Salvation Army Moxie Finds

  Once again I made a good haul at Salvation Army. I found a bag of 6 or 7 dolls for $4.99. It contained these three Moxie Girlz, and my first Moxie Boyz doll!

And they all have clothes, and best of all: shoes!

His name is Owen. He's from the Magic Snow series, like the Kellan I showed you a while back.

I wish they had actually done his hair like the picture on the box.

Hey! I think I have that hat!

I prefer the hair laying down, as opposed to his sticky up style.

   I tried to make it lay down and to the side, but because it wasn't rooted that way it left him a little thin on top.
  The blonde girl is Magic Snow Avery.

I actually found her hat at the same time, in a separate bag of shoes and accessories.

I didn't know I had her hat until I was going through the stuff at home.

Most of the shoes were Monster High, but only about half were pairs. I now have a bunch of single shoes, so I need to go through my Monster High dolls and see who might have the matching single shoe. I know I have some who are only wearing one shoe.
  The two dark haired Girlz might both be  Lexa.

"Who did you say you were?"

It's a little confusing because they have different skin tones and different colour eyes.

I like that their hair isn't just one colour. It's made of several different shades, so it's very realistic. The hair on the brunette Moxie Girlz dolls is also very smooth and nice to comb. I can see where kids who love to play with their dolls hair would love these  dolls. The blondes are a different story though. Their hair tends to get crispy on the ends. Avery's was kind of crispy and matted when I got her.She took extra conditioning.

 Here's the denim dress one in her box. Seems to be a different doll from either of the ones I got. She has the darker skin tone, but green eyes and black hair.

I have had that Teddy bear for ages, but I didn't know what it went to!

The one in the denim dress has sparkly eye shadow. It's not the first doll I've seen with this, including the new Avery, so is it original?Or was it something kids could add to their doll?

She has sleeve damage on one side, but I think I have another of these dresses.

My favourite of all of these is the Lexa in the Hoodie. I love her dark hair and that cute hoodie.

She's I Am Smart Lexa. 

In the bag of accessories that had Avery's hat I also got one of Lexa's cute knee socks with the anime character on it. (Anybody know who it is?) Unfortunately it was just the one sock, and I didn't get her skirt or anime shirt.
  Moxie Girlz are made by MGA, who also make Bratz,(As if you couldn't tell.) They look younger and sweeter than Bratz though, and a lot more innocent. I don't like Bratz, (Except for some of the Bratzillaz.),but occasionally there was a nice coat or cool pair of shoes that I would have liked to be able to use. Unfortunately, the Moxie Girlz, even though they share the same annoying removable foot trait as Bratz dolls and are made by the same company, can't share shoes/feet. The peg and hole in Bratz dolls legs/shoes is just slightly bigger than the Moxies.
  I like Moxie Girlz.,but I need to trim down the number of them I own. (I keep hoping to replace my favourite one. She had a mark near her eye, and in trying to remove it I removed part of her eye!) When I first started finding them at thrift stores and yard sales a couple of years ago, they seldom had feet. Now when I find one they not only have feet, but have never even been taken out of their original outfits.Maybe it's a sign that the generation that were buying these dolls have begun to tire or grow too old for them, and are now only going through the motions: They still buy them or are given them as gifts out of habit, but they no longer bother to play with them.
  See you again soon.

Diet? What diet? House Renovations, and Why I Think I Like Salvation Army More Than Goodwill Now

  I confess to having been really bad the last couple of weeks. Between Ken's birthday and Ken wanting to eat out for Valentine's Day, plus he bought me candy, it has been really hard. When I do my diet it has to be all or nothing: no giving in here and there. Ken can't understand that. (Mind you, it's all about food to him, so he can't understand how I can do the diet at all.) For some reason I am also having a really hard time sticking to my diet this time anyway. It didn't help that the battery is going out in my scale, so the numbers have been all over the place, even at the same weigh in! That's why I wanted a plain old scale, one with no electricity involved. Do you know how hard it is to find an affordable scale like that?! You practically have to buy one of those scales like doctors have---and most of them have electric scales now too! And of course, Ken, who loves gadgetry of all kinds, liked the electronic scale. Now he's realizing I had a point when I complained that the scale would continue to cost us because we'd have to keep buying batteries for it! I checked batteries last night, and they are $6 or $7! It's ridiculous! I just want to weigh myself!
  Anyway, I have gained back some of what I lost. I'm going to try to get back down to the 10 pound loss during the rest of this week and then on Monday I will have a new battery, and a new start on the diet.
  This week I am also starting on my first This Old House project in my list of projects. I'll be putting a new ceiling, walls, and flooring in my upstairs bathroom. I also bought tiles while they were on sale for 9 cents a piece. That's a projects for later though, and frankly, it scares me to death.The walls are bad enough. I think I might have to pull the old stuff off, (Has anybody alive today even heard of rubber asphalt?!) , and I'm afraid of what will happen to the plaster underneath if I do. On the other hand, if I don't, will the rubber asphalt start to come off after a while and take my new walls with it?! Or should I just remove the plaster too, to begin with? But then I have to put up dry wall. More expense and more stuff I know nothing about doing!
  I'm going to have a couple of doll posts up in the next few days. I made some more finds at Salvation Army last night. I'm beginning to like Salvation Army better than Goodwill these days. Salvation Army was so dark and kind of smelly too.And we used to be friendly with a lot of the staff at our Goodwill. Emma worked there, so we knew about everybody. That was  several years ago now, and the staff has almost all changed. I know a few that are still there, and some that have come since,but the current staff at Salvation Army are much friendlier. It's still kind of dark in there, and it still smells a bit musty, but I have had so many good finds there in the last year and a half or so. (Don't forget my 10 cent Barbie's New Dream House!) So stick around for the upcoming posts. If you liked the last Salvation Army Strawberry Shortcake find, you're going to love what's coming...

