Review Time! Maru and Friends Winter Wear for Dolls, Part 1

   On my birthday, on the 10th, it was a nice sunny day that wasn't very much beyond cool. We went without coats all day. The next day it was very cold and snowing madly! While you may think I was disappointed, I wasn't. I had been hoping for snow, because I had a bunch of beautiful winter doll fashions to photograph! I was lucky enough to receive these wintry fashions from Maru and Friends for review, but as usual, you can expect my honest opinion on them.

  I took some of the pictures for this review on the day before my birthday. (Another nice day). I was afraid we wouldn't get the snow that had been predicted, but kept being moved farther ahead in the weather predictions. I wanted to take some pictures just in case things started to bud out and look too green and springy. As I said, I needn't have worried. It was just as well though, because even though we got snow the day after my birthday, it wasn't sticking or compiling enough for wintery pictures until later in the afternoon, when Ken had to leave for work. I wouldn't have had time to drive to somewhere picturesque because Ken needed the car. So my snowy pictures had to be done right here in my yard, which is a hard place to photograph anything larger than a Gene or something  similar. There's too much unpicturesque stuff always getting in the shot, like my neighbours' ugly fence that looks like it should be behind a convenience store, the houses across the street. my own siding, or parked car, or the barbecue grill and patio furniture. I like things to look in scale with the dolls. For these pictures I would have liked a snowy forest. Let's see how I did, and see these lovely winter things.

  Before I start the actual review, let me tell you that if you are interested in any of these outfits, or the dolls for that matter, Maru and Friends is offering free shipping on all orders, (within the first 48 states of the United States), from now until the end of the month, (March 2022.)

  I was sent four winter outfits. I say 'outfits', but two are outfits, and two are coat and hat, (and boots) sets. The Mini Pals outfits also fit Little Darlings dolls. Here are my girls all together, with their new gear on.

  From left to right, here are Maru and Friends dolls Mary Mary Quite Contrary, Pepper, Maru, and Joy, wearing Icicles in the Snow, Snowflakes, Pea Coat, and Cache Chic. This was the day before my birthday.

This is the unsnowy day. It was still chilly though.

Snowflakes, Icicles in the Snow, and Cache Chic.

We'll start with Snowflakes and Cache Chic. These are both Mini Pal outfits, although Snowflakes is also available for the larger 20" Maru and Friends dolls. 

Cache Chic is a full outfit. It includes a white turtle neck, a pair of leopard print stretch pants, a knitted capelet, and grey faux suede boots with folded down tops. 

The knitted capelet has a snuggly faux fur collar and diamond design.

And this is the day after my birthday. It was snowing like crazy and freezing cold!

It closes at the collar with a plastic snap. 

It's very soft, and I like the look of it.

It's thin enough to be in scale for a doll this size. It's not bulky on her.

Maru and Friends clothes are always nice quality. Look at the detail in the weave. It's so nice.

Her white turtle neck is a stretchy nylon type fabric. The pants are a soft stretchy fabric.

The shirt closes in the back with plastic snaps. I was glad to see snaps instead of Velcro. I hate Velcro for most things. With doll clothes you always have to worry about the clothes getting stuck in the Velcro and becoming snagged. Another thing I always think of is, kids these days don't learn to button or snap their own clothes by buttoning and snapping doll clothes like we did back in the old days. So it was nice to see snaps on doll clothes for several reasons. But, I had a terrible time getting the plastic snaps snapped. Maybe it was due to my eyesight, but the metal ones on Icicles in the Snow snapped fine. Just saying. I find plastic snaps are never as easy to snap. No idea why.

  The pants have an elastic waist, and a sewn seam down the front of the legs.

I'm not much for animal prints. I could do without the leopard print. I guess it's popular though.

  The boots are great. They look really good, and are an easy on and off. There is a faint texture on the bottom for realism.

The boots have a Velcro closure on the side.

