Current Mood : Happy as a hummingbird !

What a great day today was ! Got three loads of laundry out on the line on a beautiful day before it was time for volunteer work at Dearest Son's school. Completed all they had for me - even the stuff for next week - with time to spare. So much time, in fact, that I nipped off to the fabric store for a few minutes before returning to pick Dearest up. He'd earned enough tickets for a bit of shopping, but driving him directly to Target from school was a surprise.

I was a very, very bad girl at Hancock Fabrics. Spent $12. ! But I am sooo in love with what I bought ! A half-yard of repro vintage cotton fabric - sweet little ballerina girls on a soft green background, just too adorable to leave without getting some. It'll make something special for Timey and Dottie, I think. And a third of a yard of black cotton with stars and spirals in white and grey. It's hard to describe this material, so I'll do my best to make something with it quick ! Once I'm done here, I'm gonna cheap-serge it, ‘cause I still have two loads of laundry waiting.  I keep saying 'no more fabric', but I can only hold out if I stick to shopping at Mal-Wart ! They haven't had anything new in months...

They had other wonderful fabrics, too - there's one star print I want, bad. $8./yard, though, with no coupons on the immediate horizon. Ordinarily, I'd just bite it and get a quarter or half yard, like I did with the ballerina and star prints, but I want enough to make me a blouse out of it. There's always plenty of cutaway to make doll clothes. But since I'll need two yards minimum, maybe three, depending on the blouse, I'm gonna hold off for a sale or a coupon. It really is gorgeous.

Went through the markdown bins, you'd be disappointed with me if I didn't ! I'm gonna try something, just for kicks. They had those woven labels in the bin, 60% off. You've seen ‘em, they say ‘Made with Love By " /(design) /"Fairly Popular Woman's First Name". If you mail ‘em to the manufacturer, package intact, they'll put your name on the same labels and ship ‘em back to you. As you can guess, ‘Dorrie' never appears on these things. So, I found a design I liked ("Specially Hand Made By"), and snagged two. And wouldn't you know it, one package of 8 labels was $3., the other, $2. Fished around some more for a second $2. set. At 60% off, two packs of $2. ones came to $1.60. If I hadn't noticed, two sets of $3. would have been $2.40. Double score ! And yes, I will be mailing in both packages tomorrow, and I'll let you know if it works, and what they finished ones look like.

But I wasn't done yet. Found several button sets on 80% off, from the ‘So Girly !' line. I think they're the same ones who made the makeup bag I bought at the first yard sale Saturday. Anyway, I got a set of rubbery ‘flip flop' buttons that will probably become real doll flip flops (55c), and sets of two blue ‘Cool', pink ‘Lucky', and green ‘Best of Pop' "record" buttons, each for 35c. They'll probably go on my sewing machine cover, which is slowly becoming a sort of scrapbook.

And I found two bags of remnants I liked, each for a buck. I got three four-inch-wide silver glitter-micro-dot strips, two yellow cherry-bloom cutaway bits,  a quarter-yard of pink with white hearts flannel, a streak of ‘trucks' flannel, a chunk of cream canvas, blue/green/white stripe canvas, a third of a yard of black felt, deep purple lining material, black lining stuff, a gorgeous half-yard of cream satin, a third yard of yer everyday white cotton, some weird-textured white polyester, a half yard of brown suit material, a streak of soft white micro-knit, and about the same amount in navy blue, a wonderfully textured black peachskin strip, and three gorgeous sheers - one white, one black, and one crinkled white. Georgette ?  Voile ? Too thick for tulle, but otherwise, I haven't a clue. Guess I'd best dig out More Fabric Savvy and check.

That wasn't all - there was even, at the very bottom, a half yard of "Disney Princess II" cotton, by Springs Industries. Of all the bags to pick - there were at least a dozen - I found possibly the only one with some DP print in it ! Most of it is pink, with darker pink, purple, and white bubbles (or pearls, could be either). Floral borders are surrounded by printed ‘beads' of pink and purple, and on one end, there's hips-up cameos of Aurora and Cinderella. That end has a scalloped edge, again bordered with pink and purple printed bubbles/beads. I'll have to scan it, Aurora has *such* an expression on her face ! It's probably designed to make curtains, but I'm sure I'll find other uses for it !

