Urgh. It's laundry day, and also ‘we're down to one working vehicle' day. Lemme tell ya, there's a huge difference in deciding not to go anywhere and not being able to go anywhere.

Got six pieces of clothing cut down to useable bits while waiting outside. Not just for Dearest Son's bus, but also spotting for Beloved Hubby as he worked on his truck. It makes me nervous when he's under two-plus tons of steel, supported by what looks like a couple soda bottles and a metal accordion. So when he's working on vehicles, I'm normally out there with him, cell phone at the ready, just in case.

During today's adventures, a local tire consortium was set to do an alignment on Beloved's diesel. They refused, saying the ball joint would have to be replaced first. A repair that'd cost over $400., including a single $130. part. Beloved came home. The part, from the dealer, is less than $60., and they deliver. Beloved's a fairly good shade-tree mechanic - he's taken care of my brakes numerous times, and is good with fuel pumps and radiators - so he decided to take on the repair himself.

We got the part, but found out that two seals were beyond repair. Since the consortium never removed the tire, they didn't know, so the repair probably would have gone over $600., as the seals are $50. each. And, you know, they have to charge twice that for parts, minimum. We have to order the seals, so his truck is down. And my Molly still is. She needs a new clutch. At least we have a working truck for work, but it means grocery shopping's gonna be late this week.

While the big diesel was down, he had a look at Molly and the grey truck. Grey truck also needed a new part, so he got that taken care of, and as a test drive, we got milkshakes. Dinner was rather late for us (I'd fed Dearest earlier), so we just had soup.  I'll be so happy when Molly's back up. I really miss her ! And the box in her trunk has about six pieces of clothing left. Somebody slap me if I ever buy any more people clothes for doll clothes fabric again !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:26 PM CDT

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After yesterday being 100% amazing, today couldn't possibly match it. So I just kinda loafed around, got the donation ready for pick-up (three bags and still going), and redid the Lab a bit. The cat hide-a-way cube I got from a yard sale weekend ago is now in here, so DC and Jack occasionally rework what's on the floor for me. I made sure to get all the ribbon and trims stored, and got out the spare thread box. The grab-bag of thread I got yesterday darn near filled it ! Glad I bought it when I saw it at GoodWill. I've been kinda kicking myself for it, thinking I'd never again buy thread, so I wouldn't need it - but I couldn't resist paying 50c for a duplicate of something I paid nearly $6. for already.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:25 PM CDT

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The original plan for today was to scan the Holly Hobby pattern I got last week, and finally getting down to sew Jasmine's harem outfit, since I can't ever seem to ‘win' the right to buy one on eBay. But that was before Beloved Hubby asked if I wanted to travel with him to a distant specialty store - and we'd stop wherever I wanted to ! Who could refuse ?

As it turned out, the store was located in a town where Beloved Hubby did one of his earliest ‘working for himself' jobs, before branching out on his own full-time. The lady of the home had the same form of heart disease I do - peripartum cardiomyopathy - but she'd taken the risk of having a second child, and her heart had seriously deteriorated. She had a sweet son Dearest's age, and a teenager, and her husband contracted for the military. Frankly, he seemed kind of a jerk, but I really got on great with ‘S'.

We did a lot of work for them, and Dearest and S's little boy got to play together frequently. I even baby-sat for them when S was hospitalized, which was a bit of a drive for her husband. Buy then, as things happen sometimes, we lost contact, stuff and family got in the way, and one day when we tried to call, the phone was disconnected. I feared the worst, and driving by their house about a year later, we noted that it seemed almost abandoned. I was deeply saddened. S was a truly sweet and wonderful woman, and I missed her like crazy.

Well, neither Beloved nor I ever forgot her, and since we were in the area, decided to drive by again. Just as we pulled up, so too did the phone company, and the front door opened. It was her ! S !!! She was fine, and looked fantastic ! I almost cried. S looked at me curiously, and then her eyes lit up. She remembered us, too ! She barely had time to tell the phone guy what was wrong with the inside lines before sweeping us up in a big hug and urging us inside.

We stayed nearly three hours, catching up and telling tales. She's divorced now, and while I wouldn't say it in front of their son, I was glad. Her ex always seemed to need such control over her and the boys that the house always seemed...dark to me when he was there. Not the case anymore ! She has a cardiac implant that helps, so she's looking so much healthier than before. Her teenager is this tall, intelligent, curly haired romantic hero type now, and her little boy ain't small either ! He and Dearest are gonna get along fine, I think ! She's coming over to visit us next week, and we're already invited to a Halloween party. I'm not sure about this ‘social life' thing, but I'll give it a try !

I was all happy all day. I got her new phone number and she has ours, and I hope to never lose contact again. She's too special !

On the way back - Beloved found what he needed at the specialty shop showroom, and we even got a thick catalog ! - I spied a thrift store, so we pulled in. They had a few bags of dolls, but nothing of interest. I'd covered most of the toy section, and was about to go down the back of the aisle for a second look. I usually do that, as sometimes, things look different from the other side, and I've found interesting things that way. I was actually second-guessing myself, but decided to do it anyway.

