Aurora's Summer Citrus Float !

So annoyed. All this sewing and creating so I won’t eat or think so much about eating … and I gained a pound ! Ah, well. Maybe I should start bench-pressing my sewing machines, work my way up to power-lifting the refrigerator instead. Run laps around the house, in hopes of having a few more ideas and a few fewer pounds.

Sweated like anything reorganizing the pantry. Food got stuffed in there any ole way, and it was impossible to tell what we had and didn’t have. Like most arduous tasks we all put off, it took less than a half hour, which included wiping down dusty shelves. Been meaning to do that for months ! Now, when we go out for groceries, we can tell what we need, instead of buying two more cans of cream of mushroom soup. And doing that pushed lunch back, too ! After lunch, I swept the Study- not quite as sweaty, but it was active work !

I also sewed - here’s Aurora’s new dress ! It’s a slightly modified Hospital Gown, of course. It’s a bit harder to see that there’s a seam right down center front, as the cutaway from my shorts set wasn’t wide enough anywhere to put the pattern on a fold. Took me a while to match it up, and it is a bit off, but not bad. I haven’t shopped for DP&M clothes for days. And I used some packing foam as the soles for her sandals, just hand-sewed tube-straps to them. Then glued fun foam to the bottoms to cover up where I sewed the straps. Worked out pretty well, they don’t fall off when I pick her up. I’m getting better with shoes !

With all this creativity saving us megabucks, I decided to splurge a bit. Target.com had the DP&M Merida doll from Brave (I really need to watch that movie !) for $25.44. Cheap ! TRU’s lowest price I’ve ever seen for any DP&M has been $40. And with my Red Card, I get free shipping and a 5% discount, which took off most of the tax. Over what I would have paid at TRU just in the store – not counting shipping – I saved a little over $17 !

Oddly, only two DP&M dolls are that price, Merida and Cinderella. Oh, so tempted to get Cinderella, too, just for her issue dress. Once I have Merida, I only lack Cinderella and Ariel’s gowns ! But I didn’t want to spend so much. Part of why I could justify Merida is that I have six bux in my PineCone account to put towards her. All the other characters are anywhere from $40. to $57. ! I have no idea why Belle is more expensive than Tiana, from what I see on eBay, Tiana’s a lot more rare !

The site says she could be here as early as Wednesday, but we know how my luck with packages runs. I’ll be surprised if she’s here by Friday, as I kind of expect her next Monday, especially since she’s arriving via UPS. We shall see. Hm. Wonder if I have very many plaids in my fabric stash…?

(grin) I decided to get Merida, even though I have no idea if I like her character, some time ago, when I had a chance to see both her and Ariel on a TRU shelf. At the time, I wasn’t sure I wanted a redhead, but I like having four dolls, and since two Belles is ridiculous….  Ariel is lovely, but Merida has a different look, not like, say Cinderella with different eyes and hair. It isn’t just the freckles, but I loved those, too. It may be the packaging, but it seems to me that Merida has a unique head mold, and I always love having a different look in the crowd. It’s what put the final nail in the coffin for Ever After High for me – do any of the girl dolls have a different head mold ? To me, they all look alike. For it being a line extension of Monster High, Mattel really missed one of the chief things that made MH truly unique. Each character had his or her own signature look, and it started with his or her face. EAH didn’t have that unique quality, and frankly, they all looked like Bridezillas Kera to me. Yikes.