I love surprises, don’t you?

Yesterday when the mail came there was box…

I was not expecting any packages, so when I read the return label I started doing the happy dance. Remember my visit with Natalie to Aunt Kay’s – the one with the huge Barbie collection? Well out of the blue, Kay had sent us a box!

Kay is a grandmother and her husband passed away a few years ago. Kay was so touched by our visit and seeing the joy that Natalie found in the dolls that she spent the next 10 days rearranging her doll cabinets and displays – 24 of the 28 displays to be exact!! Every doll was removed, looked at and some new ones came out and others found new groupings to be with. She had been re-energized.

In the midst of her rearranging, Kay found some duplicates of her Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz Happy Meal dolls. She knew that Natalie loved the little Kelly size Barbies and thought these little gems would go well with the nine Kelly dolls she gave Natalie when we visited last month. There was a 2007 set and a 2008 set – the one’s Natalie got are from both sets.

Here’s the whole group of the Madame Alexander Oz minis.

The Wicked Witch of the West, the Wicked Witch of the East, Glinda the Good Witch and the Winged Monkey.

The Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Dorothy (and Toto in the basket), and the Tin Man.

Cowardly Lion, Dorothy (and Toto in the basket), Tin Man, Lullaby Munchkin and Lollipop Munchkin

Also in the box were some full size Barbies and two MyScene dolls.

In the box were five more dolls. From left to right – Corduroy Cool Teresa from 1999, an unknown Barbie with Polly-Pocket like rubber clothes, MyScene Barbie and her boyfriend River, and the Spot Scene Barbie from 2001.

I am not a fan of the My Scene Barbie line at all, but the other dolls are neat. I especially like Teresa and Kay remembered that when we were there last month I just kept coming back to this Teresa doll – we were trying to figure out which one she was and when we left, I still didn’t know. Teresa was packed in the box with her stand and I happened to notice writing on the bottom of the stand. Smart Kay! She had written the name of the doll and the year on the bottom of the stand! So she is from the Corduroy Cool Barbie set from 1999. She’s not a high-end Barbie, by any means, but I go back to what Kay and Sandi Holder from the Doll Attic have said more than once – “collect the dolls YOU like and the ones that make YOU happy.” This Teresa does just that!

Kay says Teresa reminds her of me. Teresa is going to be a cherished part of my collection for years to come!!

Thank you so much Kay and I can not wait to visit you again!

Let me start off by saying that I am NOT a fan of the whole Twilight series of books and movies – but that is just me – my daughter Megan likes them and so do so many of my friends. However, we were at Target today and had to make the compulsory trip down the doll aisles (because that’s what we do) and I saw The Twilight Saga Eclipse Jane Barbie. She caught my eye and I had to give her a closer look.

Jane’s character is part of the Volturi clan. She is dressed in a very classic black cloak with hood and looks quite a bit like actress Dakota Fanning. Unlike the Bella Swan Barbies – who just look like Barbies to me – Jane is different. She has a very pretty face and there is something very sophisticated about her too. Plus, you just aren’t sure – is she a “good guy” or a “bad guy?”

Normally I would think the red irises were pretty creepy, but Jane wears them well. Her necklace is very interesting, too.

What do you think?

When we visited Aunt Kay a few weeks ago, I literally took hundreds of pictures of her amazing Barbie collection. Rather than overwhelm you with them all at once, I decided to just feature a few of them at a time over the next few months. One of the “mini” collections Kay has is the Barbie’s that are inspired by fashion designers that are part of popular culture. These are the Barbie’s my daughter Megan loves and has started collecting.

This is the Gold Label Juicy Couture Beverly Hills G&P set from 2008. This set features dolls that are tiny replicas of Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the designers and co-founders of the sensational Juicy Couture fashion empire. There is also a Juicy Couture set from 2004 that is very pink and green.

Kay’s Dooney and Bourke Barbie from 2006 is no longer in her box. Kay takes lots of her dolls out of the boxes and says sometimes that’s when you find the fun little extras you didn’t know they came with. The Dooney and Bourke Barbie has her signature D&B purse, casual chic fashion and a shopping bag, too. She is a Pink Label Barbie which means she is a little less expensive than the Gold Labeled Juicy Couture set.

There is something I like about this doll’s face – which is why I go a close up on her.

Anyone who knows my daughter Megan, knows she loves her M.A.C. cosmetics! The MAC Loves Barbie Gold Label doll came out in 2007 and you could purchase it at the M.A.C. cosmetics store. I just had to take pictures of this blondie for Megan.

This is a close up of the make up case she came with and a MAC Loves Barbie lipstick they sold at the same time.

For Christmas this year Megan asked to start her own Designer Barbie collection. The first one in her collection is this Lilly Pulitzer Barbie and Stacie Gift Set from 2005 that is just too cute. Also on her list was the Kate Spade Barbie and I know she wants both of the Juicy Couture sets.

More Barbie collection photos to come soon! I hope you enjoyed these.

Each year when we go to visit my husband’s family for the holidays, the girls and I have to make a special visit to see Aunt Kay. Kay has one of the largest collections of Barbie that I have ever seen in person. She knows everything about every doll in her collection, displays them in and out of the box, and changes up her displays frequently, too. Natalie and I like to call it “Barbie Heaven.”

This year when we went, just Natalie and I went to visit Kay which meant we could take our time, ask a bazillion questions, and really enjoy the time we had with this amazing lady. Here are a few of the photos I took. I will be featuring more of the individual photos and information on some of my favorites from her collection in upcoming posts.

