Doll Show Shopping Finds

Hi Doll Friends,

We had a fabulous day at the Bayou Bebe's Doll Show recently. The fun and excitement of going to a doll show is almost indescribable! I took some pictures so that I could try to share a little of that excitement with you.

Imagine walking into a grand hall filled with all kinds of dolls as far as the eye can see...

There really was something for everyone there. Dolls from antique to vintage to modern, and everything in between. 

There were so many bargains at the show, that I couldn't possibly have bought everything that was an amazing deal or even everything that I wanted. If you love bargains, you need to go to a doll show... prices were so low, it's unbelievable.

I realize now that a lot of my pictures are of the wonderful antique dolls that I saw, but there were tables full of brand new dolls too, including Barbie, Monster High, and even whole booths dedicated to reborn dolls. I wish I could have gotten pictures of everything.

There were also lots of accessories at the show, like furniture, miniatures, doll clothes, and shoes. There were also booths with every color and type of fabric that you could possibly want for sewing doll clothes. Fabrics, silk ribbon, tiny trims, and beautiful lace... 

So I guess you're wondering what we brought home. Well, here's a sneak peak of our huge haul...

Now, I went to the doll show with my 3 daughters. When we got there, my oldest and middle daughers wandered off together, while my youngest and I slowly looked at the first table, just trying to take it all in. A few minutes later, they came back with my middle daughter (11 years old) carrying a Giggles doll.  

I've been looking for a Giggles doll for a long time because I grew up with Giggles. I was so excited and completely shocked that they had bought this precious doll for just $10. Giggles is an 18" doll that was made by Ideal from 1967-1969.  She tilts her head from side to side and giggles when you move her arms. She has "flirty eyes", which means her eyes move from side to side when her head tilts. My sister, who was 8 1/2 years old, got a Giggles doll for Chrismas when I was just 5 months old.  This picture is from my first Christmas, and my big sister is holding her new Giggles doll. You can even see the Giggles box on the floor behind me.

Another doll from my childhood was Holly Hobbie. She is a 16" tall ragdoll made by Knickerbocker. I found her at the doll show in clean, excellent condition for just $2.

Not long ago I posted about my new Bleuette doll (see that post here). As I mentioned in that post, a nice antique Bleuette doll could cost around $5,000 or more, and the artist made reproduction Bleuette dolls usually cost around $250 and up. I was so excited to find this little wooden trunk with a beautiful Bleuette head and mohair wig for just $20.  She is a reproduction by doll artist, Laura Kelley from New York.  She is marked SFBJ 247 Paris Laura Kelley 12/05. I have already ordered a wooden Bleuette body, and I can't wait til it arrives to put her together.

I also bought these two adorable Bleuette dresses, so once she's all put together, she'll have something to wear.

I found this adorable shabby chic cabinet that is about 15" tall for just $15. The seller also threw in the china tea set for just $2.

And this miniature metal doll carriage with bedding and doll for $3.

I got this sweet Mammy doll from Gone With The Wind for $5.

  

She even has her rustling red petticoat.

I just fell in love with these two antique China Head dolls, so they came home with me.

My youngest daughter got a My Little Pony Equestria Girl doll.

My two younger daughters are definitely doll collectors already. My oldest daughter, the book-loving school teacher, doesn't collect dolls for herself, but loves to help us look for dolls. But, even she found a doll for herself at the doll show, a book related doll of course, Harry Potter.

The tall doll in the back is a 30" tall walking doll from the 1950's. She is marked AE on the back of her neck, indicating she was made by Allied Eastern. If you hold on to her left arm, she walks with you. One foot on the floor causes the other foot to swing forward. 

Here is a close up of her sweet face. She appears to be wearing her original dress and matching hair bow. One of the vendors gave her to my 11 year old daughter. Doll Show vendors are so generous, and they love to see the younger generation interested in doll collecting. Junior collectors are the future of the hobby after all. 

These two little dolls are 11" Baby Mine dolls made by Ideal from 1951-1954. They have all hard plastic, fully jointed bodies with blue side-glancing sleep eyes.

My younger daughters like Kewpie dolls, and they got these two little vinyl Kewpies and this 1972 Cameo Kewpie Gal doll.

I got this Wee Patsy made by Effanbee. I think she is either Alice in Wonderland or Mary Had a Little Lamb. She is just about 5" tall, and she came with a little lamb. I don't know if the lamb came with her originally or if someone added it. I'm not sure what year this reissue is from, but probably before 2002 when Robert Tonner purchased the Effanbee Company. 

I bought some 100% silk ribbon and a pink flower trim. Did you know that craft and fabric stores don't sell 100% silk ribbon anymore? I was looking for some recently, but I could only find polyester ribbon in stores.

I also picked up some vintage cotton lace.

This little framed 5 x 7 Cream of Wheat dolly picture was just too sweet not to bring it home.

I picked up some back issues of Doll News Magazine for just $1 each. This is the official magazine of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, and is sent out to members only. These wonderful thick magazines are packed with beautiful full color doll photos and informative articles, not ads like other magazines.

