Current Mood : a bit sad...'bye, Eclectic Blender.

Quiet stay-at-home day. Dearest Son came home from his grandparents', and immediately claimed the Disney doll and the Statue of Liberty hat-thing. While PDorrie is wearing Disney's shoes in Wednesday's photo, the soles are just too short for her. So I restored them to Dearest's new ‘baby', and thought about sewing similar purple sandals for the Princesses. I remembered, though, that I already had a pair of purple sneakers for them from a long-ago yard sale, plus another pair of glitter-dot former keychain sneakers, in a pinkish purple that'd work with that outfit. Looking around, I noted that one of the Auroras had a pair of purple and gold flats. So, really, they don't need more purple shoes.

Slipped the glitter-dot pair on Dorrie, and thought that we could use underwear. Playmates skirts (ha-ha) the issue by giving most of their Princesses tights, which presumably double as panties. Pocahontas, however, doesn't wear tights, so she had on a pair of undies, but I'm not sure if they're original to her or not. Same with Tinkerbell. This will happen when ya buy used dolls - ya got no clue what's original ! Ariel has a fin and swimsuit, Jasmine wears harem pants, so neither of them got tights or undies, either. So, after I knock out another pair or two of shoes, I'll sew up some. Worked on a pattern today, it just needs testing.

Was a twinge bored, so I looked for something to read online while having lunch. Surprisingly (maybe), Eclectic Blender seems to have folded. I'm a bit surprised, with all their ads and traffic, I figured they were doing well. Hope the owner/mods are OK. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, the ‘all dolls' board was mostly overrun by Fashion Royalty and exclusive, expensive dolls, which ultimately made it a poor cousin to Doll Divas - a site with twice the ads, and FR, all the time. I used to frequent all three, and I'd see the same post on DDivas, then EB, and if it was Barbie related, then it was over on In The Pink. DD and EB often had similar theme days, too, so it was increasingly difficult to tell them apart, just that DD was older, had more traffic, and seemed to be better-run, honestly. While it's always sad to see a chat board go, I guess it was inevitable. It was so much fun there at first, though.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:51 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Lucky and full of Chinese food !

Current Image Notes : Guess who got in on Beast's first photo shoot ? Hint : that's not Beast's black and white tail !

Yay me ! The latest member of our Chez Insanity family was waiting for me this morning ! Isn't he amazing ? 39 inches of sweet, adorable Beast ! What's really funny is that I can't find out anything about him ! His tag sez he's a licensed Disney product, of course, but the biggest Beast plush/stuffed animal I can find is only 14 inches tall. He's sooo huge, he can only wear a shirt that Dearest Son can't yet - it's still too big for Son !

I also found a little Happy Meal Tinkerbell toy in one of the 50c small-toy grab-bags, and snagged it. So now, only Alice, Jasmine, and Pocahontas are the only girls to not have a doll of themselves. Just gotta keep my eyes open for them, I know they're out there. All else fails, I can always make little rag-doll versions !

The rest of my day was just as fun. Beast rode along with me all morning, buckled into the passenger seat, probably enjoying the cars and sights. GoodWill yielded another French ad reproduction poster, framed, for Beloved Hubby, and one of those foam-rubber Statue of Liberty crowns that tourists buy. The Prince guy in Enchanted wears one prominently, so I thought Dearest would like to play with it.

From there, it was straight on to TRU ! They're having a ‘20% off markdown items' sale, now through 8/02, so I took advantage of it to score the Barbie Island Princess ‘Getting Ready with Tallulah' playset I've idly wanted - $12. instead of $20. is probably as low as it's gonna get. They had the same set with the IP doll, but her costume was kinda cheap-lookin', and there was nothing exceptional about the doll herself. Besides, why pay more for a doll I don't want, even if it is only 4 bucks ? I can do a lot with ‘just' $4. !

The set includes a vanity, a chair, a stool, a chest, various ‘beauty' items, a monkey in a skirt and a large screen. Yup. The screen is about the only thing I wanted. Right now, it's ‘gold' with pink flowers and the cardboard is printed with a smiling cartoon elephant and a raccoon bearing a flower. I'm not sure if ‘Tallulah' is the elephant, or the monkey. I'm gonna pop out the cardboard, use it as a template, and replace it with some nice textured paper - or cover the elephant pieces with fabric and a glue stick ! If I want to, I can even spray-paint it, to look like wrought iron. Or go all the way and make it look like an 80s changing room with neon paint splashes ! Possibilities are endless - and I've been wanting a good screen for a long time. This one is big enough to use for site photos, too !