Welcome to Barbie Land!! The original pink Barbie Christmas tree and “life-size” Barbie stay up year round to welcome visitors.

It didn’t take Natalie long to get to work checking out her favorite Barbie accessories. This is a photo of just one corner of the room. You can see we had taken dolls out to really look at closely.

This is the case that holds the vintage Barbies. Some of these were Kay’s daughter’s Barbies from when she was a little girl in the 1970′s and others are even older. Midge – the doll on the far left is original although her dress is a reproduction.

Natalie was fascinated by the Barbie ornaments and accessories case. She spent quite a bit of time quizzing Kay on what everything was, where she got it and what was in it. Kay loved to see that Natalie was so genuinely interested and even gave her a few of her duplicates like the black Barbie lunchbox keychain that even has a Barbie thermos and banana in it.

Kay’s collection spans two whole rooms of her house with one room just dedicated to the little Kelly-size dolls. Natalie couldn’t help but to keep going back in that room to find something she hadn’t seen before. Kay decided that Natalie needed to start her own Kelly doll collection so the two of them sat on the floor going through boxes and drawers as Kay filled up a bag for Natalie with nine Kelly and friends dolls.

I am convinced there is a Barbie for every type of collector!! Megan loves the Holiday Barbies and the designer Barbies (like Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lily Pullitzer, etc). I personally love the Silkstone Barbies, and Natalie – let’s just say, she loves them all.

I took more than 100 photos on Saturday alone – needless to say… more to come!!

Personally I can’t remember the last time I ate at McDonald’s or for that matter, ordered a Happy Meal, but just in case you collect the Happy Meal size Barbies, they are the next toy in rotation. I am not sure when they are scheduled to start, but most likely in the next few weeks.

You can purchase the toys without the meal – I think it is around $1 but it may vary depending on where you live.

I just watched the new Barbie… I Can Be commercial and while it is not as good as the 2010 version, it is WAY better than the 2009 one! Here are all three most recent Barbie… I Can Be commercials – you be the judge – which one do you like best?

2011 – Barbie… I Can Be – If you can dream it, you can be it!

2010 Barbie… I Can Be Commercial

2009 Barbie… I Can Be Commercial

Which one is your favorite? Do you think these commercials send a good message to girls?

Most of you DollDiaries readers know that I have two daughters. The younger one, Natalie (also known as Alex17), is the one who is really into American Girl dolls and other 18″ play dolls, but the older one, Megan is more of a fashion girl and loves her Barbie collection. She officially becomes a teenager tomorrow and all she wants to do for her birthday is go shopping with her friends.

Here is the birthday cake I made her..

This was the easiest cake ever and as you can see, my frosting skills are less than fabulous. I just frosted a regular layer cake I made, added some silver sprinkles and found the cutest Barbie pen that has its own base for the topper. The pen is Barbie carrying a bunch of shopping bags and it was just too perfect not to get. I found it (along with some other designs) at A.C. Moore up by the cash registers for just a few dollars.

Now we did remove Barbie before Megan blew out the candles because Barbie was getting a little nervous in the “ring of fire” created by the lit candles.

Here are more Barbie cake ideas if you just happen to be looking for inspiration.

We haven’t talked Barbie for a ages, and while there are some really beautiful new silkstone Barbies and collectible Barbies that have just been released, I thought I would share this photo I took of the Claire’s Exclusive Barbie.

My daughter and I were at the mall and looking for some fun hair accessories for back to school. I saw the Claire’s Barbie on the top of a display rounder and just had to take a picture. Yes, I embarrass my kids like that all the time – I randomly take pictures of things I like at the store.

The Claire’s Barbie has a shopping bag in hand so she can pick out all her favorite accessories from the Claire’s store. This Barbie sells for $16 which makes her very affordable as a play doll, but I would think that unless you are extremely careful about taking the little pieces out of the box, this doll is best left in her box as a collector item.  If you collect some of the other store related Barbies – like the Build-a-Bear exclusive, the Juicy Couture Barbie, the Gap Barbie or others like that, the Claire’s Barbie would be the perfect addition to that collection.

What do you think of the themed or store exclusive Barbies? Do you have a favorite?

The American Institute of Architects is celebrating Barbie’s new career field of architect with a fun Barbie Dream House competition. While the actual Dream House will not be produced by Mattel, the top finalists from the initial entries have been selected and you can still vote through August 1.

Above are my two favorites. But there are more and you should click over and vote for your own favorite!  According to the AIA, one of the initial designs was by a 7 year old girl who built in a room just for monsters – that way they would stay out of the other parts of the house. How cute!!

As far as the doll goes, you can pre-order BARBIE® I CAN BE…™ Architect Doll at MattelShop.com. It will be available Online 8/15/11.

I don’t know about you, but I think the design contest was a really great way to get girls interested in building design and make Barbie’s career choice more relevant.

There is one gift my oldest daughter knows she will get every Christmas. Even though she is done with her doll playing days, she loves her collectible Barbies – especially the Holiday series – and she gets one every year. When I showed her the 2011 Holiday Barbie last night, all she had to say was, “oh yeah, she’s MINE!” I’ll take that as a sign that she likes this year’s doll.

This year’s collectible Holiday Barbie comes in an emerald green dress with a gold underskirt, gold embroidered detailing, chandelier style earrings and red painted fingernails. Very elegant!

The 2011 Holiday Barbie is available from Amazon now and will be arriving in major toy retailers in the coming weeks. She retails for $39.99.