Custom Pony Recipes!

Dark Haired Babies Moondancer and Glory
These two came about after I had made the special posed versions of Glory and Moondancer. I thought I could make special babies for these version Unicorns, and toyed with the idea of making newborns for a while, but ultimately I decided babies with matching manes would be delightful- and I was right! These two were the easiest to customize of them all, and were completed in just under three hours. Both have a silver moon and star like their mothers.

Shy Posed Glory and Moondancer
These two were among the first customs I had designed. My very favorite pony of all is Gusty, particularly because of her delicate pose. I had seen foreign variations of both ponies (Glory in Moondancer's pose and Moondancer in Glory's) but wanted to be a little more innovative. Since Moondancer and Glory are white unicorns like Gusty, I thought they'd look excellent in that pose. And don't they?! I struggled with the issue of trimming their manes, and in the end I just couldn't bring myself to chopping off all that gorgeous hair. It's an odd thing, this hair business: when I show people my special versions of Glory and Moondancer and then show them Gusty, they always ask why I cut Gusty's hair!

Baby Seashell
Baby Seashell was one of the later customs I made. Princess Silverswirl (my guru, the Jedimaster) had made me a Baby Bubbles as an appreciation of our collaboration, and where there is a Baby Bubbles, there must be a Baby Seashell! Bubbles and Seashell share a permanent association, and I simply could not see Baby Bubbles without Baby Seashell, so I made her one cold December afternoon out of a Baby Cuddles that was supposed to have originally been Baby Truly. Her color was quite simple to match (Heather, Dove Grey, and White) and was accomplished on my second attempt. The grassy green hair for her can be found in Seashell or Medley.

Baby Bubbles
As I mentioned above, she was a gift from Princess Silverswirl. She is also the only first-toothed baby in The Golden Autumn.

Baby Medley
She was planned rather early on (I *LOVE* Baby Gloomy's famous shimmery version and she's really the impetus for my solid version) but she was not completed until the last batch of my planned customs had been plowed through. Her paint combination includes Emerald Green, Ocean Reef Blue, Sky Blue, and White. Her's is a tough one to color match. An adult tail from either Medley or Seashell will suffice in rooting a Baby Medley.

Baby Twilight
Baby Twilight was the first custom I had planned. I had a mad vision in my head of how cute she'd look, and indeed she does! Her paint combination includes Pink, White, Yellow, and just a touch of Dove Grey. She is very much a bubble gum pink. The purple stripe in her hair is best rooted using a tail from Glory.

Baby Sunbeam
Such a cutie, this one. She was a relatively simple one to do. Paint combo includes Baby Blue, white, and a few drips of Emerald Green. The yellow stripe in her mane can be found in a variety of ponies, most commonly Applejack. Her symbol was done using gold liquid glitter. Dry gold glitter appears a tad greyed in its dry state.

Baby Skyflier
Another one of my original four, she was THE last custom I finished back in January. Her color combo includes Peach, Linen, Baby Pink, Dove Grey, and White. A decent challenge to match her color. Her bright red hair is most commonly found in adult Skyfliers and the rarer so-soft Skippity-Dos. You can also use the red hair from the mail-order Christmas Baby or the red-haired Valentine twin.

Baby Sparkler
One of my earlier attempts, she was an absolute nightmare to color match. I just could not match Sparkler's color, no matter how many special blue paints I tried. Finally, a week into my self-defeat, I added Emeral Green to the mixture and a match was achieved! It was odd, because Sparkler doesn't look green at all! But it did the trick: Emerald Green plus Glacier Blue, Dove Grey, and White. Her violet hair can be found in both Blossom and Baby Glory, and the red stripe in Skyflier. It is best to simply use Baby Glory's tail for Baby Sparkler.

Baby Powder
Ah, the rebel. Why did I decide to make Baby Powder in Baby Noddin's pose instead of Baby Glory's like the rest? Well, the idea just didn't take in my mind. I kept picturing her at various angles and I kept saying,"She's so bleak and unattractive. Ugh." Powder is not the prettiest purple in the free world, and any pony made in Baby Glory's pose must (I repeat MUST) be bright and attention grabbing. Picture Baby Moondnacer in black- doesn't work, does it? Moreover, when I had started work on my other customs, I saw a custom Baby Powder in Baby Glory's pose and frankly I was right. She looks all wrong, almost like a fakie, I think. Anyway, I mulled over the possible poses (newborn, original mould- I even toyed with the idea of making her out of a spare Baby Cuddles and then adding a horn) but in the end I decided Baby Noddins was it- she already looked a good deal like Powder- she just needed a painting and a red streak added to her mane. Powder is *the* easiest pony to match colors with: she is simply a straight up Heather Purple- no white, nothing. Just paint away!