But you know me, I hated to even spend $12. on it. Kept hoping to find one second-hand. But now I have my own brand new one, and I'm really glad I bought it. I spent about an hour at TRU, ferrying stuff to the price checkers. They're down to two Madison ‘My Scene Roller Girls', with very little Barbie stuff on clearance. Quite a lot of Bratz merch, though. Cheetah Girls were less than $6. each, even the ones that sang, so now's the time if you want them - or their clothes and props ! Nearly bought another outfit for PDorrie, but it was a Fisher-Price doll's dress, so I wasn't sure if it'd fit. And I can make it m'self, I'm just getting lazy with semi-cheap prices dangling in front of me when I have a few bucks.

I'm seriously considering saving up for the new ‘My House' Barbie set - it's a lot like the current one, but it's $5. more and has a second floor ‘bedroom'. I normally wouldn't care, and would go with the cheaper, available one, but I like the bedroom's windows. Our TRU doesn't have it yet. They had the ‘TV Chef' playset, and it's nice...just don't know if I'll need it if I'm saving up for the house. Decisions, decisions. I mostly like the ‘My House' set because it's really open - I can fit any number of furniture pieces wherever I want, it's not limited like many doll houses. The floor is wherever you want it to be, and all the walls, both sides, are useable. I'm growing to like modular doll houses !

If you're into the ‘Peek-a-Boo Cuties', the Liddle Kiddle-like dolls, our TRU had several on the shelves. They're tiny ! They had the new Holiday Barbie doll, but they've had her since before Independence Day - and Canada Day - so, nothing new. Is it just me, or does her silver skirt remind anyone else of muffin cups ? Those shiny ones that you sometimes got cupcakes in ? Hmm...

Met a nice lady a little younger than me, buying that new Millennium Falcon. She was so excited - she'd had the original ! We chatted and I gave out some info, and I swear, the guy at the register was taking notes. Well, where else are ya gonna find out that the new one has a medical bay and is six inches bigger than the vintage one ? I wished her lots of fun playing with it (she'd also bought several action figures) because she said that was HERS. Love to meet someone else who enjoys toys !

Although it wasn't on the agenda, I paid a short visit to the Barnes and Noble next door - and snagged a copy of Doll Reader. Mostly for the Matt O'Neill pajama pattern, for Fiyero. Man, the projects are stacking up around here ! There's also directions for making a doll dress out of a fancy handkerchief, and I may have to try that, too.

By now, I was getting hot and thirsty, so I lopped Hobby Lobby and Big Lots off the list and headed for Target. Nothing new in the Dollar Spot, and I wanted to get the advertised 60 pack of pencils for $2. - Beloved burns through pencils at his Shop, and Dearest needs 24 sharpened for school late next month. From there, I snagged a jar of rice crackers, and hit the register. Two sodas at home later, I realized... I'd never looked at the toy section ! Oh, well ! Beloved wants me to go back for more pencils, so I'll be there again soon.

Took a bit of a nap, got Beast dressed, and started putting stuff away. Oh, what a nice day today was. When Beloved came home, we got to talking about my yard sale haunts, and I told him I'd been looking for one of his favorite movies, Once Bitten, every time I saw a pile of dusty VHS tapes. And it'd just occurred to me to check for DVD availability ! Turns out it's out, so we ended up over at Hastings. Nope. Not in ‘Feature Films', not in ‘Comedy'. So I asked a nice guy working in the video game section - it was in ‘Horror' ! How silly ! That's not a horror story at all ! They only had a used copy, like we cared - we were glad to pay the $9.99 for it. But when we got it to the register, it rang up as $5.99 ! Lucky Hubby !

You may not know to look at me, but I'm kind of a Bruce Campbell fan. He's so goofy ! I've probably seen Army of Darkness 50 times. He kinda reminds me of Beloved. Anyway, our library had his book, Let's Make Love ! The Bruce Campbell Way, but not his autobiography, If Chins Could Kill. Well, your lucky Dorrie found a used copy of Chins for $7., so we snagged it, too. And Chinese food.

