Equestrian Happenings At The Doll House!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

When my son Vito was little bitty, he loved ponies and horses. I mean it, he was obsessed with them... I had a good friend when he was little that owned several ponies and a couple of horses and I got him over to ride a few times. As much as I'd have liked to pursue his passion for them further by getting him a pony or horse of his own, ponies and horses are very expensive and a lot of work. So... That never made it past the 'dream' phase. 

However, since I've become so interested and started collecting American Girl sized dolls, I have found more than a few for my dolls. At first I was reticent to buy them because space is an issue and goodness knows my dolls take up their own fair share of space!! However, when I found Equus for only $2, I just couldn't help it... I had to bring her home. Same story with the Our Generation Ponies I got for a few dollars each. Just too cute to leave there. 

However, I never really pulled them out to use with the dolls for photos. I always imagined carrying the horse, ponies and some dolls outside somewhere and taking really neat photos... But that is a bit more tricky than you might imagine. Weather, timing, bugs, kids coming up and wanting to play.... All manner of things can be stacked against such photos happening. So mostly they sat and collected dust. Even when I found a sleigh and took photos of Equus pulling it, the back drop was a 'wall'. So I wasn't ever enthusiastic about taking photos with them. 

Untill..... photo backdrops. Finding them on eBay was such a gift! When I saw this one I knew it would be perfect for photos with both the horses and the other pets. I also got a Doll Tent from my husband last year that I've never really used for photos for the same reasons. I think this backdrop will work well for it as well. 

So, obviously, I pulled out the ponies and horse and my Vito and Lilly (my daughter's doppelganger) dolls out and take some photos. Vito finally got his ponies and horse!! 

As you may notice, there is also an American Girl Doll Paint Filly in the photos as well. I can't for the life of me find a post about having found it at Goodwill in my blog posts. Maybe I forgot to post about it at the time? As I recall, I found it for $3.99 and, despite already having all the others at home already, I bought it immediately when I found it. Nothing exceeds like excess, right? Teehee.

It was fun trying to make Vito look like he was actually riding the horse down the trail...

As you can see, the horse and dolls actually stand on a part of the photo backdrop. At first I thought I would hate that but I think it actually makes it look even more real. What do you think?

Off he goes! 

Speaking of which... I better run too. I have one more blog post I want to get written... So stay tuned!

Till Next Time!

XXOO
Heather

PS I nearly forgot to mention this fella.... I found him a few weeks ago, right before my Lent Fast of thrift stores.... I think he's cute and is mid sized between the horse and the ponies... He has a scratch in his 'flocking' but is other wise in great shape. Not bad for $1.50! See why I can't pass them up?!?

Horse Sleigh Goodwill Find!!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

Well this week is flying by! Wednesday morning already! So... Yesterday being Tuesday, I went in to town for work and naturally dropped into a Goodwill on way home. As I was saying to a lady in line there when I got to chatting with her, "It's the thrill of the hunt! You literally never know what you're going to find!" What did I find yesterday you ask? 

I found this amazing doll sized wood horse sleigh!! It is fabulous!! It was only marked $5.99 which kind of surprised me because it's a heavy wood item and beautifully crafted. Score!!

I won't lie, I had a moment of hesistation as I grabbed it up and took it up to the register... I do try to be realistic about how much doll stuff I can fit into my house and not look like one of the people on Hoarders. Haha. No disrespect!! I know it's a compulsion some people can't control... Myself included obviously to a certain degree... I joke my doll's are Hoarders because it's beginning to be that they have one of everything. Teehee. At least it's all doll sized right? I literally very rarely have urge to purchase 'real' sized whatsits' now, it's all about the doll house when it comes to decor. I've been married 25 years, my house was decorated long ago! Haha. 

Anyway, back to the sleigh... It's so neat! It only fits one doll in it comfortably. I tried to sit two side to side and no dice... I might try some of the HeartForHeart dolls and see if two can fit because they are smaller. 

Frann Doll was the very first doll to try it out! She was excited! She's always had an affinity for horses and a sleigh ride in the snow sounds amazing! Heather Doll said "I know just the perfect thing!!" and off she went...

I pulled out the horse while she was off on her errand. *wink* and it was a perfect 'fit'! I am going to have figure out some manner of harnessing to make it look like they're hooked together and obviously in future, more detailed 'scenes' I am going to have to take of the saddle... LOL I looked at photos to edit them and I was like "well, it's obvious I am not a horse person or I'd have noticed strait off that the saddle looks silly with the sleigh there..." But then I figured that perhaps that would solve the 'problem' of only one doll fitting in sleigh! One can ride horse and one can ride in sleigh. Perfect! 

Heather Doll came back with a cute Christmas pillow and blanket to make it cozy for being out in the cold and snow! The 'blanket' is actually a placemat but I thought it looked like a small lap quilt. Perfect!

Frann Doll tried it out with the blanket and pillow and reported it was very comfortable!! Isn't she cute!!??

By the way, the horse is one I got this summer at a Garage sale and he (she??) has been tucked away in a closet awaiting a proper review ever since... I want to do good photos but I can't figure out what manner of background to make for photos with a horse. I mean ideally the photos would happen outside and the background would just be nature but... That's never as easy to orchestrate as you might imagine! Especially now that it's going to be cold. So I need to think of a good background to make for indoor "outdoor' photos. What do you think the background should be? Clouds? Clouds with grassy stuff at bottom? Maybe some trees? I haven't a clue and can't get a picture in my mind of how to pull it off and so poor horsie has been living in a closet. However, now that I had the sleigh, I figured I'd just do a plain white background (well, with quilt blocks) and maybe I could 'pretend' to be in a barn or something? Haha. Maybe that's the ticket! Do a 'barn' background!! I literally just thought of that as I was typing this out! I think I'll try it... Only now to figure out what a background of the inside of a barn would look like? What do you think?