Am I ever glad I did ! (sigh) Settle in for ‘I Remember' Story Theater time, kids. Get a drink, too. Anyway. One of the last toys I really remember from having when I actually was a kid was Tomy's Fashion Plates. Heavily advertised, this toy announced that YOU could  be a Fashion Plates Fashion Designer by lining up the embossed plastic plates in the included tray, rubbing a black crayon over it, then using the textures on the other sides of the plates with the included colored pencils to create your own look ! I loved this thing.

Oh, I got into trouble over it -  nearly all my long-ago toys have some ‘tragic' tale associated with ‘em. I vividly remember going nearly hysterical when my mother tossed out my Star Wars board game because I'd left it in the living room, when she'd never threatened to do that before or since. I'd left it because I had to take out trash right that minute, and when I finished, there she was, tossing my game in, box and all. I loved that useless game. Anyway. I was telling my visiting cousin that Dad had probably forgotten to get it for me again and he overheard me, while he was holding the darn thing. Well, at that time, the only toys I got were what my allowance bought, I'd saved up for a month for it, we were so far out into the sticks, I went months without coming anywhere close to a store, and yes, I was a brat. He basically heaved the box at me and refused my apology or to even speak to me at all for a week. While my cousin was there, they fawned over her and completely ignored me. That always hurt. It was their preferred method of punishment, next to their remarkably accurate pitch of an undeniable insult that brilliantly highlighted their disapproval of my most recent failing. Or a failing from ten years prior, those were also valid targets.

So I couldn't bring myself to touch the toy for at least two weeks, until I was sure Dad tolerated my presence in his life again. I made sure to play with it quietly, and to never leave any pieces of it out. Used the backs of papers I found in the trash when the included supply ran out. I liked how, in the commercial, the ‘designers' pinned their creations to a bulletin board, along with fabric swatches, and that was about the only evidence that I even had that toy, my bulletin board. Not having fabric swatches, I hung up a few Barbie outfits that sort of resembled the pictures. I'd also dimly thought this would cheer my mother, because at last I would be showing interest in clothes instead of dolls. So I tried very hard to turn out perfect rubbings and colorings to show her. This turned out to be a major miscalculation on my part, she was far beyond ‘not interested' in these efforts, which also kinda hurt, but I was used to it, so the fallout was miniscule.

About the last time I remember playing with it was one of our family trips to the beach. I'd have dozens of cousins to play with, but the drive up was eternal. Luckily, we had the camper shell on the truck that year, so I could play with it in the camper during the drive, where I could barely be seen, and never heard. This was maybe two years after a maternal cousin broke my favorite Barbie, so I learned to put my toys away when others were around, and I was most careful storing this one. Even though all the cousins I had on my paternal side were older than me, and could care less about stupid things like toys, I just couldn't take the risk ! I think it vanished with the rest of my stored toys when I joined the Army. I wish to this day I'd rented a storage unit and not depended....ah, heck. Not like it would have mattered...

So. Long story short (too late !), I had the original 1978 Tomy Fashion Plates, and despite a rocky start with them, loved them utterly. I found a partial set on eBay, when I was looking for Barbie things, and figured the plates could be used with the Little Mermaid Fashion Plates clone that was also part of the lot, so I bid and won cheap since no one else was interested. Turned out, the Mermaid set (by Rose Art) was just a bit smaller than the original Tomy (later Hasbro) sets, so they were incompatible. Oh, well. Later this year, I found several Tomy plates in a yard sale box, and darn near tore that sale apart looking for more plates and the frame. Didn't find ‘em, but they pretty much gave me the plates... When I'd bought the Mermaid lot, it was inching close to Christmas, so I watched as full sets slowly went up, from $15. for no-box, ‘mostly complete' sets to $50. for mint ones. Too pricey for me - I'd wait until after the holidays to search. And I did, off and on, but the prices never seemed to go down.

And now, what all this has to do with today's thrift store adventure. On the other side of the shelf, I spied the corner of a not-vintage but very familiar fashion plates-type frame. I grabbed the bag, and...wow ! There was a vintage Fashion Plates frame in there, along with fistfuls of plates and several other frames ! There's a Barbie one, and a very small one, and even what looked like pieces from More Fashion Plates, a set of additional pieces to be used with the '78 frame, that I'd only seen on eBay.

I could hardly wait to pay and head out to the car with my bag o' treasure. I'd had to contain myself to pay the $3.19, I was that excited. Wow. I could hardly wait to get home and see what I had. I must've bounced all the way home, happy for seeing S, and happy for having my old Fashion Plates back.

And...yes, I now have a complete set. I have the pencils, all the plates (even some doubles), and the frame, and the More set was complete, too. I also gained another Barbie set, and a Hasbro ‘travel' version of various dancers. These compliment the talking Barbie set I got at a yard sale this year, and an early Barbie set I found a couple years ago, plus the Little Mermaid one, and the one that started it all, a cheap knockoff set I found at a thrift store for a buck. Seeing them all arrayed on the bed, Beloved commented that I really should document the collection online, for others who also loved this toy. So I probably will.

