May Haul (part two)

Wow.  Never expected to run out of room in a blog post!  Maybe that's not the issue - I did notice spellcheck wasn't working.  Might be a blogspot hiccup.  But no matter.  I'm adaptable.

I cut a couple of the skewers to size and used electrical tape to make drum sticks for the timpani.  

My Barbieville has a tiny Asian population and I considered two gals from the flea market haul, but one of them looked like she'd just smoked an entire acre of marijuana and the other had Vapid Face. Also, I'm not a fan of diversity for the sake of diversity.  I did find a Generation Girl Mariko, who I LOVE, on eBay.   She even still had her original hair style!  

I heard they had a pair of boys in the newest set of friends for Chelsea.  Fred asked me to get them because he was the only toddler boy in Barbieville.  I found Cactus Shirt, still looking for Camera Boy.  Couple of my minions decided he's Tyrone - I'm just calling him Ty.  

May Haul (part one)

May was another good month for Barbieville.  (So far my blog looks like I'm luckier than I usually am!)  Most of this month's luck came from town-wide yard sales and the flea market haul.  

 

Wicker chair from thrift store and Lego set marked WAY down.  Lego blocks are very handy for building anything the dolls might need temporarily.  Also, they're fun all by themselves! 

Craft supplies and a sleigh.  Giant bear for the girls' room.  I had a sleigh before - a thift store find that I tried hard to make work but ultimately failed.  This one I can already tell is going to be much easier.  It simply needs the bed lined and a seat installed.  The craft supplies will help me with that.

Scenic placemats with words on them, but careful placement of props or dolls allows use as backdrops.   They've already proven useful for the story-telling posts here.  

 

The "lollipop stick" was cut off and these two are novelty pillows for the twins.  The girls get bears and hearts.  The twins get the other shapes.  These came from a claw machine.

Cardboard covered in shiny gold tape as the bed liner.  I used wire from the edges of the decorative ribbon to make a web-like support for the seat.  Seat is made of skewers cut to length and covered with gold tape.  The back of the seat is a burp cloth I already had. (Burp cloths are the perfect size to be blankets on a single bed.)

SUV!  So glad Mattel is making cars that seat more than two!  Clothes and a new dude.

Close-up of the new dude.  I think he looks like Brent Spiner, so that's his name.  He's a World Peacekeeper.  Tanner totally mugged him and took the dog tags.  

I was pleased to find gold elastic for this.  It carries over the gold from the sleigh.  The traces are actually one of the wrapped-wire decorative ribbons, just looped around the sleigh runner. 

Blue button for trim and pink shoelace reins match the seat back. Peeta needs to bundle up before his sleigh ride, though.

Esmeralda copied Tanner and mugged a Flea Market Haul gal.  New ear ring to replace the one I took out.

New stuffies - most of which Fred claimed.  The girls claimed Ginger Snap.

New Residents of Barbieville, from the village of Flea Market. Pocahontas, Kelly, Nakoma, Callie, and Ricky in front.  Batgirl, Roxy, and Whitney in the rear.  There are other new folks in town but I guess I've exceeded the picture limit.  I'll have to do a seperate post about them. 

Story Three: Tanner's Fight

Tanner's mother is called into school because he's gotten into a fight and is suspended for three days.

Principal Dean: The other boy used ethnic slurs against Tanner's stepmother and stepsisters.  While I understand his anger, we can't condone fighting.  The other boy got the same suspension as well as punishment for the bigotry.  

Candy:  His father adopted those girls, so they aren't his stepsisters.  They're his sisters now.  

Tanner:  He said Dad adopted them because no - um - black children know who their fathers are.   He even said Taylor and Nikki were --   

Candy:  I can imagine what he said.  (To Dean)  You're supposed to call Pike or Rose-Grace.  I don't have custody.

Dean: I tried them, both were in meetings.  You're on the list after them.  

Candy (resigned):  Oh, that's fine, then.  I was just confused.

Candy texts Pike and they meet outside the grocery store he manages.  She lets Tanner explain the situation before chiming in. 

Candy: I think he was right to do it.  Defending his little sisters and step-mom.  

Pike: With his fists?  

Candy: I have a flight to London tonight, so I'll leave it to you and Rose-Grace.  (to Tanner)  Don't be mad if they ground you, all right?  It's their job.  

Tanner: You're nuts, Mom, but I love you anyway.

Fred:  Why we having a family meeting?  Is somebody else getting married?

Finnick: Tanner got suspended for fighting.  

Tanner:  I punched out a racist.  Totally worth getting in trouble. 

Pike: No one's denying Tanner was right in defending his family.  We have to stand up against this kind of thing, whether it's about race or religion or...  

Rose-Grace: But by resorting to violence, Tanner, you just proved them right.  They think we - and anyone who defends us - is less than they are.  We have to rise above the urge to break their faces.  Trust me, I'm familiar with that urge. 

