Showing posts sorted by relevance for query christmas sweater. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query christmas sweater. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, December 1, 2017

Problems with UgLy Christmas Sweater Ornament Sets



Problem #1:  My package from The Greater Good Animal Rescue that was supposed to contain two sets of two Christmas Lights Ugly Sweater Ornaments, as their website advertised and as shown on the left, was scanned in as delivered at my post office on November 20, 2017. I discovered this after tracking the package on Saturday, November 25th because as of that date, the package had not been placed in my post office box.

This past Monday, November 27th, with tracking info in hand, I visited the post office where they could not locate the package. I asked for and was given their consumer affairs (CA) phone number because this is not the first time I have had issues with this post office.  From home, I called CA and was told that the people at the post office should have taken the time to find the package since it was delivered there. The CA person, a very nice woman, opened a case, gave me the case number, and informed me that someone from the post office would contact me within 48 hours.

Within 48 hours, I did receive a call from a male postal worker who asked if I had actually been to the post office to check my box.  My answer was, "Yes, I was there this past Monday, the 27th.  The package was not in the box.  So I stood at your dutch door, but left there to stand in line at the desk because no one answered the buzzer at the dutch door.  The line clerk briefly looked for the package, returned and told me to go back to the dutch door, that someone would help me there. I did.  After another brief check by another clerk,  I was told the package could not be found but they would continue looking for it.  I asked for the consumer affairs phone number and was given that number, which is when the case was opened, which is also why you are calling me."

The man then said/asked, "Ma'am.  You're not understanding what I asked you.  Have you actually been to the [name of post office] station to check your box?"

I angrily shouted, "NO, IT'S YOU WHO'S NOT UNDERSTANDING.  I JUST TOLD YOU, I WAS THERE ON MONDAY, THE 27th.  I CHECKED MY BOX.  THE PACKAGE WAS NOT IN IT!  I STOOD AT THE DUTCH DOOR, THEN STOOD IN LINE.  YOUR CLERKS CHECKED, BRIEFLY, TOLD ME THE PACKAGE WAS NOT THERE.  I ASKED FOR AND WAS GIVEN THE CONSUMER AFFAIRS PHONE NUMBER!"

Him:  Oh, I'm sorry ma'am. I misunderstood you. Let me check something.  Can you hold on for a minute?

Me:  Yes (with blood pressure and respiration probably elevated).

Him, returning to the phone:  Ma'am, your package is in your box.  When I checked and saw that it was a small parcel, I decided to check something.  When did you say you last checked?

Me:  It is [excited and relieved]???  I was there Monday, but it was NOT in the box on Monday.  It must have been found and placed in the box after the case was opened.  Thank you for checking.

He either found the package when he left the phone to "check on something."  Or, after the case was opened and they were "forced to do their job," the package was found on Monday and placed in the box.


I went to the post office shortly after that call ended and found the plastic mailing envelope in which the ornaments were enclosed.  It was balled up as though it has been shoved into my box, as shown above.  What idiots!

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Christmas sweater ornaments and Christmas stockings (?)(!)

Problem #2:  Recall that my order was for two sets of Christmas sweater ornaments (each package should have contained two-sweater-ornaments).  What I received in each cellophane envelop was only one Christmas sweater ornament and a Christmas stocking made from the same sweater material.  This is not what the website advertises or describes.

I called the Greater Good's 800 number and informed the customer service associate about the issue.  She apologized and placed another order for two sets.  She indicated there was either a warehouse mix-up or online description mix-up.  Either way, she explained, "You will receive either two more sets of one Christmas sweater ornament and a stocking or what the website describes:  two sets of two Christmas sweater ornaments."  So if anyone ordered these and you, too, received a sweater ornament and a stocking, call them and let them know, their 800 number is on the receipt and can also be found at their website.
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While I wait for the other package to arrive and hope the post office places the package (balled up or not) into my box in a timely manner, I chose Tamica to model the Christmas sweater after redressing her in a black halter dress and black heels.


Because Tamica wears a copper arm bracelet that I did not want to remove and also did not want it to snag the sweater, I covered the bracelet with masking tape as illustrated above.


After a few failed attempts to lead Tamica's pointed fingers and hands through the arm holes of the sweater without the fingers catching the threads inside the sleeves, I temporarily covered both hands with masking tape.

On left, Tamica models the Christmas sweater and holds the matching stocking.  On right, she provides a better view of the fit.
Just as I feared, the sleeves of the sweater are not the ideal length for playscale-size dolls.  I tried lengthening the sleeves by pulling on them, which might have added a mere fraction of an inch, but really not enough.

Tamica poses for a close-up of the slightly lengthened sleeves after I pulled on these to stretch them out.
The Greater Good Animal Rescue Christmas Lights Ugly Christmas Sweater Ornaments will work better for 9- to 10-inch dolls.


Nine-inch Keyshia (friend of Fashion Madness Kenya) temporarily tried Tamica's sweater on to illustrate the fit.  The sleeve length still appears a bit short on her.