I'm still researching why the original ones are by Tomy, and identical sets (with updated plates) from the late 80s on are from Hasbro. At first, I figured it was another buyout, but Tomy is still a viable company - Takara owns them, and still uses their name. I swear sometimes, the lack of documentation in the toy industry is just shocking !

I had an amazing day ! I hope yours was incredible, too !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:25 PM CDT

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Spent on sewing supplies : $4.50

After yesterday's wild spending spree, I really shoulda stayed home today. But I didn't ! Today's first yard sale yielded a set of DPrincess iron-ons that are just adorable. See, what'cha think ? You can stick ‘em on, and they'll wash off, but if you want permanent, just iron ‘em on. Not bad for a buck. I also found a set of psychiatry study flash cards (‘Describe how taste aversions develop') with the answers on the back, and a small booklet entitled Cheese Recipes for Wartime Meals * How To Make Your Cheese Go Further. Yes, this Kraft booklet was published in 1943, when food rationing was in full swing. It's fascinating - and of course, there's ads for Kraft foods like Parkay, Velveeta, rind-free American cheese, and the still-new Kraft Dinner (we know it as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese), and how they're easy on ration points and full of good nutrition in these challenging times. Amazing what you can find for a dime in someone else's garage.

The next two sales yielded nothing, save an idea on how to get rid of leftover building and renovation supplies that Home Despot won't take back. The fairgrounds flea market was in full swing, and I bought a grab-bag of thread, mostly for the included copper metallic spool,  a still-in-package Olfa Technic Knife (great for cutting points in fabric !), and a Magic Fit Styling Curve Ruler. The ruler, knife, and thread cost a whoppin' big $3. total. That ruler usually goes for $20.+ on its own, and is mostly used for adapting patterns.

They also had Olfa rotary blades, and I could use some, but I didn't want to take the chance on buying the wrong size - again ! - even for a just a dollar. Turned out I was right, those were the too-big ones that I already have a collection of, blast it.

Another sale on the way home netted a good ole-fashioned egg beater - the kind with the crank. I'd been kinda wanting one. I also scored three document protector binders. These are thin plastic binders with twelve document protector pockets bound in them, and a cover that's also a display pocket. Not sure how I'll use them  yet, but they're so cool, and at 25c each, I couldn't resist ! So I got the egg beater and the binders for a buck, and they tossed in a light switch plate, in white ! So I may go after decorating the other one in the Lab now...

A sale down the street from that one was odd - because it was at the same house I'd been to twice already this month. Local laws prohibit one person or one address from having more than two yard sales in a calendar year, so I have no idea how these folks have had three in September. I know that they could use three - all their stuff was nothin' special and rather expensive ! And the one two houses over from the three-peat was also disappointing, but funny to me - they had Game Boy cartridges. But $7. for Tetris was a bit much. When you only pay a buck for the whole set, it kind of colors how much yer willing to pay for accessories.

And that ended my shopping spree. Two hours and $5.20.  Celebrated by getting 14930 on Game Boy Tetris and doing a bit of housework. Polished off leftovers for lunch and got Dearest packed for his grandparents'. What a nice day today was !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:25 PM CDT

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Spent on fabric/sewing : $12.25

Kind of a busy day today, too. There was a rare Thursday yard sale down the street, and the Simplicity patterns went on sale when I had money. So I was off !

The sale advertised toys, but it was mostly boy stuff. Some girl clothes, but no dolls. I still managed to spend $4. there - and we're now the owners of a vintage Game Boy ! Yup, the grey Nintendo brick, first of its kind. It was funny, because I'd been idly thinking about it yesterday...

Back when I was all about animation, I also worked part-time for TRU. While I was never a gamer, there was something oddly compelling about the brand-new, anchored to the center of the universe display model we had. I kept watching it while it demo'ed some sort of fighting game, showing a girl in a cheongsam spinning around, over and over. It hit me after about a week - while I could care less for video games, the animation was both primitive and incredibly advanced. Every tiny pixel had to be exactly in the right place for the image to move so fluidly. Yet the motion was dictated by the player -so you were controlling the animation ! What a concept !  Part of me wanted one, just so I could study it. I still had zero interest in games, I just wanted to see how the characters moved.

Of course, this was the ‘stupid with money' portion of my life, during which I also bought a slightly-on-markdown Animator 2000, from Ohio Arts. I know I shelled nearly $100. for this and a couple memory cartridges. I honestly thought it would teach me how things move in animation, the one thing I never understood, no matter how much of the technical side I studied and did understand. I thought that, if I could program the oversize pixels and achieve motion, I would finally understand.

Suffice to say, I never ‘got it'. Sure, I could roughly animate about a second of a small cluster of dots moving around a bit, but not much beyond. For an incredibly sophisticated toy, it was a PITA to use. Now, bear in mind, I was in my early 20s when Animator 2000 (1988) and Game Boy (1989) came out. Really old enough to know that the toy may say ‘photocopier' on the box, but it's carbon paper underneath the plastic !  Not to mention be a bit wiser with my money !