By the time I'd gone through all the markdowns and touched about 200 fabrics, I had to scurry to check out and get back to school. Dearest saved his tickets to get those last two toy lightsabers, and since Mal-Wart let him down on the purple one last week, he wanted to try Target. We found the last purple one, second to the last one we checked, on the highest peg. The green one was much easier to find, so now he has the whole set. I'm just glad he didn't decide to collect those $20. ones ! Nope, these don't light up, they just collapse into the hilt, and they run about $6. each. Amazingly, each one has a different hilt. Nice.

Once home, he installed all four on his sweatpants' waistband, and his pants promptly fell down ! I told him ‘beyond three of anything is a collection', and he seemed a bit prouder of his ‘sabers. Beloved Hubby and I both ‘fenced' with him, but he preferred to run around the yard, one in each hand and two on his hips, until sunset. He was clutching the purple one at bedtime. (happy sigh)

While waiting at the cashier's, a familiar infant sundress caught my eye. It was darn near the exact same dress I bought Baby Chrissy at GoodWill yesterday ! But this one was pink, and the embroidery at the hem may have been flowers, instead of fruits. Yet everything else, right down to the ‘So Sweet' appliqué at center front, was identical. $7. I don't think Chrissy's had ever been worn, either. It was kind of a shock seeing it there. And I saved $5. - not that I would've bought it new anyway...

I noticed that the scan of the cover to the Barbie catalog cut a bit of Midge's hair. Our scanner sometimes nibbles at an image if it's too close to the edge. Well, that wouldn't do, so I rescanned and reinstalled it, on the 08 April entry. If you're saving these to your hard drive, you may wanna go back and snag it again. This one's better !

I noticed that a few pages - really, only seven - had small red ink lines on them. Cover has a dark blue ‘B' just under the ‘e' in ‘Barbie'. As is usual for me, I wondered who'd put those marks there. Was it a little girl in 1963 ? Or an adult, much later ? Did the red lines tally what he/she had, or what was next in line for that allowance and birthday money ? Did the ‘B' stand for the owner, to show who this booklet belonged to ? Or was someone trying to copy that famous signature ? It's unusual for a child to be so restrained - all the kids I know write all over everything they own ! Ah, you just never know when you're buying used, but isn't that part of the fun ?

PS to Michelle - This weekend, I'm gonna post photos of the "Great Walls of Cases" for ya, ‘cause you asked ! It's too late to do it tonight (I want as much sunlight in here as possible), and there's rain forecast for tomorrow, so this weekend's about as fast as I can do it. So stay tuned ! (smile)

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:27 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:14 PM CDT

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Current Mood : a bit restless, but relieved 

Current Image Notes : We're going in order, as if you were looking at the booklet in your hand. Thought you'd like it that way !

So... What Have We Learned ? From having to catch up two weeks of Doll Diaries in one day - again ? (sigh) I don't know why I keep doing that lately. I write the entries, pretty much every day, but when it gets to posting time, there's always something else that has to be done first. And once I've skipped one day, skipped one week, it's easier to let it go a bit longer. I still enjoy doing this, and sometimes I hold off because I need a photo or image, and it's not ready yet, but...(sigh) I need to pay attention to how I spend a day. Most of the time it's gone before I did anything with it !

Beloved Hubby did his usual last-minute checks this morning, then pronounced the taxes ready for mailing. I'd just have to scan a few pages and print some copies, and then it was off to the post office. I always have the Federal ones weighed - so I don't over or under spend on postage, plus the receipt proves it was mailed on time. Hope your taxes weren't too much of a drag ! Or, if you're not in the US, you enjoyed *not* having to mess with all that !

And the post office is only a few blocks away from GoodWill... was so sick last week, I didn't go. Actually, for that store, every other week is about right. I've seen a few things in there that've been around since before Christmas ! Didn't find much today, either - two novels, a stuffed animal I'm taking apart for fabric (yes, it has stars on it), and the sweetest little infant dress for Baby Chrissy. I've gotta quit buying stuff for her already ! I've had to winnow down her wardrobe twice before, and if you remember the closet photo, she still has a large selection ! Appropriately enough for tax day (and my personal liking), the dress is a soft green...

There was a nude Raggedy Ann, and I really thought about bringing her here. But I don't need two - it's a ‘dress and release' thing. It's rare to see a Raggedy without clothes. They really look sad and lonely, and it's hard to not ‘help' them !

