The Toy Archivist

“Annnnnnd… ACTION!”

“Oh, should I go?”

“Yes! ACTION, ACTION!”

“Oh, HI! I’m Lagoona and welcome to my personal DREAM WARDROBE!”

This is my customized Mini Fashion Dream Wardrobe set! As soon as I saw this pink 1:6 scale wardrobe on the shelf I had a VISION of turning it into Lagoona’s personalized closet/bedroom set.

And, I miiiiiiight have gotten carried away!

The Mini Fashion Dream Wardrobe is a great base to work with. It’s cute, it’s pink, you can take it out of the box, sit Lagoona down in it and have a great time.

But I wanted more.

First, it had to SCREAM Monster High and Lagoona. My dream aspiration was to make something that could plausibly be confused for an official Monster High release at first glance. So that meant not only did I need to use official art and branding for it, it all had to look completely clean and seamless!

“Oh, Drac! Get a few shots of me on the floor working on something and looking cute!”

“That’s a great idea, why don’t we use this as a chance to show off some of your art at the same time?”

*realizing her art book has nothing but sketches of shirtless boys in it*
“um, maybe I’ll just work on some homework…”

This was trickier than you might think! I thought it would be cute to use the design that is included on the box for the Lagoona dolls (like the Spa Day release) as her room’s wallpaper, but there is no resource or media collection out there to get it from! And naturally, as a filthy out of box collector, I had already tossed all of my Lagoona packaging *shame*. So off I went to the toy store to take several close up photos of a toy box like an absolute maniac.

The inside of the dressers are from the bags included in the Skulltimate secrets line, the top of the tall dresser was sourced from the small plastic bead holder included with Spa Day Lagoona, and the trunk uses a pattern from her Skulltimate Secret shorts! And of course we have an image of G1 Neptuna and several small graphics also taken from Lagoona’s various clothing and packaging.

Then, I took a LOT of measurements of the playset, jamming my fingers into every drawer with tiniest measuring tape/ruler I could find. With my fingers terminally stubbed and nails irreparable ruined, I moved on to ✨ THE DESIGN PHASE ✨

A blessed and magical time where present you has a wonderful time making problems for future you in Corel.

I like designing in Corel, if nobody bothers me I can easily get into that “trance mode” where you just tunnel in on the task and don’t even notice when it’s suddenly time for bed and you never made dinner.

“Tell them a bit about yourself Lagoona”

“Okay, well, this is my closet where I keep all of my cool stuuufff… um, Oh, this is my OFFICIAL reproduction Merman Fork! It’s so cool, just like on the show!”

“So you’re a Merman fan?”

“Oh yeah, big time!” *Pointing at the pin up of Merman in the closet* Yeah, no joke if you look like THIS, msg me!!! Lol!
Oh my God, I can’t believe I said that, Drac you have to cut that out I’m too embarrassed!” 

“Leave it in!”

“No one asked you, the A/V club doesn’t get a vote!”

One part of this project that was very important to me was to customize Lagoona’s closet with items that fit thematically with her character and personality from the new show, but also wink towards my own interests and quirks. Lagoona’s boy crazy? Well I bet she’d love Lagoon Boy and Merman just like me :p

I wanted to work in a lot of references to events on the show and the canon relationships Lagoona has. So we have Polaroids of Ghoulia, some of Lagoona’s sketches we see in show (yes, I clipped them out), and things like Swim Team awards and school spirit stuff that she would be likely to have in her closet/locker.

Once I had the various walls, drawers, and table tops planned, I had the materials printed in vinyl.

This is the extra step that (IMO) makes the finished product pop so well. It is entirely possible to do this with paper or maybe something like cardstock, but vinyl is going to give it that manufactured “plastic” look you want from a dream playset. I laid it down on the actual panels that came with the toy, which was slightly nerve racking as the process of laying vinyl requires a fair bit of soapy water – I was nervous I might warp the backing. Thankfully though it did not and the vinyl adhered very well with no air bubbles or blemishes. #Blessed.

“Make sure to get a wide shot that shows off all my cool collectibles and how many things I’m into!”

“Hey! Are you the director here or am I!? … That is a good idea though…”

Next came the best, most fun, absolute blast part of the project –
🌟 DECORATING!!!! 🌟

I went nutso-crazy tricking out Lagoona’s wardrobe with every little fiddly bit I could remember.

First, as always, is the fashion. I added a bunch of Lagoona’s outfit and accessory options all over the place as well as a few other G3 dolls. I also added a bunch of Mini-Fashion and Mini-Brand items as well as a few G1. Cool clothes for a cool girl.

Then I started adding in the weird stuff.

“Lagoona, why do you have a bat wrapped in barbed wire in your closet?”

“Every home has one where I come from. You never know when dinner might fight back!”

“… Drac, definitely cut that part.”

Just like Lagoona’s closet, decorating her space was very important to me and I was very particular about it.

One of the main goals of this project was to have the FANTASY playset. You know the one – the one they would show on commercials with the dry ice fog, the “not included” extra details and bits. The playset they show in a movie about dolls and playsets that they don’t actually release in real life. The stuff you might have seen in a catalog when you were little and told in no uncertain terms that “those sets are too expensive.” I wanted THAT set.

So I wanted to PACK the area with bits. It was also important to me that it seemed like a lived-in space, like Lagoona’s own bedroom/wardrobe. It’s HER space so everything in it has to reflect her in some way.

“Hey, where DID you get those shoes anyway?”

“Oh, I borrowed them from my friend Mina. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t know her, she goes to a different school. Tee-hee”

But it’s also MY space. This is my personal project, so I wanted a lot of me in there as well. Like I know in the canon of the show, Draculara is the film and drama nerd. But I like movies and cameras and props, so guess what, so does Lagoona now!

“Stop fussing, you look great! It’s almost 4:00am, I thought we’d be done by now!!”

“Oh, we’re not even CLOSE to done. We haven’t even gotten to the fashion show yet”

“FASHION SHOW?!?!” *mirror fussing intensifies*

I also wanted to capture MY aesthetic. THIS is how my home looks! Lots of different cute/weird/funny/creepy things all neatly and lovingly presented together. I poured a lot of love into how I decorated this wardrobe and I hope it shows through in the pictures. I wanted to create a kind of “doll reality” that goes a bit further than the typical play set.

“Oh, how bout this one?”

“SLAY! Put that on and get in front of the mirror, we’ll do a photo shoot!”

“Photo shoot!? I thought we were filming a room tour!”

“The creative process has to be flexible Frankie, just go with the flow!”

“Okay, but tomorrow you’re both helping me with Watzie 2! I might have given him too many teeth…”

Of course, this is a wardrobe and Lagoona is a fashion doll, so we can’t resist the chance for some good ol’ glamor shots!

“… Gill. Is. Gonna. DIE.”

“You think!? I sure hope he does! <3”

This project was a real labor of love for me. The entire process was interesting at every level and after working on this one I am keen to do more custom playsets. So stay tuned for more in the (hopefully) near future!

I also want to encourage anyone who took the time to read this to try it yourself! I will include all the file images I used for this project on this page, including the closet art. So if you want to replicate the end result, have fun!

“Ok… CUT! That’s a wrap!”

“OOOHHH! Was it good? Do you think it’s good? Did I do goo-”

“You did great! Now let’s get out of her before sunrise, unless you want to wear the garbage-bag-poncho again Drac…”

*Draculara has already turned into a bat and flown out of the room*