Well, I guess it was mostly due to my failure with Animator, that I went from ‘one day, I will discover the secret, and I WILL animate my imagination !' to ‘I can always be a fan' before 1990 dawned. Anime premiered just on the horizon, too. By the time the year odometer rolled over to '00, most of my animation books had been either sold or donated. And I'd endured several parental lectures when the dusty Animator 2000 was found under my bed - I was in college at the time - for wasting money. Yeah, I did, but I still think it was necessary in some ways. I might still be obsessed with a secret that really doesn't exist if I hadn't had that colossal, expensive failure to remind me of a few things.

So, anyway. Never bought the Game Boy, but I did get a Sega Genesis, to play Disney games on, until it too got dusty and the darn rabbit ate the cords. Ended up trading SG in at Electronics Boutique for a Star Wars ‘desktop experience' that ate most of Windows 3.11 on my Packard Bell when I tried to install it. And nearly 20 years later, I find a Game Boy, quietly playing Tetris with itself in a yard sale box, with a neon ‘$1' sticker on it. At least I didn't have to ask if it still worked ! Further digging around got me ‘Tetris Attack !' still shrink-wrapped in its box and ‘Dr. Mario' in a plastic case. A buck each. So for $3., I got something a lot more fun than a $10. handheld poker game !

Did a bit of research, and there's a few hundred games for it, and because it's pretty much outmoded, they're cheap ! I may get the Barbie ‘Game Girl' one, just for kicks. Some of the Game Boy Color games can be used on my ‘new' toy, but not all. I'm hoping to find one of the pinball games some day. If you're curious, there's lots of good Game Boy info on Wikipedia - including a photo of a GB that nearly got burned to slag in the Gulf War...but it still works !

I also got the three Simplicity patterns I wanted while they were ‘on sale' for $1.99 at Hancock Fabrics. Yeah, I'm still mildly bitter that they're not on 99c sales anymore. My list was originally six patterns strong, but I stuck with the ones I wanted most - and two were just too low-necked for me to wear. I also got a pink and gray ‘skull and crossbones' print cotton remnant, and a half yard of ‘ballerina' print lavender flannel - I'm thinking of making Princess Dorrie some pajamas. Fact is, I just couldn't resist that lovely design. Also scarfed up all the $2. packs of 8 ‘Made With Love By' labels they had, while they were 80% off. Maybe around Thanksgiving or so, I'll have 48 more personalized clothing labels ! They still had more, but they were $3., and you know how cheap I am ! Should have ‘em in the mail on Monday.

Both GoodWill and Salvation Army were serious disappointments. GW looks as though they haven't received a donation in months, and SA has always been kinda cheap and expensive at the same time, ya know ? I hardly ever go over there, even though it's in the same strip as Hancock's.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:24 PM CDT

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I have a new lead on a dressed Jasmine LDP, but it'll have to wait until I can get a few more bucks into PayPal. By that time, I probably won't even do it. Seriously, after yesterday, I really have about given up. Tired of finding one, being willing to settle for the blue one - not the purple outfit mine was issued in  - and not having her shoes, much less the other props, then waiting five or six days for the blasted auction to end, and just as it gets close, someone else bids...and I realize that I was about to shell $15. for a fistful of nylon satin and shipping. I really should be grateful that these dolls are in such heavy demand that I haven't been able to overspend, but I'm getting tired of the constant searching. Not to mention always being just thiiiiis close to having the LDP obsession over with.

So, eff it. I'm tired. At this point, I've put thrice as much energy into taking the ‘cheap' way out than it would have taken me to make a prototype and a finished one with all the beads and trimming. I may take tomorrow to finally get off my shopaholic rear and just sew already. I mean, heck, I made a purse and three bag dispensers this week, and they all went fine. Why not take the chance ?

Plus, I found a website that catalogs every outfit Jasmine has ever worn, in movies, the TV series, various licensed paper products, dolls, you name it. So I think I'll have plenty of ideas to sew. Time to put the checkbook down and pick up the thread !

Got to hit Community Thrift today. I very nearly bought a Barbie-scale ‘Hannah Montana' beach club/ tiki bar prop thingie. After thinking about it for a minute, I put it back. I was mostly buying it because it was still on Mal-Wart shelves for $15., yet here was most of it for $2.50. Too bad I didn't really want it, honestly, it was even too tacky for my ‘backyard' diorama. I'm sure someone will enjoy it.

If you're curious, here's a link to it. If the director's chair had been included, I might have bought it anyway, I'm a sucker for those. Oh, and the ‘working lights' on the thing only work while the switch is being held down. How cheap is that ? Plus, it was so flyweight, I don't know how it stood upright on its own.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2864745&siteID=fDklYaGulKY-N6IMKWLQrB5UWajQ.nl7dA

Instead, I bought a beige Barbie china cabinet, with a white counter between hutch and cabinet, and a gingham floral sticker by the legs. Counter part slides right out, so it'll be easy to paint if I decide to. It has a cardboard back printed with images of plates and serving pieces. I love those. They pop right off, and I can leave it open-backed or make my own back, even by just reversing the original one. Dated 1996. Can't beat it for 79c.

