Happy New Year!!!

Hi Doll Friends!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Things have been so busy lately that I just haven't slowed down long enough to share whats going on!

I guess you may think that I must have sold all of my dolls and gave up on collecting. :(  

But... Nope, that's not what has happened at all! :) 

I'm still here, and I still love collecting dolls!!! I only sold a few dolls. Most I couldn't bear to part with, and of course there are still LOTS more dolls on my wish list.

My daughters still love dolls too, especially their American Girls, and they wanted to show some of the goodies that they got for Christmas.

Christmas morning

The Our Generation Retro Diner was a huge hit! This set is amazing!!! It includes a jukebox that really plays music, a working neon light around the counter, and an unbelievable amount of food, dishes, and other accessories!

Here is an up close view of the Diner once it was out of the box.

Here you can see the neon light around the counter top. It lights up red when you turn it on. You can also see a couple of the dishes available at the Diner, spaghetti and meatballs and a banana split. There is just so much detail in every piece.

I love the cake stand complete with cake, all of the little cupcakes, doughnuts, and even a blueberry pie... the adorable little coffee pot... everything is just so realistic.

The Our Generation "Way to Grow" set is also adorable with lots of accessories, including a planter box, with plants, vegetables, and flowers, a wheelbarrow, a watering can, organic potting soil, seeds, gloves, shovel, rake, and even a little Gnome.

I was so surprised to find the "It Seams Perfect!" set in Target.  I had never even seen this set before, either in a store or online. It includes a sewing machine, table, stool, a large dress form, a bolt of fabric, patterns, thread, ruler, measuring tape, tiny tomato pin cushion, scissors, tiny buttons, and a sewing box.

My oldest daughter surprised me with this wonderful little hardcover Chatbook that she created for me, filled with over 60 pictures of all my dolls from my blog.

Such a special, thoughtful and precious gift.

Of course, the Schoenhut dolls had fun decorating their own tree this year! These antique wooden Schoenhut dolls have become some of my favorite dolls. There are a couple of new wooden kids that I'll introduce you to soon.

Otto, my smallest 11" Schoenhut toddler got a new Santa hat that my oldest daughter bought for him at Bath and Body Works. He decided, since he was like Santa, it was his job to show you around. He likes to visit our tiny snow village.

He even made buddies with this little antique papier-mache' Santa.

He made a stop by the Retro Diner, climbed up on a stool, and ordered a milkshake.

Otto would also like to introduce you to his new friend, a Schoenhut donkey.

I would love to have more of these wonderful Schoenhut animals from the early 1900's. The animals, like the dolls, are made of wood, are jointed and posable... and so versatile. The donkey just fits right in with our Nativity scene this year.

And Otto just loves him so much!!!

                                   

Steming from my love of antique dolls, I have rekindled my love for all things antique. It is so much fun to spend a day visiting all of the antique malls. You just never know what you will find. 

I started a new collection of antique Christmas this year. These are a few of the antique village pieces and clay face Santas that I got this year. 

One section of our tree is decorated with the old ornaments that I found at antique stores. I didn't find enough to fill the tree, but my plan is to be on the lookout for more Shiny Brite and other antique and vintage ornaments throughout the year, maybe even find some bargain ones at estate sales if I'm lucky.

Here's my little kitchen tree, decorated almost completely with vintage ornaments plus a few handmade primitive style Raggedy Ann's.

I love these vintage plastic Santa's congregated on the Christmas tree skirt cut from an old quilt.

Well, I'm sure you're thinking Christmas is over, time to take down the decorations. The Christmas season is my favorite time of the year, and I wish it didn't pass by so quickly. I just wanted to share some of this special time before it was too late.

I hope you all have a wonderfully blessed, prosperous, healthy, Doll-filled, Happy New Year!

 Hugs ♥

Thrifty Finds This Week

Hi Doll Friends,

We hit some of our favorite stores and antique malls this weekend, so I thought I'd share some of our thrifty finds. If you like miniatures, you should definitely check out your local Michael's. They have just put out a brand new selection of dollhouse miniatures. One of the two Michael's stores that I went to had placed the new miniatures on a completely different aisle, separate from their old mini stock.

I only picked up a couple minis from this new line, because I like to use a coupon to get a bargain. I'll definitely be going back for more though. There were so many cute new minis that I hadn't seen elsewhere before. I got this adorable metal barbecue pit. It is just so realistic. It was one of the more expensive miniatures at $8.99, but it was still only $4.50 with the coupon.

I thought these little metal guns were very realistically detailed too. They are actually made of metal, not resin or plastic. They came two to a pack for 4.99 before the coupon.

I'm planning some new craft projects, so I also picked up this set of 36 Artist's Loft watercolor paints on sale for just $2.99

At one of my favorite Antique Malls, I found this very old, antique doll trunk. It is made of metal and wood, and it is probably from the late 1800's.

My daughter has been collecting old primitive wooden boxes, and when she found this old doll trunk in our favorite primitives booth, I just had to buy it.

I'd love to know the history of this old doll trunk. It's fun to just imagine who it belonged too, where it's been and what treasures it held.

I also picked up this sweet little primitive stuffed sheep from the same booth.

I found lots of dollhouse miniatures at the antique malls too. These two tiny vinyl Kewpie dolls will be perfect toys for the dollhouse at just under 2" tall.

I also bought a miniature old fashioned metal washtub and washboard and a tiny brass umbrella stand.

This adorable miniature red wooden table and chair set is painted in a dutch style I think.

I really love the chippy paint on this little cast iron potbelly stove.

Here it is with my Gone With The Wind Mammy doll that I got at the doll show.

It must have been a day for finding stoves, because I came home with quite a few. This is another cast iron Queen stove to add to my collection. Mini American Girl Samantha volunteered to show you how big it is.

This is my third cast iron stove, but the neatest thing is that all three that I have found are different sizes. This latest find is a medium size when compared to my other two.

Mini American Girl Kirsten shows off another new stove. This is a vintage German MFZ tin lithographed stove, probably from the 1940-50's.

Ann Estelle is claiming this rusty old vintage Marx Pretty Maid tin stove for her kitchen. It is also probably from the 1940-50's.

Her Mary Engelbreit teapots look very new against this rusty old stove, but Ann Estelle thinks it will do for now.

Ruby, my Ruby Red Galleria Bleuette shows off this antique reproduction buggy that I found at an antique mall.

I added a tiny antique China to my growing little china doll collection. She's the little one in the rusty orange dress.

I purchased this little 6" China from my local doll club friend who travels to doll shows all over the country, buying and selling antique dolls.

The back of her shoulder plate is marked Germany.

I just love her tiny sweet face.

This last one was an eBay find, a 4" tall Itty Bitty Hitty. This 4" version is also carved from wood by Robert Raikes. She is dressed in a burgundy print dress with an ivory pinafore. She is jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips. Here is Itty Bitty Hitty with my traditional size 6 1/2" Hitty.

I hope you enjoyed seeing our latest thrifty finds. Please leave a comment below to tell us about your latest fun finds.  I'd love to hear from you!!!

 Hugs ♥