Wow. You'd think it was my birthday ! But it was a great way to send my birth month off for another year ! Goodbye, July !!

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:50 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Happy and excited 

I'd decided to stay in today - after all, DFIL wouldn't be around to pick up Dearest Son until late afternoon, there certainly weren't gonna be any yard sales, and thrifts can always wait for my big sweep on Thursday.

That all changed when Beloved came home - just after Dearest and DFIL left - and had some banking for me to do while he began a local job. Wouldn't you know it, the bank his client uses is right next to Community Thrift. And if I got gas today, I wouldn't have to mess with it on My Day Thursday. So, cool.

Loaded four Mal-Wart sacks of donations into the car and got the banking done. Community seemed kinda bleh this time. Oh, there was a three-foot-tall Disney Beast in with the rest of the stuffed animals on the rack... now, he had potential ! I'm sure he had clothes at one point, threads dangled from where they were probably snipped off. Yes, I was handling buck-naked Beast. In public ! Some sort of silver material had once covered his horns, but it'd sheared off. While a good cleaning and brushing were clearly in order, he was in pretty good shape - and just $2.50, too. Hmmm...

Was trying to make up my mind when I found a sealed-package doll over by the register. On closer inspection, she was a clearly-cheap souvenir doll from Walt Disney World/ Disneyland. Still in a purple plastic ‘backpack', nearly everything this 11-inch blonde doll had was emblazoned with Disney logos. But I really liked her shirt. A cute little pink t-shirt, with Cinderella, Aurora, and Snow White sharing tea - but still not looking at each other - in front of floral images. Pink Capri pants carried the ‘crowns, stars, flowers, and hearts' idea, complete with matching headband. Odd stuffed-sole purple sandals adorned her feet, and there was a matching purple doll backpack, and a comb. Something denim and glittery rolled around in there, too, but I couldn't identify it - and there was no way in h#ll I was gonna open the plastic bag the plastic backpack rested in.

I wonder... carried her back to the toy section and compared her to that lonely Cinderella. The shirt might work...depended on if it already had a Velcro closure or not. But all else failed, there were ways of making stuff fit... So I bought her. And, as you can tell by the photo, pretty much all of it fit. Except the shoes - too small - and the denim jacket, which was even tight on the doll it came with. The doll backpack held a princess-themed autograph book and two hair ‘claws' - one pink, one purple - in the shape of Mickey Mouse heads. Cuuuute !

So, Princess Dorrie now has a unique-to-her outfit - and Dearest will probably welcome a new doll to play with. Just gotta make her a dress or something. Oddly enough, the doll's hip-sewn tag reads ‘Walt Disney World', while the shirt and big backpack reads ‘Walt Disney World/Disneyland Resort', and the doll backpack and book read ‘Disneyland Resort'. Guess they had to get it all in somewhere !

Beloved Hubby was home shortly after I was, and he asked why I didn't bring Beast home. He'd look great with the MSB girls - yes, he actually said that ! So, my first stop tomorrow morning is Community, again. I hope he's still there.

We grilled steaks and potatoes on the grill, and kicked back for the rest of the night. I printed up what I hope will be a good Jasmine harem outfit with Doll Shop Deluxe. I know I won't get to it tomorrow, but maybe this weekend, I can.

I'm really excited about how well those shoes came out. Now I can work on different styles and adaptations ! That's the only thing I really don't like about buying second-hand dolls - most of the time, they're barefoot ! And buying doll shoes is a PITA. You hope you got the right measurements and ordered the right size... because you have to go mail order, usually. Even if they take returns, you probably paid $4. to ship a pair of $5. doll shoes that are crappily made and not that distinctive. Mailing them back is probably just not worth it. And the cheapest, crappiest Keds knock-off at Mal-Wart is probably better made than that pair of $8. sandals you just ordered. So it's very liberating and so much cheaper when you know you can make your own - even if it is just ballerina flats and Mary Janes.

I think I'll try a similar idea with another doll or two, then write up the directions. I confess, I really got lucky with the uppers, so I gotta figure out how to make those from scratch before I tell anyone else how to do anything !

Whoops ! I forgot - I was supposed to post an image of those black shoes I made yesterday ! Hope you don't mind waiting ‘til tomorrow or Saturday - ‘cause if Beast is still there, you'll get his photo tomorrow ! Wish me luck !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:50 PM CDT

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Current Image Notes : Like we needed another reason to like Ariel...

