Blind Bag Palooza?

EDIT: This was supposed to have been auto-published on 8/22, last week. It seems that Blogger's scheduled posts feature is not working at all like it is supposed to. I'll be looking into this to see if there is a fix to this issue. Sorry about the delay, everyone!

I didn't feel like doing a very in-depth review this week. So here are some of the small blind bag/box items I've picked up lately.

Remember my earlier tokidoki review? I mentioned that they also make a character line of adorable unicorns called "Unicorno Fenzies." These are much, much smaller than the Donutella collectible art pieces. The boxes fit easily in the palm of your hand, and the Frenzies themselves are suuuuper tiny keychains. they're adorable, though! I got them for about $5.95 apiece at my local Barnes & Noble. It says on the box that they're not recommended for children younger than 3, which I'd agree with. Maybe 6 or 7 and up? Here are the two that I got:

The red one is from Wave 1, and is named Peperino. the black-and-white one is named Caramelo, and is from Wave 2. I tried to focus as much as I could on these, but the camera wasn't cooperating. Peperino has little devil horns, with a broken heart on his cheek. He has a jalapeno pepper cutie mark on one side of his body, with a little devil face cutie mark on the other. Peperino also has a brown patch on his stomach that extends up onto his sides and looks like flames. I'm guessing he's a...a devil unicorn or something? Caramelo is a lot easier to figure out. He's painted to look like a Mexican sugar skull, and is clearly themed after Mexico's Dia de Los Muertos. I really like these little unicorns, and might return to get a third. They're a little more expensive than I would have liked for a keychain, though.

Onto the next thing...I'm finally reviewing the Fash'em I bought earlier at Five Below. Fash'ems are a type of squishy collectible blind bag toy. I picked this up for about $4. I've never had one of these before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. You open it by tearing off the plastic cover and twisting open the capsule, and the Fash'em is inside. This is a Hello Kitty Fash'em, with Kitty wearing different animal costumes. there are 6 in all, and they looked cute on the cover.

Opening it up, it's...really sticky. The more that you handle it, the less sticky it gets, but it doesn't go away. I got the Hello Kitty panda figure, which is the one that I wanted. However, I'm not impressed by the quality of this. The paint/ink is faded looking and smudged in some areas, and not within the lines in others. Not worth the money, the guys. I'll keep it so as not to basically throw away my money, but definitely disappointed here.

Last but not least is a Sailor Moon gashapon collectible that I picked up on eBay. Gashapon are toys and collectibles that you can get in vending machines, although they are more expensive than the vending machine toys we have here in the States, usually at least a dollar or a few. Bandai has been releasing various limited edition gashapon collectibles over the past year or so, and when I saw one of the latest lines, I knew I had to get them.

I adored scrunchies when I was in middle school, and I had at least twenty to coordinate with my outfits. I still harbor a secret love for them, so when I saw that there was a Sailor Moon scrunchie set, I needed at least one. This one is a little on the small side, and is made of shiny satiny fabric. The main part is a very dark navy blue, with white moons, stars, and planetary symbols, with a white ribbon along the outside. I think it's pretty cute! I picked it up for about $6. If you're interested in getting these, make sure you're getting the real thing! The Sailor Moon gashapons come in plastic capsules like the one above, in all different colors of the rainbow. They'll also come with a piece of paper from Bandai listing all the different items you can get.

That's it for this blind bag roundup, guys! Miss Scarlett, signing out (to enjoy the rest of her day off)!

Miss Scarlett might have a fabric problem.

Today's post is touching on one of my hobbies that I don't advertise as widely; sewing. I've been sewing and crafting since I was a small girl, and I love making fun things for myself. I've made quilts, clothes, cosplay outfits, you name it. Jo-Ann Fabrics had a great sale this weekend with lots of 50% off fabric coupons which I took advantage of, so I thought I'd share some pics and discuss plans for them. (It's rather late at night, so please forgive the fact that I'm not as witty or articulate as normal.)

