Hobart’s Sonia Singh recycles, repairs and then upcycles dolls that are no longer played with.

Tree Change Dolls after their makeunder. PIC: treechangedolls.com.au

But instead of brushing their hair and fixing the doll’s existing wardrobe, Sonia removes the glittery make-up and spindly heels and dresses them in miniature handmade clothing and sandals or gumboots for a more natural style.

The results are amazing.

I would buy one of these for Millie in a heartbeat.

After a makeunder they transform into what I’d consider to be the perfect doll. Sonia sells some of her Tree Change Dolls on Etsy.

Before and after. PIC: treechangedolls.com.au

Millie is right into the imaginative play phase and while I’m not anti the Bratz-style dolls completely, I’d much prefer her to play with a doll that’s more realistic – just like her pretend wooden fruit or animal figurines, these recycled toys are recreations of what she sees every day.

Happy feet. PIC: treechangedolls.com.au

Growing up I had Barbie dolls. Lots of Barbie dolls. They lived with the one Ken (lucky guy!) in a double storey house with a fancy kitchen, fluffy dog called Prince and drove around our living room in a pink Corvette.

Each doll wore high heels, had impeccable hair and make-up and a mostly pink wardrobe of dresses and blouses and skirts. I won’t mention Barbie’s perky boobies, tiny waist or thigh gap but her body shape and size went unnoticed by me.

Barbie’s clothing, figure and ‘lifestyle’ makes some women cringe and some refuse to let their daughters play with them for fear of creating unrealistic pressure on their girls to grow up to be just like her.

But I don’t look like Barbie and yet I’m perfectly content with the way I look and can honestly say I didn’t grow up wishing to be just like my tippy-toed plastic friend. Playing with Barbie was pretend.

My Barbies ‘drove to work’, could wear a shiny ballgown for a special occasion and change into a respectable skirt suit with a hat and some gloves. Barbie was not the horrid role model she is sometimes made out to be.

I rarely wear heels, live in jeans, have never starved myself for the perfect figure and my daily make-up routine consists of a swipe of tinted moisturiser and some mascara. I have a career and studied hard to get there.

What I’m trying to say is Barbie didn’t negatively influence my childhood or give me expectation about how a woman should look, dress, live or behave.

But the more realistic the better.

The Bratz dolls are another degree of fake. Their skanky outfits, pumped-up lips and tawdry make-up quite possibly lead young and influential girls down a path their parents would be horrified to see them go down.

I can’t be sure, but I don’t think I would have chosen a Bratz doll over a Tree Change Doll if they were side-by-side on a shelf in a toy shop.

I hope Millie would make the same selection. I’d prefer if she played with dolls that looked and dressed not unlike her and her friends, dolls that gave the impression that their day would be similar to Millie’s. Normal and happy.

On the farm. PIC: treechangedolls.com.au

Sonia – who has a young daughter – said if Tree Change Dolls influences the big toy companies to rethink some of the dolls they are putting on the market it wouldn’t “be a bad thing at all”.

Makeunders in progress. PIC: treechangedolls.com.au

But I’m also loving the idea of giving old dolls a new lease on life. We flippantly buy our children toys for five minutes of entertainment which is little more than a waste of money and the earth’s resources. Why buy new when you could purchase one of these recycled beauties or try to create your own?

The benefits of Tree Change Dolls is twofold.

Tree Change Dolls is also on Facebook and Instagram

I’d love to know your thoughts. Leave me a comment below

The post Tree Change Dolls A Happy Toy Story appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.

We only buy recycled toilet paper. We line dry most of our washing, most of the time. We use grey water on the garden. I’m vegetarian.

When I was sent some Mother’s Corn natural products to try, I was excited and was really hopeful Millie would love them too.

She did.

Mother’s Corn baby tableware is so clever. Made from corn (PLA resin is extracted from cornstarch), the biodegradable plastics used in the products are as strong as the other dinnerware we used for Millie – but are BPA free, printed with non-toxic ink and free of petrochemicals that are harmful to the environment.

The segmented joy meal plate and self spoon & fork set have created a new, exciting eating routine for Millie. No longer content to let me shovel food into her mouth, Miss Independent is learning to self feed and will attempt to scoop food from her plate. The baby cutlery has a round finish on the fork and was easy for her to grip. I put a variety of different foods in her sectioned plate and she thought it was the bee’s knees. She sat there, selecting what she wanted to eat first and let out some excited squeals when looking at the spread in front of her. Little silicone stoppers on the base of the plate stopped it from sliding off the high chair tray. It’s also microwaveable.

The picnic snack cup set consists of a mug cup with two handles and a silicone lid with slits in the top to allow bub to reach in and grab a snack while the lid holds in the remaining contents. It’s had such a workout when I’ve taken Millie out. She Ioves thinking she is in control of her food and it’s saved so much from falling on the floor and being wasted.

The natural products are microwaveable but are not dishwasher friendly, however. But this hasn’t been a hassle for me, the smooth edges clean up easily and quickly in soapy water.

Possibly the item that is by far the flavour of the month is the Mother’s Corn bubble set. I’d seen these stocked in some of my fave kids’ stores and gave it a go immediately.

Suitable for ages 3 and up, it was left to me to do the bubble blowing while Millie waited for the result. I can’t pretend I didn’t love it. This non-toxic blower makes a LOT of bubbles. It’s brilliant. Millie was overjoyed. Pure wonderment.

The bubble liquid is made from cellulose (extracted from trees and used in ice-cream and bread) and the bubbles last long enough to land and sit on your finger.

Millie is going to go bananas when she’s old enough to use the blower. Just watching the bubbles float through the air garnered a ‘hip, hip, hooray’ clapping frenzy.

Mother’s Corn products are exclusively distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Kidsberry.

For details, visit the Mother’s Corn web page or follow on www.facebook.com/MotherscornAUS

* This is a sponsored post

The post Nothing Corny About It – Eco Friendly’S The Way To Go appeared first on millie mummy melbourne.