Also found some beautiful nylon satin. Royal blue, a half a yard. For 50c, I just couldn't refuse. I already have it serged - like any cheap satin, it was fraying badly - and bundled. The thrift secures their single fabric remnants with tape, bigger lots go in recycled plastic bags. I'm sure it's cheap and easy, and gives a spot for the price, but the last thing I want on any of my material is tape residue.

Once home, I picked apart another little girl's party dress while waiting for the bus. I swear, half the ‘luxe fabric, cheap' bits I buy are used girls' dresses. By coincidence, it was also blue - Midnight blue stretch velvet, with a flower design in iridescent glitter on the front of the bodice. It also yielded some gorgeous wide blue ribbon and some ties for doll belts. There's maybe eight or so more garments in the box in Molly's trunk. Maybe I'll have it empty by month's end !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:24 PM CDT

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Another busy day. Last week, I made Dearest Son's teacher one of those elasticized tubes ya store Mal-Wart-type sacks in. The tube has elastic at the top and bottom - the top is bigger, to allow maximum stuffage, and smaller at the bottom, so ya only get one bag when ya pull. She liked it so much, she took it home ! So I made her another one. Dearest's resource manager was there Friday, and she said she'd been looking for one of those at craft fairs, but no one makes ‘em anymore.

Well, I do ! Since I had several other errands to run today, I knocked out three of ‘em - one for Dearest's teacher, two for his resources mgr. - and left ‘em at school with a note for them to decide who got which. They're both such nice ladies who do wonders for our son, it feels good to do them a bit of a favor in return. Hope they like them.

Picked apart a simple pink girl's dress while waiting for the bus. I mostly got it because it was a ‘stuff a bag' deal, and I liked the unusual ribbon flowers on the bodice. Instead of roses, these look more like chrysanthemums ! And the sheer pink ribbon on it was pretty, too. I also got some nothin' special fabric and a nice pink zipper. The box in Molly's trunk grows steadily emptier...

I've been outbid on an effort to buy LDP Jasmine's costume. Again, for about the tenth time. It was really annoying this time, because the auction was a relisting. I didn't bid the first time it was up because we didn't have the funds. The auction is now higher than it was the first time it was listed and ignored.

I know darn good and well I can sew harem pajamas myself, I just need to get off my lazy butt, yet, I really want to get her original outfit anyway. Every last LDP I have, even the ones bought used, have their issue clothes. All but Jasmine. So I know I'm being silly and probably wasting money I should spend on charity or something besides overpriced doll clothes, although, for some reason, it hasn't slowed me down at all. I search, I bid, I lose, mostly because I'm too cheap to pay ‘new doll' prices for a barefoot messed hair one with no props, when all I want is her costume. I need to give up already.

And in other stupidity news, I accidentally washed my cell phone Sunday. I make a point of checking all of Beloved and Dearest's pockets, but since I hardly ever use pockets for anything, rarely check mine, and it bit me in the butt. I'd heard that, if you let a cell phone dry completely before you attempt to use it, sometimes, it'll still work. Didn't this time. Well, it sort of works, it just won't hang on to the network, and will drop ya right in the middle of a call - assuming it let you completely dial the number before it lost connection in the first place.

So, while he was home for lunch today, we hit our service provider's store. Now, I'm a little less than six months from renewing my contract, so I knew we wouldn't get the best deal. But when I was quoted higher than ‘no contract' prices, I hissed at Beloved that I wasn't getting bleeped over like this, and we left. I'm not kidding - I found a $70. ‘no contract' phone. With a contract or renewal, it was a freebie. Salesman told me the phone was $95., plus a transfer fee. This phone was about the bare minimum, which was fine with me, but Dollar General has phones nearly the same for $20., in the prepaid section. It was the same with every phone I asked about - all of ‘em were at least $30. more than the price on them.

What made this really bitter was, we got home and looked up the provider online. They just rolled over my six months, and renewed my contract. I didn't get a free phone, but the $180. one I really liked - it's green ! - that the local store didn't have was only $110. with them. No transfer fee. And I could have green, not settle for ‘eggplant', ‘azalea', or ‘onyx'. I still feel bad about us having to spend so much for my stupid mistake, but  Beloved insists that I have a working cell, just in case. And that $70. "cheapie" was not good enough for me, he wanted me to have what I liked. Well, here's hoping it's an expensive lesson that won't have to be repeated !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:24 PM CDT

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Today was one heckuva day ! Once Dearest Son saw his ‘Hot Wheels' shirt back in his closet, that was all he wanted to wear. He noted the patch, and said it was ‘cool'. What a sweet guy I have !

Sweet big guy in my life, too. Beloved Hubby was home today, and we did a bit of shopping. We got Dearest a Cars sticker/coloring book, much like the DPrincess one. But his stickers were awesome ! He's gonna let me scan ‘em, so we can make more when those are gone. There's some that look like vintage ads, some that look like ads for soft ‘my first' toys, and some that are just plain awesome by design. Others are nothin' special, but Dearest loves ‘em all.

Sam's Club - we're members, it's worth it ! - is starting to put out some toys. Mostly Hannah Montana junk, nothing I wanted, but they had some lovely porcelain Tinkerbell dolls that caught my eye. I'm sure that the closer we get to December, the more stuff we'll see in the ‘seasonal' aisle.