I'm something of a dab hand at t-shirt quilts. I've made 4 so far: one for myself out of some fun graphic tees, another one for myself out of shirts from college, one for my sister from her own college shirts, and one for a local charity. I'm planning to make one that is a variation, with blocks made from regular quilting cotton instead of T-shirt material. I don't have any real timeline on it; I'm just collecting pieces of fabric that I think are pretty. When I have enough to make a full-size or maybe a queen size quilt, I'll go ahead and sew it. I think I might do this as a long-running project; just make quilt after quilt as I feel like it. (I don't know what I'll do with that many quilts, but I suppose I'll think about that when I get there!)

Here is all of the fabric that I've collected so far:

Sorry for the blurriness, but my camera just did not want to cooperate. I love the paisley-like print up at the very top; I've bought about a yard and a half of it, to save for other potential projects.

I also am thinking about making a burlap-covered bulletin board. I've seen pictures on Pinterest that look adorable, so I'm going to do so with a Hello Kitty theme:

I...may or may not have specifically looked up those pictures on Pinterest after seeing this printed burlap. I think I might have a problem.

I'm not specifically making anything at the moment, but if I do, I'll upload progress pics.

Before I go, here's my latest pickup:

This is an anime called Zakuro; it's a shoujo supernatural romance series set in an alternate Meiji Japan. It's very sweet and funny, with beautiful visuals and music. It's available for purchase in a Premium Edition Set from NIS America. The release is $47 for 13 episodes on DVD, which is about the upper limit of what I'd be willing to pay (as opposed to Blu-ray, which I don't mind paying a little bit more for). But you do get some nice goodies with it. The DVDs come in an extra-large hard art box, and are packaged with an art book that also has cast interviews. You get a postcard set as a gift-with-purchase, too. Shipping is also quick and free. You can find Zakuro streaming on Hulu and on Crunchyroll for free if you want to give it a try.

Well, off to catch some shut-eye before watching the next Zakuro DVD tomorrow! Miss Scarlett, signing off!

Ever After High: Cerise Hood Signature Doll Review

It's about time that I made this particular review! The doll in question was packed away in storage, and I simply couldn't remember which box I'd put her in. I ended up spending some quality time sorting through everything and found her, so it is high time to get her reviewed.

I adore the Ever After High franchise; I never thought that I would be as interested in it as I am, but that's life for you. EAH is another one of Mattel's many brands, and is one of their newer doll lines. It was launched in 2013 as an alternative to Monster High, in an attempt to appeal to consumers who might be turned off by freaky fabulousness. The brand is promoted the same as Monster High: a webisode series (that is surprisingly charming), a YA book series, upcoming direct-to-the-web movies, and of course, the dolls.

You might have surmised that both series have somewhat similar premises, which is partially correct. Ever After High takes place at a high school of the same name, which is established to train the sons and daughters of fairy tale characters, and get them ready to one day inherit their parents' roles in their stories. One student, Raven Queen, decides to refuse to follow the legacy of her mother, the Evil Queen from Snow White, and instead sets out to discover her own path. Her decision to rebel forms the heart of the storyline, and creates a schism between the student body. The Royals, the princes and princesses who lead lives of comfort and privilege, are scandalized that she would abandon her "duty," "ruin" her story, and jeopardize the ending for herself and others. When you've been promised a Happily Ever After without having to do much to earn it, any chance of having that taken away is...upsetting. But that system is unfair to begin with, argue the Rebels, those of common heritage with much less glamorous roles and stories. Everyone, they argue, should be free to choose their own destiny, be it to accept their parents' legacy or to create a new one. Especially if they are simply not suited for the roles they are set to inherit.

The primary conflict behind this has a lot of parallels to the economic and social class struggles that we see in the modern day and age. The privileged versus those facing adversity, the haves versus the have-nots. It's interesting food for thought, especially from a fashion doll line.

But we're not here for socio-economic commentary, we're here for dolls. Let's get to it!