Our Generation Doll Omaha Flea Market Find!

Greetings Doll Friends.

Uh Oh. I think I have a problem. I just can't stop buying dolls. Perhaps I should start a chapter of D.A. (Dolls Anon) and make a support group or something? Teeheehee. Kidding! Not trying to make light of anyone who suffers with addictive tendencies at all, that's no joke. However, I do think I am the tiniest bit addicted to buying dolls. I tell myself "That's IT. No more new dolls for _____ days/weeks/months"  Untill..... I find another one for a good price or just too pretty to pass up and... Well... You know...

Here is the latest doll to follow me home. I tried to stop her! Haha. After church last week my daughter and I decided (since we didn't have the guys with us) that we would stop into one of our favorite treasure hunting venues, The Omaha Mega-Market Flea Market. There is a vendor there called "Toys and More" run by a sweet woman named Karen Ramos. She has a really great selection of toys and nearly all the time she has at least one or two 18inch dolls or sometimes clothes and or accessories. So she's a great shoppe for me and my daughter is always on the hunt for clothes for her BJD doll or for Littlest Pet Shoppes and she often finds such things there. So if you're close to Omaha Nebraska, you should stop in and see her!

I hadn't planned on buying a doll when I walked in... I was more looking for just clothes because I was 'trying to be good'. Then I saw this little lady.... I won't lie, what drew me to her was her awesome outfit with the India/Yoga motif. As you know, we love yoga in the Doll House and so I had to have this outfit for my Heather doppleganger doll!

After really looking at the doll though, I decided I thought she was beautiful too... Uh oh... 

She reminded me a lot of Adora Doll Lola which was one of the Adora dolls that wasn't available when I happened to find them on sale recently and got a few of them. So, it was like fate giving me a second chance for a doll with Lola's beautiful color hair and eyes. Nice! Karen generally marks her dolls $10 (I've seen one or two with fancier outfits that were more) and they are always in lovely shape, as are all her toys. I think that's fair, don't you? I still haven't decided what I am going to call this lovely doll but I am sure she will let me know her name soon. 

Better run! 

Till Next Time!
XXOO
 Heather

New Lanai Chairs For 18 Inch Dolls At Walmart!

Hi Doll Friends!

Just a quick 'in store report' here from Walmart!

I went in to Walmart on Friday for a work errand and as has become my habit, I had to go check the My Life As Doll section of the store to see if they had anything new? Sure enough, they did! 

They had these cute little aqua blue lanai chairs!! They were marked just under $8 and are very sturdy in feel... I think they are adorable and might just have to add them to my 'wish list for the future. Then again, I only have so much space in the Doll House and as you can see in my recent New Years Florida Vacation post I already have two pretty nifty rattan lanai chairs so... Maybe I'll just admire them in the store. They are super cute though and at about $8 it wouldn't be too hard to buy two and have a cute set as a gift to make a little doll loving girl very happy.

I set one next to a pretty doll in a similarly colored dress so you can see scale and size of the chair. I am really happy with Walmart's My Life As Doll line... They just keep getting better!

Better run!
Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

Inexpensive DIY Doll Hurricane Lamp For 18 Inch Dolls!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!! 

I hope this finds you staying safe and warm in your cozy home on this mid-January day! They are forecasting ice storms here in the middle of the country and so we've done the grocery run and today after Church I am sure we are likely going to get iced in for a few days. As I say that I am breaking the 'rule' about not anticipating a 'snow day' from school but I think the entire area kind of is already expecting school to be called off tomorrow. It's days like that where the blessing of being able to work from home as I need to is a super blessing!! Rambling here and not even about doll related stuff... What's the weather like where you are? I guess I forget that I get a few international readers too and that someone reading this could very well be in a very warm place! If that's you, enjoy a beam of warm sunshine for me today!! 

Many Saturday's end up being eaten up with errands and such but yesterday ended up being a lazy day at the house and I had lots of time to work on doll projects. I changed rooms around for first time in months and that was fun. I left up the kitchen because I have quite a few 'food related' posts coming up but pulled down the 'living room' side of it and finally set up a 'bedroom' scene again. I've wanted to for months but I only have room in my doll space to set up two or maybe three rooms at a time so I have to pick and choose though. Maybe someday I'll have a doll space big enough to set them all up and leave them as they are? Ah, a girl can dream. Haha.

