Custom Monster High Doll Ahoy!

Kristen finally listed her lovely rerooted Draculaura on eBay today. She was a lot of work, but I think she turned out great!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330698287119?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

I was very nervous about doing it, but Kristen had asked me from the start to repaint her lips. She had a small factory defect in her lip paint that she thought might bother prospective buyers. So repaint them I did...and I very nearly ruined her! I learned two very important lessons about customizing Monster High dolls today. 1). Always keep a bottle of 100% acetone in the house and 2). If you want to repaint the lips on a Monster High doll, you MUST REMOVE THE ORIGINAL PAINT FIRST!! This goes against the advice I received when I started repainting dolls XX amount of years ago. Don't worry about not having a guide for keeping the lips straight. Monster High dolls' lips are well defined. You'll figure it out. If you don't remove the original lip paint first, you'll get a horrible, chalky, splotchy, lumpy finish. Thank god Kristen didn't break my neck for messing up her doll's lips at first. She kept her cool and wiped the crap off with acetone. Painting the naked vinyl was so easy after that!

If the doll goes for her starting bid, Kristen will have made exactly $8 profit. Here's to hoping it goes higher! XD

Goodbye Howleen/Hello 2.0 Lagoona!

Well, for the time being, at least. Unless I can find Howleen/Clawdeen for retail I'm not going to be able to get them for a looooong time. I just bought 2.0 a.k.a School's Out Lagoona off Amazon for twice her original price. Thankfully she came in perfect condition and is quite beautiful. Otherwise I'd have to put my hand through plate glass or something. XD

What's interesting to note about her is that unlike a lot of the Monster High dolls she's made in China, not Indonesia. So far the only lines that I've noticed were made in China are Dead Tired and Skull Shores. The made-in-China dolls usually don't have heads full of glue. I guess they're better quality? She appears to have the same facial screening as Dead Tired Lagoona, with the smaller, less droopy eyes and sterner expression. She has similiar makeup but is much, much prettier than Skull Shores Lagoona in my opinion. I'm really pleased with her, but I probably won't be able to debox her for a while. It'll just be sweeter that way, I suppose...