The toy aisle there is pretty much 2 rows of toys, and then the stuffed animals have been moved to an idiotic corner where you can't actually find much. Which is better because I am OUT of Build a Bear room! They keep the barbies in one or 2 big plastic totes on the bottom shelf. The last few stops in there have been a bust, but the sight of them overflowing with dolls was promising! Most of the dolls you will find are the recent dolls from the last few years, a great deal of Disney princesses and some knock off sort of dolls. Yesterday, however, I unearthed some goodies. :D First I found the 1997 brunette Christmas barbie. She had her crown and jewelry and seemed to be in pretty good shape, even though she had some spots on her face that I was doubtful as to whether or not they would come off. I've always preferred the blonde version, but seeing her then, I had to have her.
Next, I spied the Tropical Splash Barbie from 1994. Her earrings were broken off and her hair was messy but other than that, she was in good shape! Next I unearthed a Pearl Beach Barbie with a broken neck. Her head was shoved down low on the neck, which is always quite a sight to see. I knew I could switch the bodies if I could find a suitable replacement. I have a serious weakness for the 80s/90s (especially the 90s) beach barbies, so when I find them, I have to grab them. Her hair was a fright - ratty and tangled, but her face was clean and she still had her earrings. I set her on my growing pile of To-Get dolls and went back to searching through the containers. Lo and behold, there was a second Tropical Splash barbie! Perfect match. Finally, I found a Scarlett O'Hara doll in the burgundy dress. My final find for the day was an unexpected non Barbie find - an early release brunette Bitty Baby, for a whopping $1.79! Yay!
The rest of the trip went as expected. Busy aisles, annoying traffic. But we got pretty much everything we came for. Gifts were completed, food and necessities acquired. Well, except for the over bags. Darn it all, I finally found some and didn't bother to notice that they were only for 8 lb turkeys. 8 lbs is not going to suffice for our 19 pound turkey. It was all Wal-Mart had, but if I had just paid attention, I could have gotten the right size in Meijers. It's always something though, right? :)
I was really excited to get my dolls cleaned up, so after dinner I got out the kitchen Lysol and Magic Eraser and wiped my dolls down. This is a winning combination. Just spray the dry sponge with Lysol - it is second to none for removing grease, grime and surface stains. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to completely remove the 2 small stains on my brunette Barbie's face, but it's okay. They aren't bad. I was really nervous to remove the second Tropical Splash barbie's head to do the head swap. I heated the head up with a blow dryer and with much trepidation, went through the process. What I discovered was that there is a time to be careful and then a time to just pull hard. Otherwise, you can run the risk of splitting the neck or breaking the ball joint. The head swap went well. After that, I decided to take off my other Tropical Barbie's head so I could take the broken earrings out. With both dolls put back together, it was time for the hair treatments!
First, I washed them with shampoo and then slathered on a good amount of condition. And then, I combed. My first project was the Pearl Beach barbie. It took some time to carefully comb it all and untangle the tightly coiled hair from around her earrings. Once I felt pretty good about my initial comb through, I got out my flat iron. The lowest setting on mine is 100 C and it is perfect for doll and pony hair. It took me awhile to get through her whole head, going 1/4" wide and very thin sections at a time. But once I was done, wow! She looks almost as good as new!
My Tropical Splash Barbie's hair was okay, but I figured I would go ahead and use the flat iron to tame any remaining frizzies. I haven't decided yet whether I want to put her hair back in its original style, or curl it.
My Christmas Barbie's hair was such a horrible rats nest I thought I would have to use the flat iron on it. Surprisingly though after several reapplications of conditioner and lots of vigorous combing (I really couldn't be gentle - it was that bad) it seems like it'll be okay without the flat iron. Which is better, as I hated to lose the original curl (which is now more like a gentle wave) and I don't quite feel confident with curlers as I know I will be with more practice.
Right now, all 3 dolls are waiting for their hair to dry before they can meet the other dolls in my tiny collection. I set Scarlett aside for another day's spa, as her hair is going to take a different approach to clean up.