The Dollar General next door had some markdowns - got one of the Cali Girl Barbie doll clothes sets for $2.80. There were two sets made back in '04. I bought the other one then, because I couldn't resist the tiny exercise sandals. I think I donated most of the girl clothes, but kept the Ken ones. The one I got today had a pretty brown cardigan sweater with a simple coordinating sundress and the guy outfit was good. It has stars on the shirt, and jeans instead of shorts ! I just didn't like the macramé bikini top and the sky-high wedgies sandals. They had a few Flavas left (believe that or not !) and a the lead Barbie from Twelve Dancing Princesses on the markdown shelves, but nothing else I really wanted. I mostly got the Cali set for the Ken clothes and the brown sweater !

Tomorrow, I have some volunteer work at Dearest's school, so I gotta get a move on early. Funny thing - whenever I plan out a day, darn near all I plan gets done. When I plan nothing at all, well, that gets done, too !

Posted by dorriebelle at 10:08 PM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:13 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Hectic scrambling 

Monday's my usual ‘catch up from the weekend' day, and this Monday was no exception. Dearest Son's been moping around since the Wii wouldn't activate, so I made sure to get a new power strip, hoping that'd fix it. It did ! Lucky !

One of the eyelets in the blue cubby box keeps popping out, so I also added ‘glue' to the shopping list. But once there, I could read that the SuperGlue I already had (part of a scavenged box from a few weekends ago) would work well on that. The print on the bottle itself was too smeared to read. Secured all the eyelets that pulled free with a bit of pressure with the glue - and was glad I didn't have to buy more !

Was a little bored after Dearest went to school, so I trawled eBay a bit. Looked up ‘Princess case', because I'd kind of like one for the Lab. Found a nice one that wasn't really a doll carrier - it was more of a lap desk that unzipped for crayon and coloring book storage. Even had a whiteboard inside. Pretty, and certainly cheap enough at $2.99, but the usual $8. to ship nixed that. Besides, I was just trawlin', waiting for the thrift store next to the Mal-Wart to open.

Believe it or not, the thrift store actually had it ! I've made a point to check the backpacks and lunch box section, a spot I'd previously ignored, hoping for doll cases. Haven't found a case yet, but I always check and hope. And today, there it was, like it was waiting for me. $1.99. Mine ! There was also a DP tote bag, but I left that for the next hunter-gatherer. I couldn't believe it. Now it's hanging up under the white ‘World of Barbie' case, and there's only space for one more ‘find'. Hope that one's not pink !

Oh, and I found two ‘cranberry' storage boxes, Christmas leftovers without lids, on markdown for 50c each. One would hold the misc. doll shoes (Timey/Dottie, DPrincess, Mia) with room to spare, and the other would be great under the sink. So the doll shoes that were overflowing the white tub went into the cranberry box, and Baby Chrissy's shoes and accessories went into the white tub. And the Cars shoe box went back to Dearest, with many thanks for the loan. He then put Lego in it. The circle is now complete.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:13 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Thrilled and Proud !

Beloved Hubby had to work today - darn it ! - so it was just Dearest Son and me today. He ran around with his ‘podracer' goggles on, enjoying a bright sunny day and his imagination. Finally ! a mostly cloud-free day. Even the humidity was down...

Yup. It was low enough, and the temperature after lunch was warm enough to paint the cubby boxes ! They came out great. I scavenged the rope handles from the plastic bags I had doll clothes in before, and added the eyelets after they were all dry, and they look sooo good ! I'm glad I went with spray paint. Fabric or paper would have torn or slipped too easily. If I decide to change colors, about all I have to do is paint the other sides !

That blue one, though, wasn't fitting well where I had it. I shuffled it around until it did, so now the top row is plastic boxes-green-orange, and bottom row is red-blue-Elphie tote. I'm so happy with it - it looks even better than my imagination hoped.

Dearest was really good while I painted, so we went out to Dollar Tree. He found two knockoff lightsabers, and I scored a mylar palm tree table decoration. It looks so cute next to the hot tub in Shinobu and Inaba's ‘backyard'. The plastic stand it came with actually has a bit of suction to it, sort of a bonus.

While shuffling doll clothes in and out of cubby boxes - no way was I painting them with the clothes still inside ! - I found the bag with the hats and purses, and moved them into one of the plastic pencil boxes I got at the yard sales yesterday. Dearest claimed the other one. Tried to boil-perm Shinobu's hair, with mixed results. I'm honestly afraid to mess with it anymore.

