Crafting post: Duchess Swan makeover, Part 3

Okay, okay, so I should have gotten this out waaaaay sooner, but better late than never, right? You might remember that last year, I undertook an effort to give my Duchess Swan doll a makeover to make her appearance closer to that of her appearance in the webisodes. It was a long, multi-step process, but I'm telling you guys what I did, step by step, in case you want to do the same!

Here, we're going to look at what I did for the dress, as well as for her hair.

To begin with, Duchess' dress needs two things: trim around the top, and a panel on the front. The former is very easily taken care of. This is where your thin piece of black ribbon comes into play. Stitch it along the very top of the bodice, using the black stitching on the bodice itself as a guide. The pictures below serve as a before-and-after.

Figuring out how to make the panel on the front of Duchess' dress took the longest. (And unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of the panel before I sewed it onto the dress. Whoops!) It took me a while to figure out the best way to go about this, actually. I had to think of a way to get the panel onto the front of the dress. I ended up taking a piece of wide white ribbon and attached it to some fusible interfacing; and this is super easy to do, don't be intimidated! 

Using the front of the bodice as a guide, I sketched out the shape of the panel, then cut the same shape out of the ribbon. Using the interfacing is easy. Take a piece of interfacing, and put the "wrong" side of your fabric (in this case, the back of the ribbon) next to the shiny side of the interfacing. Place your pieces on an ironing board. Then put a damp tea towel or pillowcase over it. Turn an iron to the "wool" setting and turn off the steam option, if you have one. Then press the iron down hard on your towel-covered panel piece for about 30 to 45 seconds. Lift the towel to see if it's fused together; if it hasn't, press again.

Once it cooled, I sewed the panel to the front of the dress, then sewed some of the thin black ribbon on in a zig-zag pattern. Make no mistake, it's a lot of work, but it comes out looking good.

I actually had the hardest part with her hair, believe it or not. I am pants at styling hair, I can't even do it on myself. I just stared and stared at her hair, mind running in circles, trying to figure out how this was going to work. Then I gave up and went to Youtube. There are a surprising amount of tutorials available, but this one sort of clicked with me and seemed the easiest for me to understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hb3E2xmGxM.  So I...uh...can't be of much help, guys. Sorry.

I am still not entirely happy with how it turned out; I think that my Duchess has a lot less white and mauve in her hair than the doll that AprilLily used in the video above. I also think the white hair is rooted in a different spot, because I could simply not get it to look right. And no matter how I try, I can't get the strand of hair on the side to curl nicely!

This was how Duchess turned out after her hairstyling session. Better than before, but still not as good as she could be. 

But overall...I'm very satisfied with how this turned out. Giving Duchess a makeover was a ton of work, but it was surprisingly fun! There's something very satisfying about seeing your vision of something slowly come together. Maybe I'll end up getting a different EAH doll and just do embellishments on her for fun.

Miss Scarlett Cooks! Chicken and Zucchini Casserole

Welcome to the Hobby Haven, everyone! How are you enjoying these last few weeks of summer?

Oh man, you guys. Usually I do about one recipe post a month, but I just made this and it was so good that I had to post it *now.* Now, I don't know about you, but everyone I know has been having zucchini bumper crops all summer long, and we've had them foisted off on us just about every week. There's only so many times you can eat them as a side vegetable or shred them up for bread and such. So I went looking for a new recipe to use them in and found this casserole.

It's incredibly simple, and surprisingly filling. Everything you need to know is after the jump!

Neko Atsume Keychain Gashapon Review

Hey, everyone! Weird to think that summer is over 2/3 over, huh? But the Hobby Haven keeps going! Here's a quick, fun little review for you guys!

I ended up getting this for free with the purchase of some CDs from YesAsia; they run a constant promotion where if you buy two qualifying items, you can get a gashapon toy for free! You get to chose what series you want it to be from, but the toy itself will be random. I selected Neko Atsume, and waited with bated breath to see what I would get!

For the uninitiated, Neko Atsume is a fun app that you can download for smartphones. You basically have a house that you decorate in hopes of getting cute kitties to visit; you can then take pictures and share with your friends. It's surprisingly addictive!

The gashapon sold individually for about US $7, which I feel is a fair price, once you count for the currency exchange difference.

Here's the toy as it came in my order package. Note that they don't give you the plastic ball that it comes in if you were to get it from a game machine. I think it would add too much bulk to the package that way. 

The little brochure shows you what keychains are in the series. I really like the little tiger-striped cat, but all of these are cute!

The keychain is metal, with one of those typical ball chains. The top with the graphic is smooth and glossy, and features Kathmandu and Peaches, two of the rare cats in the game. I love their blobby little faces!

The back of the keychain has "Neko Atsume" in its original Japanese logo form, plus manufacturing info. Nothing too exciting. But the keychain feels solid and well-made.

This keychain is super-cute, although I do have my reservations about how well the glossy top will hold up regarding scratching. I would probably get another one if possible. However, these are currently sold out at YesAsia, and I don't know if they'll get more! I think if you like Neko Atsume or just cute, fun cat things in general, these would be great if you can find one. A quick search on eBay turned up a couple, but I wouldn't pay more than $7-8 for one. (You might be better off looking for one of the more common rubber strap keychains.)

Miss Scarlett suggests: Cute and fun, these keychains would be a great pickup if you like cute and quirky stuff!

Miss Scarlett Cooks! Roasted Breakfast Potatoes

Good morning, everyone! I've got another scrumptious brunch recipe for you folks today, although here's a secret: although they're called "breakfast potatoes," you can eat them at anytime! Topped with bacon and herbs, this will have you licking the pan and wishing you'd made a double batch! Get ready to drool after the cut!

Quick update!

Sorry for the sparseness of posts, everyone! Work got really busy last month, and it's only going to pick up from here. I'll try to post when I can, but no guarantees. Worse case scenario, see you guys in October!