Thanks, as always, for dropping by! It's so much fun to 'talk dolls' and even better to have people who 'listen' sometimes. So, thanks for that. Have a great day!!!!! 

Oh, and Jesus literally just whispered inot my mind (Holy Spirit talks if you can learn to listen to Him) to remind you that He loves you with all of His heart. 

Better run! 

Till Next time!

XXOO
Heather

Paradise Kids 18inch Doll Horse At Friends House

Hi Doll Friends!!

You know you've truly embraced your doll collecting self when you unabashedly and unashamedly gush with excitement upon seeing a doll item at a grown, non-doll collecting, friends house! Then you double-down and ask to take a few photos... "You know, for my blog!" Haha. Case in point?

This cute little fella right here. 

He is a Paradise Kids 18inch Doll horse... I just had to look him over and photograph him for you to see too!

He is a lot like the Our Generation horses in that he has "fur" or "hair" (which word to use? I am not an equestrian at all!) over his plastic body... 

I liked the feature that you can bend his little ears... Horses, from what I recall, show a lot of their emotions via the cocking of their ears, so that's a clever feature.

See, here is him with ear bent forward. Isn't he lovely? Do you have a horse for your doll? I actually have two... And two ponies as well. I've been meaning to get them all out and show them to y'all all Summer with some nice outdoor photos... Seeing this little guy reminded me I need to do that! So I'll get a few of the dolls dressed in some horse gear and try and get that done this week sometime! 

Better run for now! 

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather 

Thrifted Our Generation Horse And Dresser!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

So... I know I don't need another horse for the Doll House because I already have three of the large ones and four ponies and one mid sized... But...

I also have a weakness for white horses because of 'The Last Unicorn" movie that came out when I was a teen. I know. I am a geek. 

Plus this one had this cool 'circus' blanket and.... 

Was only $3.99 and I figured the cool horse blanket and reigns were worth that even if I don't end up keeping the horse. (Because space!!) 

I also got a few other items. I went back to that one thrift store that had the pretty Japanese Dragon Cups and Vases thinking perhaps I'd buy a few more if they had them still. Well, they only had two items left, one cup and one tea pot. So I bought them both because they really are very pretty! I also go the pretty plates, the crystal vase (with cute chicks around the base, so cute!!), the horn (which is a Christmas ornament in 'real life) and the saki cups that I plan to use as saimen bowls in the Doll House. I am pretty sure the guy at Goodwill was scandalized that I bought the cups and not the Saki Pitcher that went with it. He asked me if I'd seen it and I said yes but I didn't need it. Pretty sure he thought was weird at that point but oh well. 

See? Here is the set all together. I thought about buying the pitcher as a vase but it wasn't all that pretty and so I just left it there. 

I saw this Our Generation doll in the cart they bring stock out in from the back. I picked her up to look at her because her outfit was cute but they had her marked $7.99! Ha! As if. A brand new one can be gotten for about $25 on sale sometimes so that is ambitious of them. I wonder how long it'll be before she's purchased. Poor dear. 

I also saw these benches. I was sort of tempted to buy the one on the right even though I already have one that you can see in this post. After picking it up though I realized it had a flaw on the back right side where the wood looks like it was broken and then glued. So... Since I already had one and it was marked $3.99, I left it there. 

This dresser tempted me because it's so cute but it was marked $5.99 and I have lots of doll dressers already. 

These two wood shelves caught my eye. I even picked them up. When I look at them, I see doll chairs!

You'd just have to remove the side hardware and add some dowl's for legs. I might have even tried said project but I am over run with doll chairs in the Doll House and so I didn't buy them. Still it was  a fun idea. 

Pretty doll baby!! Had to snap a photo of her.

Saw this whole bag of Build-A-Bear clothes which might've once tempted me because you can Build A Bear clothes for the dolls if you modify them a bit. However, I have so many doll clothes I passed on them. 

This was cute! A little closet for doll clothes. I have a huge Doll Closet  as well as a beautiful wardrobe I got from my wonderful friend Frann and so don't need one. It would be great for a little girl though. It's the Disney Princess and Me Wardrobe but it was filled up with American Girl Doll hangers. 

Not a bad price for it! 

Especially for the hangers. I could've probably bought the whole thing and sold just the hangers on eBay and gotten more than I spent but... That would require me to be much less of a lazy eBayer than I am. Haha. Also, if I started buying doll items with the idea of re-sale, my house could be taken over pretty quickly with 'inventory' that might never get sold. Can't have that. Not to mench, that would start to turn my little hobby into a job and... Well, I don't want that either. Right? Or I suppose I don't. LOL 

This whole cart of really pretty wooden boxes and animals caught my eye. They were so pretty!! But... I didn't need any of them so I bravely walked away without any. Proud? Later I thought that one of the little compartment boxes might've been cute on the back of a doll desk but I am sure they are all gone by now... Hindsight is harsh when it comes to thrift shops. Haha.

Cute gift boxes!! I didn't get them because I have plenty but... Cute!

Doll sized jars... Cute right? I didn't buy them though because, again, space is always an issue. 

I did find something I couldn't pass up though. This cute dresser/or sideboard. It was only $3.99 and I love the folksy paint on it. Not sure what it'll end up being used for in the Doll House but it's super pretty!

Better run and get ready for church!

Till Next Time!

XXOO
Heather