Not a lot going on today, either. Dearest Son and I hit Mal-Wart for a few forgotten groceries - he found a small Lego train kit, and I found Cars and Disney Princess comic collection books, for a buck each. Once I hit the ‘Ariel has dolls' image, I knew I was buying it. New Cars stories will encourage Dearest to read, too. If you'd like one, they were over by the Hot Wheels, in a red cardboard rack attached to the endcap, at our store. There's two Belle, two Ariel, one Jasmine, one Aurora, and one Cinderella story. Plots are pretty basic, with numerous continuity, anachronistic, and illustration errors, but I can't really whine about comic art I paid a buck for. Nice to know that Cinderella speaks in Comic Sans - that's worth the buck, right there. There was also a Tinkerbell ‘Disney Fairies' book, but I was already kinda splurging enough for one day.

They had acres of new Star Wars stuff in - giant Millennium Falcon ships, so much like the ones back in '78, but with new projectiles, sound effects and lights, and a medical bay I don't think the vintage one had. (sigh) All that can be yours for $140., which makes me wonder - was the original one about that price back then ? To the 1978 me, Princess Leia's $10. price was (giggle) astronomical - today, $10. for a new sixth-scale doll is about average, for one with a nice outfit. $20., though, is more often seen, especially if the doll is a licensed item. I have no idea how much a Falcon cost back in the day, as I never had one, but always drooled over how great a display it was. If it'd held my 12-inch Leia, I'd have saved for forever and traded in two years of birthday and Christmas gifts - and a couple months allowance - to get it. It would have been so cool...

Nearly everything was in white boxes with blue and sliver trim, labeled The Legacy Collection. Dozens of new action figures, including a rather sexy Han, but not one Leia in there. Grump. I should be grateful, neither Kenner nor Hasbro has ever made an attractive Leia action figure anyway. Heck, even the adorable Nancy Allen's "Marion" figure from Indiana Jones wasn't very good, either. However, the ‘Adventure Heroes' line - those kinda preschool-lookin' ones that only pose at the wrists - are sooo cute, I've nearly bought Leia and Marion...several times ! Only reason I've held off is because I'm broke, usually due to some (DPrincessdollscough) obsession, and I'll probably find ‘em sooner or later in a yard sale. Tossed in with the other Happy Meal toys, natch.

BTW - the ‘Galactic Heroes' figure of Leia's slave girl costume - complete with a huge axe and an R2-D2 with a drink tray - comes out August 15, according to Toysrus.com.

Wait a minute. I have access to the world's largest database of anything and everything, from metaphysics to old Christmas catalogs ! I even have a site bookmarked for those. Lesssee... in the Sears Christmas Wishbook 1979, the Millennium Falcon retailed for... $25. bucks. Huh. That's all ? It was sell-yer-soul desired in my circle of kids, and only one kid had it. For it being such a lusted-after toy, and the one that many thirty-to-fifty year old guys wax nostalgic over, I thought it was a bigger budget-buster. Well, with that tidbit of information, my wonder shifts to ponder how much is $25. 1979 dollars today ? Tom's Inflation Calculator - thanks, Google - tells me that a $25. item in 1979 would cost $79.50 today. Ya gotta love the internet. Still a lotta money, but not $140., either. Guess Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill's voices don't come cheap. Oh, and the new one's about six inches longer, too. I'm gonna keep my snark to m'self on that one.

Want a giggle ? Using the same calculator, my $10. 1978 Leia would cost $34.22 today. The $2. action figures I can so clearly remember would be $7.28 today, not far from the $7. you pay at TRU and Mal-Wart for the newest ones. I could play all day with that thing. http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html

And, after a full day of thinking about a toy I never had and never will have, getting all the laundry put away, dishes done, Doll Diaries caught up, shopping trip finished, and making dinner, I still had time to knock out a pair of DPrincess shoes. Yup, a pair this time ! Black ones, ‘cause ya always need classic black, from cutaway twill from BIL's Robe 2.0. Goss knows I got plenty of that material ! They only take about an hour, from fabric cutting to final turning. These look pretty good, but I still have trouble on that sole to uppers seam, by the back upper seam. I may just hand-sew that, and avoid the problems I keep having. This successful trial means the pattern is good, and I can Fray-Check the next pair I make, actually employ the iron, and use good fabric. You'll get a photo of ‘em tomorrow.