Icicles in the Snow is actually more my thing. It includes a soft knit dress, white tights, white boots with faux fur trim at the tops, and a head band that matches the dress.

The dress is very soft, and is a thin knit, also in scale with a doll this size.

The dress has ribbed cuffs on the short sleeves, and a cute scalloped edge on the collar and placket.

The skirt part is a separate piece, sewn onto the upper half of the dress.

The dress closes in the back with metal snaps.

  There is a set of cute heart shaped buttons on the placket too.

They're so tiny, and are a really nice detail.

Remember these buttons for the next half of this review.

They're so tiny!

The tights are knitted tights, in a knit that is also to scale with the doll. The boots have faux fur trim at the tops, and the faint texture on the soles.

 

  The boots have a Velcro closure on each side, making them easy to get on and off.

  The last piece of this outfit is a headband that matches the dress.

  This headband looks cute on, but getting it on was aggravating. It was so tight it was hard to get on the doll's head and in place around the hair without it popping off. It would have been easy enough if I had been able to just slip it over her neck and just push it back. But this doll has a wig with bangs, which I didn't want to shove back. I'm not sure how a kid would do with this tight elastic headband. For kids it might be better to have a snap closure on it. Of course, the thing about elastic is, it can make the head band stay on better...or be so tight it snaps off. This one does stay on well, once it's in place.

  One thing you might have really noticed from the snowy day pictures of this outfit: There's no coat. Boots, yes. But no coat. So she looks a little chilly in the snowy pictures. We'll talk about that in Part 2 as well.

  That's it for part one. Part two coming soon.

The Latest Bin Store Doll Goodies

   Ken and I went to Indiana last week to see Ivy and watch an opera she designed and sewed most of the costumes for. 

Ivy got a bio in the program under 'Artistic Team Bios'.

Here are some of her designs.

These two.

This is blurry, but you can see the back. Very pretty.

My favourite was the main witch. That's the middle one. Ivy didn't do the other two.

Practically all the costumes in this picture. Ivy didn't do the one on the lower level, far left, or the two lower level, far right and the one on the upper level, far right.

  We're very proud of Ivy. She'll be graduating in May! Four years flew by, (Although, maybe not for her!) 

Ivy and Ken after the show.

  It occurred to me that we may only be visiting Greencastle one more time, for Ivy's graduation. I had never taken a picture of the murals on the grain towers. Fuzz hated them, but I think they're pretty. So I photographed them this time.

   Now! You may remember my recent post on Bin Stores, and the doll related things I found there. Well there's more where that came from! Here are my most recent finds of doll related things and 'making stuff' supplies from the bin stores. And remember, these things were mostly $1, sometimes $2.

These rolls of faux leather, in pink, and brown, and a roll of wood grain vinyl.

Great for making miniature doll sized furniture, (the faux leather), and  flooring.

  This roll of heavy paper and roll of faux wood paper.

The blueish one looks like old countertops or kitchen chairs, from the 50's. For years I've been wanting to make a set of 50's/early 60's style kitchen table and chairs, the type with chrome table edges and legs. This paper would make perfect counter tops and table tops, and even chair seats and back for that project.

The other one looks like boards. That could be good for backgrounds or floors.

A mat made of faux grass. Great for dioramas and photographs. It's the size of a large welcome mat type rug.

This double picture frame has hinges so it can be opened up, or folded shut. Good for a mini door or window frames.

This anatomy set is just about 1/6 scale. It would be great for a school scene.

It even comes with a sheet that identifies all the organs and explains what they do. 

I know these things are filters of some sort...

... but when I saw them I thought, "Windows!"

 

I pulled the filter bit off. See what I'm saying?

Ken spotted these battery operated mini Christmas street lights.

I'm not sure how I'm going to use these molds. They'd be okay for making doll sized purses if I wasn't worried about them opening. But I'm me, so they'd have to be 'usable'. Anybody have any suggestions for something flexible that would work in these molds?

I got this Barbie sized outfit.

