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Plushie Girl

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These days, I’m not much of a “plushie girl.” When sales of plushies (what we oldies simply used to call stuffed toys) are advertised on my Hello Kitty social network, I no longer get this compelling need to buy each and every one I see.

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Buried in a mountain of dolls (Kittymama at 17)

Collecting plushies used to be de rigeur for teenagers of my era. Back in the days of my youth, it was fashionable for young men a-courting to give their beloved gifts of stuffed animals. Flowers were okay but they wilt so soon and nothing said “I♥U” better than a  cute stuffed toy. I had a rather large collection of stuffed toys, most of them donated by my generous father, the rest given by friends and, ehrm, “would-be” friends.

As I grew older, moved homes, got married and settled down into a life of domesticity, most of my stuffed toys were given away to friends with small children. Others were sold at my garage sales, their beneficiaries extremely ecstatic at scoring plushies in excellent condition for throw-away prices. And still others were given to charity. I have kept the ones with the most sentimental value (except for the ones given by ex-boyfriends, as a sign of respect to A ) but I have had to stop adding to them in recent years. Aside from collecting dust and occupying major space in my cramped home, it seemed such a waste to keep buying dolls when I do not have a daughter to enjoy them with. Well, Alphonse is another story, but my husband doesn’t want to encourage him too much with Hello Kitty.

And so, while I drool and salivate over the extremely interesting variety of dolls and plushies (particularly the new lines of Hello Kitty stuffed dolls) available in the market, I stop myself from acquiring those that do not belong to the Dress-Me Kitty (DM Kitty) family or the Hello Kitty Build-A-Bear (HK BAB) series.

Pretty babies all in a row

Pretty babies all in a row

As such, I only have six stuffed dolls in rotation inside the house right now — three of the Dress-Me Kitty varieties and three HK  BAB stuffed dolls. Of the six, three are white, one is pink, and two are tan.  The tan ones get the most mileage as they are more resistant to dirt, aging, and excessive cudding. The rest get kissed every once in a while or have their fur brushed. Of course, the best time I have with them is when I play dress-up and change their clothes (but never while Alphonse is watching because he sometimes tries to fit into doll clothes and then gets mad when they are too small for him. But that’s another story altogether).  :-)

Build-A-Bear dolls have a wider range of clothing available to them because aside from their own line of fashion (see here), they also fit in infants’ clothing (small, for infants 0-3 months, see here)  Dress-Me Kitties’ smaller size work against them in the doll fashion world. Not even preemie clothing fit well. Also, aside from the difficulty in finding Dress-Me fashions, these are generally more expensive and less well-made than their BAB counterparts.

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(Original Dress-Me Fashions)

Perhaps buoyed by my enthusiasm, at once, well-meaning friends and relatives came to the rescue with gifts (like this complete set of Miriam College doll uniforms from my sister) or offers of well-priced doll clothes for sale (from my friend Nancy). (See pictures below.)

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Then too, searching all kinds of toys stores yielded new surprises. I found great fashions for small dolls at the local Animaland shops.

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Best of all, serious shopping skills can be a great boon, amply rewarded with the fact that Baby Born and Baby Alive clothing and accessories fit DMKitty to a (K)T! 

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Baby Born girl shoes

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Yet, nothing says resourcefulness and creativity (not to mention sheer desperation) than this: a tissue holder (a toilet paper roll holder) converted into a pullover hoodie! By snipping out the circular bottom part (the part where the toilet paper roll rests), reshaping it into an oddly-shaped pocket, and sewing it on the front, I was able to make a regular pink hoodie fit for rainy days. I found this at a knick-knacks store at a time when all my doll had were hand-me-downs from my sister’s Coraline stuffed doll. See what a little imagination can do?

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I hope this gives you inspiration to dress your dolls too. Sometimes, we all need a to be a little kookier to survive these trying times. Fun is good, expecially if it’s dress-up fun.



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