Got a busy day Wednesday, too. Recyclers, thrift stores ( dropping off and maybe picking up !), more laundry, and some sewing. Whoo-hoo ! I'm hoping to squeeze in some vacuuming, too !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:44 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:50 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Cheerful

Current Image Notes : Elphie's new nightshirt ! Got it in a lot a few yard sales ago - it's the kind that comes with a girl's matching nightgown. I've come across several, and oddly, most of ‘em were too big for Barbie, but they fit Elphie just great !

The morning light was so pretty on her, I didn't care that the Barbie graphics didn't really show up in the photo.

Not a lot to chat about - I took most of today to clean the Lab. Seems like I'm constantly cleaning it, but it gets messy at the drop of a doll hat ! Kittens knock stuff over, Dearest Son drags in Lego, Beloved Hubby leaves soda cans...and that's not even covering the mess I make cutting fabrics, dragging in new stuff to be stored, trying new patterns, sorting through a parsec or two of fabric looking for one eighth of a yard of one very specific design...then getting distracted by what I wanted to do with this half-yard when I bought it, two years ago...

Add in the ‘snacks at the computer' and ‘unfinished ideas', and you got a small space with a lot packed in, so it's easy for it to go from sparkling to squalid in less than an hour. I got Little Princess doll clothes everywhere, new fabric waiting for its place, artworks never hung, and new dolls that I have no idea where to show ‘em off. So today, I got behind the cubby - kittens knocked over a doll shoe box - and under the computer desk, over by the artworks, and in that ‘dead space' of stuff in one corner. Got all the ribbon I bought this week put away, and got doll shoes sorted, picked up a few props and sewing tidbits, and gathered an unused pattern I still wanna try. Took three hours, and I'm still not quite done, but a vacuum and dusting, and I will be. You can almost walk in here !

Unfortunately, the Lab ate up all my time today, so I didn't get much with my dolls. Tomorrow, I hope to sew another pair of shoes, so I can at least get something on Jasmine and Mulan's feet. Sadly, I haven't found many second-hand shoes that fit them. Most of what I have is what they came in. Glad I'll be able to change that soon !

Swapped out some plastic tubs around the house. Cleaned one from the Shop for Dearest's Thomas toys - amazingly, they all fit in there, and the lid even closed. I need to sneak in there next week and sort out some of the toys. All his toyboxes are overflowing, just like mine ! Exchanged a small toy box for a larger one used to store shoes, and that's better for both. I'm limiting Dearest to one toy box in the living room, so we kinda need a deep one !

The bag of ribbon the lady from the yard sale gave me also had about a dozen barrette ‘blanks' - metal thingies just waiting for decorations. I dumped ‘em in the ‘Doll Hair' box and added that to the ‘projects to learn' list. It grows longer by the day...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:49 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Indolent

Current Image Notes : Princess Dorrie's wearing a spare ‘Interactive Belle' dress I got off a seriously bad ‘porcelain' doll from Community Thrift a few months back. Doesn't quite fit her, but it'll do until I eventually get off my lazy rear and make her something !

Besides one shoe, I mean.

Lazy day today. Got the plastic Rubbermaid bin from the Shop and cleaned it up outside. Once dry, I hope Dearest Son's Thomas stuff fits in there. He's good about picking it up off the floor at day's end, but right now, it's in a pile in front of the closet. Not good. At least I got the ‘Anakin's Shadow' framed puzzle/poster hung up in his room. Still can't believe I got that, frame and all, for a buck.

I've given up, finally, on the idea of adapting an existing pattern to fit the DPrincess dolls - namely, Princess Dorrie. I realized last night that DPs have the same ‘no real figure' body as the American Girl dolls and clones, just smaller, so it'd be simple to shrink those over-abundant patterns down. What you want divided by what you have, etc.

Well, that was before I did some research with the patterns I already have. One had potential - it was all princess dress variations - but I read the directions first. Doll's Dressmaker and basic knowledge that not all AG clones are the same prepared me well. The book said that the dolls they sewed for had wildly varying measurements, with the waists measuring anywhere from 9 to 12 inches. So they decided to go for the middle, and have their patterns meet an 11 1/2-inch waist. Um...wouldn't half of that be closer to 10 1/2 ? I realized I'd have to make major reconstruction alterations to get any of ‘em to fit, so abandoned that book. Well, that book's scan...yet another book I'm glad I didn't buy.