Baby Gypsy
Baby Gypsy was one of the middle batch. At that point in time I had neither Baby Honeycomb or Baby Hopscotch so a Baby Gypsy was only an afterthought: oh, I'll do one when I get foreign babies and then I'll finish off the set, I thought. Then one day Gypsy came in the mail. Those of you who have her will attest to the fact that she is heavenly- just beautiful to look at! So Baby Gypsy was born. Her color is tough to match, and you'll need ample doses of Linen (a mud-clayish color), Dove Grey (see how it keeps popping up?) and a Medium Orange (you'll find at the craft store that Orange comes in very limited varieties). The neon orange of her hair is unique in the US to the so-softs Paradise and Twist. You'll not want to use Gypsy's hair because she is a rare, foreign pony. Of course, if you live in the UK, you may beg to differ. Gypsy is unique among the unicorns in that she has no streak in her mane. Q: If she were to have a streak, what color would you suggest? White, I think, would work best.

Baby Rainbow Ponies
When rooting the hair of a custom rainbow baby based on the first edition rainbows you will need four colors for the mane: magenta, yellow, green and blue. For the magenta, the best source is Heart Throb, Mommy Apple Delight, or Sweetheart Sister Dainty. For the yellow, Applejack. For the green, Seashell or Medley, and for the blue, Firefly. All these ponies are common and cheap. This set of rainbows involved the least bit of painting of any of the sets- in fact, I only had to paint Baby Skydancer and Baby Moonstone. Baby Starshine was made off a Baby Surprise, Baby Parasol from Baby Cotton Candy, Baby Sunlight from Baby Sunribbon, and Baby Windy from Baby Rainribbon. To match Skydancer, you'll need Sunlight Yellow, White, and a drop of Gray. For Moonstone, Baby Blue, White, and a few drops of Royal Blue.

Baby Rainbow Ponies Cont.

For the second set of hard to find Rainbows, you will need a good deal of patience because they are not an easy set to customize. Baby Confetti was the easiest one to customize as I used Baby Brightbow for her. The rest had all to be painted, and it was no mean feat. First of all, Baby Pinwheel was an absolute nightmare to paint. I would come upon what I thought looked like the appropriate color combination, paint her, and then wake up the next day to find she looked nothing like her mother. This happened a good dozen or so times. Arriving at the precise color combo required Hot Pink, Magenta, Baby Pink, Heather, Lavendar, Dove Grey, and White. She is a *very* difficult pony to match colors with, but if you can do it in less than 35 attempts like it took me, hats off to you! All in all, I'd say she took a good three weeks before she looked like what she does now. As I mention elsewhere, the effort paid off as she is the single best custom pony I have ever made. I still get goosebumps when I look at her and think, "Wait- I did THAT?!?" Even my other pony collector pals can't tell she is a custom. She is without flaw. For Baby Starflower you'll need Emerald Green, Royal Blue, Mint Green, and White. An interesting note about Baby Starflower is that she is the exact same color as Baby Ribbon, so if you've an extra Baby Ribbon lying around and don't feel like painting, DON'T! For Baby Tickle, Heather, Dove Grey, and White. For Baby Flutterbye, Tangerine, Cadmium Red, Dove Grey, and White. And for Baby Trickles, Sunlight Yellow and White. One thing to keep in mind is that when rooting these ponies, you need a special color melon- it is NOT the same color as Cherries Jubilee's hair. This special melon hair can ONLY be found in the Sweetheart Sister Wildflower, so if you plan to make any of these babes, plan to buy a few Wildflowers. The Pink can be used from Bowtie or Cotton Candy (two very common ponies) and the blue from Firefly. The chartruse can be located in Surprise or Ribbon, two fairly common ponies.

Baby Truly
Baby Truly was originally planned in the same pose as Baby Magic Star: that of Baby Cuddles. But painting a non-white pony white is a chore, and it is near impossible to achieve a flat, even look. So I abandoned the original plan and used Baby Brightbow instead, who is already white. And how fortunate that she should turn out so GORGEOUS! Her hair was rooted using the tail of a Heart Throb. She is definitely one of my greatest successes.

Baby Magic Star
She is the pony I picked up one day last November when I was absorbed in the 2000 Election Imbroglio. She was finished in a day flat. She is made in Baby Cuddles pose, and requires a paint mixture that includes Yellow, Sage Green, Dive Grey and White. Her bright green mane and tail can be rooted using another Magic Star or the rarer so-soft Scrumptious.

