Walmart In Store Doll Reporting!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

Wow, how can it be December 22nd already?! Three days from Jesus' Birthday!!! Time flies! I hope this finds you peacefully tying off the loose ends of your Christmas plans and/or letting go of the expectations so you can enjoy yourself too. When it all boils down to it, it's really about the people you're with and celebrating Jesus, not the gifts or the decorations or the food or the plans or the venue or any of that. Right? So remember to be kind and gentle with yourself and your own inner task-master for the next few days, ok? (I am giving myself this little pep talk too folks, so please ignore if it's too touchy feely or mushy for you.Teeheehee.)

Speaking of last minute details, I went on an errand to Walmart the other morning to see to some last minute Christmas details for my office. Since I was there and walking right by them anyway, I thought I'd take a photo of Walmart's 'My Life As Doll' Doll of the Year. I've looked at them several times since I first saw them. I don't think they'd been released yet when I did my last Walmart In Store Report although it looks like I mentioned them when I found my first A Day In The Life Doll Clothes Set on sale way back in November. They were on sale, at the time, for $35.00 but I only took a bit of a far away photo. 

This time, for some reason, they caught my eye a little more... Maybe because they had a ton of them left and I imagine they'll clearance them out after the New Year as they do with most sets like this. Obviously I wasn't tempted way back in November to shell out $35 but depending on how low they go in price, I may look to buy one. I wasn't too impressed with the set because I have enough 'pets' in the Doll House (well, I haven't really written about them yet but I do have quite a few... Yet another 'To-Do' post!). I also already have the Walmart My Life As Doll Vet Set and so this set would mean I'd have two of nearly all of the accessories... So, not too tempting at full price but if they put them on clearance, who knows?

I do love the 'scrubs' shirt that is included... I'd totally use it for my Kristi doll because she is a nurse and wears scrubs all the time. So... Maybe maybe maybe... I'll keep watching the price. I love after Christmas clearance sales! 

As I mentioned in this post (also linked above) some Walmarts have these adorable little baby dolls perfectly sized to be baby siblings for the Doll House. I didn't buy any at the time I saw them in that last store and have been kicking myself since. As I've discovered since paying more attention, all Walmarts are not the same with regards to their selections! It seems downright unfair honestly! So often I've seen people post about items they find at their own Walmarts and so I run off excitedly to Walmart to find the same thing and.... Nada. So disappointing! Ah well.... I digress. My point is I've been kicking myself since because not one Walmart I'd visited since that one has carried the little babies!! That particular store is waaaaaaay out of my way and so going back just for them wasn't really appealing either. However, seeing them that first time compelled me to begin to look in the baby doll section for them at every Walmart I visit and........

I found them again! Sorry for the blurry photo (above)... As I said, I was on a work errand and so just sort of passing through the toy section for a glance and didn't have much time. So I snapped a photo of each of the adorable expressions! They are so cute!!

One of the reasons I wanted to get a set was to pick up a 'car seat' for the baby siblings in the Doll House... I thought it would make a perfect accessory. Here is the little baby girl in a car seat...

However... I was kind of low on funds the day I went in and could only choose one of the babies to take home. I totally fell in love with this happy giggling little girl on a bike though... I couldn't help it. Everytime I look at her cute smiling little face, I smile. So... She was the one I chose. I haven't taken her out of the box yet becasue I've been too busy and also the little boxes they come in are pretty neat and great for a display box until I get a chance to unbox her and show her to you. 

The baby in the bathtub was pretty cute too but I didn't want a small bath tub at all since I already have a doll bathtub in the Doll House and should I ever want any of the baby sibs to take a bath, they an take one in the large tub. Heeheehee. 

Then as I was walking by the sporting good section I noticed these coolers. I didn't have time at all to look them over but I wished I could remove one from the box and see if it would work as a retro doll fridge?? It seemed to be the right size...? Then again, at $25 it probably makes more sense to buy an actual doll kitchen that includes a fridge. However, as you know, I am always finding things second hand and so I took a mental note to start looking at Garage Sales and Thrift stores for one. One thing you can always count on with novelty items like this? That people clear them out when they need space or are moving. So, maybe someday I'll find one just like it? Who knows. 

Well... That's it for today!

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

My First Wellie Wisher and ToysRUs In Store Reporting!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

So I've known that my local ToysRUs store was going to be one of the ones that sold American Girl dolls... I had stopped in a few months ago to look for something from the Journey Girls line and there was not one item left in the store from Journey Girls which, I learned at the time, was because they were going to be getting in American Girl doll products. I imagine it's a contract stipulation from American Girl Doll company. At the time they only had one little section of AG stuff and I assumed that it'd be the same as the Journey Girls and they'd have one half of an aisle devoted to them. Silly me. That was not the case at all and had I known, I'd have dropped in and done an "in-store report" long ago. Oh well, better late than never right? 

