More from Countdown to Christmas!

I’m also just a elf standing in front of a elf asking him to marry her.

Photos from the series on flickr featuring Elf on the shelf, toy bear, Mini-Barbie’s who are all from the Tiny Frock Shop on eBay https://www.ebay.com/usr/tiny-frock-shop and at https://tinyfrockshop.com. Alla Aseeva on etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dollsminireborn crafted a beautiful baby. Baby crib by https://www.etsy.com/shop/ButterflyFamily. Dioramas by the now retired Ken Haseltine of Regent Miniatures. Dioramas are featured in the 1Sixth Winter Hardbound Edition available in Hardback/imagewrap or paperback cover. Also as a PDF or eBook. Order here: http://www.blurb.com/b/9320555-1sixth. Photos by Steve McKinnis of https://stevemckinnis.com.

Happy Holidays Barbie 1996

If I ever find a body with bent arms in her skin tone I will swap, but for now this’ll do.

She’s so sweet and I am in love with her outfit. Most of the work was making her presentable after being boxed for twenty-five years which consisted of hand washing her dress to remove wrinkles, ironing the gold skirt to reshape some pleats, accidentally frying curling her hair, resewing her hat to her head, and a teeny bit of blush on her nose.

During my search for some used storage bins on Offer Up, I found this 1996 Happy Holidays Barbie for $7! I fell in love with her the moment I saw her and went on to get her.

After this photo, I was so excited that I quickly began unboxing and cleaning her up so there are, unfortunately, zero photos of her fresh out of the box.

When I removed her, the dress was very wrinkled and and smelled of plastic fumes. Which makes sense since she has been encased in a box for twenty-five years. The bottom of her dress was also sticky due to being taped down for display purposes. I used acetone to deglue that section and very gently hand washed the velvet dress to remove the wrinkles. Worked well!

While that dried, I took my Fantasy Dream Barbie (light blue dress) and removed her head to do a body switch. Holiday Barbie has a cute little muff that she can’t hold because she has straightened arms. Fantasy Dream’s arms are bent and perfect for holding said muff. But…

Well…

They don’t match skin tones at all. It never occurred to me that they wouldn’t be the same color. My spouse insisted that it wasn’t that much of a difference, but it is. Believe me, it is.

So now that plan is on hold.

(She pretty and has purple eyes. Also, straightened her hair in order to curl properly at a later date)

And so I, someone not very knowledgeable in 80’s/90s Barbies, ask you, dollbr:

Would all 1996 blonde Barbaras be the same skin tone or would there be different shades? Would hers be different because she’s a collector doll? Do any of you have a spare body with bent arms I can buy? XD