Baby Posey
She was one of my rush jobs, done whilst I was in the throes of studies and rehearsals. She is a tad darker than her mum, but I think she's still pretty cute. I had originally planned her in Baby Blossom's pose, but I had an extra Cuddles sitting around so I figured, what the heck. Her paint combo is the same as Skydancer's.

Baby Tootsie
I know Tootsie is the subject of rather too many unkind opinions within the MLP community- true, she isn't the most attractive shade of green there is, but all in all, I think she is a delightful pony, even if she is a bit askew. My friends all told me to customize the baby after the white foreign Tootsie, but I think she would look just like Baby Abacus so I chose not to, and I think I made the right decision. Her symbol took rather well, and she has beautiful curls in her tail. Her hair is the same color as Firefly, Bubbles, et al.

Baby Bangles
Bangles is one of my favorite so-softs, so I absolutely had to make her mini-me. When making a custom based on a flocked so-soft, you can go one of two ways: you can try to match the body color projected through the fur covering, or you can match the paint combination to the solid body underneath the fuzz. For Baby Bangles, I chose the former approach, and I think it works rather well. You'll need lotsa Ice Pink and white, plus a hint of grey and yellow, to achieve the color. Her hair matches the shade of Buttons.

Newborn Baby Paradise
This one seems to be the favorite of The Golden Autumn since I get more emails inquiring about her than all the rest combined! She was the first newborn I made, though she was originally to be made of a Baby Surprise (which eventually became Baby Flutterbye). I had a few newborns lying around and was intrigued by how they might look with an extra long mane and tail. She was painted oxidized white (Liquitex Paint) and her neon orange hair is unique to only two ponies: Paradise, of course, and the so-soft unicorn Twist.

Newborn Baby Wind Whistler
She was made while I was waiting for Baby Paradise to dry off. If she seems a little darker than her mother, it's because she was originally modelled on a deflocked adult Wind Whistler who is considerably darker than the non so-soft European Wind Whistler. Her pain combo includes Sky Blue, Mint Green, Baby Blue, and White. Her light pink hair is the kind that easily fades, and can be found in a number of common ponies, including Posey, Love Melody, and Wind Whistler, naturally.

Newborn Baby Twilight
She was the last of the newborns I completed. I always loved Twilight from the MLP 'n Friends show, even though she only appears in two episodes (anyone else notice that she has the same voice as Cubbi Gummi from the Gummi Bears?) and I always had the idea for her in the back of my head. The pain combo matching the softish lavendar projected through the so-soft covering looked rather icky, I thought, so I painted her a straight up Heather with just a few touches of white and yellow. Also, her dark pink hair comes from Bowtie.

Newborn Baby Heart Throb
Newborn Baby Heart Throb was a gift to me from Princess Silverswirl, and is the custom on eBay which gave me the custom bug. So, BLAME HER!

Newborn Baby Lofty
I had her planned way back when I first saw NB Baby Heart Throb on eBay. In fact, I had also planned special mother versions of Heart Throb and Lofty to go along with these newborn editions, both in Skydancer's pose. Alas, the idea failed to materialise. But Newborn Baby Lofty was always on my "to-do" list, and was finally done more than a year after Baby Heart Throb showed up at my doorstep. She is a tough one to match, Lofty, and her color includes Butter Yellow, School Bus Yellow, Lime, Mint, Grey, and White. The only pony I know of who has the neon yellow hair color is Lofty herself. Interestingly, the Brazilian NBBE Baby Lofty I have has neither the yellow of Lofty or Applejack in her mane, more of a middle mix of both colors. A tidbit for those of you who, like me, crave weirdo variations.

Baby Blue Belle
Though the collector babies were among the first group of customs I had designed, they were among the last to be completed. I was very excited about the prospect of a group of collector babies all in the same pose to match the six mothers who stood in the same pose. The Collector Ponies figure among some of my all-time favorite ponies, particularly Minty and Butterscotch, and I know for a fact that many other collectors feel the same way. I have seen many, many custom Baby Mintys and Butterscocthes, and even an apparent factory aberrant who is supposed to be Baby Blue Belle. But none have done justice to the potential creation, I thought. So I made my own four which had never been made. Baby Blue Belle is a similar color to the Year 3 unicorn Sparkler, so you will require Mint Green, Royal Blue, Dove Grey and White. Maybe a touch of Sky Blue as well. For her hair, you can of course use Sparkler or Blue Belle tails, though I found it best to simply use two tails from Baby Glory.

