When I started this little blog many years ago, it was set up in such a way that reader's comments were automatically posted. I would check in regularly, see the comments, and happily respond. Then suddenly, about a year ago, the comments just...stopped. I would check everyday, but no comments. Well, I figured, that's what I get for not posting very regularly! Any readers I had out there had probably just given up on me! Still, as the days, weeks, and eventually months dragged on, I found it rather odd that not even ONE lonely little comment had been left, especially since my stats showed that there were plenty of readers visiting my blog. Hmmm. Perplexing to say the least. Well, I finally had the bright idea to do a little sleuthing on my blog this morning. I checked the comments section. Nothing. Then I noticed a line under the comments that said "Awaiting moderation". There was no number next to this, or anything highlighted, so I didn't think clicking on it would amount to much. But I did, and boy, was I wrong! An entire page of many, many comments that had been left on my posts over the past year suddenly appeared before me! WHAT?!? I couldn't believe my eyes. How had this happened? My best guess is that last year, my laptop had to go in for repairs, so my husband had to wipe everything off the hard-drive and transfer it elsewhere. I'm not sure how the entire process works, but that's the best way I can explain it. Anyway, when I got my laptop back and everything was reinstalled, the comments section for my blog must have been switched so that they wouldn't appear until I had read them FIRST. But I didn't even know there were any comments to read, since there were no notifications! UGH! I feel so stupid. And VERY sorry for all of you who take the time to visit me in my little corner of blogland, and left a comment which I never answered. Please accept my sincerest apologies! I have since published your comments and answered them, if that makes any difference! At least now I know how to go about accessing any future comments, should you all still be taking the time to leave them! And I don't dare mention this to my kids--they would most certainly roll their eyes and laugh at their poor, old, technologically-challenged mother!
Now, on to other news. I have boxes of thrift store dolls piled up in my attic closet. BOXES. Probably a least 30-40 dolls? I'm not sure. I haven't really counted. I'm kind of afraid. Anyway, I purchase these poor rejects in the hopes of making them pretty again, and then maybe making a little money on eBay in order to fund the dolls I want to purchase and keep for my own collection. Lately, I've made it a goal to try and have at least 10 listed on eBay at any one time. Some sell very quickly, while others languish a bit and need to be relisted several times. Because they are all from the thrift store, they usually need a good clean-up and maybe new clothes. So this takes time. Which I really do love doing, but with a family of still three kids left at home (down from the original eight!), I'm still really busy. Between homeschooling, gymnastics, ballet, youth group, and everything else it takes to run a household, hours are precious, and there never seem to be enough of them! That said, here are some of the most current things I have listed, just so you can see what I've been up to:
BABY SO BEAUTIFUL dolls, by Playmates
Do any of you have any of these sweet dolls? They really are beautiful, and so nicely made. Every time I find one, it seems to make it's way home with me, even though they don't seem to be good sellers. All of these little girls received new dresses and bloomer panties or flannel diapers. Here are some close-ups:
This one is my favorite. I just love her. I won't be sad if she doesn't sell. Actually, I had sold all of these dolls a couple of weeks ago to one buyer, but after she won, she asked me to cancel her purchase. :( So now they are all back on eBay again.
20" ADORA baby with a weighted body. So snuggly and fun to dress. She has the best hair!
Another ADORA baby, also weighted. I love red-haired dolls. My daughter-in-law is a red head, and I held out great hope that I would eventually have some little red-headed grandbabies. Well, three grandchildren later, and no gingers. Two are blonde and one is a brunette. Awfully sweet, all three of them, and I love them to pieces, even if they don't have red hair! But whenever I see a little red-headed doll like the one above, I imagine that's what my granddaughters might have looked like!
Anybody collect Cabbage Patch Kids?
I must admit, I never really cared for these dolls. I don't dislike them...just never felt like I needed any in my collection. Well lately, I've noticed an abundance of them in the thrift stores, so I decided to educate myself a little bit about them. I figured out what their tags and dates mean, and which ones may be a little more desirable than others. I've sold a couple already, and now have three more available. This little brunette is one of them. She's from 1985.
Also from 1985. She still has her original pacifier!
1985 Cabbage Patch Preemie in her original gown. That tuft of hair is awfully cute!
18" Madame Alexander ARIEL, all original. I think these older Madame Alexander play dolls have the prettiest face mold.
21" Vinyl Julie Good-Kruger "Christmas Cookies"
This is a really sweet doll. I have long admired Julie Good-Kruger dolls. I don't like all of their faces, but this one is sweet. I will most likely end up keeping her if she doesn't sell. She is similar in body type (tall and slender) to my German Zwergnase dolls, so maybe they can share clothes.
18" all-bisque Dianna Effner doll
Oh my, isn't she just the cutest? There is a Goodwill right across the street from our church. So every Sunday after services, we do a quick pop in, "just to see". Well, yesterday I discovered this little gal in the porcelain doll section (I always check that section, because many times they have nice vinyl dolls thrown in that they don't realize aren't porcelain) I also like to look for dolls that may have nice clothing and wigs I can harvest for other dolls. Anyway, this little sweetie was standing on the bottom shelf. I didn't know who she was, but I could tell that her wig and clothing looked like nice quality, so I went to pick her up. And her head FELL OFF! Fortunately, it landed on a pile of other dolls, so it didn't break. I wasn't too concerned about it though, since now that meant Goodwill would reduce her original sticker price of $6.99. Besides, I didn't care that her head was off, since I would probably just be chucking the doll when I got home.
Goodwill "gave" her to me for $5. They used to drop damaged items to half the ticket price, but their new policy is to only go down to the nearest price point, which happened to be $5 in this case. A little miffed, I asked the manager what they intended on doing with her if I didn't purchase her, and she shrugged and told me she would be "removed from the shelf". Well, we all know what that means. She would be undoubtedly thrown away. Which makes me angry, since they would rather throw away a doll that was donated in good faith than let me have it for a bit cheaper. Oh, well. I decided to pay the $5, because I couldn't bear the thought of having her thrown into a dumpster somewhere. I'm so glad I did! Once I got home and removed her wig, I saw that she was JENNY II, by Dianna Effner. I then looked her up on eBay, and was amazed by some of the prices these dolls commanded! So now I realized I needed to reattach her head and get her listed.
I wish I would have taken pictures of this process, but I didn't think about it until afterwards. 'Sigh'. Her legs and arms were strung nice and tight, so I didn't want to mess with those. I ended up inserting a wooden craft wheel into her neck (I went up through the hole where one of her leg attaches to the body), and another into the base of her head. I attached them together with stringing cord, secured with crimping sleeves. Really an easy process, once I figured out what I was going to do. So now the head is on nice and tight again! I imagine the original elastic cord (or whatever they used) had just disintegrated over time.
Her little pinafore has "August" embroidered across the bib. I wonder if she was made to represent the month? She is quite heavy, as she is entirely made out of bisque. She also comes with a sturdy, metal stand for display.
Isn't she just precious? I'm not generally a fan of modern bisque dolls (I prefer the antiques), but this one is just too pretty. I can see why people collect Dianna Effner dolls. I would love a Little Darling someday.
All right, that's it for now. Hope you all have a wonderful Monday!
That's hilarious about the comments, Angela! But also very sad. LOL! I love that last doll with the red hair; she's a beauty!
ReplyDeleteI kind of had to laugh about the comments, too! And isn't that little red head Dianna Effner doll just the cutest? The longer I look at her, the more sad I will be to see her go. There's been a lot of interest in her on eBay, so I suspect she's more popular than I originally thought! It's so much fun to learn about dolls.
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