I've never been to a 'stand alone' American Girl Doll store so I don't have that to compare it to but I was really impressed by the display they had for American Girl products. It was very prominently displayed in the front of the store and it pretty much ran for at least a third of the whole front of the store! It was amazing, really.

Because, much like I've seen in photos from the actual AG stores, they had these awesome clear boxes containing dolls modeling the items they had for sale in the boxes below the display... The little scenes they set up were so much fun to look at! Sadly I was short on time and so I am probably going to be looking closer at these photos later myself because I only had about ten minutes to run my errand! So I literally went around just snapping photos like paparazzi or something. Haha. It's a good thing I get less and less self conscious about such things! I have no 'doll photo taking shame' left... Only time I am hesitant is when I have my family with because, well, I don't want to embarrass them! Hahaha. My husband just thinks I am cute and actually encourages me but... Well... Lets just say my kids are not quite so on board with public displays of my doll hobby. Oh well, gotta pay them back for the toddler years of sometimes public tantrums somehow, right? Just kidding! Honestly they were pretty good on that score but all kids have their moments!

Anyway, so I took photos of each display to show you in case you are even further away from any manner of American Girl shops than I am, be it the ToysRUs version or the actual store.  

As you can imagine, it was fun to think of buying "One (or two?!) of everything!!" It is all so cute!! However, American Girl stuff is on the more pricey end of the spectrum and I honestly can't see enough difference between their accessories and clothes from OG or JG to justify the difference in cost... But... Oh. My. Cute!!

I love the little flute! My husband played flute as a boy so it'd be fun to get a flute for my Josh doll. Heehee... Maybe sometime I'll go nuts and buy one?

The Wellie Wishers are so cute! They are actually the reason I stopped in... Teehee. I got a bit of a windfall of mad-money yesterday and it immediately started burning a hole in my pocket to go to TRU and buy my first Wellie Wisher!! I knew that a Wellie would be my next 'expensive doll' purchase. I have kind of a list of ones I'd like to get at least one of and they were on it naturally. I went in with my favorite two in mind and wasn't sure how I was going to choose between them because I loved them both. I wanted either Emerson or Ashlyn but I literally wasn't sure how I was going to choose because they were both lovely. Hmmm... I thought maybe I'd even have to toss a coin or something. However, the decision was made pretty easy by one fact. They didn't have one Emerson doll in the entire store other than in the display cases. So... Ashlyn came home with me!

The Wellie Wishers really are adorable. After seeing them in person, I am not pretty sure I wouldn't mind having one of each of them... Hahaha. Just kidding. Sort of... I mean, if I won like a billion dollars you can bet your bottom dollar I'd likely have one of everything. Eh? If you're going to dream, dream big I always say! Teehee.

I loved the little house for the Wellie Wishers... I've seen people make DIY versions and can see why they'd want to. So sweet.

Loved the violin and stand! I have a violin for my Lilly doll but it's actually a Christmas ornament I found once... So it didn't have a case or a stand. Still mine was like $1 at a Garage Sale and that's much more easy to swallow cost wise. 

Such cute outfits!

And what a selection! I guess I got it in my mind they'd only be carrying the Wellie Wishers, not the full size dolls. I was delighted to be wrong. One thing that I've always found prohibative about buying anything from AG is that on top of the cost of the items they also charged shipping! So... To be able to walk into store and just pick out whatever you want with no shipping is fun!

I think their little fashion separates were sweet and actually not horribly priced. Maybe I'll even buy one or two sometime since no shipping... 

I thought this display was so cool! Great doll posing!

I love that they have braces for doll teeth too! What don't they think of?! 

There was just so much to look at! It was such a neat surprise!

I had to run though....

So it was good I could take photos so I can look at all of it closer later too. What did we do before digital cameras and the internet? Eh?

I was delighted to find that when you buy an American Girl Doll at ToysRUs you get a fancy American Girl Doll bag to take it home in! Classy!!

Here is Ashlyn in my bag in the car on way home... So excited!! 

Here she is with her box opened...

Seeing all those cute accessories made me want to get some but... My mad-money budget only had about $35 left. How to get the best bang for my buck? I went to Target and got two Our Generation sets on sale for $15 each. They are so stinking cute!! 

So it was such a fun shopping spree! So much fun to get mad money to spend on oneself. I am a blessed girl indeed!

Here she is on my shelf... I didn't have much time last night and so didn't get any more photos than this one taken. So I'll be back soon to give her a proper look at and show you how cute she is! 

Out of time! 

Till next time!
XOXO

Heather

Lunch With Frann At Mangia Italiana!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

One of my newer favorite aspects of my doll hobby is doll photography... I love seeing photos of other peoples dolls out on adventures in the 'real world' and aspired this year to take a few of my own. More often than not, my chosen model is my beautiful Frann doll! When I take Frann Doll along for adventures, it is fun for two reasons. First, because it's like vicariously getting to take my real friend Frann, who lives half a world away in Korea, on tours around to my favorite places in my local area. Secondly, obviously, is because it's fun taking the photos!

