Baby Belle blues

Current Mood : Joyfully tired...

Today was a great semi-‘me’ day ! Dearest Son had a great visit with his grandparents, I snagged four books at Beloved Hubby’s University Library, two dolls at the GoodWill down the street, got the grocery shopping done, had a great salad for lunch, and took a nap ! Luckily, we got Dearest back home before a major thunderstorm hit, too. A really great day !

While Beloved didn’t have class today – that’s why he was with me, he had no class ! – he had a test to take, so I amused myself happily in their Library. Got some great books on culture and even sewing that the local one lacks, and I’d barely settled into a nook to wait for him when, there he was ! We hit the GWill, and he found a gorgeous tie and a psychology desk reference – it’s probably $50. anywhere else – and I found a Disney Princess doll who didn’t play fair and another doll you’ll see tomorrow. Yup. You might remember (I barely do) that I once had a nearly identical Baby Ariel, but her hair wasn’t nearly as disastrous. I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to get that woolly mess back anywhere near the way it looked in-package. While the image doesn’t show it, her feet and fingers are covered in blue ink stains, and she really needs an all-over bath.

But who could resist that sweet little face looking out of a pile of stuffed animals, plastic vanities, hopeless-hair styling heads, abandoned games, and broken sports equipment ? Not me. Since she was so inexpensive – 99c ! – I decided to make a project out of her, and got the other doll, too. Cracked the ‘Sharpie Code’ on their feet, too. Circle and one dot, 99c. Circle and two dots, $1.99. It’s a good idea, since tags never stay on dolls long in thrift shops. My 1969 Chatty Cathy has the $1.99 mark on her, but it was half price day when she joined the ranks of ‘Mattel dolls with the Timey Tell head’ girls I have.

Once home, I discovered two things about Baby Belle. One, she smells faintly of either vanilla or baby powder, it’s kinda hard to distinguish. Two, that’s not her dress. It belongs to one of the 15-inch Little Disney Princesses, although hours of research, from cheap knockoffs to Tonner exclusives, in every possible medium from stuffed to porcelain, from every manufacturer, although the dress has a 2008 Playmates tag, has failed to show me which LDP owned it. At first, I thought the dress had been put on wrong – it happens a lot – but it’s simply too small for her. (grin) When I tried to take it off, I wondered out loud how they got it on her in the first place !

 Ah, well. It’s still pretty, and PDorrie can certainly wear the dress, and will soon, it just leaves Baby Belle bare. I’ll whip up something for her once she’s clean and not so demolished and forlorn. Still, I have no idea why toy companies insist on using cheap sateen and sparkle tulle on playlines. It looks cheap in days, frays like heck, and tears almost while extracting it from the packaging. I guess shelf appeal is the only explanation – most girls love shiny fabrics and shimmery fragile ones. 

I think I’m home most of tomorrow, although I do need to nick out to Dollar Tree again for some cheep fabric softener, for BB’s hair. Hoping to hop over to the new grocery store, just to poke around a bit. It’s crunchy health/ organic, so I know it’s out of our budget, and we just topped the pantry tanks at Aldi’s today, but a girl still likes to know what’s available where.

Hope your Friday was fun ! And without thunderstorms !