Decided to cheap-serge yesterday's fabric purchases, but had a lot of trouble getting the tension right. When I got the top tension right, the bottom actually pinched the fabric. Cleaned some huge dust-bunnies out of the back, oiled where the manual said to, and adjusted the bobbin tension - but now the machine rattled. While the stitches looked fine, and the oiling made her almost silent, it just made that rattle stand out even more. I listened to it for a bit, and figured I'd loosened the bobbin too much. The rattling was the bobbin bouncing around in the shuttle. Once I got it re-adjusted, she ran quietly and evenly. That manual is worth its weight in gold. No wonder I broke that Singer we had so long ago - it didn't have a manual. Well, that, and the fact that I had no idea what I was doing...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:13 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Joyous !

While Beloved Hubby slept, I hit two sales - I feel great today ! First sale got me a nice framed mirror that's a great doll size, a t-shirt for Dearest Son, safety power outlet covers for his room, a pretty makeup bag that'll be perfect for my checkbook that I rarely use, but can't leave home without, and some spray paint, all for $1.75.

The next sale was sooo great. I got two fabric cuts - one'll make a shirt for me ! - two pencil boxes, a small tool box, a ‘Dull Women Have Immaculate Homes' framed print, a Fanny Flagg book, a Polly Flinders smocked dress and a swimsuit for Baby Chrissy, a glittery shirt for fabric, a black jacket for me, two Star Wars action figures and a Cars coloring book for Dearest Son, and a pair of swim goggles. I wanted the goggles for the buckles, but Dearest saw ‘podracer' goggles, and he wanted ‘em. The rubber strap snapped and broke - oww ! - in my hand, so I measured his head and replaced the rubber with soft elastic. So he got the goggles - he loves ‘em ! - and I got the buckles for doll clothes. Not bad ! My stuff was just over $7., but I rounded it up, since it was a fundraiser. And I came home with a bit of change from the $10. I went out with !

Once home, it was Tax Time. I helped as much as I could, which wasn't much, but we got it done. Alleluia ! It's over with for another year. We'll go over them again Monday night, and mail ‘em off Tuesday. We don't get much of a rebate this year, but I'm happy we don't owe !

This evening, everyone was doing their own thing. I'd announced that I wanted to sew, but while I was tweaking the cubby a bit more, I stepped on that darn plastic thing in the floor again. It's worse than Lego ! It was probably a closet door piece, but with the doors removed, it was just in the way. Nails held it in place, but that's what the claw end of a hammer is made for ! So I grabbed the house hammer and went back to the Lab. Beloved asked again what I was doing, and without thinking, I said I was gonna sew. I'd completely forgotten about the hammer in my hand. He looked at me oddly, advised me to be careful. It didn't hit me until later. And that plastic thingie won't threaten anyone else's feet ever again !

Dress came out OK - as usual, it photographs better than it looks in person. Not sure if I'll keep it or not. I want to try it again, since this was kind of a muslin trial, and I left everything unfinished. At least I finally sewed something !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:12 PM CDT

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Current Mood : D'ya really wanna know ? It ain't pretty.  

You know I'm out of it when I'm too ill to yard sale. There were at least three that I knew of, but I didn't go anywhere today. I didn't even go on my thrift store circuit this week.  On the plus side, I know it's not an ulcer or anything now. I don't wanna get into too much information, but let's just say that the transition into the 'next stage of life' is often a rough one. No exceptions here. If you have no idea what the last sentence made, count your blessings and don't worry about it any further.

About all I did was sleep and get Dearest ready for school and his grandparents'. I'll be so glad when I feel better...

Meanwhile, enjoy some vintage fashion images. It's about all I can do for ya right now ! Bleah.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:12 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Ugh.

Current Image Notes : This is pretty much why I bought this little catalog.  

I *really* feel miserable today. Starting to wonder if I have an ulcer or something, but then I wonder how someone living the indolent life I do could possibly work up a lot of stomach acid ! Maybe it's a new allergy symptom or something.

Still raining, and we got a thunderstorm, too. The lighting is so pretty, but it's making our power flicker. Noticed this evening that the orange ‘power' light to the Wii is off. Trying to turn it on didn't work. Dearest Son hasn't noticed yet - he's watching a Star Wars episode - so I hope it's the power strip. It'll be a while before we can get another video game system !

About all I got done today was sorting receipts for Big Tax Day Saturday. Urgh. Lab trash is overflowing with little bits of slippery paper. Beloved Hubby has the hard work, about all I do is the receipt organization and form finding/printing. It's so nice to download anything we need right from the IRS site. I always hated our last-minute runs to the library before. Have you heard about the economic stimulus plan ? If you get your taxes in on time, you may get some extra cash. In our bracket, it's about $300. a person - which is about what I've already spent on stuff this year ! If you're late, you may not get it. I'm not spending anything until I can cash the check ! And, truthfully, I've already spent it.