Finnick: The guy hates anyone who isn't a perfect healthy white Anglo-Saxon Protestant dude.  

Stacie:  So what is a good way to deal with jerks like this guy?

Rose-Grace: First of all, you have to remain calm. Sometimes people are honestly ignorant.  Sometimes they mean what they say differently than how you hear it.  Always give them the benefit of any doubt you may have.

Nikki: Yeah, some of my friends make fun of the stereotypes.  Like Claudia pretends to love math and Courtney talks like Speedy Gonzalez.  It's funny because we know how dumb stereotypes are.

Rose-Grace: Right.  And remember a few years ago, the new student who was honestly surprised that Courtney's family has been in this country since before the first World War?  He didn't deserve to be yelled at or beat up. 

Taylor: And we prove the haters wrong.  They want to believe I'm dumb so I make sure I get good grades.  They want to think me and my friends are (side glance at Freddy) Never mind.  

Stacie: So they're jerks, but we gotta do all the work?  

Rose-Grace:  Sadly, that's the gist of it.  The world's a much better place now than it used to be and that's because of others who did all the work.   

    

Mayor's office, 8AM the next day

Rose-Grace:  Kyra, this is my stepson Tanner.  He'll be doing a little community service work for the next few days.  What sort of project do you have for him?

Kyra: If he's at all computer literate, he can help me with digitizing the archives.  

Tanner: I still don't see why I couldn't stay home.  You could have even saved a little on Freddy's day care by having me watch him. 

Rose-Grace:  Playing with your little brother all day is hardly a suitable punishment for getting into a fight at school.  Even if you were defending my honor. 

Flea Market Bonanza: Part Three

Well, they're done.  Washed, groomed, dressed, and stacked neatly back in the bin to await their fate.  I was asked how exactly I go about doing their hair.  Basically, wash it with conditioning shampoo or fabric softener before brushing gently (starting at the ends, not the scalp) and only cutting what cannot be brushed out.*  I mentioned gum in a previous post - one of these girls had clear nail polish!  I washed her hair a few times before I figured that out!  If the hair is long, say past the small of her back, I give her a single braid.  Shorter hair can be left loose or put in a ponytail.  

Most of the clothes came out of the wash in good shape.  The dolls I managed to identify were dressed in what I could salvage of their original clothes.  Arabian Lights lost her gem headband, but I found a red ribbon to match.  Once Upon a Princess Jasmine still had hers.  Both have britches and top.  Oops, the big Jasmine's shoes need to go on her!  She won't be joining my BOUSs after all because that line is meant to be toddlers and a toddler with boobs has too high an ick factor for me. 

Donny and Marie in what's left of their stage costumes.  Note Marie's microphone!  

Dazzling Princess Belle and Enchanted Swirl and Style Cinderella only have their dresses.  Cinderella's bun is now a high, bouncy ponytail.  Belle, like the two Jasmines, has a simple ponytail.  The big Jasmine sings, Belle's rose (chest) lights up and she makes a ding sound.  Cinderella's underskirt changes patterns when you push the button on her back.  I've not dug through my batteries yet to test the smaller Jasmine's light-up gems.  EDIT - Her forehead lights up but not the ear rings. 

I forgot what high heat does to doll hair and ran the soft bodied dolls through the washer and dryer.  Kida's head basically disintegrated after the head swap.  I don't know why and I'm not happy. I guess she just couldn't survive without her embedded chest jewel.  Roxy's face mold I decided was a bit too Uncanny Valley for my Barbieville, so I gave her name to the articulated Stacie.  EDIT - 90s Kevin has been named Ricky after the very first "boy" friend of Skipper!  And that's where it stands until yard sale weekend!  

*For more information, I suggest you watch one of April Lilly's doll makeovers on You Tube.

Flea Market Bonanza: Part Two

WARNING NAKED DOLLS 

The sorting and research is done.  The keepers have moved into Barbieville.  The others will find homes elsewhere, whether it's via a yard sale or donation.  The clothes and soft bodies still need washed, so that'll be part three.  

The Disney Gals - Two Nakomas, Aurora, Pocahontas, and Belle.  Belle makes a ding sound when you press the button on her back.  One of the Nakomas has a pink/purple streak in her hair. 

The Jasmine with a battery pack is Arabian Lights Jasmine.  Her ear rings and forehead gem light up, or are supposed to.  Either the batteries are dead or she's broken. 

When I got her in the April Haul, I removed Esmeralda's hoop ear ring.  So she sneaked into the kitchen and totally mugged one of the dolls from this batch.  Can't blame her - it is a cute ear ring.

Brushes, Bags, and jewelry.  

Kitchen stuff, sports stuff, head bands, a book, and a flower bouquet.  

Shoes with mates.  I'll probably keep most of these.  The big gold ones belong to the Jasmine of Unusual Size.  They're upside down so the water can drain.

Turns out Power Ranger's neck hole is not compatible with the donor body.  Making it work is beyond my capabilities and inclination.  

