Vintage Doll finds at the Goodwill

 I don't go into the Goodwill very often these days. I used to check weekly - this was in the beginning stages of my Build a Bear collecting and I was crazed with seeing who I could find. I did find a LOT of them. But since I have been trying to limit my  - what I like to call - gathering tendency, I've been limiting both the Goodwill and the Flea Markets. I do occasionally go and have a look around. When I went on the particular day that I am writing about, I didn't really see the point in going. I was just getting over the flu and it was the last stop before going home, which is all I wanted to do at this point. But we went ahead and ran in to see what we could find. 

The first thing that caught my attention was the stack of vintage looking dolls on the top shelf above where they have those massive Barbie containers. (Barbies have been a continual strike out for awhile there lately.) I picked up 3 dolls, 2 of which looked the same in the face and heights (around 15"), but slightly different bodies. The third doll was 17", and honestly, her face actually creeped me out when I first picked her up. There was something uncanny about her. All 3 of those dolls looked familiar, but I couldn't place who they were. They all had that hair growing mech (which still worked on all 3 dolls.) I didn't have my phone with me to google who they were, so I just put them back. I also found a 12" Tressy. I was so excited! I had been wanting a Tressy. Her hair growing mech did not work, and the spot on her back was a little broken, but the rest of her looked fantastic.

Next, I selected a 14" Bellows Anne Madame Alexander doll from the late 80's. She was in very good shape and seemed to have all of her outfit pieces. I'm a sucker for vintage Madame A dolls, but I have to be very choosey as I really don't have much more room for dolls.

Going through the check out was quick and once I was back in the car, I googled those dolls that I had left behind. The taller doll is Ideal Chrissy's friend Kerry (priced at $4.29.)The shorter dolls were 2 different releases of cousin Velvet ($3.29 each.) Once I realized who they were, we had to turn around so I could go get them! I figured it would be really quick, just run in, grab the dolls and then head home. 

As luck would have it, the line was long and the one cashier was having computer problems with the register so I stood there for what felt like absolutely forever until they finally called another employee to come up and open up another register. It probably wasn't as bad as it felt, but you know how being stuck in a long unmoving check out line can feel.

I was so pleased with my new dolls. The Velvet with the jointed waist is the Movin' Groovin' release and the other one is just the standard original release. They are all in pretty darn good shape. The Velvets both has some hair trimming in the front, but Kerry's hair is pretty much perfect. They all cleaned up very nicely and are presently waiting on me to feel like making them something to wear. I do need to buy some appropriate sized stands for them as they could pitch off the wall shelf at any moment, even if they look look to be fairly stable.

Tressy and my new Madame A are presently waiting for me to feel like cleaning them up. I went ahead and stuck them on my doll shelves, which I really didn't want to do until I cleaned them up. But. They needed to go somewhere to be safe away from my determined curious furballs. 

Here's pics of the day's acquisitions (pre clean up):

Monster High Cubicles - a fun little display area!

As a doll and toy collector, you always want your collections to look good if you are able to display them. Whether it be dolls on stands on a shelf, positioned just so, or making neat dioramas. The challenge has always been to carve out enough space to display the things I really love in a truly limited amount of space. We all face that challenge! Even if a room seems spacious, once you start loading collections into it, the space can suddenly feel very limiting. For me, I definitely have small spaces to put things. I've been able to maximize the space that I do have, and I'm quite proud of what I've been able to squeeze in. No, it's nothing amazing and awe inspiring, but it's my space, and I love it. 

The subject of this post - as the title says - is Monster High. Through the years, I have gathered a lot of dolls. I started collecting in a great era where the dolls were popping up at Flea Markets for cheap. That has undoubtedly changed, and also happened to line up when I began recollecting dolls again after parting with much of what I had previously gathered. I had a few bad years there. The good thing though is that this time around, I have a much better understanding of how I want to collect, who is important to me, and so forth. And, getting the dolls has become far more limited so I am not hoarding the dolls in thrift stores whenever I see them.

The area that I have to display my dolls in happens to be in the doll/sewing room. It's a small room, but if you are smart and you figure out how to maximize every square inch, it is amazing what you can fit in! We got some cubbies from Target back when we moved in to be a launching point of organizing things into our new space while we figured out what worked and what didn't. These were affordable, easily accessible and also quite convenient. We got one 3 by 3 cubicle which sits on the wall by the door. Before, it held totes with craft supplies, but we were able to shift those to a better storage space and thus, we cleared these cubbies out for doll displays! 

As this is a shared space, I took 4 of these cubbies for my things. The first row of three have become my MH spaces. The fantastic thing about Monster High dolls is that they are very skinny and therefor, they do not take up a whole lot of space. You can really fit a lot of them in! The trouble - if you really want to call it trouble - is their furniture, play sets and accessories are almost neater than the dolls themselves. This is where I have had trouble working out the small cubbies that I have to display my dolls. Some of the furniture pieces just don't fit. I had originally meant to use all 4 for this purpose, but I ended up taking the 4th one for a different use. I'll blog about that in a different post.

These cubbies definitely work well for the dolls - the boys unfortunately cannot stand, but there is enough room for the girls to even be standing on their stands and also some of my playsets can fit. I have the Die-Ner playset, which unfortunately, doesn't work. I initially had it in there, but decided it looked far too awkward.  The Scaris Cafe fortunately fits very well. (That's my favorite set.) I got the new G3 Coffin Bean playset for Xmas last year, and I adore it. All of the pieces fit, except the actual coffee counter. Which really sucks, as I love it. It's just too tall. So I do have playset pieces that have to be stored away, but what I can display looks really neat. Right now I have the top cubbie where my boys are hanging out. I need some furniture pieces in there to really make it look awesome. I'm thinking it is going to be the spell room. Or library. I don't quite know yet, but whatever I decide, it'll be fun. The second floor is the Cafe and the bottom story is the Coffee lounge. It might be a little bit crowded, but it's okay. 

I've managed to fit 5 or 6 dolls per space. I will have to rotate my dolls as while I don't have a lot of dolls, I have far more than I can have out at one time. I'm okay with that. 

Once I have absolutely decided that each cubbie is perfect, I will be able to do the fun part. Put up wallpaper and flooring! I'll be using scrapbook paper. I'm a little worried that I won't find the perfect paper for a MH hang out space. Actually, I know I won't. I don't have the means right now to buy printables or to design my own paper, so I am at the tender mercies of what I've either bought in the past or *cringe* what I can find to buy. (There's been a huge decrease in scrap booking paper it seems as each new year comes.)

The more I think about it, maybe I should just pick my favorite papers and stick them up, and then just fit the furniture in as I please. It would be fun to have the freedom to change up even the room displays, not just the dolls that I have in there. Hmmm.....fun thought. 

I ordered some spray sealer for scrapbook paper and also double sided tape as I have no intention of mod podging anything permanent up. Not with my capable felines. I imagine papers will get ruined over time and I'll either have to or want to change them. I want the freedom to do so. 

I am excited to get the cubbies looking like actual rooms for my dolls. I have plans to decorate for the holidays - can't you just picture the MH students decorating for Christmas? Maybe tonight I'll haul out my collection of scrapbooking paper and start making some decisions. I just need to finish a couple of Etsy orders first.