Oh, and BTW, Alvin and the Chipmunks (the new live action/CGI movie) was actually rather cute. Not as nasty as I thought, but the ‘updated' songs are a bit hard on the ears if you're used to the original versions. I would love to have a DVD collection of the 80s cartoon - and so would Dearest Son. He sort of has a crush on Brittany...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:12 PM CDT

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Current Mood : A bit shopped out

My tummy's been giving me some trouble off and on all week. Makes me not terribly interested in shopping or sewing. This morning, though, I felt OK, and wanted rice crackers. Bad. So, off I went.

The specific kind of crackers I wanted were out of stock - sniffle ! - so I ended up at Target. They *always* have rice crackers. It's part of their Archer Farms snack line. A big plastic container of ‘em - with nuts ! - is kinda pricey, but very tasty. While I was there, I had a look around...

Did you know there's an entire line of Disney Princess bathroom accessories ? A Cinderella and castle lotion pump coordinates with a Belle soap dish and a Sleeping Beauty toothbrush holder. From a distance, the soap dish - Belle's long yellow skirt, mostly - looked interesting, but up close, the paint wasn't good at all. Plus, $10. is a bit much for a pin holder (I entertained buying it for that, but no).

Nothing new in dolls, but I did find square melmac bowls that'll coordinate with our dinnerware - we always run out of bowls first. On markdown, too. And they had those cardboard scratching platforms for Velvet, so I got her one.

And I found the drawer pulls of my dreams. Dark metal, with a green ‘crystal' in the middle. Too bad they were $6. each, and I'd need eight of ‘em. I love my pattern cabinet, but it's not worth $48. ! But then, I found some ‘cup' style ones on markdown, and snapped those right up. So I'll have that to get those installed soon. Gonna need a drill...and probably Beloved Hubby.

So I was happy. I saw the little bench that many folks have been using with their Barbie-scale dolls - it's in the ‘Dollar Spot' for $2.50. For some reason, it looks out of scale to me, in both person and pictures. Besides, I just ditched two, so I don't need more !

I also got to visit the local book/video shop, cruisin' for doll magazines. Latest Haute Doll has patterns, and I wanted to see if they were interesting. And I still hope to catch the last Barbie Collector, but they probably did a limited run for the subscribers, so I'm not holding much hope. Anyway, the latest HD is dated June 08. The one on the shelves here is March ! Oh, well. It's not like I need any patterns...but it would have been nice to think that I could actually want something pictured in HD !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:12 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Satisfied.  

 For now.

Today's the last day I could work on the Lab. There was still stuff everywhere, even with the donations safely stored in Lightning Molly's trunk. But I've been sooo obsessed with the Lab, the rest of the housework has suffered. So it all had to be done today.

And it is ! The lab is so clean and pretty ! Everything is where it should be, and once the rain stops - we're in the midst of monsoon season, evidently - I'm ready to paint the cubby boxes. After that, I think I'm gonna tackle the pattern cabinet. I hate the handles on it. Imagine the ugliest cabinet door handles from the 70s you can think of, and that's what I got here. Well, half. There's actually two different styles on here. One's tolerable, the other is too awful to tolerate. So I'll keep my eyes open for some new drawer pull hardware.

It's always something with me, isn't it ?

Found a doll site that, well, frankly drove me up a tree. It was almost as bad as when I saw that Oprah's Guide To Life book. After buying dozens of high-end collector dolls, the site author realized that only the ultra-expensive BJDs truly conveyed ART to her. Those and some Sybarites and a few rare Tonners...

So she bought the parts for her masterpiece BJD. Oh, for the unfamiliar, BJD stands for ‘Ball Jointed Doll'. They're resin, from Asian countries, and you usually buy ‘em one piece at a time. It's sort of like buying a My Size Barbie that's completely blank and has no paint or color, that you have to sand, assemble, and paint - and between the parts and shipping from Japan, the resulting doll might well have been made one at a time by Jason Wu himself. While the parts are mass-produced, the assembly and painting make them one-of-a-kind. The ball joints are nothing new - I've seen ‘em on ‘playline' antique dolls from the turn of the century.

