Handmade Ceramic Doll: Dolores

Nearly 6 months ago, I started a new journey into ceramic work. In the early part of this journey, I had the pleasure of watching the movie Encanto with my children, many times. As I was watching the movie, I thought the Dolores character was an interesting fit for a cloth body doll. If I was going to make a doll, I wanted it to be a bit different. I wanted her to have the foundation of an antique cloth body doll, but have a modern edge. Dolores seemed like a character type that would be great inspiration for a doll. I quickly got to work and I’m glad she ended up being my first hand-sculpted ceramic doll.

Dolores stands only 8” tall. Her skirt and blouse were hand-embroidered to accomplish something similar to the dress worn in the movie. Yellow silk ribbon accents help bring the outfit to life. Ruffles and beads are perfect for the blouse. It was difficult to find a yellow lace small enough to adorn the sleeve and ruffle edges, so I opted for a blanket stitch with yellow embroidery thread.

I used a clear glaze to finish the doll, but I might need something more satin for dolls in the future. While the doll looks beautiful in person, the high gloss in the photos distracts from her loveliness. Also, I’m not an expert photographer, so attempting to get good pictures of her is an ongoing learning process.

There are more dolls in the works, but they take me quite a while to make. Stay tuned for some other awesome adventures in doll making. Every doll will be a learning process for me and I welcome growing in this fun new adventure. Check out more images of the doll on Instagram.

Please note this doll is inspired by the Disney character from Encanto, but I am not affiliated with the Disney company and this was not a paid partnership. My doll is a personal interpretation that was inspired by the character mentioned above. She is not for sale and is a part of my personal collection.

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Momoko Dress Up Time: Toy Story Outfit (part 4)

After a few trips to local stores, I finally tracked down the Alien Skirt and Top set for Barbie. The Momoko modeling the clothes is Cosmos Sweetheart (regular version). I picked her up at IFDC this last week.

Okay, back to the Toy Story 4 set. It comes with a shirt, skirt, and bag. When I first opened up the set, I wasn’t too excited about it. However, I think as I had some dress up and photo time, it has grown on me a tiny bit. Perhaps I’m just not a fan of what feels like a sports jersey T-shirt. Her assemble was a little lacking, so I added the necklace and bracelet. The skirt nearly falls off the doll, but that’s to be expected since Momokos are quite a bit slimmer than traditional Barbie types.

What do you think? Is she ready to join ranks with Buzz Lightyear or is she destined for the claw machine?

By the way, there are four individually packaged fashion tops floating around out there that I would LOVE to find. I hope they make their way to my neck-of-the-woods. Have you seen them yet?

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Momoko Dress Up Time: Toy Story Outfit (part 3)

This is the last of the three Barbie Toy Story 4 outfits I was able to find recently at a local store. In this post, a Momoko is wearing the “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” set. The skirt has a print of several Toy Story characters, including some who make a debut in Toy Story 4. The set is very playful and colorful. I thought the oversized white boots complemented the outfit well. The Momoko pictured is “Fireworks Date”. Have I ever mentioned I picked her up in Disney World, of all places? She was for sale in the Mitsukoshi shop in the Japanese pavilion in EPCOT. It was a strange but awesome place to buy a Momoko!

I was not able to get the fourth set called “Toy Story Alien Skirt and Top.” I am still on the hunt. It would be great to have all four. There should also be some individual pieces floating around at stores and I’ll try to find those, too.

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Momoko Dress Up Time: Toy Story Outfit (part 2)

It’s time for one of my Momoko to get a wardrobe change. She’s pretty in pink in the new Toy Story 4 “Shepard Dress” set. The set comes with a dress with pink Bo Peep print, purse with sheep print, and pink headband. The Momoko put on a pair of her pink Mary Jane shoes to complete the outfit. It’s hard to say, but this might be my favorite Toy Story 4 Barbie fashion set. It comes close between the Bo Peep set and the Woody set found in this post.

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Momoko Dress Up Time: Toy Story Outfit (part 1)

A few days ago, I was at a big box store in town and I spotted something amazing. Mattel had Toy Story 4 fashion sets for Barbie! I know Mattel is doing a lot of licensed merchandise lately for Barbie, but this one was just too super to pass up. Disney AND Barbie? Yes! I think there are four sets and I managed to pick up three of them.

In this post I have a Momoko dress in the “Woody Top and Overall Dress Set.” The set came with a Howdy Woody top, faux denim skirt with attached suspenders, red headband, and orange purse with cactus print. The skirt is a bit large, but it’s so cute on the pigtailed Momoko! The Momoko is wearing boots made for the doll.

Stay tuned for posts of the other two sets.

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