Speaking of dreaming... Yesterday I was sorting through my doll stuff, re-organizing things and whatnot. I pulled out some of the items I got on my Black Friday shopping spree with Frann Doll and had them all sitting together. I originally purchased this little salt & pepper set on a little silver tray at a thrift store that day and mostly bought it because of the little silver tray. It was a set though (marked like 30cents) and, being as the salt & pepper were doll sized and I thought they'd make good 'vases' I bought them. I also bought the little battery operated votives they sell at The Dollar Tree that day.

So, as I glanced up at both of them while I was working a 'lightbulb went off" in my head and I thought "I wonder if they'd work as a hurricane lamp??" So I opened the package of votives, turned one on and upended one of the salt & peppers on it. So. Stinking. Cute! Maybe it's just me but I think they look pretty much just like little hurricane lanterns!! They even work!! So for less than $2, I got two cute little operational hurricane lanterns for the Doll House. Fun!!

I didn't glue them on or anything because as an adult collector who just uses it all as props in photography sessions, I know they won't get knocked over (too often... I knock stuff over all the time in setting up scenes.... LOL!) and broken by rough play. So, depending on how you're going to use them, you might use a dab of clear craft or hot glue in a couple of dots around the base of the glass if you want it to be hooked together. 

Now I realize that half of the 'ingredients' to this craft were sourced at an obscure thrift store but I tend to see small bottles and salt & pepper sets at thrift stores pretty often and I think the idea would work with most any small bottle or salt & pepper set. So keep your eyes open for small bottles in your Thrifting adventures! I think it'd be kind of fun to have a few differently shaped ones sitting around the doll house. I thought it was fun that I came up with the idea just ahead of our upcoming ice storm too. Just in time!! If the power goes out in the Doll House, they'll have lamps to see by! 

Well, that's it for now Doll Friends! I have a few blog posts I want to finish this morning so stay tuned!!

Till Next Time!

XXOO
Heather

Babysitting Club at the Doll House!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

One nice thing about inclement weather is it means more time to stay in and play dolls! We didn't even make it out to church today because there was freezing rain and our cars were iced over... So we were home bound all day long! In it's own way, saying you have enough food in the fridge and the power stays on, being iced in is like a vacation from the world. You can't leave the house and so no one can get disappointed with you if you don't. Freedom!! Right?

When I was young, I always loved "The Babysitter Club" books because I loved the idea of having a group of friends doing a project together... 'Girl Groups' are amazing, I've had the good fortune to be a member of a few now and the 'sorority' feeling of it is so wonderful. So, I decided to steal the idea of a babysitting club and create one with a few of the dolls in the Doll House.

I've been collecting baby siblings for the doll house for quite a while now... As has happened with my larger doll collection, I've gone maybe the tiniest bit overboard with them. Teehee... I've also been collecting little accessories for them here and there as I find them. I was surprised upon pulling it all out how much there was. I didn't even put all my small baby dolls in this photo! I have five or six more. 

Sadly I thought I'd uploaded more than one photo with this posting but the Blogger app on my phone has been kaput a lot lately... So I will have to come back and upload them again later. It's Monday morning again as I write this. (I also accidentally posted a 'raw' draft of it before I meant to so if you've visited and seen that raw draft before I got a chance to get to my laptop to write it properly, I do apologize!) So, despite the kids being off school today, I still have to work (from home on computer so it's lovely but it means no blogging or playing dolls until evening again...) so I am out of time here for now. I hope this finds you safe and snug in your house too!

Till next time!

XXOO
Heather

Update: Here are the photos! 

Melissa & Doug Victoria Ballerina Doll Thrift Store Score!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

Happy Friday the 13th! Hope that it ends up being the luckiest day of the year so far... Speaking of luck? As luck would have it, as I was leaving town after work yesterday, I stopped in to Goodwill. You know... Just to see what I might find. 

