American Horror Story: Barbie Coven

Yeah, okay, so maybe that doesn't really strike horror into most hearts, but have you ever stared into the vacant, vapid, blank stare of a Barbie doll for very long? Terrifying...

"A witch ought never to be frightened in the darkest forest, Granny Weatherwax had once told her,
because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her."
-- Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith

A n y w a y... yesterday, I was working on something else which led to me deciding to finally fix the spooky tree that was sitting on the witch doll shelf in the guest room (before it fell over, taking half the dolls with it). I had to dismantle the base, remove the guts, re"stuff" it with a thick dowel leftover from something else and reglue it all. Then I had to repair the paint that got messed up because it's made of pipe cleaners, masking tape and paper, and some of the paint flaked (surprisingly little!). While I was at it, I added some lichen-y and mossy greens to the roots and knothole. It gave it quite a bit more dimension, I think.

Round about the cauldron go; / In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone / Days and nights hast thirty one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,  / Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.
Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 1

I mentioned on Twitter that I was trying to tie this collection to some of the other things in the room, to make the room cohesive. The guest bedroom is currently an odd mix of children's library (it's adjacent to our daughter's room, so the logical place for kid's books after we ran out of room in the library downstairs), some memorabilia and art from New Orleans/Mardi Gras, and witches.

After I put up the shelf holds all the dolls, I had decided it would be cool to tie them to New Orleans by printing out a background of family crypts*, as if they were all meeting in a New Orleans cemetery. So that's what I did yesterday, printing out some altered photos on cardstock, then gluing them to foamcore. The idea is that they look like they're a bit in the distance, so the detail isn't sharp on purpose. I wanted the concept of the crypts without the images themselves fighting for prominence on the shelf. Unfortunately, the shelf is so crowded that now you can't hardly see the crypts at all. ::sigh:: (The one to the left of the tree is alleged to be Marie Laveau's true resting place. Of course, I had to include the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans!)

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hekate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna

I do have a solution to the crowded shelf problem, however. There is room above the headboard on the opposite wall for another shelf, and I do have another identical shelf waiting to be put up. I'm mostly waiting for more dolls to justify the trouble. I might need to find a new home for my old promo print of Bugs and Witch Hazel, though.

Witch Hazel: I warn you, dearie, I'm going to worm all your ugly secrets out of you. Tell me. Who undoes your hair?
Bugs Bunny: Do you like it?
Hazel: Like it? It's absolutely hideous!
Bugs: I did myself up tonight.
Hazel: There's nothing like a home permanent.
Broom-Stick Bunny, 1956

Flanking the bed are the taller bookcases, and more random doll assortments.

L-R: 2003 Halloween Fortune (Target excl.), 2000 85th Birthday Halloween ed. Raggedy Ann,
2004 Boo-tiful Halloween

Top: 1997 FAO Schwarz excl. Samantha Stephens Bewitched (Exclusive Premiere)
Middle: (mostly hidden behind the plush dragon) 1972 Emerald the Enchanting Witch (Milton Bradley)
Bottom L-R: Disney Store Evil Queen, 2010 Bewitched Barbie, Disney Store Maleficent
Right: three Mardi Gras prints from NOLA artist Mousie
(clockwise from top, 2001 "Mardi Gras Moon Goddess", 1998 "Perfume", 2000 "Mardi Gras Eyes")

The shelf with the little plush dragon (Leviathan, to be specific, he was a parade throw) and Emerald (who is sadly nekkid) holds my modest collection of modern and vintage witchy kids books. I've written one of my own that I'm still in process of working out the illustrations for, and writing a second.

Then there's one of my recent acquisitions, and the source of much frustration for Jill Thompson, who worked for years to bring her to life: the Scary Godmother doll. She was a Kickstarter project (my husband backed it for me, and I even got to meet Ms. Thompson, who is lovely) and I was thrilled when she finally arrived. I don't plan on taking her out of the box until I have a dome to put her under.

"Here's a treat that's fun to make and helps you get a word in edgewise. Take two of your favorite crackers, spread one with jam, one with peanut butter, smoosh them together, and jam them into the mouth of a chattering werewolf."

Next to her on the shelf is a little experimental doll I made. Above the shelf on the wall is a collection of doubloons from my collection, and a drape of beads attached to the frame below it. I had a brief, mad obsession with doubloons and their history, and have a big 3-ring binder full of them, carefully sorted by year and put in little cardboard/mylar coin folders.

Finally, the last part of the collection in this room sort of serves as a warning, and is a souvenir from Salem, Massachusetts, so I suppose it's not all New Orleans...

By the way, in Colonies, they hanged "convicted" witches. Burning is what they did in Europe.

Resources
If you're a witchy sort of collector, too, here's a fantastic resource for the Barbie Halloween dolls:
http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/Halloween-Barbie-Dolls.html
For more witchy children's books, visit A Mighty Girl's blog:
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10117 "With Broomstick in Hand, 40 Books Starring Mighty Witches"
...and Red Tricycle's "Which Witch is Your Favorite? 14 Witch Books We Love":
http://redtri.com/witch-books-for-kids/
_______________
*If you are unfamiliar, many burials in New Orleans are aboveground, because NOLA is below the water table. Any coffins that are buried have ledger stones to keep them down, or have stone walls around the coffin to keep out rising water. More info about those: http://liverytours.com/2014/10/new-orleans-cemeteries-and-graves/.

