I adore thrift stores. One of my dreams in life is to one day stumble across a minty Kenner Blythe. Maybe she’d have frizzy hair, maybe she’d still have both shoes on. But my dream is to find that elusive thrift store Kenner. Previously loved, and then so carelessly tossed into a box to be sent to a local thrift store. I’d come across her and pay the amazing price of $1 and be gleefully on my way.

Short of that dream, some pattern books for Barbie-sized furniture is always welcome. I came across these ages ago at a thrift store, bought them, and then promptly forgot about them until I was recently cleaning. The last time I did anything with plastic canvas would have been when I took a textiles class in high school, so I was a bit nostalgic when I came across these books and then I was super excited because Blythe fits pretty well with Barbie-sized furniture as they are technically the same scale (1:6).

While some of the colour combinations are bit dated, I think the overall furniture shapes can be mostly be used for a more ‘modern’ set. The nice thing about plastic canvas projects is the ease of it, and plus it’s fairly easy to thread a yarn needle (as opposed to a needle for cross stitching). I do plan on getting my hands on some plastic canvas soon, and see if I have the right type of yarn and then maybe I’ll make some living room accessories in bright colours to go with the IKEA HUSET pieces.

Will there be new furniture in my dolls’ future? Most likely!

As mentioned in January, I was temporarily relocating for part 1 of my practicum this term. I brought two dolls with me, what I consider to be a small selection of clothes, and some shoes. Now that the practicum is almost over, I’ve started the process of packing things up to get ready for the move back home.

All the clothes are accounted for, both dolls are accounted for – my current problem is the shoes. I’ve seem to be misplaced one of the white vintage squishy boots (featured in the photo below) somewhere in the apartment…

Eden and Primrose are both wearing Kult of Kulta, vintage squishy
Barbie boots, and travel in Sew Pixie carry bags.

I’m not entirely sure how, because I took care to make sure to put shoes when not in use into a zipped bag. But right now Prim is hanging out without a boot on. I should probably swap them out with something else to spare her the indecency… at least I didn’t photograph her with only one boot on!

If you were a missing boot, where would you be?

UPDATE: I FOUND THE BOOT.

It was somehow inside of my pillow case. Not on the side where I lay my head, but the underside. How it got in there, I have no idea.

One of the greatest joys when it comes to receiving dolls in the mail is the anticipation. This comes with the excitement of getting a tracking number, and then the eagerness of repeatedly hitting ‘refresh’ on the postal service’s website because why isn’t she here yet?!

This feeling comes with dolls, and I love this feeling, but like many I cannot afford to buy dolls on a regular basis. Then comes in the idea of travelling Blythes or hosting a visitor.

While there are some more formal programs to take part of (some official Traveling Blythes that have a strict schedule where participators help fund the cost of the doll and extra postage fees needed for international jumps), there are some less formal travelling dolls as well.

How travelling dolls work is that the previous host (or owner) pays for the postage costs for the doll to arrive to you. You retrieve her from the post office (or perhaps get her at the door) and then enjoy her and all of her things for a predetermined set amount of time. Once your time is up, you pack her and her goodies up (there may be a requirement or expectation that you add to a travel journal or add something to her wardrobe as a ‘souvenir’) and then you pay for the postage (with tracking and, likely, insurance) for her to reach her next post. If the doll had an owner in the beginning, then the last stop would be a return home. If the doll didn’t have an owner at the beginning, there tends to be a draw to see which of the previous hosts would receive the doll in the end.

Overall, I find travelling dolls to be fun! There’s a lot of fun with the anticipation and then you can also act as a tourist in your own city. When I was playing hostess to Makani (custom by Kate/Chantilly Lace) in 2012, I had the fun of exploring around Vancouver, BC with her as well as going to a local park with her for some fun nature shots. It’s exceptionally fun to have that period of anticipation and getting to refresh (and refresh again!) the tracking number for a doll. You get all the feeling and joy of having a “new” Blythe without the gross expense of buying a new Blythe. While there is a cost associated with participating in a (in)formal travelling Blythe project, it still does not end up being as much as it does when you buy a new-to-you custom Blythe or commission for one to be done for you. Plus it’s fun to play tourist!

Have you ever been host to a travelling doll? Would you want to be a host?

Despite my No Spend plans for January, I am already thinking about my future shopping plans for the month of February. However, the little wrench in my plans is that my self-imposed budget is $15 a month. Now how can I stretch $15 for the month of February?

“You wish you found me at a thrift store?!”
Emmalynn is wearing Plastic Fashion.

To make it stretch the most, I will be paying attention to the sundries sales on Blythe Kingdom and in varies Facebook groups. Chances are I won’t be able to buy a whole lot with $15, but I may also take the money to a local craft store and buy supplies to make some doll clothes or something like that. In my dreams though, the shopping plans would include a Kenner (or two!) but short of finding that mystical Kenner Blythe in a thrift store or yard sale (and it’s the wrong season for yard sales here!), I doubt I’ll be adding a Kenner to my dolly family in February (or this year, rather).

If you had $15 to spend on doll things, what would you buy?

The problem with trying to curb the spending is that you become very aware of how bombarded you are by listings for secondhand sundries or new listings for custom dolls. Suddenly all of the new stock releases look very appealing, and one of those fantastic dress seamstresses that I love? I had to talk myself out of hitting checkout with the Etsy cart despite reaching the listing within possibly ten seconds of it being listed.

On the bright side, my No Spend challenge is only for the month of January. After that, I will have a (small) budget set aside for fun dolly spending, which s always nice! But being aware of how easy it is to be sucked into the buy, buy, buy mode is rather alarming (and thought provoking as well). I shouldn’t be too surprised, because a lot of how we interact on the internet when it comes to Blythe.

Maybe if we stare her down, she’ll buy us some new dresses!
Cameo wears Plastic Fashion. Halo wears a dress by an unknown seamstress.

If you go to forums, there are always some Buy/Sell/Trade threads up. If you log onto Facebook and you’re a member of one of the dozens (hundreds?) of Blythe-related groups, you’re probably also in a group that involves buying or selling dolls and sundries. I’m still not sure how I wound up in them, I suspect sabotage by friends who thought it’d be a good idea to invite me into those groups… Regardless of where you go when you’re looking at doll things, it is difficult to not be confronted with listings and ads for new dolls, clothes, shoes, and even furniture! Fortunately (or unfortunately…?) with my schedule now, I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time online, which means that I’ve been missing a lot of listings for dolls, clothes, and shoes for sale.

Two weeks into January and I’m still doing very well for my No Spend month! No new dolls, doll clothes, or doll shoes (sobs!) in the mail for me. I did have to buy a present (somewhat unexpectedly), but that was sort of necessary and not-doll related.