Go Alice on a Budget
by Kassadee_Marie, HSM team writer
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson lived in England in the 1800’s and was a Deacon of the Anglican Church; he was also a poet, logician, mathematician, photographer, inventor and a writer. However, he is most well-known for two small books and one long poem that he authored, and he is more commonly known as Lewis Carroll. If you’re a fan of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There and The Hunting of the Snark, you’ll be glad to know that it’s simple to go “Alice” on Home and stay on a budget at the same time.
One of the most famous incidents in “Alice” is when she drinks carelessly from a bottle labeled, “Drink Me” and shrinks until she’s only ten inches high. Due to this, I believe Toy Story’s “Andy’s Room” space for $5.99 by Disney is the near-perfect setting for an Alice-themed personal estate. It’s only “near” as it’s a bedroom with a modern theme. However, when you arrive there and find that you’re only ten or so inches high, you’ll feel like a character from Alice, indeed. This space isn’t all that large and it’s higher than it is wide, but there are some great features there, among them a teleporter to seven different high locations in the room; three games with rewards for you and your guests; and the ability to go behind or under some of the room’s furniture, such as the bed.
You won’t need much additional furniture in this space, but if you’d like to add anything, look for items that you may already have that are related to the books, such as the “toadstool” reward item from the Cauldron of the Sunless Kingdom game from Lockwood. Several of these grouped together would look funny “growing” under the bed. Another suggestion is the reward statue from the game “White Knight Chronicles”, as there was a white knight in Through the Looking Glass.
Another good features is that furniture items can be placed on the shelves, dresser and desk, as well the floor. The Furniture store sells some large items of interest under the Toy Story tab, such as three children’s blocks and a ball and jacks set that are chairs, for $.99 each. You also may want to pick just one or two of the following items: the Top Hat stool, matchbox lamp, or Sweet Treats giant ice cream cones from Sony Originals; the giant sheep from Blue Toad; or the big dice from the Luxury Weekend House. These items sell for $.99 each, and while these items are not all directly Alice-themed, they would go well in this space. The Life-Sized Chess set for $2.99, found in the Games Store Would be another game for you and your friends to play there and a reminder of the theme of the second book.
The Costume Originals store has the perfect outfit for you. The ladies can dress up as Alice and the guys can dress up as the Mad Hatter. Each of the outfits are only $.99 for all five pieces. However, there are other characters from “Alice in Wonderland” that you might want to try out such 
as the Queen or (the lesser-known King) of Hearts, or the white rabbit. Of course, Digital Leisure has provided the perfect king or queen of hearts with their “Card” outfits. For $2.99 you can pick up one of these three-piece outfits, both of which include a crown. In addition, the queen’s outfit has a scepter and the king’s outfit includes a sword. A cute “White Rabbit” outfit could be made for the guys or the ladies, starting with the bunny head from nDream’s Fantasy line. For instance, the ladies could add the Alice shoes and Etranger’s costume from Disgaea. These two pieces are $.99 each. Just say “I’m late. I’m late.” to set the theme – but don’t spam! Some characters, such as the Cheshire Cat or the Caterpillar seem impossible to depict at this time, and some such as the Duchess, the Dormouse, and the March Hare are not that well known.
Of course, “Through the Looking Glass” also has characters you might want to depict, such as the Red or White Queen or King, or Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Again, characters such as the Walrus, Bandersnach or Jabberwock seem impossible to portray. The $1.49 elegant dress in red or white from Konami’s Fashionista line, would make a great start for either of the queens. Just add a crown, such as the “Animated Royal Crown” from Threads Originals and a hand item similar to a scepter. The guys can start a king costume with almost any suit, but the $1.49 Valentine’s suits from Jam Games seem like a great beginning. The black suit with red tie and handkerchief fits for the Red King and the white suit with pink tie and handkerchief fits for the White King. As I have mentioned previously, crowns can be purchased on Home in several stores, including VEEMEE. Scepters are a bit harder to find, although the guys have two options in Costumes Originals. These are two large items that look rather like weapons; the Medieval Scepter and Medieval Spiked Scepter for $.99 each. There are hand items such as jeweled walking sticks that can substitute for a scepter.
The fighting Tweedle twins are shown in the original book as wearing a beanie cap, striped shirts, and white pants, but are often depicted elsewhere in shorts. The Namco Museum Strap Shorts reward item with Wrangler’s Dark Blue Short Sleeve Striped Polo ($.99) and a beanie, such as the knit cap ($.49) from Threads Originals, worn with black socks and shoes, such as the Paris Modern Male Shoes ($.49) would make an interesting Tweedle. These characters are large, so you will need to adjust you avatar’s weight substantially. If a friend would make an identical twin and stand near you, it would be hysterical looking.
If you like to have your avatar dance, Alice would look sweet and the Mad Hatter would look even madder, doing the “Cute Dance” from Konami’s $2.99 Anime Animation Pack, which also includes several poses and a “peace sign” animation that can be used by itself or with the poses. If not, Alice would look cute with a kitten, such as the adorable $1.49 or $1.99 ones from Lockwood. And Sony’s own $1.99 “Black Cat”, who seems a little mad itself, would look good with the Mad Hatter. The White Rabbit needs a locomotion to make him (or her) faster, such as “Super Dash” for $1.99 from nDreams. If you decide to be one of the Tweedle twins, the raven companion reward item from Cutteridge Estate would make a suitable stand-in for the crow. I leave it to your imagination if a king or queen from “Alice” should have a dance, locomotion or ride-on item, but you might consider a guard from the Avalon Estate from Heavy Water.
As always, I want to remind you that no item on Home is a true budget item for you unless it appeals to you and you find great value in it. I would like to think that any estate, item of furniture or clothing, companion, game or locomotion that you purchase has more than one use for you, such as a dress or suit that can be changed with the addition of accessories. It’s fun to go all out with a theme, but please don’t overspend. I hope my ideas spark ideas of your own and you can find your own ways to play on Home, while staying on a budget.
March 17th, 2013 by Kassadee Marie | 1 comment
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.
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Hahaha, never thought of all that. I do have the Mad Hatter type outfit. Now all I need is someone to be Alice and Andy’s Room lol. Great article