Back to the story. Only the BJD as a perfect blank canvas would allow the site author to express her Art. So she ordered parts...then realized she can't paint. So she paid someone else to paint her masterpiece of personal expression. I'm amazed my head didn't explode. This one wasn't enough, so she bought six more that were already complete, and now her Art was fully realized. Except the boy doll she bought - it'd be the last time she ‘bought something on promo only', and she sent it back. Um, dear ? I won't buy a $10. Barbie without seeing it in the harsh light of retail - weren't there any pictures ?

The capper was that she wants to start her own doll board - reminding folks to not blow the budget on their dolls (she sold most of her Barbie and Tonner collection to repay the family funds for the BJDs) or take them so seriously. Ummm....oh, never mind.

I don't mean to rip into someone else's opinion. But it's like the author really didn't listen to her own words vs. actions. I probably don't either, but I can express myself with this 25c doll over here ! And this $15. playset ! And this Dollar Tree prop ! I wonder which of us is more serious about dolls...but, hell. Everyone's happy, it shouldn't bug me. I just hate it when someone just as screwed up as me - with the same often-skewed priorities - tries to tell me they have all the answers. Like an Oprah book.

Shoot. My headache's come back. I'm gonna go lie down...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:11 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Sweaty again !  

Whoo. Takin' a bit of a break - the back and underside of my hair is soaked, I'm sweating so hard. But I did it ! Well, about 75% of what I wanted...

I had two HUGE tubs of Barbie props - we're talkin' those huge 106qt./100l monsters - that used to reside at the bottom of the Lab closet. As you know, that space is now cubbytown ! So I had major reshuffling to do. Yesterday, I moved the drawing tools that were in the closet to the hall linen cabinet, and the ironing tools into an empty drawer in the bathroom. That mostly freed up the closet shelf - still have to find places for some fabric bags -  but there's no way it could hold two of those big tubs ! It kind of did, but it was a half on/half off proposition for both of ‘em, and if one tipped in the night, it'd scare hell out of the whole house. And I'd *really* hate myself if one toppled onto Beloved or Dearest. Or Velvet-kitty. Not acceptable.

So today's task was to winnow down what I could, with a more realistic eye towards what I was doing with my dolls, not what I planned to do ‘someday'. Dragged both tubs down and started the sorting. I had so many plans that never happened ! F'r instance, I had at least 30 (**30 !!**) of those school playset desks, for Barbie, not Kelly. Also three aquarium ‘underwater coral and plants' pieces I'd intended for a ‘mermaid' photo shoot, bought cheap at yard sales. Since I have a minor obsession with doll seating, there was an overabundance of doll chairs, too. With an eye towards the dollhouse more than anything else, I started keeping track of how much I was keeping, and wondering how I amassed four high-chairs and six strollers, but only one crib.

I'd hoped to get it down to one monster-tub and a box, but not quite. It's now one tub, a laundry basket, and a small box. The laundry basket holds most of the future dollhouse furniture, the box keeps photo props, favorite chairs, and stands, and everything else is in the tub. Whew ! Importantly, I kept everything I really loved. What got gone was the ‘someday' stuff. It's about ¾ of the other tub, and after one more sort-through, it'll get donated. Unless someone here needs about 20 student desks !

The ‘keeper' stuff is safely in the closet, where it won't hurt anyone or scare the cat. I'm happy for that, and the fact that the bulk of the shuffling's done, with all the doll and fabric stuff still in here. I still have some things to find spots for, but the big, heavy, sweaty work is done. And I'm really proud of me. Lab looks much better, I really love what I have, as opposed to glomming on to everything like a greedy kid, and it's mostly manageable. I'll have a nice donation that'll hopefully make someone or several folks happy, and that's the best thing.

In other news, I got the spray paint for the cubby boxes. We already have a green not far from the Lab's walls, and a royal blue left over from previous projects, so I bought red and orange. Might as well go for bold color ! Unfortunately, we have rain and high humidity forecast for most of the week, so I'll probably occupy myself with attaching the silver grommets and rope pull handles to the boxes. Still have to go through my trim and ribbon box for that - yep, I actually do have decorator rope stashed away. Ended up with some from notion grab bags and yard sale ‘take the box/bag for a buck' scores. I pretty much have *everything* stashed away !

Hit a thrift store, but the only find of interest was a lovely blue velvet dress for $1. Didn't buy it, but I'm considering going back later this week. I need to check the fabric stash first, because ( all together now) I probably already have it.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 4:11 PM CDT

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