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While I was in doll-dressing mode, using more appropriate size buttons, I took April's advice and replaced the over-sized buttons that were on Caleb's flannel shirt (a former Target ornament), shown above.  I could not decide if I wanted to use the same tan color or a darker color.  The decision was easy to make after I viewed both button colors on the shirt.

Smaller tan buttons were placed on the shirt before choosing which color to sew on.

Smaller dark brown buttons were tried next.
The original buttons had been hot-glued on.  Before sewing the selected buttons on, I removed most of the glue residue by placing a small piece of cotton fabric on top of the glue areas and ironing over these with a warm iron.  The iron melted the glue enough for most of it to attach to the cotton fabric and peel off when the fabric was lifted.

The shirt is now almost glue-residue-free.

Aunt Tamica poses with her nephew Caleb, whose flannel shirt now has new dark brown buttons.  I did not add buttons to the cuffs as I did not think those were necessary.

Reminder:  If you ordered the Christmas Lights Ugly Sweater Ornaments, expecting to receive two sweaters in a package and received one sweater and a stocking, call The Greater Good Animal Rescue folks and let them know.


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Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Nikki and the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - What to Wear?

Ugly Christmas Sweater Ornaments from Christopher and Banks

Top Model Nikki (one of my two TM Nikki thrift store finds from a couple of years ago) was selected to model the not-so-ugly, ugly Christmas sweater ornaments purchased from Christopherand Banks.com.


Their sweater ornaments include a removable and pliable silver wire hanger, which I knew would come in handy to create doll accessories later.

For playscale dolls, I would prefer these sweaters to have been a little longer and the neck opening a little larger, but they are workable with much less difficulty involved to dress dolls than I experienced with the stiffened ones I tried previously.

Nikki's Pre-Ugly Christmas Sweater Party Photo Shoot 
Nikki tried on the elf sweater first.  It has mittens attached to the sleeves.  Dressed in this one, Nikki looks like a perfect helper for Santa.

Close up of the mittens on Nikki's hands illustrates the nice fit.

Each of the sweater ornaments has the year, 2015, embroidered on back.  I did not know this prior to purchasing.  I suppose the stitching could either be removed or painted over with matching fabric paint. For this year's Ugly Christmas Sweater party that Nikki is attending, she does not mind the year being on back.  Next year would be a totally different story, however.
Nikki likes the elf sweater, but wanted to try on the other three.  (Christopher and Banks offered a total of five, but the penguin sweater was not appealing to any of the playscale women here.)

Nikki really liked the blue color against her complexion.  The white snowman theme pairs well with her white leggings.  This one also has attached mittens that are a perfect fit.

Close up of mittens

Next to try was the gingerbread man sweater which is without attached mittens, but is hooded.

A silver bead is attached to the top of the hood.

Nikki likes wearing this one without the hood, particularly due to the mishap that occurred while pulling the sweater over her neck.

When found at the thrift store, Nikki had only one of her original gold hoop earrings, which she continued to wear.  The earring, unfortunately broke when the green hooded sweater was pulled over her head.  So word from the now wise is:  Before dressing your dolls in these and other narrow necked tops, remove their earrings, particularly if they are fragile.
After regrouping from the earring malfunction, Nikki tried on the white and gray snowflake sweater, which is both hooded and has attached gray mittens.  She likes the winter white look and didn't mind wearing the hood.

This one also has a silver bead at the top of the hood as illustrated.

 Nikki removed the hood but kept her hair tucked inside.  She took a hot chocolate break while new earrings were made using one of the silver wire hangers. (Who knew I would be creating jewelry with the hangers so soon?)
The wire hanger was straightened out, cut to an estimated appropriate length for two earrings, and wrapped around a small ink pen leaving a straight portion at each end.

After removing the now spiraled wire from around the ink pen, it was cut in half.  The two halves were stretched to create a nice design.   The tip of each curved end was tucked under the spiral above it to prevent fabric snares.  To help the earrings stay in place, the center of each straight end was bent downward to create a hook before placing each into Nikki's ears.

Nikki models her new earrings and will always remember to remove them before taking off or putting on any over-the-head blouse or sweater.

Nikki has decided to wear the winter white snowflake sweater.  She has graciously given her younger sis, Goddess Emerald, permission to tag along with her to the Ugly Christmas Sweater party.

dbg

Monday, November 30, 2015

More Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Themes of these Christmas sweater ornaments from Michaels are: wreath, noel, reindeer, wrapped package, joy, and two tan bells.

For a couple of years, I have wanted to get my hands on the Christmas sweater ornaments sold at Michaels.  After reading Ms. Leo's Christmas Sweaters post, I asked my daughter to check the store near her the next time she was in the vicinity.  It only took a few days for that to happen (the woman is a shopaholic).

At Michaels, she asked me to FaceTime (FT) her so she could show me what they had.  I really wanted at least two with fur collars, but none were available.  The FT video reception was poor, so I asked her to choose five different ones for me.  "Five is an odd number," she said.  "Well buy six then, and make sure at least one is blue," I instructed.

At the Michaels where Ms. Leo shopped, the sweater ornaments were 40% off [the regular price of $5.99].  Here they were 50% off.  My daughter paid $2.99 for each.