Just above the magazines, you can also see a couple of cute dollhouse rugs that a vendor gave to my daughters. Doesn't the braided rug look just perfect in Hitty's house?  ♥ I love it! ♥

I strongly encourage you to search for doll shows in your area. Check the United Federation of Doll Club's Event Calendar to search by location. You can also search online by typing "Doll Show and your state or location" into your search bar to see what comes up.

We are planning a trip to Fairhope, Alabama this Saturday, March 14, 2015 for the Eastern Shore Doll Study Club's Annual Doll Show and Sale. Looking forward to another exciting doll show!!!

Hugs ♥ 
 - Lisa

Back To School, Ebay Finds & More!

Hi! I hope all the students, moms, teachers, and families are getting settled into their new back to school schedules. We've been so busy here, that I haven't had much time for blogging. We were blessed to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary and our son's 20th birthday in the last week.

We are getting our youngest two daughters back into their homeschool routine, and our oldest daughter got a new job as a 1st Grade teacher. I spent the week before school started at her school, helping her to get her classroom ready. She started with basically an empty room. Since she loves Dr. Seuss, she decorated the room in a fun, colorful Dr. Seuss theme. I thought it might be fun to share some pictures of her new classroom.

Her door.

The word wall. We covered all of her large bulletin boards with fabric first, then decorated them.

Teacher's desk. Can you see her Cat In The Hat doll on the top shelf?

Student's desks. We made the truffula trees and the flowers that hang over the tables to mark the groups. We had so much fun working on her room together.

Now, on to more doll related news... I have a few dolly finds to share. This cute little girl was an Ebay find.

She is a vintage Effanbee Half Pint doll from 1966. I just love her big, dark, side glancing eyes and her chubby cheeked smile! She has sleep eyes, that close when you lay her down, with rooted eyelashes. She has red hair in long curls. She is hard plastic, 11 1/2" tall, with a chubby toddler body that is jointed at the neck, shoulders, and hips. She is wearing a yellow dress, bonnet, bloomers, socks, and white shoes.

Tonner has just released a new version of the Effanbee Half Pint doll, well three new versions actually... and they are all pretty adorable!!! You can see all three at Tonner.com, but here's a sneak peek of one of the Tonner Half Pints. She is called Half Pint Grins and Giggles (photo courtesy of Tonner.com). I can definitely see the similarity between the original vintage Half Pint and the new Tonner sculpt.

Another Ebay find was this pair of Effanbee Patsyette in Storyland dolls. The seller was offering both dolls in one auction, so I got them at a bargain price.  They came in storybook style boxes.

The boxes open up like a book. Inside, the doll is tied on the right with a ribbon, and on the left is a storybook. Also included is a stand and tag.

I got Alice in Wonderland and Red Riding Hood.

The dolls are made of hard plastic with molded and painted hair and features. They are jointed at the neck shoulders and hips. Their elbows are not jointed, but the right arm is molded in a bent position and the left arm is straight.

Their costumes are very well made and very elaborate with multiple layers. Alice has a blue dress with white ric-rac trim, white lace trimmed bloomers, white petticoat with lace trim, and a white pinafore style apron. She also has white stockings, black shoes, and a black ribbon headband bow.

Little Red is wearing a red and white gingham dress, white lace trimmed apron, white bloomers, socks, and red shoes. She also has a red cape with a ruffled hood, and she is carrying a tiny wicker basket with a red gingham cloth.

They each come with their own little storybook with adorable drawings.

I love the full color artwork on their boxes.

For size comparison, here is Little Red with Mini American Girl Marie Grace. Patsyette dolls are a couple inches taller than Mini American Girl dolls.

Patsyette is a couple inches shorter than MH Clawdeen who is wearing a similar costume.

Here are the new Patsyettes sharing a shelf in my cabinet with Kewpie and some of my ball jointed dolls.

My most exciting find yet was this sweet little antique Armand Marseille baby at a local antique mall. 

She has a bisque head with dark brown sleep eyes that close when you lay her down, and an open mouth with teeth. My doll club friend, who is also a doll artist and appraiser with 40 years of collecting experience, told me that she is what is known as a German Character Baby. She said my sweet baby is valued at $200-250, which means I got her for an incredible bargain at just $35. 

She is marked on the back of her head Armand Marseille A 975 M Germany 6/0. There is also a mark stamped in purple on her composition back, but I just can't make out what the letters are.

If you'd like to see exactly what an antique bisque socket head type doll on a paper mache composition body looks like, here's a picture. She is jointed at the neck, shoulders, and hips.

Her wig and outfit are not original or as old as she is, but I love her just as she is.

I was so thrilled to find this little girl just sitting on a shelf in an antique mall! She was just waiting to go home with me and be loved and treasured.

Here she is... happy to be home.

I've been thinking lately about the dolls from my childhood... Thumbelina, Giggles, Tippee Toes, Holly Hobbie, etc. I'm not sure what happened to most of my own dolls, but I think I'll be on the lookout for them. I have started a new Pinterest board of the dolls that I grew up with, called Blast From The Past Dolls. Anyone else collect dolls from their childhood?

I'd love to hear about your recent finds, or your thoughts on my finds. Please leave a comment below.
Hugs ♥ 
 - Lisa