Here is Frann outside Mangia Italiana yesterday. If it looks cold it's because it was kind of... It was in the 20s I think. What's funny though is the day before it was -9degrees and so it felt almost warm by comparison! It's all about perspective I guess. Frann doll was staying nice and warm in her cute white 'fur' jacket (I got it at the Flea Market this summer... So cute!) and sweet little beret. 

Right as you walk in, there is this funny statue. So of course we had to take a photo by it! 

I whispered to Frann Doll "Lets take a photo by the bottles of wine! They'll look like they are huge bottles of wine!!" and made myself giggle... What can I say, you have to giggle at the small things. 

Then they have this awesome wine press! Of course we had to get a photo by it!

Mangia means "Eat!" in Italian. I have a close friend who had the word painted on her dining room wall because her little old Italian Granny would always say "Mangia mangia!!" Isn't that sweet?

What a pretty place! Frann Doll and I both loved the light up grapes!

We got a really great seat by the window... Here is Frann at our table. 

We had a great lunch! So fun to go out with friends isn't it? 

(By way, I brought my Our Generation Clip On Chair that I got at Goodwill this Summer for $1.99 and it worked like a charm! I'll buy anymore I see because how fun to take photos of dolls actually sitting at tables! It made me giggle right out loud when I took the photos...! Again, it's the little things, eh?)

Gotta run! 

Till next time!
XXOO
Heather

My 18 Inch Boy Doll Collection... So Far..

Greetings Doll Friends! 

Since my husband brought home Jamar the other day and since I've been doing 'collection' posts, I thought it might be fun to do a post of all my 18 inch boy dolls. I did a post of my boy doll collection late last year but obviously I've added quite a few more boy dolls since then! Even I was a bit blown away to see how few I had then! A lot can change in a year, apparently. Especially when I get the 'customized doll' bug and am able to find second hand dolls so readily and inexpensively. Teehee.

As you may can tell, too, I've weeded out the smaller dolls I had last year. For a while I thought it would be neat and fun to have all sorts of dolls in the doll house such as vintage and smaller dolls etc... Then, as you may imagine, it became a bit of a problem keeping a 'wardrobe' for so many sized dolls! So I decided to change my focus to mainly modern 18inch dolls. Otherwise, I might've had to buy a second 'real' house just so I'd have room for my Doll House. Haha. 

As with many large group photos, it's kind of tough to get them all in the photo with their face showing... Always seems to be someone tucked in behind someone else despite my best efforts to create 'risers' for them to stand on for the photos. Haha. So that's why I take different angles so perhaps you can see them better. 

It's kind of fun to see them all together in a group photo, even for me. 

I tried, at first to put them in the order in which they came home to the Doll House but I ended up giving up that idea and just tried to get them all into the photo!

What's funny is I think to myself "I don't have enough boy doll clothes!" and am always wishing they made more variety in them... Then, as I pull out all the boys, I realize I have quite a lot of 'boy doll clothes', they are just all being worn by boy dolls. 

Let me introduce you to them all. They are: 

Front Row Left to Right:

-Paul Joseph Watson (Blue buttoned short sleeves shirt)

-Bill E (red New York tshirt)

-Elvis (Tuxedo This is a very recent change in customization! More on that soon in upcoming post...)

-Heath (yellow black lettermans jacket)

-Milo Yiannopoulos (Fabulous navy jacket and pearl/diamond bracelet)

-Jean Luc Picard (brown white striped shirt)

-Tyrone (Star motif red/white/blue shirt)

Middle Row Left to Right:

-John Snow (fur vest & black shirt)

-Kevin A (bike shirt)

-Ashley D (Camo)

-Mike C (yellow jersey)

-Jamar (gray shirt gray headband)

-Kevin S (red/white/blue letter jacket)

-Jason V (green/blue basketball shirt)

-Hector P (Blue/green PJ shirt)

-Aubrey D (yellow shirt & overalls)

Back Row Left To Right:

-David (Nebraska lettermans jacket)

-Vito (Grey shirt, wearing hat)

-Josh (brown jacket) 

-Adam D (gray baseball jersey)

And that's all of them! A couple of them still need their stories told because they've been customized recently... Kevin A, for instance, was literally just made over in the last month or so. He got a whole new body and a new wig and a new gender even! Haha. I am telling you, it's not safe to be a doll in my Doll House sometimes when it comes to your identity... Unless your wig is glued on, you could just be a new wig away from being a totally different doll should I take the notion. Teeheehee. I love how they evolve though until I am finally satisfied they are the 'doll they are meant to be'. That's when the wig glue comes out. 

Well, I want to try and get one more post done before I get my day started... Do you have any boy dolls? They are becoming more and more common, I think, as people get more comfortable customizing dolls. Which is so cool, eh?

Till next time!
XXOO 

Heather