My new fav: Fashion Designer Barbie!

This is a doll that the Project Runway fans will love, but I suspect my crafty and frugal friends will enjoy her too!

Fashion Designer Barbie is one of the newest dolls on the shelf. Barbie announced this doll in January, and I found her this week at Meijer in Monroe, Mich.

Barbie Design Dress Studio seen on toy shelf

Barbie Design Dress Studio is a cute pink box toy.

If the little girl in your life tries it out and likes the idea of being a fashion designer, then perhaps you could introduce her to sewing or crochet techniques. I've read some articles over the years about fashion designers who became inspired by creating Barbie fashions when they were children or teens

I saw this Jan. 21 at Wal-Mart in Monroe.

Valentine Chelsea dolls at Target

I now own two of the three Valentine Chelsea Target exclusive dolls. I haven't decided if I want the third one or not. These were found at Target in Monroe MI.

Barbie TV anchor props seen on toy shelf

The journalist in me is geeking out over this Barbie role-play set. I think the little girls who play dressup would like it. It's about $16.

I didn't buy one today. I kept thinking that I could get a doll or a couple of dresses for the same amount of money and what would I do with this?

But maybe I will get one anyway.

I do have an African-American TV Anchor Barbie doll and I really do shoot video from time to time at work (my Youtube channel is monroeonabudget and I have shot some of the pieces at the monroenews account).

Here's the front of the box as seen at Wal-Mart in Monroe, Mich., on Jan. 21.

Did you notice that there's a press pass included with the camera and microphone? Nice touch.

Here's the back of the box:

A thought about the Christmas gift dolls ...

If you are buying a Barbie or friend for a little girl on your list, or a Toys for Tots drive, would you also remember to supply Barbie some clothes, shoes, furniture or a pack-and-play box?

Tip: store the doll shoes in glass jars

You may have heard about crafters and sewers storing their tiny beads, buttons and pieces in glass jars.

But have you considered adapting that idea to the world of Barbie?

Well, my brainstorm today when I was at Ikea in Canton, Mich., was to put Barbie shoes in those little jars. I bought a package of four to see how it worked. I'm going to pick up a few more of those jars - and some shelving to hold them - at a future visit.

Barbie shoes in glass "spice jars" from Ikea

Paula's picks for holiday season 2011

I have three toy catalogs on my kitchen table this morning from the Sunday papers, in addition to the weekly sales fliers. Based on what I've seen in the catalogs and sales fliers, and what I've seen on the shelf, here are my holiday season picks for the Barbie fans.

Barbie camper. It's about $70 and I don't have anywhere to display or store a toy that big. Therefore, I won't get it. But if I was a 10-year-old girl again, I would play with this for hours! The features shown are just like today's RVs.

Printable Hair Barbie. Girls like dolls with hair they can comb, style, etc. Totally Hair Barbie is well known as the best selling doll Barbie made. The gimmick with this doll is you can print designs on inkjet printer and transfer them to hair extensions. It costs about $30.

Barbie I Can Be career dolls. Any of those dolls are a great addition to any little girl or adult collector's Barbie box. Just be sure to pick one that you think will appeal to her. For example, I love my Computer Engineer doll because I do so much digital work at my job. The career dolls were not expensive in the first place - $12 to $15. Besides, they're currently "old stock" and you will easily find clearance prices.

Holiday Barbie 2011. I never joined the Holiday Barbie craze, but I do have some of them. You really can't go wrong with this choice for any Barbie fan, unless the person you are gifting to has already bought the doll! The 2011 doll has a green and gold dress and is quite pretty.

Princess Doll and Horse. I'm not terribly interested in the pink box princess dolls because I can dress up my dolls with beautiful handmade gowns for the cost of what those dolls sell for. That being, said, the little girls love them. This one stands out from the crowd with her fashion, her hairstyle and the horse with PINK mane.

Perfect Christmas Chelsea doll. If you want a "holiday" doll without the "holiday" price, you can't go wrong with any of the Kelly and friend selections that have been on the market over the years. This one is a spinoff to one of the Barbie videos. Bonus: Kelly and friends are stocking stuffer size and low budget.

I would also put on any Barbie shopper's list at least one furniture or accessory set such as the bunk bed or the kitchen pieces. Those playsets are often overlooked. What is Barbie supposed to sit on, watch, or do other than change her outfits?

By the way, I know there are a lot of Disney Princess dolls and accessories on the market. But I consider that to be a different demographic and genre than Barbie. Therefore, I leave that discussion to the Disney fans.

I love the Barbie Dream House ZipBin!

I saw on another doll blog the Barbie Dream House Zipcase. I happened to be shopping at Meijer in Monroe, Mich., today and saw the piece on the shelf. It's only $13!

You would spend about that much on a plain box to store the dolls - why not get one that's cool? And if you are a little girl, this is a perfect pack and play house.

Barbie Dream House Zip Bin

$10 off coupon inside this Kmart Barbie flier

Did you see this flier at your local Kmart? I saw it in Monroe, Mich.

There is a coupon inside the flier for $10 off Barbie product purchase of $50 or more, Oct. 9 through Oct. 31. And just in case you need some suggestions to spend it on, there is a selection of dolls and toy sets featured.