Hole-In-The-Gut is Tressy.  There used to be a gadget there to make her hair grow and, um, ungrow.  WTF Barbie is American Idol Barbie.  Poor thing looks like she's been in a horrible accident, but she's rocking out.  I keep trying to straighten her torso!  

The keepers.  Pocahontas, Nakoma with the pink/purple streak, Callie, Needs-a-name, Kelly, Roxy, and Needs-a-name.  (I already have a Kevin and a Stacie.)  I noticed Callie has 3 piercings in each ears, which gave me something specific to research - she's Cali Girl Barbie.  

Donor body recipients.  Kida doesn't quite match hers, but considering now she can bend and has no gem embedded in her chest, it's close enough.  The redhead Teen Skipper is Courtney, who was usually brunette.  I already have a Courtney.  There was a Stacie friend named Whitney, who was a redhead, so she'll take that name.  Batgirl loves her new not-weird shoulders.    

These two have to wait for laundry before their fate is decided.  If Jasmine's clothes survive the wash, I might keep her as a BOUS.  Love the character, but not so much the dolls.  Disney dolls often have Vapid Face, but Jasmine and Ariel seem to have it the worst.  I don't know why.  

A dollar a pop at a yard sale and I make my money back?  Donation?  Haven't decided.  

Flea Market Bonanza: Part One

I mentioned in "April Haul" the plethora of Barbies available for 40 bucks at the flea market.  This morning, they came home with me.   The bonanza is such that there will have to be more than one blog post about it.  I've stripped them and cleaned them and am now taking a break.  

THERE WILL BE NUDE DOLLS - LEAVE NOW IF THAT'S A PROBLEM.

Fortunately, my apartment building keeps orphaned shopping carts for resident use.  The bin is full and the box half full.  I've got my work cut out for me!  First order of business: Bath time!  Most of them were in pretty good shape, but a few were just grody.  

This thing sticking outta Jasmine's noggin stabbed me when I washed her hair.  No blood and it startled me more than hurt.  Several of the dolls still had box gel in their hair, some were just plain dirty, and combing them all out is going to take quite a while.

Not sure which Olsen twin this is, but she looked brand new until I undressed her.  One of the perils of buying used.

Accidental scalping.  I guess this one had hair that "grew".

Ouch.

The redheads.  The girl with the tiara still had box gel and her original outfit, but I've not researched yet who is is.  The girl in the center has the taller Teen Skipper body mold but I don't remember Skipper having a redhead friend. She'll have to be researched as well.  Batgirl came with most of her costume.  She's got weird shoulders - the joints are hidden inside a soft "skin".

The dudes.  90s Kevin, standard Ken, Donny Osmond

These lucky ladies have more than the standard five points of articulation.  They'll be either body donors or new neighbors for the dollhouse family.  I recognized Hula Hair instantly.  The 90s Stacie is smaller than the current Stacie and taller than Chelsea.  One gal has click legs instead of actual knee joints but her elbows are jointed. 

The Crazy Hair girls!  The first one is the doll that originally came in the black witch dress I got in April on someone else.  Second one, I have no idea, but I love her hair!  Third one is totally lavender - that's not the lighting.  She has a place in her back for fairy wings. That fourth girl's scalp twists so she can have blonde on purple or vice versa - and her torso is flexible. Kinda like Batgirl's shoulders.

Ethnics and Brunettes.  Fifth one looks like the Native American Barbie I had once.   The rest are mostly Teresa or Kira/Lea.  

Brats.  When I was taking this picture, Cat Stevens was singing "Baby Get Your Head Screwed On".  I guess he was talking to 90s Skipper, but she don't need to obey him.  She's gonna be a body donor.

...and I just noticed my Disney gals picture did not take.  I'll add it to part two because I'm lazy.  Tinkerbell hid when I took it, so had to pose with the celebrities/characters.  Pink Power Ranger is the likely recipient of 90s Skipper's body - hers is awful.  Olsen quadruplets... one is Roxy from New York Minute.  Marie Osmond, still holding her microphone! 

I don't even know.  I'm calling her WTF Barbie.  The one with the hole in her gut isn't Mattel.  I think she had hair that "grew" like the one I accidentally scalped.  Cindrella's skirt is attached and twirls when you hit the button on her back, so a different design shows through the open overskirt.

And the Jasmines just kept on coming.  One of my minions was a total Jasmine freak back in the day and this reminded me of her!  The big one sings.  One of the smaller ones has a battery pack but I don't know what she does.  Either she's broken or needs a battery transplant.

... and only three Aladdins to keep up with all them Jasmines!  

Ballerinas.

One of the standard blondes had these strange feet.  It looks like the bottom of the foot was removed and new ones molded?  

A few standard blondes - and one Crazy Hair that hid while that picture was taken.

This is where things stand roughly four hours after I brought them home.  The blue bin is half full of clothes and accessories.  There were a few non-Barbie items and three soft bodies (one was Snow White).