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!

Next Post's Features

I have been crazy busy and have had no time to do much with my dolls.  It’s because I just started my own small business and that has kept me really busy.  I also work at a regular job during the day (until my business takes off and I can retire from it) so my business clients in the evening means that there is just not much time for play.

I do consider my dolls “play” in a sense.  Not play as in what I do with my grandchildren when they come over, but play in the way a collector plays with their collection.  What is that?  Well, setting up diorama’s, writing scripts for the Magic and Mayhem series, altering items that may need more detailing, making clothes, shoes, jewellery, furniture, other household accessories, etc.

Even though I’m very busy with work and my business, I am still collecting stuff for my girls and still writing scripts on my breaks.  Whenever I’m out shopping I always stop by the toy aisles to see if there are any new accessories to be had.

Needless to say I’ve done very well.

Also, during my trips to Phoenix in 2015, 2016, and recently 2017, I’ve amassed a great amount of doll stuff that is absolutely awesome!

Because I have been so busy (and that’s not to mention the renovations that will start spring of 2017 in my house) I’ve had no time to build on my girls homestead or other locations I plan to create for the them.  With that all being said, next on this blog I plan to feature some of the great furniture and accessories I’ve found that will eventually end up in the house, the yard, shops, diner, play areas and so on. 

The coming posts will host a variety of things I found in the Our Generation line at Target, the My Life as a… from Wal-Mart, and other things I’ve found from various sources. 

I’m excited to share these as they are the cutest ever and even though some of the sets have pieces that may be a little too big for my girls, that doesn’t take away from how super cute they are!

So sit back and enjoy the wonderful world of doll accessories.  My hat is off to all the creative minds involved with thinking up the next set to put into production.  I love it and I’m one very happy collector!

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

Floppy Leg Syndrome

First I would like to say that I absolutely love these dolls.  I think they are gorgeous and I have no complaints except one…their elastic joints. 

Actually it’s not that I’m wholeheartedly complaining, the elastic joints make them articulate, which I like, however, it’s simply that I realized the beauty of these dolls after the fact and none of my dolls are new.  A used doll most always has some issue to contend with. 

Floppy Leg Syndrome (FLS) is a term I coined for the affliction that plagues Teen Trends dolls.

Not one of my dolls are brand new.  Every one of my girls has been played with, some gently, some enthusiastically.  With the elastic joints there is no surprise that the elastic will stretch the more the doll is played with.  I am a little surprised that the arms of my dolls have been spared the suffering.  There is always a fear that this affliction could spread and the doll may have Floppy Arm Syndrome as well.

Of my girls, Summer, Amber and Rowan suffer from FLS.  The more I use Rowan as my model, continuously fitting on the outfits as I make them, the worse her FLS becomes.  I knew that Summer and Amber would require surgery to fix their legs as soon as I examined their bodies.  When I got Rowan I didn’t think that surgery would be needed.  Now I know that she will need to be fixed along with the other girls.

All but Wiccah and Tierra have the elastic stretched in their legs to the point that they are floppy to some degree.  Floppy legs equates to trouble sitting without falling over; and standing alone is sometimes difficult to set up correctly.  One of the things I like about the dolls is they are able to stand without a doll stand.  Their feet are perfectly formed and as long as their joints are tight, their balance is very good.

I have spent many evenings examining their legs; trying to determine the best way to fix this problem.  I searched the internet for instructions on restringing them but there are no sites that deal with restringing Teen Trend dolls.  I even wrote to Mattel and actually got an answer.  Not one that helped me out, but at least they took the time to write me back.

The problem with restringing them is that the end of the elastic is sealed in the lower half of the leg from the knee down.  I took a photo of what the problem seems to be.  

It appears that the end of the elastic has a stopper (larger than the hole) and was glued (?) in the hole.  I cannot get it out.  On a couple of the dolls the glue has let go in one or both legs and the stopper is able to be moved about.  Still, because of the stopper the elastic is attached to, I cannot remove it.  To make matters worse, the elastic has gone hard.  At some point it may break.

Because I am not “playing” with the dolls in the conventional sense, the elastic may last a very long time and not break.  That still does not solve the fact that the remaining elastic is stretched and the legs are floppy.

I have asked my sister and my mom (who make porcelain dolls and no stranger to ball jointed dolls) what their thoughts were on fixing the floppy leg problem.  They are stumped as well.  The biggest hurdle seems to be that the elastic is sealed in the legs.

At this time my girls are living with the affliction of Floppy Leg Syndrome and I am always thinking about how to fix this issue.  If anyone reading this has any experience in restringing these dolls, I would sure like to know what you did.  I know I will figure out a solution but at this time, I am stumped.  One day soon….

As always, let kindness and positive energy

fill your mind, body and soul.

Blessed Be, My Friends!

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!