We also hit Borders bookstore. They had zero, zilch, nada darn doll book in the whole store. No new magazines, either. They have an exclusive paper doll DPrincess calendar that was OK... I liked Belle's green underwear, but then I saw something really unusual. By the UPC code, a small printed legend warned of the calendar's exclusive nature, and that all other uses were strictly prohibited.

Um, what ? I'm to believe that if I shell waaaay too much for this overpriced stack of papers, I can't use it in any other way but a calendar ? I can't even use the paper dolls without it ? What if I want to use cuttings from it in my personal family scrapbook ? Or on a photo frame in my own house ? Are owners required to burn it in a solemn ceremony at midnight Dec. 31, 2009 ? If I don't, are Disney Stormtroopers gonna plow down the door, glittery bayonets at the ready, clearing the way for the might of the Borders Patrol ?

Shoot, now I wanna buy the thing and do all sorts of horrible, disgusting things with it, and then sell it on eBay, in pieces. I know, I'm probably taking things overboard the way I invariably do, but sheesh. Don't tell me how to use a *&^%  paper calendar, people. It just brings out my creatively evil and downright nasty side. If your legal dept. has nothing better to do, I suggest ya put ‘em to work stocking the shelves. You know, maybe with something besides Transformer and Hot Wheels books in the ‘collectables' section. Hmpft.

After a nutritious and tasty fast food lunch, we ran a few more errands and headed home for Dearest's approaching arrival. I fetched the cat-embroidered kids' jeans from Molly's trunk, and began cutting. I was planning the line of attack, to get the most useable fabric with the least waste, when it hit me. I really, truly, all-of-a-sudden, wanted to make a jeans purse. Out of these jeans. These little-girl size-8 black with tiny kitties in white and hot pink, bought for a quarter at a yard sale jeans.

That made the line-of-attack much easier. I cut off the legs about an inch past the intersection of inseam and front/back center seam. That left the pockets, front and back, intact. I hadn't much studied the ‘jeans into purse' designs I'd seen, but I remembered bits and pieces. I'd probably use the inseam of both legs as the shoulder strap, but the rest would still be available for doll clothes. Win-win, in my book !

The bus snuck up on me, so I was soon inside with Dearest, who loved his new sticker/coloring book. After getting him a snack - we'd bought tons at Sam's ! - I was online looking for directions. Hm. There were legions that all said the same thing, but I wanted to line mine. The reverse of black denim and embroidered cats just wasn't as pretty as it sounds. I know I'd seen lined ones before, but darn if I could find the directions.

But once I sat and thought about it, a lining would be darn simple. Hemmed at the top, and formed as a tube the same size as the jeans, I could just sew it along the inside of the waistband, while I was sewing in the shoulder strap, then sew the bottom together just before I sewed the denim's bottom seam. Not a huge undertaking.

Finding a good fabric for the lining though, was. I went through every box of fabric in the Lab, wanting something cute, but not overly pink. Something sort of cat related, but not necessarily. Something that'd look good with the jeans, but not anything I wanted to use up completely, or wanted to use on something else I had in mind... Something...

Well, shoot. All I could think about was this cat-themed bandanna I'd seen a few weeks ago at Hobby Lobby. I could go get two of ‘em Tuesday, it'd be less than $2. and a few minutes... Inconceivable ! With the metric length and weight of a ton of fabric in here, I was gonna hafta buy more for this cast-off project ? Uh, no. Surely somewhere in this massive mountain of material, I had something that would work...

Bonk ! I could have hit my own head. Didn't I buy a knit shirt with the same design as the jeans ? Cream, with black and pink cat silhouettes ? At the same yard sale, also for a quarter ? A quick trip to Molly's trunk again, and I had my lining. Sheesh.

But before I could sew, I had to cheap-serge the three weekend -new fabrics, so I could get ‘em washed. And before I could cut anything out, I had to clear the other fabrics from the cutting table, so I got them bundled up, finally. I've learned that, if something's tucked away for me to do later, it won't get done. At least, not until I need the space for something else. If it's something I can't do now but need to get done, I have to put it in my way - or it won't happen.

My little project purse went together fairly well, but the lining is far from straight. I really hate mixing a stable fabric like denim with a stretchy one like knit, because they just don't mesh well. Had a lot of problems with stretch when I didn't want it, even with stabilizer. And it's kinda small. But I rather like it, and hey, it used up most of a shirt and a pair of jeans from a yard sale ! Took about two and a half hours, but 20 minutes of that was spent turning the shoulder strap right side out.

And, hey, I went from idea to finished in about three hours. Perfect or not, that's something notable ! I even have the leftover pieces bundled up and stored. Now, if I can just hone in on a doll idea...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:24 PM CDT

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After a nice lunch and antibiotic - I'm being a good girl about those ugh things ! - I started to sort and play with all the stuff I fetched home Friday and Saturday. I sometimes wonder which is my favorite part of Yard Sale Weekends, buying a buncha goodies, or getting it all sorted out at home. I can never decide, I enjoy both when I'm doing ‘em, a lot !

