Awesome Market Finds - some of my BEST yet!

I started this post on April 7th, but I just got around to finishing it today. 

We ended up going to the Flea Market today as 2 of my party had a craving for DQ, and the only really good one (out of the 3 we have here) just happens to be by the Flea Market. And so 2 of us decided to take a quick walk around and see if anything jumped out at us. I keep hoping that the Dollhouse booth there will restock some more furniture kits, and before today, she hadn't.

I always like to approach the Flea Market the same way - start all the way to the right and make our way up and down each row. I know where the good spots are, but if you only go there, you might miss out on a randomly placed treasure. 

 I was surprised that we came across a dollhouse in the furthest side of the Market that was really cute. But with a price tag of $125, it just wasn't worth it to me. It wasn't in bad shape, but the inside had wallpaper, carpet, etc. etc. and would have all had to be redone any ways. I found a Moxy girl for a family member who has started collecting them (and her hair was an utter disaster! I'll post before and after pics of her hair repair later.) I was so excited to stumble across 2 of those big 24" craft cows made in the 90's by Wang International. I know, it's an odd thing to love so much, but I have dearly missed my beloved Sorcerer Moo since I regrettably sold him off many years ago. These cows were in dreadful shape. And I mean dreadful! Covered in layers of dirt and grime, with discoloring on the hooves and mildew stains all over the muslin body. The price was a little higher than it needed to be, but I wasn't leaving the Market without him. I picked out the one I deemed in better shape (which really wasn't by much, if any) and was feeling so pleased. I have great confidence in the possibility of cleaning anything up.

And finally, as we made a loop towards the end of the Market, there it was. I, of course initially missed it, as my focus was really on spotting Barbie dolls, so luckily my eagle eyed companion saw it. A dollhouse! This one had most certainly seen better days, and whoever put the house together didn't exactly do a stellar job. But for a price tag of $20? Oh yeah. It was coming home with me. I actually got so excited I just grabbed it and started to take off towards the check out before I even looked at the inside. 

The house was painted on the outside, and the color palette screams mid 90's. (I later found out it is the Brookefield made by Duracraft in 1992. I have no idea how long the kit was available.)  It smelled really musty, and it started to quite literally fall apart on its journey home. Not that anything was all that securely glued into place to begin with. Trim fell off. The inside wall divider fell out (and somehow ended up in a bag - I truly have no idea how!) And upon closer inspection I noticed that the outside wall is also coming apart. I think it was put together with hot glue. Never a good idea. Hot glue should only be used to hold pieces together while the wood glue dries when not even copious amounts of tape do the trick. (I had to do that with my Orchid. Just put a dab of low temp hot glue on a couple of places, and then peal off carefully when it's job is done.) 

I know they say that if a house has been put together like that, you need to take it apart and re-glue it together with wood glue. I am not doing that. I would most certainly destroy the dollhouse in the process. What I will do is go in there and carefully reinforce the pieces with wood glue. 

I'm now officially out of space for dollhouses, and getting this fella to fit is going to be interesting. But I am so thrilled to have it. I didn't have a house for the 2 little resin dragons that I got specifically for my Orchid - which didn't work out. Dollhouses have a mind of their own, after all. So this one is absolutely perfect for the Dragon lair. The dragons are the perfect scale and the plans I have are going to be epic! Now, if I could just feel like working on any of my many, many plans, I'll be a pleased panda. 

Newest Barbie thrifted finds!

The week of Christmas has finally arrived. Most of the shopping has been done, but there's always that last hurrah to ensure you have everything you need for Christmas dinner. The last thing I honestly wanted to do yesterday was brave the 39 degree weather (I know, I know. It wasn't that bad.) and the pre-holiday crowds and traffic but we all gotta do it. The trip wasn't going to be too terribly demanding - just Wal-Mart, Meijers and Hobby Lobby. Goodwill is right next to Wal-Mart, so I wanted to quickly run in there to see if I could find some little treasure.

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.