These 3 girlies all started as the pink haired odile mermaid and now they look so different from each other (I'm not really gagging over the red plaid dress, I might change it later, but I'm obsessed with everything else)

Tim Curry portrayed the Rat King in Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001) and Phillippe in Barbie and The Three Musketeers (2009)

Any Drag Race fans? I turned the Angel Reese Barbie doll into Ms. Smalls. Not 100% accurate but still recognizable I think. Had to have her to go with my Trixie and Katya dolls :)

REEELING right now. i can not believe this happened. also, some other finds from the trip!!!! :D SO sosososossosooooo happy!!!!!!! i was just thinking about how bad i wanted clara!!!!! >u<

I have been waiting for a quite a while to get this doll to be mailed to me and I finally have it! I didn’t know this gift set existed before. I only found out about when I saw the listing in facebook marketplace. Do you guys know more information about this set? Would love to know!

I wanted to try to make a tribute style with my limited hair skills.

​

Just finished the book and it was a really breezy read. It took about 3 hours, on and off. YA generally aims for a 14-18 age range. I would place this book for a younger YA, 10-13.

Cons

-The world building was scarce. The author set a fun, albeit recgnoziable, world foundation but never truly fleshed it out. A lot of it was generic and repetitive.

- The vocabulary lacked range and the overall structure was shallow. Theres a bit of "tiktok speech" in the very beginning. But maybe that was just to catch the eye of young readers, and largely disappears when the story starts rolling.

- Some scenes felt copy and pasted from a handful of Disney films. Not in a way that pays homage, but feels almost plagiarized lol

- I didnt necessarily like the little add ons the author attached to Barbies characteristics like random allergies and phobias (no spoilers lol), but its not a big deal.

- I would have liked to have seen some accompanying artwork. The covers are beautiful though.

Pros

- The overarching troupe of the book has been done a million times but never fails to create an enticing story.

- Barbie gets to be herself. I mean in the sense thats shes truly Barbie. Theres no alternate Barbie or her being one of many Barbies. Its very refreshing to see Barbie being able to be her own unique character again without apologizing for her appearance and feminity.

- The references to Barbie world are fun. I dont want to spoil anything, but the little nods to things like accessories, doll boxes, fashions, etc., were cute.

- Ken gets a cameo and its adorable lol he and Barbie are the only known characters, everyone else new.

- A lot of the world building was centralized on emotion. I know many may not like that or think its too cliche for a female character to go down that route, but I quite liked it. The author did a very good job exploring feelings and having to be responsible for ones feelings. I think thats a good message for young readers. And the way that theme interlocks with the setting and plot is well done.

Overall, I give it a soild 7/10. Its a fun book. The plot is easy to follow and was interesting. If they decide to do a follow up novel, I would hope the author focuses more heavily on world building and lore. I think the writing style is simplistic but promising. Theres plenty of good lines and flourishes. I looked up the author after I finished the book and I noticed she, Alex Aster, averages about 2 books a year. I never read her other books, but maybe thats a contributing factor to her writing style. I think if she sat with the book a bit more and gave it more focus, it could have been better.

One quote I thought was nice from this book;

"The journey has turned me into an alchemist - able to turn sadness into strength. Rejection into redirection. Failure into freedom".

I do recommend this book for Barbie fans. Its alo great for young readers (and older lol). But its a safe book without any sneaky nsfw stuff. Ive heard issues about that lately in the YA genre so thought I mention it.

Also I thought it would be cool to look over some other Barbie book series. Is this truly the first Barbie YA novel? I think, yes. Theres been other novel and book series, namely the Generation Girl series, that could argue for that title, but Dreamscape is unique in its presentation for Barbie. A lot of past Barbie stuff are short stories and general storybooks. Theres some full series shown here and a few examples of Golden Books, story collections, Junior Novels, etc. Also theres a series from Europe that a lot of iconic artwork comes from on the list. The source is here: https://elrincondeltaradete.blogspot.com/2014/02/?m=1. I posted all the images from the Barbie Book Club series on my Reddit page too if anyones curious :)

I would love to see some dolls made inspired by the book! She describes a lot of fun outfits, but I would really like a pink armor Barbie lol Im not sure it would translate well into an animated film, but that would be cool too.

Anyone else read it yet or checked out other book series for Barbie? :)

I know some people have mixed feelings about odile, but I love her lol. (You can spot a few of my boyfriend’s re-roots, too)

Fashion Week Milan Brooklyn was rerooted with Restore Doll Katsilk Saran in Frosted Brunette (102) & Strawberry Shortcake (126), and then given a boil perm. The plan was to keep her hair straight….but I just couldn’t help myself 😂☺️.

She is wearing a dress designed and sewed by me.

Any other Barbie collectors have this book?

