And Here We Grow Again!

At least once a week, I get a feeling that I should head over to my favorite Goodwill store to see what treasures they have for me.  The main things I look for are quite standard - Teen Trends Dolls and anything I can use for them, Barbie’s I don’t have and anything I can use for my Barbie village, the plastic stacking shelves I use for organizing my craft supplies and various other items, and books from my favorite authors.  I rarely veer from these categories.  Ninety-nine percent of the time I find all of these things on a regular basis except one.  Teen Trends dolls.

On Saturday, 06 February when I woke up, I listed in my head the household chores I had to do before I even got out of bed.  I had great plans, but the one thing I felt strongly about before I started my chores was to head over to Goodwill.

It was early enough that I knew I would be one of the first customers to check out the newest items on the shelves.  I headed straight for the toy aisle and as I rounded the corner I spotted a stacking bin and a 3 drawer shelf.  Good find, I thought.  When I turned my head to the left to look at the toy shelf, there lay a treasure that had my heart just a pumping!  She was Mattel’s Teen Trends Deondra.  My heart skipped a beat as I realized I found another one of my girls!

As I looked her over she was dressed in an original outfit, no shoes, and as far as I could tell her joints were in passable condition.  Her hair was terribly matted but that didn’t matter as I already knew I would re-root her hair when I decided what representation she would be in the doll family. She was $3.00.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  As I walked around the store I went back a couple times just to confirm there were no other dolls to be had and when I finally paid for the items and left the store, I was totally elated.

Since thirteen dolls are needed, I mentally assessed which dolls I still had to find as I drove out of the parking lot.  I figured that if I collected 4 of each that gave me 12 dolls and I could give them the makeovers to match their different representations.  Currently I had (including this new one) 3 Kianna’s, 2 Gabby’s, 3 Deondra’s and 1 Courtney.  If I wanted 4 of each doll type, I still had 4 dolls to find to complete 4 sets.  The 13th doll could be any one of the doll types.

As I pulled onto the street I thought of the Value Village thrift store that was only a few blocks from the Goodwill.  Often I think about going there but they rarely end up having what I’m looking for so I pass by and don’t bother to go in.  Today I decided I would go and check it out. As I was driving I noted I really needed to find the Courtney doll as she seems to be the hardest to find.  I still needed 3 of her and wondered if I would ever find one more, let alone three.

When I got to the Value Village store I systematically checked the aisles and did find one of the stacking bins I needed so that was good.  Usually this store is overpriced.  I have passed up a few things because I didn’t think they were worth the money they asked for.  This new bin was the same as one I just bought at the Goodwill store, but twice the cost.  Still I bought it as I did need it.

As I headed over to the toy section nothing caught my eye until I walked down the doll aisle. There I saw a foot sticking out of a pile of dolls and I knew instantly that that was a Teen Trends doll foot.  I swear you could have gotten sucked into the vortex I created when I grabbed the doll out from under the pile.  And shock of all shocks, there staring back at me was - yes you guessed it - a Teen Trends Courtney doll.  I couldn’t believe I was holding her in my hands.

Here it was, the entire drive over to this store I was thinking of this doll and now she was in my hand for the price of $4.99.  The crazy thing about it was she was dressed in the same outfit as Deondra I found less than a half hour earlier.

This doll was not in the same condition though and I had a little pang of a collectors fear that I wouldn’t be able to bring her back to her original beauty.  Someone had drawn all over her face with what I thought was pencil, which I did test to see if I could remove and the little bit I tested managed to come off her face.  There was also a very light scratch on her face where the plastic had come away.  The last thing I noted was 3 of her fingertips was slightly chewed (?).

Upon inspection I believed I could carefully sand the tips of the fingers with a very fine sandpaper to smooth and shape them.  Her joints seemed passable.  The truth will come out once I take off her clothes to see what other possible wear and tear there is.

Still I was elated as I had done the impossible, I had found 2 of the dolls I was really hoping to find and both in one day, a half hour apart.  Unbelievable! (grinning from ear to ear lol)

The next steps for these two girls is to give them a good bath, check them over for damage and other troubles, decide on which representation they matched best and then give them a name. Then I take their current photo and begin their profiles.  They will be introduced to the other girls, assigned a carry case and notes made for their makeover to give them their own identity and unique look.  

Since they are the first two girls in the Chapter of the Universe, this is very exciting for me.  The Chapter of the seasons began with Wiccah, Rowan, Summer and Amber.  The Chapter of the Elements began with Kindell, Raven, Genevieve, and Teirra.  Now that the Chapter of the Universe has begun, we are on our way to the completion of the Silvervale sisters as a family of little teen witches.

Where I started with one, I now have 10 little girls to enjoy.  I will continue to collect these amazing dolls until the first set of 13 are complete.  If I am lucky enough to find more of these dolls, I will continue to create new chapters representing more fundamentals of my beliefs.  

I am excited to continue the journey through collecting my girls and creating a world in which these dolls can come alive.

Thank you for coming along for the ride.  But hang on tight, there is no slowing us down now!

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!