It's made by Leo Glint. I'd never heard of Leo Glint, but looking it up, it seems that the only doll clothes they sell are what they sell as Blythe clothes.

I found these felting tools. I gave my sister one too. I'm not sure what kind of felting they're for, but I'll figure it out.

A whole bag of China markers. I know they're just glorified crayons, but I've always loved writing and colouring with them, since I was a kid. Ivy is the same way.

More little silicone molds that make flowers.

I found these keyrings. They're little mittens, somewhere between American Girl and Patti Playpal size. They're actually suede, which I don't do, but they were there on $1 day, so they might have been thrown away the next day. That's a waste. The poor cow would have died in vain. I was hoping they would be interchangeable so they'd make a pair, but the thumb is a separate piece, and only goes one direction.

These wood sticks are for labelling your plants. They'll work for making stuff too though. They even come with a marker.

I think this is nail art stuff, but the tiny shapes and glitter could come in handy for something mini.

A boatload of tiny plastic containers. They'll be useful for keeping tiny bits in.

I showed you the mini doll cases I was making a while back. (If you missed that you can see it HERE.) I never finished them because I never could get both halves of the cases the exact same size so that they fit together properly. Well, problem solved! These are the same size as the cases I was making.

I have no idea what they are for.

I found another one of those air vent record player air fresheners. I thought maybe somebody might want it, and if not, I can give the spare air freshener things to Emma for hers,(If she has even bothered to use it yet.)

This little string of lights would look good in a mini restaurant.

And these little lanterns would work too. These are Valentine ones, but I also have some purple ones that are just flowered.

I've found several different types of paint brush sets. My sister is quite an artist, so I got some for her too.

This glitter is super fine.

Tiny foil butterflies!

Little skateboards.

A set of wooden stamps.

Little 'jewel' dots in various sizes.

Metallic stuff.

A little...case.

More doll clothes. This is weird though, because not all the clothes are the same scale.

I got all these for $1.

Maybe they're Blythe clothes too, because the hat and head pieces are huge compared to the clothes.

You know what else fruit hammocks are good for? Doll hammocks!

You know what I thought of when I saw these? Stained glass windows.

Emma went with us one day. and she spotted a box that contained these dollhouse light fixtures.

Four for $1!

Doll sunglasses and cups.

Tiny snowflakes and Christmas shapes. I can see dollhouse Christmas garlands and ornaments.

Ken found this box of tiny Chinese food.

One of our best finds ever!

I think this stuff is for cars somehow. But I see doll sized welcome mats, with a little doctoring.

Remember back in December when Target had these?!

A Barbie sized ski lift!

Metallic paint.

More paint.

A boatload of glitter.

Ken found this amazing mini Aladdin lamp! I love it! I think it's for incense, which I don't burn. (I can't stand to breathe anything burning. My nose closes up.) But imagine how cool it would look for smoke to be curling up out of this spout!

When I found these guys I didn't realize they were Elf on the Shelf 'Elf Mates'.

I do love me some Christmas elves.

Red hair and brown eyes!

There was this Gabby's Dollhouse surprise figure. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this. I might end up donating it. I used to buy up Christmas stockings and toys and candy to donate to the battered women and children's shelter. A lot of the women and their kids turn up there with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Then they stopped taking anything second hand, even if it was cleaned before being brought to them. So we'll see how much stuff I can end up with. I already got a bunch of stockings from the bins. I might try to have some stuff to donate for Easter too.

These Barbie sized furniture sets will be good for donation too. I got 2 for $1 each. They each contain a bed, bed spread and pillow, vanity table and chair, couch, 2 pillows, hangers, comb, mirror, brush,  'perfume bottle', and other accessories.

  That's it for now. I'm sure I forgot something that was a great find. This week I've been sick with a bad cold. (I tested. Not Covid.) I've been napping and taking it easy to make sure I'm good for my birthday the day after tomorrow. It's the big one: 60 years old. Maybe I'll finally grow up...Nah!