Baby Cotton Candy
I didn't do much to this pony since she is after all a very common factory creation. However, I did dye her hair in diluted red fod coloring and then gave it that wonderful curl. A tip for those of you looking to give your ponies that special curly tail: wet the hair thoroughly with soapy water and rinse until the tails is heavy with water. Making sure the hair is in a singularly straight fashion, wrap the tail around the rear right leg of the pony, circling the hind leg until the entire tail has been wrapped around the leg. Make sure the tail will not move as it dries by tucking it between the hind legs or wrapping some plastic around the tail. This is how I achieved those terrific curls in Babies Cotton Candy, Tootsie, and Truly.

Baby Snuzzle
Baby Snuzzle was the first custom collector baby I made, and if I could, I'd go back and redo her symbol (it's a tad more elevated than I'd like it to be) but she is a cutie nonetheless. Her color combination is a tricky one. You'll need Dark Grey, Camel, Linen, and White. For her hair, you can use a variety of ponies, including Snuzzle, Cotton Candy, Bowtie, and even Posey. But I find it best to simply use two tails from Baby Cotton Candy. If you find yourself (like I did) in the position of having acquired dozens of ponies in the same pose simply recycle all the parts you can before planning on making additional acquirements.

Baby Minty

Oh, what terror. She took SO incredibly long to color match that I found myself putting her off and off until I finally realized that there were no more customs left to do on my design list! Minty comes in about forty different shades of greeen, but if your's is anything like mine, you'll need Sage Green, Mint Green, Dove Grey, White, and (just maybe) a hint of Yellow. Minty is really more grey/silver than green, so keep playing with various shades of grey if you can. If mother and baby look a little different in my section, it's because of the lighting, not because of the paint combo. They are in fact the same color (I'll post a more accurate pic later). For her hair, simply use one Minty tail.

Baby Butterscotch
Baby Butterscotch was relatively simple to do- she is more clay than honey in color so you will probably need generous amounts of Camel paints when trying to procure a suitable mixture. Her symbol was rather tricky, though, especially when painting the antennae of the butterflies. You'll need a *very* fine brush to pull it off, and a whole lotta patience. The gold hair color is, as far as I know, unique to Butterscotch.

Baby Blossom
Probably the easiest of the lot, since all I had to do was reroot her mane and tail to the lilac of her mother's. It was a very late-in-the-game idea since I have a really beautiful MIB Baby Blossom who I thought looked rather *too* nice to include in my work.

Baby Mimic
Baby Mimic seemed like she'd be a rather daunting challenge, but she was actually quite easy to do. Her color combo includes Lime, Yellow, White and Grey (maybe the teeniest tinge of green) and her hair is chartruse, white, red, and green. The white part of her mane is actually that very, very faint pink we find on Rosedust and Posey (and some of the post-97 MLPs) but I think white looks so much nicer, especially since my adult Mimic's pink part of mane has faded to pure white. The red can be found in Skyflier, Sugarberry and the green in Magic Star or Scrumptious. Chartruse of course comes from Ribbon, Surprise and Shady. Her eyes are rhinestones that you can find at any craft store.

Baby Fizzy
She's rather tricky to color match, and if she looks decidedly greener than her mother, well, it's because she is. Her color combo is somewhat similar to Medley's, though you will probably need to fool around with a variety of blues and greens to get it close. Her hair colors include pink (Cotton Candy), White (Minty, Powder, Twilight), Magenta (Heart Throb) and Green (Gusty). A real cutie.

Baby Galaxy
Baby Galaxy was also fairly simple- her color combo includes Raspberry, Heather, and White. Her hair is not so easy to find, since it is unique to only two or three ponies- the red and white can be found in Skyflier/Twilight/Powder, but the neon orange is unique to Twist and Paradise and the magenta to Heart Throb/Dainty. Good luck!

Baby Speedy
When I was a kid playing with ponies, the ONLY twinkle-eyed pony I had was Speedy. The others joined my collection as a young adult, so Speedy for me has quite a lot of sentimental value. To match her, you'll need orange, white, and cadmium red- a reddish orange that's not so easy to find. Thankfully, her hair colorings are easier to come across, since the are Blue (Firefly), White (Twilight-Powder), Yellow (Applejack), and Lilac Purple (Blossom, Baby Glory).