When who do I see on the toy shelf, fully clothed with even her ballet shoes?? This lovely little 14inch doll made by Melissa & Doug! I've admired and had this doll on my wish list at Amazon for over a year now but she never quite made it into my cart due to my putting other dolls ahead of her in queue. On my wish list I had the brunette Victoria and I guess I didn't realize that she was also manufactured as a blonde and as a ginger as well. They all are named Victoria as best as I can tell... Although you likely know that the one that I brought home wasn't going to keep that name. What can I say? I like to re-name my dolls for the most part. Only one or two who've arrived with a name have kept it out of the, well, large amount of dolls I have living in the Doll House. Teehee. Do you like to re-name your dolls?

Here is the most amazing part of my find... She was marked only 99cents! Awesomeness!! The second most amazing part? It's like someone took her out of the box and put her directly into their Goodwill donation and drove her to the store. Why do I say that?

Well as I took her hair out of the scrunchie she was wearing (That is part of the 'meet outfit') I saw that her original hair bands hadn't ever been removed! What?! Who can even do that?! To get a brand new doll and not even brush her hair once before you give her away? Can't even imagine it, eh?

As you saw if you clicked on the linky, she is price pointed at about $30.00. So I got a really amazing deal on her. I literally paid less for her than the sales tax would've cost to purchase her on Amazon. (Because after the first of the year, they started applying sales tax to Amazon purchases. Boohoo! I digress.....) 

This is what her original box would've looked like. 

I don't know what you know about Melissa and Doug toys but they are generally top notch stuff. This doll is no different. I can tell just by holding her and picking her up that she's made to withstand real play from a child. She reminds me a lot of the American Girl Wellie Wishers. I didn't have much time to look her over last night but I'll hope today presents me with some time to do a comparison. Obviously even the full price of this doll is half of that of a Wellie Wisher. So this could be a good option for someone who's looking for a doll of comperable size and quality but at a more affordable price. Or it would make a good 'sister' or 'friend' doll to a Wellie Wisher if you're looking for one. 

They also have a Celeste doll that comes in a different outfit but as best as I can tell has the same face sculpt. So another option to think of if you're looking at them and the girl you're buying one for would like a princess gown over a ballet ensemble. 

So I am super stoked to have found her and to find her brand new with her entire meet outfit, what a score! I'll try and get back here soon to give you a better look at her. 

Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

New Custom Boy From Thrifted Battat 2002 Doll

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

This week has flown by! I can't believe it's already Thursday? Hope this finds you having had a lovely week and looking forward to a wonderful weekend! While I was in town on Tuesday for work, I decided to stop into Goodwill while enroute home. I had a Goodwill Gift Certificate from a friend (who knows me so well! Thanks Beth!) burning a hole in my pocket afterall!

Here is the before and after! Isn't it amazing how much different a doll can look just with a bit of cleaning up and a new wig? It amazes me just a little bit every time I do a make-over. 

I tell you, just when you think you have seen all the different sculpts from a doll company, along comes one that you've never seen before! This one is stamped "Battat 2002" and its the first one I've ever seen anywhere, even on eBay! That is saying something because, trust me, I've been looking pretty closely at dolls for a few years now. Haha. However, sometimes I guess it's just knowing a thing exists that makes it easier to find. Because when I came home and Googled "2002 Battat" and looked at the images, sure enough, I saw two or three there. 

This little sweetie was only marked $1.99 and I knew that her cute little (reversable I think?) jacket was worth that so I snatched her up the minute I saw her. 

Her hair was an absolute hot mess. I knew I wasn't even going to bother taking it out of its ponytail holder... I mean it might have been fixable but I knew already that I wanted to re-wig irregardless and so why even try it, eh?

Here is the back of her hair. How do people let dolls get in such a state? Not trying to be judgy but it's hard seeing a doll with such ill cared for hair. I suppose maybe she was a favorite doll and got carried everywhere? I'll just think of it that way, that she was 'loved too much', kind of like the "Velveteen Rabbit" or something. She was also rather dirty... So it must've been from being carried all over on adventures. Right?

Here is her sticker. I love Thrift Stores! It's like a real live treasure hunt every single time I walk in the door. You can barely buy a cup of coffee for $1.99 now! Then people wonder why I have too many dolls. It's not my fault!! Hahaha!

