Now Playing: Everybody sleepin'.
Current Mood : Slightly aching wrists from lots of hair brushing ! Otherwise, very pleased with me.
Spent on dolls and sewing today : $5.37
Not quite as busy a day, but I still managed to squander most of it ! Before I knew it, Dearest Son's bus was on the way, and I'd promised to take him shoe shopping. His once much-loved Transformer ones were wearing out fast, and his feet were uncomfortable. For him, six months is about the right life for shoes. He's usually fast on his way to outgrowing ‘em by then, and the lights or other gimmicks don't work well anymore.
The saleslady couldn't have been nicer. She gave me a coupon and Dearest about 30 Lightning McQueen stickers - we got Cars this time. Found a few pairs I liked, too. Maybe later.
For giggles, I decided to hit the thrift about a block away. And that's where I found Aurora. Now, you can get mad at me if you want - I kind of am - but a few months back, I gave away Cinderella, for a toy drive. And now, here I am, dragging another Toddler Princess home...but I just couldn't resist. She was trapped in a baggie with a goth Snow White (photo later) from Dollar Tree and a floppy soft-body Dollar General doll with the worst case of hair frizz I've ever seen. But for some reason, I just had to have Aurora. Maybe it was her Elizabeth Taylor-level violet eyes...
Of course, her hair was a mess, and she was a bit dirty. It always amazes me when the doll's hair is wrecked, but there's still strings from the packaging attached to their clothes. Beloved Hubby commented, ‘You don't want them when they're perfect, ya know." He's right. That was part of her appeal - she needed me to be beautiful again. So after about a half-hour of brushing and a few minutes of bathing, she was back to her original lovely. It almost seems as though she had two layers of hair - soft and shiny on top, the frizzy stuff beneath. I was lucky that the ‘ribbon' pulling her hair into a ponytail was actually her original headband. And I've pretty much decided to collect ‘em all when I find ‘em second-hand.
It's funny, because I originally only wanted Belle, back when she was listed on eBay as a Park exclusive. But the rest sort of grew on me. I've been subtly eyeing that Tinkerbell one at Mal-Wart over the last two weeks. She was out a couple years back, and I semi-regretted not getting her then. I think the main reason I've been able to resist is because she's new ! Plus, they all have the same head and body molds - only eye color and hair color and style changes. Main difference between Tink, Cindy, and Aurora is costumes - they're all blue-eyed blondes. But Playmates does a good job, they all have different shades of blue and blonde. And I still want ‘em all ! Provided I find ‘em in someone's yard sale or thrift store.
After getting Aurora settled in, I turned my attention to the wild-haired Gi-Go Toys doll. Not a lot of information about them - there's a ‘Gigo Toys', but they seem to be more science-toy than doll oriented. And frankly, she's the doll you've seen a few hundred times at thrift stores - inexpensive vinyl head and limbs, understuffed soft torso, cheap eyes, wild hair. Yet, I felt I needed to clean her up, too.
Her hair was beyond my skills. So I soaked the matted mess in the bathroom sink and used a sample size pouch of conditioner on it. Not recommended - unlike human hair, synthetic locks will never absorb the oil, and it'll dull, could attract bugs, and possibly even eventually destroy the strands. But it was either condition or trash her, and I hate to waste a good doll. She was mostly pristine, except for her hair.
About an hour later, I had a really nice doll ! Her hair was drying, it was smooth and shiny, and I put it up the way the rooting pattern suggested. Beloved couldn't believe it was the same doll. Dearest christened her ‘Baby Leia', and bore her off to sleep next to his baby, who is now named Luke. So the doll no one wanted is now a princess, and I hope she likes it here. At least she'll have plenty of company in the Lab when everyone's gone out for a while. All three dolls were in a bag for $3. Cheeep fun !
And I have something to hunt for, now that yard sale season's coming back ! I also found some tiny lace, maybe about ten yards of it, still on the cardboard bolt, for $2. I can always use tiny, inexpensive gathered lace ! This stuff even had TG&Y price stickers on it - it's been quite some time since I saw a TG&Y, even though my second-hand haunts yield stuff with their stickers frequently.
