Hello! Welcome to The Doll Bug! Let me just tell you little about myself. I LOVE dolls. It's great that I can look at beautiful dolls online now, even if I can't afford to buy any of them. Let me share with you some of my favorites that I probably will never own because of the pricetag.
Go ahead, take a look at my virtual doll collection! Many of my current favorites are Dianna Effner dolls. Such exquist detail! Here's one from the link above.
Of course, dolls cost money. Money I don't have. Even if I did have money, I wouldn't spend it on dolls (at least, not ALL of it).
Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been a fan of American Girl dolls (though, I'm not sure sure anymore what with Mattel taking over). I still remember that Christmas when I got my Samantha doll like it was yesterday. She was my favorite thing. I would look through the AG catalogue, imagining having all of those cool things for my doll. I would play with them in my head, and then I'd be satisfied. I didn't really want all those things. Even as a child I was revolted by the prices, but it was fun to dream. I never stopped loving that doll, but, after four moves, Samantha was lost! I like to think that she's safe and sound in some forsaken box in my parents' garage.
As an adult, one day I was looking through the dolls they had on the American Girl website. I wrote them an email describing a doll I wanted them to make (who looked like me). I said I thought they should have a doll with wavy/dark/auburn hair, hazel eyes, light skin, and freckles. It's a pretty common look, and I thought many people would enjoy it. Imagine my surprise when I checked their site a few months later and found my doll looking back at me! Maybe they got a lot of requests for a doll like that, or maybe they just thought it was a good idea. Maybe they never looked at my message but just happened to make the exact same doll. Her skin is more olive, but otherwise she's just how I described. You can see for yourself right here. They also added historical character Rebecca around the same time or soon after. I've since written to them requesting more Native American dolls, Asian-American dolls, and more variety in general... with little success.
I have a generous mom-in-law who loves giving gifts. When I told her the story about the new American Girl, she got excited and offered to buy me one for Christmas. We took my boys and went to the new Portland seasonal American Girl shop. It was so much fun (and yes, my boys loved it... that'll be my next post I think). We got it on sale, and the purchase included the donation of another doll (Grace) for a child in the hospital (though I'd rather they just donate the dolls anyway). My mom-in-law brought it home and wrapped it up for Christmas.
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Here she is! |
I love the historical characters, and I have a collection of the minis. Some come from the AG website, others from Overstock, and a few from ebay. My husband bought them for me, one or two at a time. I like the balance of my collection (as opposed to the complete collection), but I do wish I had Ivy. (Good news- I recently discovered Lori dolls by Our Generation, a beautiful variety of mini dolls. I'll be adding some of them to my collection next.) Say hello, little dollies!
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| Samantha, Julie, Melody, Kit, Ruthie, Molly, Mary-Ellen, Josefina, Felicity, Addy, Rebecca, Kaya |
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| Here they are along with some boys I made to go with them. |
What I really love to do, though, is find the dirty, forgotten dolls at the thrift store for $1-$5 and clean them up. Here are some of my beauties from Deseret Industries and Goodwill!
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| These are the 18-inch dolls. These girls were all pretty grungy when I found them, but they fixed up nicely. They didn't come in these clothes, of course. |
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| Here are my Disney princesses, all very well loved by kids both before and after I got them. I actually got Tiana in a big bundle of toys on craigslist. She was my first, and she's still one of my favorites! |