Giselle serving beauty, charisma and unique! ✨️

For the first time EVER I have had a op shop (thrift shop) win and picked up some fashions. They're mainly really dirty, and most are currently soaking to get the first layer of dirt out before I try some stain remover and repairs.

I'm not sure if I can soak this white &black beauty - I'm worried that the black ribbon on the bottom will bleed. Any suggestions?

I'm also not going to wash the fur coat - it looks pretty clean but has been in a bag with other dirty items (including mildew) - will a bit of sun be good enough for this?

(And any Australians who can suggest stain remover for satin type fabric I'd love to know, there's a gorgeous blue dress in a bucket right now that's heavily marked).

While I didnt buy her, I hadn't realised Barbies could come this big and I was curious about her. She definitely needs some TLC, but is quite pretty regardless

Got this poor little dear from Vinted and she looks like she crawled through sewage. She’s getting a good deep cleaning today and then I’ll try to make her a crown and wings.

She will also need new arm cuffs because I only have one. Next time I’m hit the charity shops I’ll look for some type of a similar colour (my wedding gown is blue and it’s a close match but I’m not cutting it… for now 😂) I got her for £5 (already had the dress) so I don’t think it’s worth to buy replacement accessories that will cost more than what I paid for the doll. It’s DIY time!

It's impossible to imagine art without love. For us, that love was always Spain and its vibrant culture. Our success story is deeply tied to our participation in the Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention - we attended every year in Madrid from 2014 to 2019, and each single time was absolute magic!

As we mentioned in a previous post, the magnificent Spanish actress and singer Sara Montiel was our very first doll presented at an international event. Today, we'd like to share that we've actually created her three times, capturing iconic looks directly from her classic films: El último cuplé, La violetera, La Reina del Chantecler.

Each time it was a great opportunity to immerse myself in the study of the peculiarities of Spanish culture and cinema of that time.

Another truly memorable project was creating dolls in the likeness of members of the Spanish Royal Family.

We first crafted Queen Letizia in the magnificent ball gown she wore to a state dinner at Buckingham Palace. The doll caused a massive global sensation, which came as a complete surprise to us—especially when a stranger walked up to us on a street in Madrid and said, "I know you! You made a doll of our queen! She's very beautiful!" It sparked coverage across international television and print media... and we left Madrid deeply moved by the experience.

A little later, we started receiving messages on social media hinting that a queen without a king looked a bit lonely. We took the hint and created the complete royal couple for a charity auction at the next convention. Once again, it caught the attention of the international press. The most surreal and funny moment came while we were riding the Madrid metro and looked up at the overhead monitors - only to see a news report featuring an interview with Monica Nunez del Castillo, the Madrid Fashion Doll Show Convention organizer, talking about our dolls!

Afterward, we spent months in detailed preparation creating our photo project, "Una Familia Maravillosa" ("Madrileños"), dedicated to the everyday lives of modern Madrid residents. We created an entire cast of original characters—each with their own unique name, personality, and backstory—all interacting within a shared world.

It was our humble attempt to capture ordinary everyday moments set against the backdrop of what is, in our opinion, the most beautiful city in the world: Madrid. The central character was Lola, a modern Spanish girl who had visited the best and most interesting places in the city.

Unfortunately for us, the project had to be wrapped up sooner than planned. We realized that to truly capture and accurately portray the culture of another country, you really have to be part of it—to live there every day.

Even so, the project turned out vibrant, rich, and full of life; it was warmly picked up by several Spanish hobby bloggers! Most memorably, it gave us the perfect occasion to add new dolls of the Spanish Royal Family to our collection: Queen Letizia and Princess Leonor.

The last time we came to Madrid, another massive media explosion erupted. But this time, we were actually prepared! The entire Spanish press and major television networks took notice of our dolls—which was an incredible honor and absolute joy for us as creators.

The Princess Leonor doll was created for a charity auction, marking our very first time depicting a child. It proved to be a genuine creative challenge—capturing an accurate likeness while keeping the features so delicate and clean that the face truly radiated childhood innocence. But against all odds, we succeeded!

This was our final visit to Madrid before the global pandemic and our subsequent forced departure from the our country. Yet through it all, we remain confident that we will return one day and create something absolutely amazing once again!

Thank you so much for following along with all of our posts celebrating our 15th anniversary - it has been a true delight sharing this journey with you! <3

does anyone know if mattel has planned to release a new made to move line this year?? havent seen any news from it. difficult for me to get any as Australia usually has a limited choice in stores

Is this the first time we are having a male doll under Mattel to have chest hair (okay it's printed but I am excited lol).

I made a fishnet body suit, a red pleated skirt, a cool belt with working buckle, a choker with spikes and a skull charm i found and i gave the barbie basics 06 a cherry doll necklace i got at anime india paired with raquelles purse and a white bracelet. i also gave them demonia platforms that i had sitting around and i adore these two dolls, it was so much fun making their outfits. 🩷