Custom Mini Blythe – Violet's Adventure in Blythe-land

I’ve kind of always wanted a Blythe, I don’t really know why but I just really like them XD

There is an advert on TV here at the moment which features some puppets that look a lot like them too and James’ Dad is convinced that I look like the main one, it’s so cute!

They’ve always been out of my price though so when I saw Blythe/Littlest Pet Shop Cross over in a toy shop for $20 I thought it was a golden opportunity to indulge and give it a make over 😀

This is how I turned this…

Violet's Blythe

Into this! 😀 😀 😀

Violet's Blythe

So first thing I did was give her face a make over. The make up she came with was all orangy and yuck so I used black acrylic paint and gave her some eyeliner with wing ends.Violet's Blythe

I used this pink glitter paint to give her eyeshadow and subtle blush. I did her lipstick with my favorite nail polish! I undid her hair fluffed it out a bit to see how much volume I could get.

Violet's Blythe

Looking better!

Violet's Blythe

I did a little test run to see if I could dye her hair and as it turned out it was really easy!

Violet's Blythe

After sectioning up the top area which would later be used for the hime pouf I combed through her hair.

Violet's Blythe

Using the same dye I use for my own hair I added the pink gradient. But instead of washing it out, I left it to dry over night.

Violet's Blythe

After brushing through the next day it was all soft, bouncy and exactly the way I wanted! 😀

Violet's Blythe

I experimented with a couple of ways to put her hair up, at first I was going to use a rat inside made of tissue paper but it was too hard to keep in place.

Violet's Blythe

Not working…

Violet's Blythe

So after tying the rest of her hair back and considering the fact that she’s a doll and it doesn’t really matter if her hair sustains long term damage I just teased/backcombed the hell out of it!

Violet's Blythe

After hair spraying the crap out of it this is what I got…

Violet's Blythe

Side:

Violet's Blythe

And back:

Violet's Blythe

And with her hair out…

Violet's Blythe

Last thing I needed to work out with her hair was put some bouncy curls in! I covered her up in some thick paper towels so nothing was damaged.

Violet's Blythe

Then using disposable chopsticks I curled up her hair and held it all together with an elastic. After everything was secure I spent about 10 minutes with a hair dryer heating up, cooling down, heating up, cooling down, heating up, cooling down etc  ^_^ This was enough to reset her hair without melting it. Very similar to styling synthetic hair pieces.

Violet's Blythe

So the result of all that work was this:

Violet's Blythe

And from the back:

Violet's Blythe

At that point it was time to work on the finishing touches. Little details like painting her white stockings etc make a big difference to the end result. I thought about doing something with her little shoes but couldn’t decide in the end so I left them.

Violet's Blythe

I stitched up a little dress out of scraps and added some hair flowers. BAM! Mini Violet 😀

Violet's Blythe

Then it was just a matter of painting her dog to match. I coated him in white first…

Violet's Blythe

Then added pink sparkly details and repainted his whole face to look less sad/creepy and more happy/adorable.

Violet's Blythe

And there you have it! I couldn’t be happier with her make over! I think she’s going to be a great edition to this blog too because she’s looks better in photos than the real Violet XD

Violet's Blythe

I asked James to take a bunch of photos of her with his new lens so pic spam ahead!

Violet's Blythe

I made this little hat for her too, tutorial coming soon!

Violet's Blythe

Who wouldn’t want a picnic like this?

Violet's Blythe

Looking longingly out my window at the gel stars that I stare at all day from behind my computer.

Violet's Blythe

Very photogenic!

Violet's Blythe

So all in all I thoroughly enjoyed my first doll make over experience. I don’t know if I’m completely addicted but having a little army of them would be pretty sweet!

Violet's Blythe

What do you guys think? Did I do a good job on my mini Blythe?

How To Make A Custom Mousepad

This is how I made a cute little mouse pad for my Mum’s computer ^_^

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

What you need:

  • Paper
  • Pens
  • Clear contact
  • Scissors
  • Sheet of foam
  • Thin double sided tape

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Firstly you need a design for your mousepad! I decided to draw my own but you could use a picture from a magazine or what ever you want really!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

First I inked a rough sketch…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Then added some colours…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Some shading…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Thicker lines…

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And in about 10min my picture was finished 😀 So next step is to cut out the drawing in the shape you want the finished product to be and get your other materials ready.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

You will need to use the really thin kind of double sided tape for this part because if you use the squishy thick kind your mousepad will be bumpy *_*

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

So place a bunch of strips on the back of your paper:

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And stick it carefully down to the foam. This is the thin kind of foam that you can buy at the craft store in the scrap booking supplies section.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Cut the felt out in the same shape. I decided to use it as a border for my drawing so I left a couple of millimeters gap but you don’t have to.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Next remove your contact from the backing sheet.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Carefully stick your drawing to it and press out any air bubbles.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Cut off any excess leaving around 2cm hanging off the edges.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Snip the overhang every few centimeters.

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

Fold it around the back!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

And that’s it 😀 Super simple to do but very pretty and effective!

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

What do you think?

Tutorial on Making a Mousepad

I imagine you guys probably wouldn’t want a Violet-themed one but you could use something personal XD I think I spend so much time around my computer that I want it to look pretty!

 

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Making Cute Face Washers Or Wash Cloths

Aaaand continuing in the series of making house hold things a bit prettier today we have face washers!

What you need:

  • Face washer
  • Lace
  • Embroidery thread
  • Pretty fabric

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

First cut out your pretty fabric into a nice design, I chose two hearts.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Thread your needle with matching embroidery thread.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Place the hearts in the corner of the towel.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Stitch them in place ^_^

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

Now using the embroidery thread start stitching the lace around the edges.

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

I decided to do a simple running stitch but you could do something much more elaborate 😀

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

All the way around the edge and you’re finished! This is how mine turned out:

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

It’s nice and easy to make and still very pretty. This is a something that looks really effective but is still easy enough to do that I wouldn’t be put off from doing it to all of the ones in my house XD

Cute Face Washer Tutorial

I figure that if I start doing little things like this now, by the time I actually can afford to buy a house I’ll finally have nice stuff to put in it XD