Happy Valentine's Day! Some Antique Cards,Betsy McCall, and a Yard Sale Tale

  Before I forget, welcome to our two newest followers,All About Boog and Susan from Susan's Mini Homes . (Her blog has lots of really cool dollhouses and associated stuff, so have a look.)Thanks for joining us guys!
  Happy Valentine's Day everybody! Ken gave me a big box of my favourite chocolates, Russell Stover, which I didn't need, and shouldn't have. But he did it out of love. He wanted to go out to eat today, and I would have obliged, since that's what he likes to do and I love him,but the weather was so bad I really didn't think it was worth the extra trip out on the extra snowy streets.
  In honour of the day I wanted to show you a couple of vintage cards I have.The first one is actually a proposal...

...at least that's what the inside says.

Who proposes by card?

The little cupid guy on the front has a little message under him that was hard to see until I enlarged the pictures.

"Ever thine". Aww.

There are some spots and yellowing on the card, but there is also beautiful detail and I love it.

 The other card is three dimensional.

Open...

Loving Greetings.

...and closed.

Looks very romantic, yes?

The back has a different message though.

"Papa and Mamma"

Papa and Mamma must have loved their little someone very much to give them this beautiful card.

Arg! It's sideways!

  Today I'm also showing you a doll. (Surprise!) She's all decked out for her big day. She's Betsy McCall.

I may have told the story of this Betsy before, but I can't find it in my old posts.She's NOT the Betsy I got at the flea market for a dollar...

But she looks a lot like her.

Just in case you haven't heard the story of how I got her, I'll repeat it. It's a pretty amazing...
                                                        

  We have a local couple who go to a lot of auctions, so they have at least one yard sale every year, sometimes two. One year Emma and I went to their sale and while shopping their garage we spotted loads of dolls. There was a big wire rack filled with dolls, doll clothes, cases. We  could see a Tammy and Barbie feet.  Tammy's original gym suit and Ken's Sleeper Set pajamas were on little hangers hanging on the wire shelf. Emma and I found the owners and asked about the dolls, which we couldn't actually reach because there was a lot of stuff in between us and the wire racks. Well, she might as well have used thumb screws on us because the torture was just as bad. The stuff, she said, wasn't for sale, because they hadn't gone through it yet. Made sense, but don't SHOW me the stuff!
  Anyway, new scene. It's the next year. Emma, Ken, our youngest, Ivy, and I go to a doll auction. We buy a few things, some of which I will let go so I can afford to keep what I really want. Emma and I stand, watching the Betsy McCalls go for hundreds of dollars. "Oh, she is so cute! I want a Betsy McCall!" Emma says. "Yes, me too, but look at those prices. We'll never get one of those." I say. Emma tells me that she drove past the place that had the not-for-sale dolls last year on her way home from work last night and it looked like they were getting ready to have a sale. We make a note to get up early and check it out in the morning.
  In the morning, for some forgotten reason, we don't get out quite as early as we should. When we do we head straight for the place. Their sale is indeed on. We walk into the driveway and there sit the metal racks. They look untouched. Even the Tammy gym suit and the Ken pajamas are still hanging on their little hangers on the shelf. We start taking things off the racks and making piles. A Fashion Queen Barbie for me. The wigs for Emma. A Bubble cut Barbie for me,a case of stuff for Emma. Blonde crew cut Kens for both of us. Platinum Tammy's for both of us.(**You can see my platinum Tammy HERE.**)
 A titian straight leg Skipper for me. A Toni doll for Emma.A Miss Revlon wanna-be for me, along with loads of gorgeous handmade clothes, Barbie accessories,including Barbie's dominoes,a few pieces of clothing,including the hat from Studio Tour, and the ever elusive Cap n' Crunch bosun whistle----for each of us. I took a paper bag off the shelf and looked in. Sleeping in the bag (On account of she was on her back so her eyes were closed.) was a sweet little brunette Betsy McCall. She's missing the lower half of one leg, but when we go through the stuff I find we have both her barrettes, her bridal dress, veil, and white shoes, along with the vest from Pony Pals. (We realize Emma bought the rest of Pony Pals in the box at one of their previous sales.) Emma and I made pretty much a clean sweep of the shelves between us. Our final combined cost? $65.
This is the wedding dress we got at the same sale.