I was surprised to learn that, once brushed out, the Happy Meal ‘Totally Hair' miniature doll had crimped hair, just like the full-size one. Wow. These were very tiny crimps, too, completely in scale. I wonder how they did that. The Ken's hair was neater, but in its own way, even more of a mess. Both sides are brushed back, but one side is brushed down, then back, the other is brushed up. So it always looks lopsided. You could try to brush them both up, or down, but they always reverted to the original set. I tried some small trim work, but I may end up using hair gel on it.

There's Pretty in Plaid, in today's image. Evidently, her hair's been in a high ponytail for quite some time. That yellow thing on her hip is the hair elastic I took off her. If I was trying, I couldn't get her hair to do that. I'll probably give her a boil perm treatment tomorrow. Sorry for the loose hairs all over the photo, I have the fan going in the Lab. She's a lovely doll - to me, she's PiP Midge ! I may call her Pidge, if I can figure out how she got that as a nickname. Can always say she was a huge Lady and the Tramp fan as a kid.

From there, I really went to town. Cleaned up the silver box - turns out, it's a make-up case, with those pop-up shelves on each side ! - and it's now holding ‘shoe feet' from the beach dolls, My Scene girls, and my Catwalk Kitties doll. It also has all the skates and helmets, and some of the larger boots my other boxes didn't have space for. Rounding up all the MS skates meant I had to get all the loose bits and prop pieces together in one place, so I got a few dozen earrings, bracelets, jewelry findings, ‘soda' cans, and ‘grocery' items put away, too. Some of that stuff's been sitting around since last winter !

I also got all the new trims and ribbons together, and later, I'll get ‘em bagged up and stored. The new-to-me patterns are put away, except for the Holly Hobby one. I still wanna scan that one first.

The silver case had a long black shoulder strap that it won't need where it is - on top of two more doll shoe boxes ! - so I detached it. When I'm done making three more ‘bag of bags' for some teachers at Dearest's school, I'm gonna make the tripod carrying case, and sew on D-rings, make the black strap detachable. I may even line it with some leftover fleece, for kicks.

The bag of Barbie clothes I got yesterday was a treasure trove ! I got a Ken shirt, blue gingham with an attached beige vest, and a pair of ‘acid-washed' jeans with a really huge horseshoe buckle. Got a ‘Eating Fun' Kelly doll in there, still in her issue outfit, along with a Matching Styles Fashion Avenue - the white blouse-green skirt-pink jacket one.

All the rest were for Barbie - I got the fluffy pink dress that transforms into a gym bag - it's a weird little piece ! Also the ‘Happenin' Hair's outfit, ‘Pearl Beach's bikini, the pink ‘Hip to Be Square' minidress, a knockoff burgundy Christmas gown, another blue lab coat/ hospital gown, green floral Capri pants, a matching skirt and jacket from the ‘Made In China' toy company, a pretty white ‘leatherette' jacket and pants set that, unfortunately, is already flaking apart, a glittery pair of tights, a lacy set of hosiery, a pair of long pink gloves, a wedding gown that looks like a Dollar Tree special, but is actually from Mattel, a lovely black with pink hearts blouse, star spangled blue shorts, a green and red halter top, a camouflage skirt, a blue corduroy jumper with a red vinyl belt, a Fashion Avenue leopard-print blouse, a weird pair of purple shorts, a Sailor Jupiter costume, ‘Rose Princess's skirt, and several other no-tag blouses and skirts, with a double handful of purses and tote bags. I've pulled about ten pieces - plus most of the purses - to donate, once they've been washed.

Oh ! Just looked up the leopard print blouse - it goes with the flaking white pants and jacket set. What a shame. It's really well-made, and stylish, but if you ever saw a ‘Barbie and the Sensations' letter jacket's sleeves, you know what'll happen eventually. Wish there was a way to save it. Guess I'll take a picture of it instead. 

And I got another pretty blue cardigan, identical to the one I got last month ! This one even had the slightly-too-long cuffs still rolled up !  I'd love to know where that came from. There's no tag at all. I've looked all around, can't find it, not under Barbie or Skipper or even the Olsen Twins, but that's twice now it's shown up in a bag of Barbie stuff.

Come to think of it, that blue lab coat/ hospital gown was in last month's and this weekend's lots, too. I wonder if that's connected. I now have two of each, but not one idea of where either came from.

I then tackled the laundry basket I'd put all the ‘needs more attention' stuff from last week's laundry lollapalooza. Got the newly-washed fabric rolled up, got the clean doll clothes placed, and got down to the repair work. Dearest Son has three t-shirts that are too good to toss, but have developed tiny holes. A fourth, with a Spiderman design on the front, he'd evidently spent most of one summer day picking off. Too small for him to wear, too wrecked to donate - rag time ! By the time I, the scissors, and the seam ripper were done with it, I had six new rags, two doll-size Spiderman patches (tags from the collar and a side seam), one reusable Dearest-size Spidey patch from the sleeve, some neck ribbing, and two strips of belt-like blue trim with a white stripe down the middle.

