you for following my blog too!

Speaking of guinea pigs, little Rufus was the lucky winner of a blog giveaway hosted by Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola, the three guinea pigs who write the blog posts at Cavy Savvy blog. To celebrate their 300th blog post, they gave away two prizes. Rufus won the second prize, a bag of Oxbow Organic Barley Biscuits, which he loved. Thanks Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola! You're the best, and your blog is so fun! Buffy, Broccoli, and Lola do a lot of product and fresh food reviews, plus they educate humans on how to care for their guinea pigs--nice!

Everything has shut down here in Portland, Oregon since a big snow storm hit us a few days ago. We have at least six inches of snow with a layer of frozen rain on top. I'm so grateful to have greeting card design, miniature making, and blogging to keep me busy while I'm housebound. I hope the rest of you aren't too buried in snow. ;-) I took this photo before we got more snow plus ice--yikes!

Finally, I can hardly wait to show you the handmade Valentine's Day gifts Jane of Minifanticus blog has sent me. You're going to be amazed! I'll show you later this week, but before that, there may be one more post. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Mavis Mouse and the Homemade German Delicacies

Mavis mouse has been in the kitchen again.

This time she made a giant feast of German delicacies. There's a selection of fancy meat dishes, fine wine, sliced dark bread, potato salad, and cucumber salad. Yummy!

Looks like the German egg salad is even more enticing than her other favorite food--cheese! ;-)

Good thing Mavis Mouse received such beautiful foods and fancy wine (everything but the cheese plates) from her good friend Mieke of Petite Victorian Rose blog. :-) Mieke made all the foods herself--wow! Thank you so much, Mieke!

Notice the hutch in Mavis Mouse's kitchen? I made it from a Chrysnbon kit after procrastinating for a year or two. I just finished it last night so I could show Mieke's beautiful gifts. Yay!

In addition to all of the homemade German delicacies, Mieke also sent a gorgeous handmade table runner that has become the perfect rug in Mavis Mouse's bedroom:

Last but not least, Mieke also sent this gorgeous handmade dress and purse set for Orange Blossom, one of my vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls:

There's a tiny red butterfly button on the front of the dress--so whimsical and wonderful. Thank you so much for your sweet and gorgeous gifts, Mieke, and for your precious gift of friendship! I feel so lucky and grateful. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Happy Halloween, Strawberry Shortcake Style!

Strawberry Shortcake decided to dress as a witch for Halloween this year...

And I decided to dress as Strawberry Shortcake!

Me dressed as Strawberry Shortcake

It's difficult to tell from this photo (which is how I intended it!), but this was a skimpy outfit with tight bust, thigh-high stockings, and a skirt that barely covered my bottom. This was definitely outside of my comfort zone, but I had such a fun night!

Hubby dressed as a hippy

Hubby and I went to a Halloween party with my favorite local Portland band, the Midnight Serenaders. Most guests were dressed in chic black and white 1920s-style outfits, but there were a few of us with colorful costumes! I was even recognized as Strawberry Shortcake by a younger woman who used to have a Strawberry Shortcake doll when she was a child. One of the tell-tale signs is the green and white striped stockings, worn by all of the dolls in the series. ;-)

Hope you have a great Halloween! Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Hello Kitty Dollhouse Review!

Strawberry Shortcake and Lemon Meringue are getting ready for a big party. All of their friends are invited, so it should be a blast! Strawberry Shortcake is visualizing how much fun she's going to have with all of her friends.

Meanwhile, Lemon Meringue is putting the last-minute touches on the party food. With so many guests expected, there has to be lots of tasty food!

This is the Hello Kitty dollhouse I styled for these and my other recent Strawberry Shortcake scenes. It's a wooden dollhouse with nine repositional decal stickers, wooden furniture, and wooden Hello Kitty and her twin sister Mimmy figures. It weighs approximately 15 pounds (6.8 kg), which makes it easy to pick up and carry. I haven't used any of the decals or the figures, but I am using most of the furniture (the pink and purple pieces with Hello Kitty on them).

The Hello Kitty dollhouse comes together easily with screws and pre-drilled holes. Once you "build" the dollhouse, which only took me 30 minutes, its dimensions are 24.5 inches (62 cm) tall by 18 inches (46 cm) wide by 12 inches (30.5 cm) deep. It works great with my 1:12 scale miniature furniture.

The front door, which is 6 inches (15 cm) tall, stays closed with a magnet, which is really nice. I love the heart-shaped cut-outs in the roof and front door, and the window frames are cute too! Here you can see the inside of the house with stickers, figures, and furniture:

I bought the Hello Kitty dollhouse at ToysRus (I got these two dollhouse photos from their web site too). It's on sale for under $45. Not only is this house great for kids, it's fun for adults too, at least this one! :-) What do you think--do you like it as much as I do? Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Strawberry Shortcake in the Bedroom

How's that for a title, eh? ;-) Seriously, though, last time I showed some photos of my vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls in their newly-decorated Hello Kitty dollhouse, I only showed the downstairs (kitchen and living room). Now here are some additional dolls in the upstairs bedroom. First, Orange Blossom, who you met last time, with a new teddy bear I made:

Next, it's Strawberry Shortcake herself! This doll is a special "sleeper" doll (her eyes open and close):

Finally (for today), there's Cafe Ole. She was a Mexican doll in the Strawberry Shortcake international doll series:

The girls had a sleep-over (slumber party). Cafe Ole is still in her nightgown and cap, trying to wake up. :-) Don't those big fuzzy slippers look comfortable?

This doll stuff is a blast! I've had so much fun decorating the house, gathering the dolls, and finding clothes for them. I was thrilled to see your comments last time. So many of you remembered these dolls, and even if you didn't, they seemed to resonate with you. If you have/had these dolls, now or previously, which are/were your favorites? Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer

Let Me Introduce You...

...to my vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls in their new Hello Kitty dollhouse!

Plates, spoons, and tiny vintage desserts by IDreamofMini on Etsy.

I was never much of a "doll person" until I saw this line of vintage dolls from 1979. And then, of course, they HAD to have a house, so I put this one together in a flash and had so much fun decorating it! It felt like when I built a dollhouse for my Barbie dolls from cardboard boxes at age twelve. :-)

I'll tell you more about the dollhouse and show you more of the dolls in future posts. This is just a taste. ;-) Hey, but where is Strawberry Shortcake? Don't worry, I'll introduce her very soon. :-)

So this is the new interest I mentioned. BTW, I recently received some amazing miniature gifts in the mail from Jane of MiniFanaticus. I'll show them next. Until next time, keep it fun! xoxo Jennifer