TREE CHANGE DOLLS

   Two years ago my sister-in-law was frustrated when her daughter asked her to buy a Monster High doll. She refused to such a doll as she thought it was not appropriate for a seven year old girl. The Monster High dolls are teenagers but they look like prostitutes. They have full makeup, wear provocative clothes and extremely high heels. Sonia Singh, who has two little daughters, also didn't like the look of dolls nowadays. She decided to restyle the dolls to give them the look of young girls. She repainted their faces to have a more childish look, combed their hair into pony tails or braids and sewed them new clothes. Sonia shared the results of her work on Facebook and she received very positive feedback from mums from around the world. She branded her restyled dolls "Tree Change Dolls" as the first photos of the dolls were taken on a tree in her garden. Currently Sonia shares her experience of doll restoration on her web page and encourages parents to provide their children with more appropriate dolls. She would also like to affect toy manufacturers to rethink the type of dolls they produce.

Tree Change Dolls by Sonia Singh

   Some time ago when I saw a Barbie doll in a second hand store I decided to buy it and give her a second life. I shared the idea of saving the poor Barbie with my daughter and she liked it very much. First we washed the doll in warm water with fabric softener. Then we detangled her hair with a brush and made her two braids. Next I slightly repainted her face - changed the lip color to be more natural and made the eyebrows a little bit thicker. Finally I sewed her a dress from a piece of my daughter old clothing. I believe the result of our work is quite impressive. Now our Barbie looks like a happy teenager and my daughter loves to play with her. 

Our Barbie "before and after" transformation

   The best thing about restoring our Barbie is that I spent a great time with my daughter. Now she is asking me to buy another doll to restore it ;)

SOUVENIRS (NOT) MADE IN CHINA

   At the beginning of June I went on vacation with my family to Niechorze which is on the west coast of the Baltic Sea. We spent ten days having a wonderful time there. The weather was perfect and the beach was not overcrowded because it was before the peak season. However the local sellers noticed the increased number of tourists and began to open stalls with souvenirs. They were located along the path to the beach and every time we passed by them my kids asked me to buy something. My daughter even made a list of things that she wanted me to buy her for the day i.e.: an ice-cream, waffle or toy-seal. To minimize the risk of buying useless or poor quality things it's good to choose them from the following categories (all verified by us):

• Books - No matter how many books you have at home it is always worth taking the opportunity to buy a new one ;) After finishing the last of my books on the third day of our stay this year, I decided to look for a new one in the nearby book outlet (for sure I will not make this mistake next year). The prices were low but it was hard to find a decent book as I'm not a fan of romances, thrillers or guides. Eventually I bought "Efekt Domina" (Eng. Domino Effect) written by Dominika Kulczyk with 75% discount.
• Jewellery - In almost every seaside town you can find stores with jewellery made by Polish jewelers. Last year I bought silver earrings that I often wear to work. This year I bought a silver locket for myself and a heart-shaped pendant made of pink quartz and a bracelet with amber beads for my daughter. 
• Accessories - Two years ago I bought a grey leather bag with a fringe that became my favorite and despite the passage of time it kept its appearance. You can also buy a leather wallet or a scarf but you should avoid buying another key-chain or fridge magnet as you probably already have a drawer full of them. 
• Toys - It is really hard to avoid buying toys when your kids have a chance to look at them each time you go to the beach. Most of them are made in China and their quality is very poor. Last year I bought an Elsa doll for my daughter but even though it looked nice in the box the quality was tragic. The doll dress tore up on the first day, then she began to lose her hair and finally she broke her arm... We had to say goodbye to our Elsa and throw it into bin :( This year to minimize my kids temptation and avoid bad quality things I bought new toys before our holiday: a kite from Decathlon and a family game Dobble. My kids were happy with the new toys and during the holiday I bought only a toy-seal for my daughter and a wooden train for my son.

   The best souvenirs that we brought back from our holiday were memories of nice moments that we had together: long walks along the seaside, building sand castles, eating chocolate ice-creams or looking at a seal that was laying on the beach. We took kids on a narrow-gauge railway ride to Trzęsacz, where you can see the ruins of a church from the 14th century. We also visited Muzeum Rybołówstwa w Niechorzu (Eng. The Fisheries Museum in Niechorze). I took a lot of pictures and I plan to print and put them into our family album so that we will recall our memories during the cold winter evenings.

Walk by the beach at sunset

The grey seal

The ruins of a church in Trzęsacz