I got a good idea, though, from the over-elaborate Tudor dress, on how to do that ‘mock jumper' effect like on Timey Tell's issue dress. So that wasn't a complete waste of time.

So I went online. There's free patterns for AG crap online, I've seen ‘em. Tons. Problem was, most were either waaaay over-elaborate or were sacks with elastic necklines, or tube dresses with straps. I can do that already, thanks. Got it explained better on my own website, too.

Few years back, Bella Online - The Voice of Women­ (!) - needed an editor for its doll hobby section. I idly toyed with applying, but decided I didn't have the time. Now I wish I had. Woman running it now has done little with it in two years, and most of the new stuff up there is for a boring Raggedy Ann copy she ‘created'. <schnorfff> And even that wouldn't be too bad, but she's stumbled onto the idea that hand-sewing is couture sewing, so all her patterns and advice is for hand-sewing...so all the directions call for that, too. Don't know about you guys, but I don't have time to hand-sew.

Her ‘simple hemming with lace' was ridiculous. I thought it'd be like mine - sew lace to skirt's raw bottom edge, while it's still flat, right sides together, fold lace down, which tucks hem under - and either iron it or sew it down. Hemmed and laced, fast and simple, straight-line sewing. Hers involves lots of measuring and folding on a skirt already sewn up the back. I did get one good idea, on how to sew a lace insert into a skirt, like Barbie's Garden Party and Garden Tea Party dresses. It's about what I thought, but for some reason, the Aileen's Petite Fashions directions didn't explain it very well. Neither did Bella's site mod, but the photo was pretty clear.

By now, I'd been studying and brainstorming and daydreaming for a week over PDorrie's dress, and I was kinda tired of it all. I know I need to remeasure for Doll Shop Deluxe, and it didn't have near what I wanted, but, Sith and s#it, that seemed to be the best way to get something to fit...and maybe from there, I could adapt it to get what little I wanted. So I printed up a simple blouse pattern - and fell asleep in the computer chair.

After a two hour nap, I decided to sew. The book I'd been looking at was still up, so I looked again at the photos. Hmm. Shoes. They looked much like the ones the dolls came with...printed out that pattern. As expected, too big, but the instructions were simple and neat. So I traced PDorrie's foot in the smallest sole pattern, added a quarter inch to all sides, then a bit more, and nibbled off a bit from the uppers. Grabbed a fabric scrap...

And it worked ! Fit was snug and it wouldn't fall off. Could work with either foot, but look like it was shaped to either, specifically. Wow. It seemed a bit too snug, so I added a bit more...and it was much too big. Cut off all my additions and went back to the original - this time, scanning it.

By this time, I had a minor headache, and I didn't have enough of the striped fabric to make a second shoe. D'oh ! So I made a quick Word document of directions and notes to go with the pattern and saved it all off. Cool !

Hopefully, I'll have time to sew the blouse later this week. But I'm happy, ‘cause I sewed a shoe !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:49 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Whoo-hoo !

Helped Beloved Hubby in the Shop a bit, before Dearest Son came home, and he handed me a $20. Tempting. But with all the finds I'd already had, and with Dearest due home any time, I decided against going out for more yard sales. Occasionally, I can let someone else make the big finds. Besides, if I keep the cash wisely, there's that much more for me to go out with next weekend ! And I had plenty to do at home, and that was the truth !

Ran out for a few groceries, and when I got back, my Mulan and Cinderella dolls were on the doorstep ! Yaaay ! The search and the madness are over. I have all the Little Princess dolls. Alleluia !

Mulan's in great shape, although her shoes are missing. Her hair was fantastic and packaging threads still dangled from her dress. Sad to think I'll play with these dolls more than their original owner did. And I seriously believe that, at least with this doll line, the blonder they are, the harder they brush. After fighting with Auroras and Cinderellas, Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine's hair was a dream to work with.

My third Cinderella is also darn near new. Hair is still in the factory set, and her dress is adorable. Seller also tossed in some books and a few small plastic Princess figurines, so most of these dolls have dolls of themselves. Cute !