Her body was in pretty good shape... Although her head is the tiniest bit wobbly, also from being carried all over I suspect. I think I will likely remove her head and give her a bit more stuffing in that area to make her more steady. I cleaned her up with a Norwex Enviro cloth (Really one of best ways I've found to clean dolls! No chemicals to worry about and they've cleaned all but ink off of dolls in the past. I have a specific one I use only for dolls even though from what I understand, I could clean the toilet and then clean a doll and the germs would all stay in the cloth... But... Ewww... Hahaha! I digress... But Norwex is great for cleaning dolls. No, I don't sell it, I just endorse products I love.)

All this time I've been using female pronouns because she hadn't gone through transition yet. Going forward I'll refer to him as a him though because that was next step in his journey...

Here he is! I think he looks amazing as a boy! Like he was made to be one or something! Do you agree?

I haven't decided what to name him yet although I have a few ideas. 

I dressed him in one of my favorite 'boy doll' clothing items... A Nebraska Huskers letter jacket from Build-A-Bear. (Or actually mine came from a Garage Sale but that's where you buy them new).

I think he's great! It's so much fun to do doll makeovers! I am going to have to update my boy doll collection photos again now though. Haha. 

Better run!
Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

My Life As Doll "Grilling Play Set" From Walmart

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

As I mentioned in a post about them, Walmart has released a second wave of My Life As Doll Accessory sets recently. I am really happy with the direction My Life As Doll as taken with their new items and am looking forward to them coming out with more and more lovely doll items at a good price. 

I might've mentioned in that post but the day I found the new sets, I only purchased one, the Smoothie Play Set. As fate would have it, I had to go back to Walmart the very next day and I was weak!! I bought another set. Considering I wouldn't mind buying the entire line of doll stuff, I suppose it could be worse. Right?

During the 24hours or so between my two Walmart visits, they put out yet another thing to tempt me!! Dangerous!! It appears they are going to start selling boy clothes in the hanging clothes section. Awesomeness!! Boy doll clothes are hard to come by! So that'll be great. As far as I saw, there was just the one ensemble there as of now but I am betting they'll release more. Since they released their boy dolls at Walmart they're going to have to release some clothes for them to wear, right? 

I also fell in love with this outfit. It's so stinking cute!! I had an outfit of nearly the same fabric when I was a girl so maybe I am biased... But I love it.

Oh Walmart! You do tempt! This set was on clearance for only $5. I'd decided before not to buy this set because I have most of the accessories included in it already for most part from other sources... But at $5 I was tempted to change my mind. I didn't though! I wasn't even supposed to buying any at all and I'd resolved to buy the...

Grilling Play Set before I even went in. That little grill and those cute burgers and the kabobs! I couldn't help myself. Just too cute to pass up and if I am learning anything about doll items it's that you might ought to buy them when you see them available because you may never see them again!

Here is the back of the blister pack the set came in. Sorry it's a little tattered, I didn't think to photo it until after I opened the package. I love that they are using the boy dolls as models now. I also found it interesting to see that in the photo, they must've been using the prototypes of the toys because if you notice the handle of the grill in the girls hand is blue like the lid and in the final product, it's 'stainless steel' colored. I just find things like that fascinating. Perhaps I'd find it dreadfully boring in the real world but I think being a toy developer would be like playing for a living, eh? 

So here are Jamar and Jamie enjoying a BBQ out by the beach. This is such a cute set!! The burger comes apart so you can put the hamburger patties on the BBQ or take off the lettuce. The spatula has a handle with a holder so it will stay on the dolls hand... I have to say that for the price point of $7.95, they do a pretty bang up job with these sets. I'd have been over the moon to have had them when I was little! Better late than never though, eh?

Better run! I was silly and didn't plug in my computer as I was writing this thinking surely I had enough battery life to get the whole thing banged out before it died. I was wrong. Mid-way my screen went dark! Thank goodness one feature of Blogger is to autosave every 60 seconds or something and so I'd only lost the paragraph I'd been writing and the time it took to go plug in and reboot but in my precious early morning time, that's time I'd rather have consumed elsewhere! Isn't it funny how you get used to the improvements they make in technology though? Anyway, digressing!! Thank goodness for technology so that we can communicate about dolls too eh!?

Have a great day!

Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather