In Gallops Two More Horses!

The second set of horses was a nice surprise.  I wandered, by habit, into the toy department of Wal-Mart looking for anything new to get my girls.  They’d been very spoiled in 2016 as I bought them many new pieces of furniture and accessories.  So many, in fact, that I haven’t had a chance to record them all in their database!

It was awesome to find different colored horses.  When I spied the dark brown and medium brown horses, I snatched them up quick like a bunny!

I simply love them!  Now to give them magical names!  The first horses are Nightwind and Stardust, male and female respectively.  And the new members I decided to name…

Stormrider – dark brown Male (Bay Horse) 

Windsong – medium brown Female (Chestnut Horse)

Their accessories are red and purple.  They are not identical in their markings either.  Stormrider has the white rounded triangle on his forehead and a white nose whereas Windsong has the long strip of white down her forehead and a brown nose.

How exciting to now have 4 horses in the Silvervale Sister’s family.  (Still hoping to find the black one)

They are really big but I’m getting used to that as I slowly add more accessories to my collection.  2 more horses means more horse stuff.  But I will not stop – not yet.  I love everything about these wonderful dolls and my girls are my family.  And there is always room for family! (grin)

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Our Generation Accessories - Jeep

I bought the Our Generation jeep when I started collecting my girls and had only the foresight of collecting four dolls.  Target was still in town and they carried a wide variety of stuff I really wanted.

I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that my doll could barely see over the steering wheel.  My girls are 17” tall but have a much smaller body, hands and feet than Our Generation Girl dolls.

This jeep is dark pink and silver-grey with a tan colored seat.  I’m not big on the dark pink – I’m “Pinked” out because of 47 years of Barbie and I intend to paint it at a later date.  I will do some detailing both inside and out to give it a little more realism, detailing knobs, handles etc.

Both doors are hinged and open up fairly wide.  The mirrors are also hinged which means that when I store the jeep I don’t have to worry about bending or breaking them off.  One can simply turn those inward.  The motion of the jeep is great with the wheels rolling smoothly.

I will need to make a cover for the seats to boost my girls up.  In the before pictures you can see Wiccah is sitting too low and she can barely see out the windshield.

In the next pictures she is sitting on a 3” roll of packing tape to boost her to about the proper height.

Making seat covers which are stuffed with thick foam will solve the problem of the seat height.

This next picture is one I found on the internet (not sure where I found it) and it shows the AG doll’s head is actually a little between the roll bars of the jeep.  That’s a bit too high (however maybe it’s just the camera angle...?)

The rest of the jeep’s scale is great.  Now the girls can go on a road trip, pull a trailer, carriage or horse trailer.  But those are future ideas to come… (grin)

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul. 

Storing the Girls Safely Too

The boxes for girls have worked out very well – when there were only four girls.  Now that there are eleven we have a storage and safety issue for the other seven.

Again I find myself shining in the bright light of a lucky star.

The day before we were to travel to Phoenix, we stopped by Michaels craft store.  My “Spidey” sense was tingling. (grin)  While I hobbled around the store looking for things of interest I walked past an aisle that had pink doll storage cases displayed.  I recognized them as the Michaels brand 18” doll cases I’d seen retailing at $49.99 a few weeks earlier.  What was different about them now was that they had a sign that said 60% off.  Now I stopped to have a look!  I picked out four of them and at the cash register got an additional 15% off.  Whoo! Hoo!

These are fabric cases which zip all the way around with a circular center window.  I like that they have handles both on the side and top to carry around.  The cases came with inside cardboard wall supports, which I have kept, and a back belt.  Since my girls are half the girth of 18” dolls, I knew two dolls could fit in one case.

To top it off, on our way back to the city after returning from Phoenix, I had a penchant to return to Michaels to see if they had sold out of the cases.  My return trip to Michaels was fruitful again and I left with another four cases at the same bargain price.

At home I had my first chance to see just how my dolls fit inside them.  They are perfect.  Two girls fit in one and both can be seen from the case’s circular window.  They fit wonderfully standing in their doll stands and can even be strapped in if needed.

With eight cases I can store sixteen Teen Trends dolls.  I plan to only have the thirteen but one never knows what I will find in the future.  I also have some really great dolls including two 18 inch Barbie’s, a Lorifina doll, two pretty Heart 4 Heart’s, and a BFC that looks like the one Heart 4 Heart’s older sister!  I also found an Our Generation doll in Goodwill when I found Teirra.  I’ve no shortage of dolls to keep safe! (grin)

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Two Horses Join the Family!

I had a heck of a time finding the horses when I decided they were a “must have”.  By the time I got them, I had gone to 9 different Wal-Mart’s.  Here’s the clincher though…I didn’t find them at all.

My daughter-in-law knew of my troubles and I said if she ever saw them, grab them!  A couple days later I get a text asking “this one or that one”.  Huh?  The pictures sent were of the furry tan horses - ones with a blue horse tack and the other pink tack.  Both of course! (grin)

My wonderful daughter-in-law picked them up in a tiny town about an hour and a half away.  Bless that Wal-Mart!   The horses retailed at $34.97.  I like that they have a few points of articulation. I also like that their ears move forward, back or side.

Initially I thought these horses were identical but with different colored bridle and saddles.  Not true at all.  I had never seen the two together so I didn’t notice the difference.  The pink one has a rounded triangle on her forehead and a grey nose and the blue one has a long strip of white from the ears to the nose with a white nose.  Even without their saddles I can identify them. 

Since the horses are going to be a part of the Magic and Mayhem series with the girls, I named them with the magical theme in mind.

The female’s name is Stardust.

The male’s name is Nightwind.

As you can see in the next photos, their size works beautifully for my girls.  This is Wiccah with Nightwind.  Though her feet cannot fit in the stirrups at the moment (I may have to modify them) she looks great riding or standing beside the horse.

I’m quite happy to have the horses to add to my collection.  I’m getting used to their size and planning everything they will need.  Their future includes blinged out tack, a horse trailer, a stable, and maybe even a little fantasy unicorn horn.  Who knows what I’m going to come up with but I sure am going to be busy!

On a side note: The Our Generation horses look more realistic but the ones I saw were not articulate and made of hard plastic.  The Wal-Mart horses will meet my needs for the girls.  To me this is more important.  They still look like horses and I know that when they are set in their scenes, they will work out perfectly.

As always, let kindness and positive energy

 fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Welcoming Cassiopeia - The Planets

I found the eleventh member of the Silvervale Sister’s family at Value Village in November 2016.

It was Kiana and she was priced at $14.99.  To be honest, I was not willing to pay that.  I was very disappointed to discover that whoever owned her had tried to separate her fingers and snapped off the pinky finger on her right hand.  Her hair was trashed; she had pencil marks on her face and body and she was very dirty.  

I was happy to find her but the damage to her made me really sad.  I realize that these are all pre-owned dolls but it always makes me sad to see how they were treated.

Prior to talking to the manager I wandered around the store looking at her and wondering if I should get her at all.  Value Village is known for being way overpriced for second hand goods.  The more I looked at her the more I really did want to take her - even in her condition.  

I spoke with the manager and said, “Come on, look at her.  She needs a lot of restoration.”  The manager caved in and I got her for $4.99.

 

She was wearing jeans, a pink t-shirt (which was snagged due to the price tag they shot through it at the store) and star shaped earring studs.  Her hair was unevenly cut all over making a mess of it.  She will be re-rooted or wigged for sure as I don’t think I can do anything with that hair.

Now to decide her name and what part of the Chapter of Universe she would represent.  I decided she would represent the planets and her given name is Cassiopeia.  She is the 3^rd addition to the Chapter of Universe.  I am not sure about her representation dress because there are so many colors I can choose from for planets.  It may come down to choosing the color that is not already taken by the other Chapters.  This makes her quite versatile, which is a good thing. (grin)

I am very close to having all the girls come together.  Two more to go and the family is complete.

We’re so close….so very close…

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Elianne - The Sun

After finding Danica at the Goodwill Store, I headed over to the Value Village a few blocks away.  As I mentioned before, I hardly ever go into Value Village since they rarely have anything I am looking for and their prices are always twice the amount than those at Goodwill.  This day I decided I would check it out as I really felt I should make the effort.

When I entered the toy section the standard stuff I usually see lined the aisles.  I did a scan of the bags of toys but didn’t see anything of interest.  When I turned down the doll aisle I saw a familiar foot sticking out from the bottom of a pile of dolls.  I knew that foot without a shadow of a doubt.

Now, whose features would be attached to that foot?  When I pulled her out of the pile my heart skipped a beat!  And who would it be?  Teen Trends Courtney doll. She was priced at $4.99.  And of all things, she was dressed in the exact same clothes as the Deondra doll I found at Goodwill only a half hour earlier.

This doll is the one doll I never seemed to find here.  Amber, who is the same doll, came from Rhode Island in the US.  She travelled a long way to join our family. Even when I travelled to Phoenix, Arizona, I still never found another doll like her.

As I stared into this beautiful doll’s eyes, I was a little concerned that the grey marks all over her face would not come off.  I tried to rub off a small spot and determined that it must be pencil marks and it did in fact come off fairly easy. I was so relieved.

As I examined her a little further I also noticed she had a slight scratch on the right side of her cheek straight down from the corner of her lip to the top of her chin.  The plastic that had scratched off was still attached - until I touched it. It is only a slight scratch and the more I examined it the more I thought that it would not be noticeable.  The last thing I saw at that time was that 3 of her fingertips were slightly chewed or rubbed.  I was sure I could smooth out the fingertips and make her fingers look normal.  Thankfully there wasn’t much damage to her fingertips and I felt confident no one would really notice.

When I left the store I was quite happy to have found her and add her to our growing family.  To think that on the way over I was wondering if I would ever find another doll like her only to stumble upon her moments later was a huge stroke of luck...or was it meant to be?  All I can say is Whoo! Hoo!

When I got home I gave her a bath and washed her hair. She had quite matty hair but it didn’t look like it was cut any shorter than the original length.  I managed to get all the pencil marks off her face and any other marks from her body.  Her hair was in poor condition, many bald spots and re-rooting her hair will be the best for her since I don’t think I can improve the hair she has.  She came dressed in tan pants, a white t-shirt, jean jacket, no shoes, but a silver flower necklace and 2 round earrings.

With respect to her joints, I was very happy to see that her legs and arms were in great shape, the joints tight with no floppiness.  What a relief.

When I looked at her and chose her representation, I decided that she would represent The Sun and I named her Elianne.  Her name means Daughter of the Sun.  I will re-root her hair a golden sunshine blonde.  Currently I don’t have any hair the color I want so until I go to the hair shop, she will remain with her current hair.  Re-rooting a doll takes a fair bit of time and I am still deciding if I want to re-root the doll by sewing in the hair on the head or make wigs instead.  With the bad quality of Elianne’s hair, she may be the first one to be re-rooted/wigged and made-over.

I am so happy to have found her.  Elianne gives me hope that I will find more of this type of doll to add to our growing family.  We now are a family of 10 girls.  Three more to go and we are complete.  How great is that?

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Danica - The Stars

My neighborhood Goodwill thrift store has been kind to me once again.  One Saturday I headed to Goodwill driven by a feeling that I should check it out before I started my weekend chores.  

As my “doll collector spidey sense” spurned me out of bed, I was glad I got there early because there on the toy shelf, lay a treasure that made my grinning face hurt!  She was Mattel’s Teen Trends Deondra.  She was only $3.00 and I couldn’t believe my luck!

She was dressed in tan pants, white t-shirt, jean jacket and no shoes.  She had one round earring in her ear but that was all.  Her hair was terribly matted and a couple hair bands were tangled in the mass.   Her joints were passable, from what I could tell at first, but I would know more when I really checked her out. 

When I got her home I stripped her down, gave her a good bath and washed her hair.  I didn’t realize her hair had been cut to about half the original length until then.  In the end it really didn’t matter much since her hair would be re-rooted when she had her makeover.  Still I trimmed it to make it even.

Goodwill tends to mark their dolls and she had a “V” marked at the bottom of her foot in a black Sharpie.  This always disappoints me as it devalues the doll, in my opinion.  They do not take into account it may be bought by a collector.  Other than that there were no other marks on her that would mar her beauty.  

With respect to her joints, once she was bathed I checked her arms and leg joints and found that she does suffer from loose legs, as well as loose arm elastic.  It is unusual for me to find a doll with floppy arm joints.  I was a little sad to see that.  Regardless of these issues, I was so happy to have found this doll.

The next step after her bath was to decide on her representation.  From that her name would be chosen.

The next chapter in the series for the girls is the Chapter of Universe.  This Chapter is comprised of The Moon, The Sun, The Stars and The Planets.  This chapter is the final chapter (at this time).

As I looked into her eyes, I began to see where she would make the best fit.  She would represent The Stars.  I named her Danica, meaning Morning Star.

Each of the girls will have a dress which depicts her representation when all the girls have come together to complete the family.  When I did a little research on what colors are associated with the stars, I chose flame red as the images of the stars I looked at close up were stunning and to my surprise, all reds and oranges.

I am very excited to begin this next chapter.  Though there is a lot of work ahead of me to make their fashions, accessories and everything the girls need to thrive in their doll family, I am looking forward to the fun I’m going to have as I bring them to “life”.

I am happy that you have joined in my fun.

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!