The real miniature wire hangers are stitched to the neck of these excellent quality sweaters.  Just a snip with scissors allowed easy removal.


Since she wears "red bottom" shoes, I chose I.T.B.E. Luscious to model one, as shown above.  This is when I discovered the perfect arm length but wide waist and hemline.  In the above photo the  knit fabric is pulled together in the back to minimize the waist.

With the fabric in back relaxed, Luscious illustrates how wide the fit of the sweater is on her thin frame.  Wearing one of these, she could easily pull off the look of a 9-month pregnancy, as shown next.

In this sweater, with the front pulled forward, Luscious looks well into a third trimester of pregnancy.
After an ah-ha moment, I decided to try another Michaels Christmas sweater on Big Beautiful Doll Dasia.  It was my thought that her fuller figure would fill in the width.  I was pleasantly pleased by two things.


After removing her wrap, I rediscovered Georgette Taylor's handwritten inscription to me on Dasia's back, which reads:

To Debbie
Love,
Georgette Taylor,
08/2004

(Taylor co-founded the Big Beautiful Doll Company and is reintroducing the dolls under different names through her newly formed, I Am Beautiful Doll Company.)


I was also delighted that the sweater fits Dasia well (the sleeves are a little short, but we won't tell her). Like Luscious (a.k.a. Anika or Boo-Boo Kitty), Dasia is wearing the sweater over her dress.

Modeling Christmas sweater ornaments from various sources:  (in back, L-R) Nikki's sweater is from Christopherandbanks.com.  Dasia and Anika's sweaters are from a local Michaels store, and (seated) Goddess Emerald's sweater is from Jafgifts.com.

Acting as mother to the other Christmas sweater wearers, Dasia and her daughters took a lovely family portrait before joining the other attendees of the Christmas sweater party.

dbg

Friday, December 21, 2018

Aldi's Wine Bottle Christmas Sweaters

An ALDI display of Christmas sweater wine bottle covers

A couple of weeks ago, while shopping at my favorite discount grocer, ALDI, I saw the above display of Christmas sweater wine bottle covers.  Initially, I was only going to buy one because I am on a self-imposed spending budget, but my enabling husband was with me and said, "get three."  I really only wanted one, but it doesn't take much to enable me, so I chose the following three.

I chose two Santa wine bottle covers and one with a Christmas tree design.
I knew I would colorize the Santas to keep one for myself and gift the other.  The plan was to use the third one for its intended purpose, a wine bottle cover.


Using an Ultra-fine-tipped brown Sharpie, I did change the complexion of the Santas to brown, as illustrated above.  Only one of these was supposed to be a gift, but I gave both brown Santa-themed Christmas sweaters away.  I went back to ALDI later the same week and all were g-o-n-e!  I even checked another ALDI, but none were there.  Oh well... it's not like I needed any because I have purchased several Christmas sweater ornaments and Christmas sweater wine bottle covers in the past, many of which have yet to be used.  I also still have the Christmas tree one from ALDI.

The ALDI wine bottle covers measure 7 inches in length from the neckline to the hem and 5 inches from shoulder to shoulder.  The actual shoulder length is about 4-1/2 inches.  I knew these would probably fit a 14- to 16-inch doll.  I chose the following doll to model the one I kept.

Totally Coolness Lizette by Robert Tonner wears the ALDI wine cover Christmas sweater as a dress.  It fits her well.

In the future, should I find other Santa sweaters (ornaments or wine bottle covers), I now know I can use a brown Sharpie to colorize as opposed to painting, which I have done in the past, as seen in this photo.

Here is a link to past Christmas sweater ornament posts.


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Friday, March 25, 2022

Target's Christmas Sweater Ornaments

Christmas sweater ornaments from Target

Note: I just discovered this post from November 2021 was never published. So, I am publishing it now. Let it serve as a reminder to check out Target's website or stores in November for this year's Christmas sweater ornaments

***
I have too many of these already and vowed not to buy any this year, but while purchasing some ornaments from Target online, I saw these two and caved in. One has a wreath design. The other has a Santa design. My plan at the time of purchase was to paint Santa brown.

The Santa Christmas sweater ornament before painting is shown here.

I used nutmeg brown acrylic paint for Santa's face.

I had to also touch up some of Santa's mustache to cover red blushing that was inadvertently placed on the mustache instead of the face (a production flaw). I used a gray marker to outline the mustache afterward. 

This is the first year that I have used Christmas sweater ornaments for their intended purpose (as ornaments). In the past, as many other Barbie and other 12-inch fashion doll collectors have done, I've used them as sweaters for my dolls as seen here, here, here, and here.

The two ornaments from Target and others purchased in previous years hang from an ornament wreath.

The ornament wreath has six ornament hangers. In the past, I have used it to hang doll ornaments. As seen here.

******
While I was in repainting mode, I also painted two ceramic Santas at my daughter's request. They are seen in before and after photos next.

Ceramic Santas (before)

Santas close-up (before)

Ceramic Santas after painting

The Santas are seen in a close-up photo in this final photo.

My daughter was pleased.

***
2021 seems so long ago.

dbg


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