Well, with all this new stuff coming in, the challenge was finding places for it all. The Teresa head went into the Donations bag, and I arranged my small collection of castles around the Belle head. That made the bureau look bad, so I got all the doll reference books in one place, and all the sewing ones and doll pattern books together, as well. My burgeoning collection of silly kid books - mostly DPrincess stuff - is now half a shelf in the bookcase, but it includes coloring books, so...

The cool Vegas sign went behind some framed photos. Within reach, but not obtrusive. And high enough so that the kittens aren't tempted by dangling cords. I'm constantly amazed at how high they can jump and climb. Christmas this year is gonna be interesting.

Took down the ‘Star Skater' doll's hair, and it's permanently kinked from the cute ponytail. Nothing a boil and brush won't fix ! She's currently drying, and it looks like I missed two strands, but I can always tuck those under.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:49 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Still jubilant !

Another great day of finds ! And another long-winded story...

Couple weeks ago, I bought a Teresa styling head, on a lark, for 50c. After brushing her hair, I didn't do much to her, and when the kittens knocked her over, I didn't bother picking her up. I kinda already knew I'd donate her. Y'see, I got her because there was a styling head I really wanted, but just couldn't bring myself to shell $20. for last Christmas. So I thought Teresa would do. (sigh)

Well, three guesses what I found at the yard sale when I returned ? Crazy Curls Belle, a really pretty bust with gorgeous brown hair and a lovely face. Yup. I wanted a DPrincess styling head, I was simply too cheap to buy what would amount to a room decoration back when they came out. But here she was, and just 25c ! Her curlers were attached, and rubber bands and a yellow ribbon still held her hair back. Mine ! I also found another lunchbox - always good to have a spare ! - and the seller pressed a bag of barrettes and ribbon on me. All right !

The Flea Market had a Garage Sale going on, but for all the vendors, there wasn't much there. I scored a metallic print on black Barbie jacket, a pair of Skipper-size black flat shoes, and a dark pair of Ken sneakers - I hardly have any that aren't white - and a 2002

‘Star Skater' Michelle Kwan Barbie. She still had on her outfit and tights, but her skates were missing. Oh, well. Very pretty doll, and I only paid $2. for everything, so I was happy.

And then I found something so amazing, so dedicatedly tacky, I just had to have it. I held my breath when an older couple looked at it, the lady wondering aloud who would buy such a piece of junk. She dropped it, rather rudely, back to the shelf, and once it hit, it was mine. Plugged it in, to see if it'd work, and cool ! It's a fiber optic lamp, always changing colors, and so amazingly awesome ! So now, although I never wanted one, I now have my own Las Vegas lamp. Florida Midge and the Happy Meal ‘Solo' toy pose for scale, and the mirrored platform I bought yesterday join in the photo. I already had a wider, but lower mirrored platform, and with them stacked and the lamp on top, I had a near-instant diorama ! The ideas are dizzying...and just $3. for them !

Whoo. Dollar Tree didn't have much for me - I'd just been there last week with Dearest Son - but I still got a set of party-favor tiaras on combs, and a set of ponytail holders -five colors of acrylic stars on elastic bands. I had some ideas for those two items !

But for the time being, I was hot and tired and wanted to come home, and at least get all the new acquisitions into the rooms where they belonged. Wow. I'd had an amazing haul this weekend, and it was still Friday ! And I still had $2. left ! Oh, yeah !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:48 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Jubilant

Current Image Notes : Here's the title page of that LGB ! Get your votes in, so far I've got one vote for each ! If ‘Tom Tierney' sounds familiar, he's a big doll fan and illustrates tons of paper doll books.

Today. Was. Amazing. Dearest Son and I hit the sole Thursday yard sale today, and it was a jackpot ! I went out with $15., and got so much for our $7.50 !

