Nellie-Belle Restoration!

 I recently, had a windfall of Rushton cuties the past two weeks. Next up, it's Nellie-belle, a Rushton Pony!

This is from an advertisement about her. Nellie-belle arrived to me early in February. But, I took some time to get her worked on, as I have been working on other things. I don't really collect too many of the other types of Rushton animals, and Nellie is one of them. I decided I will restore her and then resell her in my shop. So when she arrived, she was missing, her tail, her saddle, and reins as well. She also needed cleaning on her face.

So, as with all my plushies, I began with taking out the stuffing and washing them. Her ears are a bit rough on the edges, so I just cleaned them up a bit. After she dried, I restuffed her and began working on her face. There was a lot of caked on dirt and dust. I cleaned her hooves as well. By the time all that work was done. It was time for me to repaint her. I did have to repaint her irises, eyelashes, and eyebrows. Her mouth and tongue as well. I also added a bit of blush and she was complete.

I decided to make her reins and her saddle myself. A bit similar to the one in the ad, but I decided on my own coloring and use of the Japan Rushton fabric. If you look carefully, one side is a "Happy" face Rushton bear and on the other side is a "Baby" Rushton duck. I even added some pompoms, and felt fabric too! I placed brass buttons on the reins and used felt to make them with. It is not secured on her and can be removed. I then added some bells to the felt loop on the front of the saddle and there are snaps on the felt, for easy take off. I then, waited a week to work on her tail. Mostly because I wasn't sure how I want to attempt making it... Decisions, decisions...LOL

So, I added a blue satin bow to her and just today, finished the tail. You see on the Rushton ad, Nellie's tail is actually attached to the saddle. When she arrived to me, there was no hint that she had a tail. So, this is why I think it was attached to her saddle? I could be wrong. Ultimately, I made her one using off white felt fabric and sewed the tail onto her body. I couldn't find off white yarn to make her tail with, but I think the felt fabric was actually prettier on her! Now, she is ready to be loved again!!

Next, I found this lovely Totsy brand doll dress in pink for my Alice hybrid doll. I recently had my husband help me to modify her so that her head sits permanently into the Whimsie body. This dress was a perfect fit too! Now, to wait for some shoes to put on her...

I also found this lovely satin blue vtg Valentine's box, rare to find it in blue and in such lovely condition. I also won these adorable Demon baby figurines. They are already adopted and should be with their new Mommy soon. I love this version. I've seen them in an orange color and red, I believe. Made by Charmcraft, China.

Then, I also had some prints made of these two cuties! My Rushton crying bear and Betsy on a shelf! It took over a month to get to me. Ugh. I may need to find another company that can ship faster! I've already added this to my Etsy shop!

Last for today, is this lovely vtg Kanebo yarn doll hanger. I have been trying to win something like this since last year. I saw 2 others up for auction and both times, I lost last minute. So this time, I actually won it and Yay me!! It matches so well with my brooch. Love Kanebo made accessories. They are always too cute and they have that 50s vibe of Japan!

Enjoy your weekend all!

Thank you for looking! ~ ggsdolls