Baby Sweet Stuff
Baby Sweet Stuff is, in my humbly honest opinion, the star of the TE babes. She's one rockin' babe, plain and simple. She was also relatively simple to do. Her color combo includes sky blue, baby blue, mint green, white and a hin of heather purple. Her mane consists of white (Minty, Twilight, Sunbeam), Lilac Purple (Blossom, Baby Glory), Magenta (Heart Throb, Dainty), and Pink (Cotton Candy, Baby Moondnacer).

Baby Gingerbread
She's another one of my absolute faves. For her body, I used a spare red-haired Baby Valentine (my apologies to Pony Purists, for I do not know her *precise* name). Her hair colorings include Blue (Firefly, Bubbles, Tootsie, Majesty), White (Minty, Twilight, Sunbeam), Dark Purple (Glory), and Lilac Purple (Blossom, Baby Glory).

Baby Whizzer
She was a quickie. She was actually the first of the TE babes I completed. For her body I used newborn Nibbles (no painting- yeah!). Her hair is a bit tricky to find. You'll need Dark Purple (Glory), Forest Green (Gusty), Blue (Firefly, Majesty, Tootsie) and a light green which is unique to the Sweetheart Sister Frilly Flower (the yellow one with green hair). Find the hair early on with this one!

Baby Masquerade
She was also pretty quick to do. Her paint combo includes School Bus Yellow, Lemon, Green, and White. For her hair you'll need Forest Green (Gusty), Green (Magic Star, Scrumptious), Chartruse (Ribbon, Surprise) and Blue (Firefly, Majesty, Tootsie, Bubbles).

Baby Locket
I used a a very faded nibbles for her body, so she needed to be painted a combo of Hot Pink, Bright Pink, Heather Purple, and White. Her hair includes Pink (Cotton Candy), White (Minty, Twilight, Sunbeam), Lilac Purple (Blossom, Baby Glory), and Orange unique to the Sweetheart Sister Wild Flower.

Sundance
Sundance is only the third adult pony unique to The Golden Autumn. Adults are quite time-consuming to customize, so I tend to shy away from them. An average baby may take (minus drying time) a day and a half to two days tops. A satisfactory adult pony takes me about five. To reroot, you'll need three very full Cotton Candy/Sundance tails. She was made from the body of one of the Birthflower Ponies- the symbol left a nasty stain so I had to paint the entire pony with a coat of white-camel-grey.

Baby Sundance
We've all seen (and scoured for) that first-toothed version of Baby Sundance. Alas, I am afraid she does not exist save in those pamphlets and that commercial for the Sweet Scoops Ice Cream Parlour. So, I dreamed up this variant. She's made from that red-haired Valentine's Day Twin and was rerooted using two tails from Baby Moondancer. Her symbol is actually not as difficult as it looks, just slightly tedious.

Newborn Baby Sundance
Newborn Baby Sundance was somewhat of a pain to do, simply because prying the head off a newborn is pretty nasty work! My hands are still smarting (those of you familiar with prick-free methods of pony head removal email me and I'll post the details quick!). She was made from Big Top/Toppy (dunno which one) and she was painted a mixture of white, camel, and grey. Straight-up white is too white to match an actual pony specimen. Rerooting this pony requires two tails from Baby Moondancer.

Adult Sunbeam
Custom adult Sunbeam was a proposal first made to me by "Sunbeam" of Emerald Valley. I had never thought of doing her in that pose and after I heard it, I just couldn't get her out of my head. I thought she'd look very innocent in Gusty's pose. She was without doubt one of the most difficult ponies to accomplish. Her color is not difficult to match, but it is much harder to paint adults than it is babies because there is so much more body surface to cover. She took no less than three and a half tails to reroot (her mane is extra full!) but the effort was worth it. She is a regal beauty. Thanks, Jaimie! This one's for you!

Backgrounds & Settings
In order for the ponies of The Golden Autumn to look "alive" and more than mere toys, it was imperative that I come up with a feasible background, an *actual* magic forest. Creating the backgrounds was great fun and really not too difficult. The "base" of the forest is a rectangular piece of green foam coated with rubber cement and then grassed with very fine fuax-moss. The various sky backdrops were done on colored foam boards with the clouds painted on using spray paint. Ditto the rainbow backdrops. The various plants, trees, flowers, etc. were all bought ready-made at craft stores and merely arranged around every photographed scene. The various cloud settings are based on a network of foam balls of various sizes stuck together using toothpicks and then layered with faux "cotton" snow. The cloud formations are then literally nailed into the skybackdrop. It's all a lot less technical than it sounds. They say that wonder ends where knowledge begins, but I hope this disclosure makes The Golden Autumn no less magical!