Barbie Kmart flier October 2011

Styled by Me Barbie is back

Mattel has announced the Styled by Me Barbie order service is "back and more fabulous than ever."

Here's the link where you can play "paper doll" on your computer and see what doll, fashion and accessory combination you would like for the "up to $39.99" price tag.

I didn't poke around on the Styled by Me when it was previously offered, but I do remember the My Design Friend of Barbie in the late 1990s. I ordered two of those dolls - one for me and one for my daughter. I also saved a lot of the doll image jpgs I created as I tried to replicate my mother, sisters and sister-in-law.

My Design was definitely more of interest to the older collector, as compared to Styled by Me which seems very pink box-ish.

Specifically, the range of non-blonde Barbies is extremely limited in Styled by Me. There are nine dolls you can pick from and six of them are blondes. Two are Hispanic or brunette, one is African-American.

The fashion choices are skewed toward the younger doll fans. Yes, today's teens and college-age women do want a cocktail dress or two in their wardrobe. But for every day attire, they are not "princesses." They wear stylish jeans and Ts, business suits, work uniforms. The "tops and bottoms" selections in the Styled by Me collection have a good range, but the dress selections are so-so. Older collectors also would probably appreciate a wedding gown, but the white dress shown is more of a party dress and there are no wedding accessories to pick from.

In comparison, My Design had many more choices on the doll's face, skin color and hair color. The My Design fashions also were more higher-end and detailed.

If you're looking for a birthday gift idea for a little girl, I think this would fit the bill.

But as an adult collector, this is really not my style.

Midge wearing a My Design outfit

This is an example of the fact that I don't necessarily keep the original outfit with the original doll. I do try, however, to keep as many of the pieces of the outfit together.

This is a bathing suit Midge doll that I bought in the late 1990s.

She is wearing a special edition outfit that was also sold during the late 1990s from the My Design Friend of Barbie collection.

My Design hasn't been available for several years, but it was fun. You could go on the web site and design a doll from a variety of features, skin color and hair color.

You had to wait for the doll to be shipped and it was a little pricey, which is why I ordered only one for myself and one for my daughter. When I did My Design, I ordered a doll with short brown hair.

You could also download and save the jpg image as if you had made a paper doll. The collection of "paper doll" images I had saved in my computer files helped me ID this outfit, by the way!

Barbie Birthstone dolls: Cute pink box gift

If you are looking for an inexpensive, but extremely cute, birthday gift doll for the little girl or big girl doll fans, the Barbie dolls I saw today at the Kroger store in Monroe, Mich. would fit the bill.

They're called Barbie Birthstone. There is / will be one doll for each month of the year, wearing a jewel-toned dress and necklace that represents the birthstone month. The doll owner also gets a play ring in the same color.

The display rack I saw had blonde dolls with outfits celebrating July, August and September.

Retail cost is $7.99, according to the price check I did.

I wouldn't mind getting one as a gift, and that price point is certainly friendly enough. But at this point I'm not buying one because I found other stuff I want to spend my Barbie money on this month.

Salute to Miss Michigan

The newly crowned Miss Michigan from the Miss America Organization pageant system is Elizabeth Wertenberger of Dundee, Mich.

While she ran under the title of Miss Southwest Michigan, Elizabeth is a former Miss Monroe County queen. My job as a reporter for The Monroe Evening News includes getting the Miss Monroe pageant appearances listed in the newspaper - although when it comes to actual competitions, that assignment does vary based on who is scheduled to work that weekend. I've also met many of the queens, contestants, princesses and volunteers over the years. That includes Kaye Lani Rafko Wilson, Miss America 1988, who still lives in Monroe.

Because I figured it was time to do a pageant doll display on my desk, and the local pageant season will be in August, I ordered on line a few days ago some doll-sized crowns and an assortment of beautiful ball gowns.

I'm really glad I did that now, but the doll fashions haven't arrived yet.

This will be my "doll on my desk" display for now. This is a brunette Barbie from the late 1990s. She came with beads you could pinch into her hair. I still have the hair kit, although I don't use it much. This was the first "pink box" Barbie I bought for myself as an adult. Her face was just too cute. Once I bought that doll, I knew I had crossed over into Barbie land.

The pageant frocks are, as best as I can remember, from the late 1990s because that is when I bought a lot of pink box fashions. The red dress and its sash came in a package of three outfits intended as college campus wear, along with a graduation cap and gown. The blue dress may have belonged to my daughter at one time. Personally, I like the red dress so that's what the doll will wear today.

I also found some fake flowers in my craft supplies that she can hold.

I have nothing - absolutely nothing - that can be repurposed as a doll crown unless I want to take a crown off one of my collector dolls. I'm not going to do that when I'll have a selection of doll crowns in a few days.

Update: Here's the doll on display, with her crown: 

A birthday doll with a tiara

This is an extremely cute doll that I saw today at Kmart in Monroe, Mich. She's a Happy Birthday doll for a little girl. The doll also comes with a tiara for the honored doll owner.

If you like the idea, but not that particular doll or her crown, then go to any craft store and look in the wedding supplies department. You will find a nice selection of rhinestone tiaras in a variety of price ranges. Use a craft store coupon, and you'll find that the price for a nice crown compares pretty well to a plastic one from a toy store.