Dearest found two cars he liked, and the lenticular image that Best Buy gave away as an incentive to pre-order Cars from them last year. I scored a free box of fabric - but insisted on paying her for, and she accepted a dollar ! - three shirts for Dearest, a cool Darth Vader softside lunchbox, a Betty Boop doll for DFIL, a small box of Valentine decorations like roses and ribbon, another baggie of pretty ribbons, a small mirrored display platform, a Happy Meal ‘Solo in the Spotlight' Barbie toy, a Disney Princess cosmetic box, a Cinderella doll identical to the ‘teen' one I already have, but with shoes, an Ariel hair barrette (also a HMeal toy), an outdated but still sexy Pin-Up calendar for Beloved, a box of nice white stationery, and a small Tinkerbell doll in a rubberized Cinderella dress. From a Polly Pocket type line, no doubt. As she was helping me load all the goodies, she discovered that she'd left a belly-dancing pattern and fabric in the box. Ooops. Could she take that back ? Certainly !

To make up for it - although she didn't have to - she gave me a huge Vogue pattern catalog, like the ones at fabric stores. I love those things ! I have outdated Simplicity, McCall's, and Stretch ‘n Sew ones, and even if they're old, they're great for ideas and just plain leaf-throughs. They're kinda hard to get, although you can buy ‘em directly from the pattern company...for about $30. each.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing pattern catalogs at fabric counters with womens' names and phone numbers inked along the spine. It was explained to me that the information was there in hopes that, when the catalog was outdated, the fabric counter would call and she'd pick the unwanted book up. Made sense to me, but it seemed greedy to me that one woman's name would be on every book in the place. It was like no one else got a chance.

But it doesn't always go that way. We had a few at home then, too, and there was always some other woman's information on it. The ones I have were from fabric stores and Mal-Wart - I was just there at the right time. Curiously, not one has a name and phone number on it...well, no one wants to leave that information lying around these days.

Anyway, it took me quite a while to go through all the fabric in the box and enjoy it... then divvy it up into ‘keep' and ‘donate' piles. There's just no way I could use it all, and I had no idea what I'd do with the ‘blue furry Mastodon' pieces. Or the tiny quilt pieces. So I bundled it all up, and after DFIL picked up Dearest for a weekend visit - and he loved his doll ! - tossed it into Molly and headed for the thrifts !

Outreach didn't have anything I wanted, but I dumped the fabric and some discarded Dearest toys there, mostly Happy Meal junk. They'd repriced the Cinderella doll, for just $3., but I've already got that dress - and the shoes ! - headed my way, so I sure don't need another. What I do need is hair dye, so I can transform her into Naru/Molly, my next DPrincess creation. Maybe next week.

Decided to hit GoodWill and Dollar Tree Friday, and head for home. I was hot and already tired...and I was thinking of hitting that yard sale again, this time without Dearest...it was right on the way to GoodWill...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:45 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Whimsical 

It may be summer doldrums, it may be his own youth beckoning, but today, Dearest Son announced that he wanted to play with his old Thomas the Tank Engine toys. I'd bagged ‘em up in March, I think, and stuffed ‘em into the garage, awaiting Craigslist or donation. He'd announced that Thomas was baby stuff, if you remember.

Well, who am I to say that he can't play with that stuff anymore ? I mean, shoot, I play with Barbies. So Beloved Hubby dug the bags out of the garage and Dearest had a fine evening, making a city and running the trains through. It really wasn't Thomas he wanted. Just the trains and train track. And I've seen some cars on the track, so... In any case, we have some old plastic storage boxes at the Shop that Beloved doesn't use, so I'll hose one out and use it for the Thomas stuff. I just hope Dearest is grateful that his momma is so darn lazy she hadn't already ditched it all...

But heck, I still got doll stuff riding around in the trunk. I'm still doing acne treatment on Charmin' Cathy's face. The marks are fading, very , very slowly. There's about three bags of donations in the bedroom, and stacks of fabric awaiting me. And I'm still dawdling around.

For once, I'm glad my lazy tendencies worked in our favor !

And, with an hour to go, someone else bid on the Mulan/ Cinderella doll lot. He/She got to within 18c of my high bid, then stopped. And I won ! Still, it always seems suspicious when someone else's bid gets that close, but they don't try again for a quarter or something. Anyway, they're already on their way, and I may have ‘em Saturday ! Whoo-hoo !

That said, I still checked TRU. Most of the stuff in that Barbie brochure I posted earlier this month is coming to stores in the first two weeks of August, and some's already in stock ! I was considering the ‘I Can Be a TV Chef' set, but decided against it. I'm rethinking my whole ‘doll house' thing, which I'm sure to discuss here later - once I've decided, that is ! 

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:45 PM CDT

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