Emma lost one of her barrettes.

 When we got it it had some rust stains on it. I got them out easily with Stain Devils. I really should do a commercial for them...

This lace thing was in the stuff too. But is it her veil?

It doesn't work completely well as one. For example, it looks really dumb when you do this...

But it can look ok worn off the face. 

I'm sure I saw this veil with this wedding gown online, but I can't find it now. The only veil I can find looks way different. (And you can see through it...) Does anybody know if this veil is a Betsy veil?
  Betsy is really pretty,

...and in pretty good condition, but as I mentioned, she does have one problem...

She does have both white shoes though!

Luckily it doesn't show in this long dress.
Her hair is nice and full, but could have been glued a little farther over to the left side. Her molded hair line shows there.

One of these days I want a red haired Betsy. I can't really complain about my two brunettes though, considering how cheaply I got them.

Diet Week Five: Trying to Maintain and Ken's Birthday

  To begin with I keep forgetting to welcome our two newest followers. I did notice you were there guys! Welcome to Anderson's All Purpose from Mrs. Anderson's All Purpose Blog and RagingMoon1987 of Confessions of a Dolly Lover . Both blogs might interest you so check them out.
  Last week was supposed to be Week 5 of my diet, but I eased on  it a bit, but tried to maintain my weight where it was. It still went up and down just a little all week.
  I started this week about where I was in last week's report.Yesterday was Ken's birthday, which means, (To Ken, that is.), Eating with a capital E. He would eat out for all three meals on his birthday. Fortunately he only went for lunch and dinner this year. He chose Mexican for lunch, but I was fairly good. Since I knew there was no way I could fit in two big meals even on the best of days, I sat out the full lunch and just ate some chips and salsa and a few bites of spinach dip, and I drank water.
  For dinner Ken decided on a steak place. Well, as readers will know, the kids and I don't eat meat. His birthday is the one day of the year that Ken allows himself to be selfish and go somewhere that has minimal food choices for us. That's ok with us. It's his day. We usually manage a meal of appetizers, and sometimes salad. (Except for Ivy, who won't eat salad.) Ken went all out, eating Oysters Rockefeller, steak,(Usually he tried to get Prime Rib, but this place didn't do it.), and a lobster tail. Ivy and I had macaroni and cheese, and Emma and I split a salad with spinach,strawberries, and goat cheese. Once again I confirmed that I do not like vinaigrette dressing. The girls and I also split mushrooms in a cream sauce served on sourdough bread. That was really good, other than the vinaigrette, which thankfully was mostly around the edges. Everybody but Ivy shared some asparagus with Hollandaise sauce. I had about three bites of Ken's free birthday cheesecake, but my biggest downfall was the almond and chocolate lace cookies we got at World Market before we went out to eat! Those things were calling my name, and I answered!
  We had birthday cake when we got home...very thin wedges! It was a chocolate sour cream cake I made the day before. The icing was orange, but not nearly orange enough. I used orange essence, orange zest and some fresh squeezed orange juice. I have made chocolate cake with orange icing before, and I must have used orange flavouring instead of essence because the orange flavour was a lot stronger.(If you read my post about the book "Miss Osborne the Mop" you'll know there is a chocolate cake with orange icing and walnuts in that book that has influenced my life!)
  So this week I am going to try to be VERY good and get myself back on track. Before you know it it will be my birthday!

Thrift Store Finds Part 4: Davey and Goliath Puppets

  It's been awhile, but I still have more finds from that one week of thrift store hauls a couple of weeks ago. Today I'm showing you these puppets. Anybody remember Davey and Goliath?

These guys are full sized hand puppets. They were 49 cents each at Salvation Army.I found Davey one day, and Goliath several days later!

Davey and Goliath was a children's tv show created by Gumby creator Art Clokey.

"We thought we were the only ones!"

The series used the same 'stop motion' animation as the Gumby series, and shows like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. The characters were made of foam over a poseable armature. The eyes and mouths were made of paper so their expressions could be easily changed. 

 It began airing in 1960 and new episodes were made until 1965. It was later brought back and more new episodes were made. I watched it as a kid in the 60's.

Ken volunteered his arms...ok, I asked him.He's not much of a puppeteer.

Goliath was Davey's dog. His catch phrase, (Yes, he talked.), was "People never listen."

Davey's friends Nat, (from the 60's shows I watched as a kid.) and Jonathan Reed, (from the later 70's shows), were some of the first African American characters to appear as friends of a white lead character.
The series was made by The Lutheran Church.

While Davey's faith in God was a part of his life, the show was praised for never being 'preachy'. The lessons taught were about respect,tolerance,right and wrong, and manners: lessons everyone needs to learn, regardless of religious preference.
  Davey and Goliath episodes can be bought on iTunes. There is also an official Davey and Goliath website. You can go there HERE.