Then it was time for repair work. I like to edge those tiny knit holes with some Fray-Check first, so they don't expand under the patch. And, doing so used up the last of my second bottle of the stuff. Now I have a fresh new one to break in ! While those dried, I went through my patch stash. The car decal shirt had a small ‘Hot Wheels' tag at the hem - easily removed, the tag is now a patch. The grey sports-themed shirt got a "Varsity Division" patch, complete with gold stars, from a pair of jeans he wrecked years ago. The patriotic flag shirt got a red and white iron-on star that I picked up on markdown from Hobby Lobby a while back. Since Dearest has a tendency to pick at his clothes, even when it irons on, I sew it. More than once he's come home with an iron on peeled off ! To add in the ‘don't fray' hopes, and keep it from moving, I fuse the patch down before I sew it. Several things I've patched have ended up being good enough to donate when Dearest outgrew it.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:23 PM CDT

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Spent on fabric/crafts : $3.50

Spent on dolls : $5.20

Oh, this is so funny. I found a yard sale ad last week, promising a ‘two story Barbie house' for sale. Intriguing ! I wondered which one. Unfortunately, the ad on Craigslist had one date on it (last Saturday), and the online ad in the local fish-wrap had another (this Saturday). Figured out it was this weekend, and made a point to be up and dressed and there at the start time.

Yup, sale was on. And there was the house. Um...Hmpft. It was the Victorian one, but the trim and one of the support columns was damaged, there was serious sun-fading to the front, and most of it was bright pink. Even the really juvenile sticker sets were peeling and worn. Not really what I wanted, but since I'd made the effort, I asked. $20., I was told. Well, I had $15. on me, so I shrugged. She asked what I'd be willing to pay, and I offered what I had, and she didn't say anything, just wandered away. So I wandered back to the grey truck. Oh, well. Can't get a $130. castle for $5. every week !

The sale down the street was more my speed ! Spent $12., and got a ton of goodies. The kittens now have a plush cat retreat, Dearest Son has a Thomas case and a small TIE fighter waiting for him, and I got a cool silver case (gonna use it for big Barbie shoes, like skates and tall boots), a nice rooted-hair Ken, a lovely Pretty in Plaid redhead Barbie, a gallon bag of Barbie clothes, a doll-size notebook, and a Happy Meal Totally Hair Barbie miniature - I use those as Christmas tree decorations. I also scored a cute ‘Fashion Mall' - inside a Barbie-size case are four small ‘stores' - a pet shop, a candy store, a jewelry boutique, and a Café. There's drawers and shelves to fill, even a cash register, a hanging rack, a fold-down table, a mirror, and an ATM and Mall Directory. I could easily cover over or remove the stickers and make my own single ‘store', and I might just do that. For now, though, it'll be cute to use as-is.

And as the morning continued, I was repeatedly very glad about not buying the dollhouse. I got stamp pads that I can probably sell on eBay for 20 times what I paid for ‘em - they're very nice, and apparently never used. Gleefully, I set upon a box of patterns and selected three brand-new but years-old ones! Simplicity 7018, dated 1975, makes hobo bags and belts. One of my most favorite purses ever was a denim paint-splashed hobo bag, and I always wanted to make one. Sure, ya don't really need a pattern for that style, a cut-up paper grocery sack would do, but I just couldn't refuse a vintage version for 25c !

The other two are Simplicity Crafts, from 1995. 9817 is an ‘At Home With Mary Engelbreit' pattern. It makes all sorts of things, from aprons to chair cushions, curtains to canister covers, but I got it for the ironing board cover. The $8. one I got from Mal-Wart has a lump in the foam layer that just won't flatten out. And I hated to shell $15. for their next grade up one to replace it. Maybe now, I won't have to, and if I make it, I'll get to choose the fabric ! 9825 is mostly cozies - paper towel holders that look like birdhouses, a drawstring tea cozy, watering can and plant pot covers. Snagged it for the sofa and chair tissue box covers that'll probably work as Barbie furniture.

There's a more recent ‘kleenex box sofa' pattern out there, probably by Simplicity, but I figured, if you just made a rectangle to cover the tissue box, then a closed-ended tube to bend around the back, you wouldn't need a pattern to make Barbie a sofa, or a matching chair. You'd just sew tube to rectangle, shaping as ya go. Although, for the chair, I'd cut the height of those cube-type tissue boxes down some, so the sofa and chair are at the same height, but that's just me. Again, I felt powerless to resist the ‘work's already done' version for a quarter.

I also got a yard of cream felt - I have plans for Dearest's class Halloween party for it, and spending 25c instead of $3. makes me happy - as I need three, maybe four more colors. On impulse, I picked up what looked like a drawing surface, with a roll of paper attached. But it wasn't paper - it was Avery sticker paper ! Yaay, instant stickers ! Dearest and I will have fun with that ! I also picked up a set of four blank-inside cards for a dime. I can always use those. I've found that I really enjoy writing notes to people when I have nice stationery.

Hit a couple more on the way home, but I was down to my last dollar, and after three hours, was getting tired, a bit sticky, and thirsty. I must've hit ten sales in that time. And you know me, I'm not a drive-by. If I've made the effort to follow the signs, I get out of the car. Even if it is just to look at the neighbor's Karmann Ghia collection.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CDT

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:23 PM CDT

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