Current Mood : Happily exhausted
Spent on dolls today ; $1.07
Whoo. Today was the day-long volunteer at Dearest Son's school - it was Healthy Kids day. Local hospital sponsors screening - hearing, vision, blood pressure, height/weight, lice, etc - and getting 500-some kids corralled and checked without missing anyone or any stations requires a massive group effort. Our school's nurse, M, forgot to send out volunteer requests, so she called us and grabbed us as we did other school things last week. She sounded so desperate, I agreed.
Turn out, volunteer-wise, was really good. They almost didn't need some of us, but when things were rushed and there were lots of kids, we needed everyone, so it worked out. If we stayed all day, lunch would be provided - I figured, hey, it's been a while since I had a grey-meat cafeteria hamburger, what the heck.
Nope. They catered ! Panera Bread, a sort of upscale Subway, brought in sandwiches and salads, and it was wonderful. I even got to spend a few minutes with Dearest, and got a logo t-shirt, too. So, while I was on my feet all day, and running around a lot, it was fun and I'm glad I did it.
But I was so tired when it was over ! We were done an hour before school let out, and Dearest had a science activity afterwards, so I had two hours until I needed to pick him up. So I hit Target and Hastings, picked up a copy of Wall-E, and went through doll magazines. There's a pattern for Ellowyne and her male-doll companion in Haute Doll, but I don't need prom outfits for Elphie and Fiyero, so I didn't get one. I was hoping to snag a peek at the new FDQ, which reportedly has a Barbie pattern - called Barbie Learns to Cook, I think - but Hastings didn't have any copies.
The Target Dollar Spot yielded Hasbro ‘Game Night' candy, in Barbie-size logo boxes that, from the sides, look just like the real thing. Unfortunately, the fronts have CANDY on ‘em in big letters, so it'll take a bit of artful arranging to use in dioramas. What surprised me were the candies inside. Sorry ! had blue and yellow pawns, Life had pink peg cars and blue spinning wheels, Monopoly had pink dogs and blue car pawns, and Clue held green candlesticks and blue wrenches. Taste-wise, they're like extra-hard SweetTarts. You could print out your own version of these games, fold ‘em up yourself, but if your printer ink is as pricey as ours, it's often best just to pony up a buck. Besides, I don't have any game box scans to use.
If you're looking for inexpensive gifts and stocking stuffers, and the ones you love are into Cars, Hello Kitty, or Disney Princesses, the Dollar Spot had tons of stuff. Color-in mini-standees, complete with markers and stickers, dry-erase boards, purses, wallets, cosmetics, jewelry - all cute and pretty small, save for the dry-erase boards. Those are about the size of a piece of copy paper.
They also had some of the Barbie sets on sale. The ‘I can be a TV Chef' set I've had my eye on is marked down to $16., and the single-floor fold-up house is down to $27. I'm really wrestling with myself over the TV Chef set. I don't want the fridge, the oven, or the doll. All I want is the cabinet, the camera, and the small pieces. Even at $16., it seems kind of a lot of money for not much...
What really had my attention, though, was the Barbie Advent calendar. Instead of chocolates, there were small doll props inside ! Purses, shoes, skirts, etc. Not sure if it's worth the $20. on the shelf talker, but I'm thinking it over.
