Happy Lunar New Year!

Year of the Rabbit is the Dancer's year!

 

Lots of Doll Sightings

Since there are several antique stores in Amish Country, I knew that I would see some dolls there on my trip. None of them came home with me, although one piece of furniture almost did. Would you have bought any of these three dressers? I was seriously considering the piece on the far right, but in the end I decided it was a little too banged up.

Amish Country has people who sell new doll clothes and make new doll furniture, but I haven't found anything that isn't for 18" dolls, and most of the furniture is for the little ones who play with 18" dolls. Clothes and accessories are a mix between handmade and factory made, "plain" style and modern everyday. I found the juxtaposition of plain black hats and starched bonnets, with sparkly shoes above, humorous.

There was a glass case filled with true antique dolls, but I didn't get a picture of it. There were some older dolls like Terri Lee, and a xylophone player. I presume at one time the musician used to have something looking more like mallets, on top of the springs she holds in her hands.

There were also a vintage Barbie, Alan and Skipper.

The little blond Ginny Sasson doll in this case caught my eye, but there is quite a variety of dolls inside.

And in the "Wait, how can these dolls be that old?" category are Gene Marshall, and a friend in the Alexandra Fairchild Ford 16" doll line by Madame Alexander.

I found this Knitting for Barbie canister, but since I wasn't planning on buying it, I didn't want to open and root around to see what was inside.

If you grew up playing with Fisher-Price toys, like I did, this section of vintage Fisher-Price might have enchanted you as it did me. Some of these toys pictured are older than me.

And although this large area of craft wood supplies didn't have doll crafting in mind, there were a *lot* of very nice pieces of wood that could be used to make doll items. I'm picturing only one part here

I did pick up a few things for my dolls. Two were for the 18" girls, sunglasses and a pair of faux Crocs.

Then there was this guitar, which I bought in a store that sells Christmas ornaments and decor year round. There were lots of other musical instruments, but I only felt seriously drawn to the guitar.

Last thing, big news! The Dancer is ready to move out and be on her own, so there will be lots going on here. Right now, the living room is crowded because the Dancer is working on repairing bunny chew marks in a couple of stools that she got from friends, along with a matching table. Mr. BTEG and I are of course talking about what we will do with the extra space. Stay tuned!

Amish Country Vacation

At the end of last month, Mr. BTEG and I were at two completely opposite types of destinations. He had to go to Las Vegas for a work convention, so I decided to take a little vacation while he was gone. I chose to go to Amish Country and do some shopping. This post is only going to have the few pictures that I took of the doll that I brought along, around my hotel. I did some serious shopping for the four days that I was there, and wore myself out, so I didn't take all of the poses with Teresa that I was considering. But I did take several pictures of dolls and toys that I saw in the antique stores there. Those pictures will be my next post.

Rainy Day

 

This picture has been up on Instagram for a while, and I haven't taken any more photo challenge pictures since. I've been busy with all kinds of preparations for upcoming events, including making eight pumpkin pies, with fresh pumpkin. We've had snow since this picture was taken, but the weather has gone up to being a bit more comfortable. Happy Thanksgiving to my doll collector friends in the USA!

Light It Up

Monday's photo challenge theme was Fairy Lights. I have a lot of mini light strings, so this was fun for me. I love how this photo turned out. I used the Night setting on my phone, which holds the lens open longer to let more light in, to make items taken in dark conditions more visible. I think I have a similar setting on my camera, too. You do need to use a stand when taking photos like this; any movement at all will blur the photo.
 

Family

 

Another Instagram challenge photo. I'm not completely happy with it, but it's cute. It was a pain to tuck all those dolls under the blankets, and I'm also sorry that I didn't get a chance to put some items in the background.

Coffee or Tea ?

I'm trying to take part in a November photo challenge on Instagram. November 2nd's prompt was Tea or Coffee? I don't like either, but I pictured one of my dolls drinking green tea, and another drinking coffee.

I also ended up hanging my doll-sized painting on the wall. I had said I had some other pictures I wanted to take with the blue wall, but without the painting. The best laid plans and all that, those pictures haven't happened yet. I've been distracted by other things, one of them being that my nephew is getting married today, an hour and a half away. I wanted to make a dress, and I was almost finished, but discovered a tear in the fabric that kept me from cutting out the last piece. Replacement fabric is on the way, but won't be here on time. Oh well, I'll still have a nice dress to wear all winter. I managed to find a dress from a store, that I liked, and also got some new shoes for the occasion. I haven't had to wear dressy shoes for years. I miss formal family occasions.

I'm motivated to participate more in this photo challenge, so hopefully I can get back into doll stuff tomorrow.