Doing Some Rearranging

We visited my husband's mom this weekend, and she gave me a Christmas present that somehow got missed in December. So even though we came, in part, to wish her a happy birthday, I ended up with a gift, too.

Bewitched Barbie (Pink Label collectible)

Love her! Yes, yes, I have been a pretty staunch critic of Barbie, and Mattel in general, but I have a real weakness when it comes to the witchy ones. (My husband calls me a Halloweenie. 'Nuff said?) Anyway, this one has the awesome vintage face that looks cool and a little aloof, instead of the vapidly empty smile that the modern face has. (Although this is one of two (?) Bewitched Barbies, and the other one has the modern face but doesn't look as stupid as some of them do.)

Years ago, a friend and coworker also worked at FAO Schwarz when they had an exclusive Samantha doll (made by Exclusive Premiere). He got her for me, and I was happy to get it, but the doll looks about as much like Elizabeth Montgomery as I do. The box is definitely the coolest part.

Since I picked up the FAO Schwarz  doll in '97, I've also been collecting the Hallowe'en Barbies. I don't have all of them, but I will, and I can't display them with my action figures, because I need more room for both. I had a thought last night, and decided it would make the most sense to move the dolls into the children's library/guest room. I already have a shelf in there dedicated to all my witch-themed children's books, and since making that room over as a children's library sort of interrupted my plans to make that room with a New Orleans/Mardi Gras vibe, maybe I can make them mesh together...

I found a woman's blog this morning with photos of how she's made her Hallowe'en Barbies into a seasonal diorama/display, and it's pretty awesome. I figure if I can get a nice long shelf or two, I can make a creepy southern-style backdrop with images of trees dripping with Spanish moss (or make my own with branches and dyed cheesecloth), get some Barbie-sized props like Valerie did, and I have a swampy, creepy, Southern-fried Hallowe'en display. And since New Orleans is also home to a huge annual Hallowe'en celebration (and the former home of Anne Rice), it's really not much of a stretch. However, this does mean I have yet another project on top of the hundreds I already have.

Anyway, I think it'll work out. I've already cleared them off the single crowded shelf downstairs, and hauled them all upstairs, getting some of them displayed.

One of two bookshelves that flank the bed in the guest room. The second shelf is my
collection of witchy children's books, and a naked 1972 Emerald Witch doll.

The Secret Spells dolls aren't Hallowe'en specific, but I think these came out around the height of the popularity of the show Charmed.

The Secret Spells dolls I had to run all over hell to get when they went on clearance, to get all three.
Naturally, these were not popular with the ultra-conservative set. (More reason to love them.)

They sit atop a tall desk in the corner. Because their packaging is so cool, I'll probably leave them boxed (and get the rest of the price stickers off the front of the boxes).

The bookshelf on the other side of the bed has four more boxed dolls. And it's fine like that, but because of the height, they're not as visible, and I am really loving the diorama idea; they may not stay up there. (Could be really bad-ass if I do it right, you know?)

See? Just not very interesting! (Yes, the room really is painted a pea-soup green. It was that color when we bought the house. Initially I hated it but it's grown on me, and now I think I can make it work with the "swamp" theme.)

Plus, I have these...

...that need a home, and why leave those four all alone up there, when they can be displayed out of their boxes, with the rest of the girls? And the ones missing from the collection, that I have yet to acquire...

My only real concern about putting them in the children's library/guest room is that it is the children's library, and I'd prefer my daughter not play with them. So they may stay boxed, at least until I'm sure she won't run off with them.

UPDATE:
I couldn't stand it: I took them out of the boxes, and got the shelf all arranged. My birthday present to me was playing with dolls.

See? Much better than sitting in boxes!

Tutorial for making the tree here. I found black doll stands, and they nearly disappear (I am a firm believer in black stands -- white reflects so much more light and is a lot more obtrusive.) I had a tiny tealight holder that looks like a cauldron, with a pumpkin cut-out face, and purple glitter. It turned out to be exactly the right size for the Kelly-and-friends dolls.

FYI: They aren't warming their hands...
This was the first arrangement, before the other dolls were added.

I am particularly pleased with how the Barbie "coven" turned out. Clearly adding more props isn't practical, but I'd love to add some tomb façades (New Orleans graves are mostly above ground because they are below sea level) to put as background. I have another shelf, too, and more Hallowe'en dolls to add to the collection, but this is a great start.

Something I noticed as I was unboxing them, there is great variation in the Barbie faces. Not just different makeup, but whole new sculpts. I think my favorite face is the Halloween Glow Barbie, in the lavender and black dress.

Halloween Treat (2009), Happy Halloween† (2010), Trick or Chic† (2006), Halloween Hip (2006)

Halloween Enchantress (2004), Halloween Glow (2002), Enchanted Halloween (2000), Halloween Star (2005), Halloween Charm (2007)

Missing from my collection of Hallowe'en Barbies († indicates Target exclusive dolls):

• Halloween Fun† (with Kelly, 1997, not a priority - not witchy)
• Halloween Party† (with Ken, 1998, not a priority - not witchy)
• Halloween Fun† (with Kelly, 1999, not a priority - not witchy)
• Halloween Princess† (2001, not witchy but she's way cool)
• Perrr-fectly Halloween† (2002, not a priority - not witchy)
• Maskerade [sic] Party (2002, not a priority - not witchy)
• Halloween Wishes (2005)
• Halloween Party (2007)
• Trick or Chic (2008)
• Fashion Spell (2009)
• Pink Halloween† (2009)

They will be mine...!