Blythe

Meet Blythe. Well, to be honest this is Blythe from the Little Pet Shop set. She's only 2 inches tall and yet I can see she is already taking up a big spot in my heart! I have been thinking about her since maybe last summer when I stumbled across a picture of a cute little girl holding one on a post from one of my favorite craft blogs and discovered that there was this whole world of people who collect her. Blythe Little Pet Shop dolls are brand new to Toys R Us and are very cheap- made for the masses and in an effort to satisfy my appetite for a REAL Blythe- I asked my hubby to get me and the girls each one so we could play together and I could get my camera out and photograph her like all the Blythe lovers do.

Yes, I asked him to buy me a toy so I could play with it... and I love her. He bought me the one in the snow gear but because it's warm and sunny outside she now sits at my desk at work. My daughters got  the one with the dark hair in the bathing suit and and the cute little blond one. Sunday we ran around the back yard and took pictures and I told the girls it's very important to care for her because if they are really good I would get them a real one. With in the hour- my little 3-year-old lost the stand for mine! GRRR

The real Blythe dolls are 12 inches tall, come in all different colors, hair colors, outfits and they have a pull string in the back that changes their eye color 4 times! Kenner brought them out in the 70s, but little girls thought they were spooky and they were taken off the shelves in a year. Funny note, the first time my baby girl saw one on the internet she said "I don't like it, it's scary!" Then a woman brought her back in the 90s in the form of a book called "This is Blythe" and she had taken all kinds of pictures of her all around the world and published that- the rest is history.

Now there's this cult of Blythe lovers-- including me. Grown women love her and I do too! She can mostly be found on EBay or in specialty toy stores that sell items from Japan and other parts of Asia. The real ones are pricey- starting at 60 plus shipping if you're lucky. Most are more than a hundred. Some are valued at several hundreds. There is no one price for them.

So, for Mother's Day morning I was very satisfied with my tiny little baby Blythe--- that was for the Morning! Several hours later I had purchased my first, uhh-- TWO dolls! I'm still waiting for them to come from Hong Kong and they can't get here fast enough.

Many women get their dolls and customize them. I will likely do some articles on their work in the future because it is a skill that is enviable! They give them freckles, change their skin tone, do artwork on them, change their hair and even make them clothing. It is amazing what they do with them.

Do you have a Blythe doll? If so, who do you have? Send me a picture. I'll be honest with you- I'm obsessing over this- and not crafting at all for the last few days because I just can't stop thinking of my new girls being in the mail! Come to think of it-- I just may go try and make them some outfits!!! That's crafting-- right??