About Me

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I AM: wife to 1, mother to 3, sister to 2 and 5 steps, aunt to 27, not-so-much-a-chocoholic-anymore, coffee loving, cloth diapering wanna be (my youngest potty trained herself recently), friend to many.

Friday, December 10, 2010

By the way, I did find a set of A-Team walkie talkies on Ebay, just like I had when I was little. I had forgotten they were not battery operated. They were joined by a long plastic cord; think tin cans and string here. They were only $4.99 plus shipping. I didn't bid on them. But I did show the listing to my prince charming who just shook his head and walked away. But deep down, I know he wants a set of these for Christmas.

Ebay is my Weakness! Part 2





Move over CPK, forget My Friend Becky!! Welcome 1950's vintage doll patterns, and extend your hand to the classic dolls that made those patterns what they are! I had finally cleared my "watch list" of the dolls mentioned in the previous post. I had a realization that what I really wanted was to sew the dolls clothes and not play with the dolls myself. Don't get me wrong. I still have vivid memories of my dolls from the past, but I also know that having one today won't magically put me in a time machine and take me back to my childhood. So, instead of looking for more dolls I knew I wouldn't bid on, I started looking at the patterns for them. I have a few original CPK patterns that belonged to my Grandma, but I have none for Becky, or any that would fit Becky. So I started searching original patterns for her. And then I came across one that said, "Betsy McCall's Friend Mandy" which is the doll who started the "My Friend..." collection. Well, I didn't know who Betsy McCall was, so I had to do a search for her. Lets just say I opened a door (or rather, Pandora's box) to a whole new world of dolls. Dolls my mom is most certainly familiar with. Note: when I was a kid, every so often my mom would pull her childhood dolls (I think there were only 2 of them) out to "show" my sisters and me. We were allowed to look, but never touch them. Even though my mom went on and on about how beautiful they were, their faces kind of creeped me out. And one of them was much bigger than our average dolls. That creeped me out a bit as well. And then there was a memory (sorry to do this mom, I'll be as discreet as I possibly can!!) of an evening when it was late and mom was a little tired and a lot slap happy, and she started impersonating her walking doll. It was really funny! But also REALLY CREEPED me out. I used to think if any of my dolls moved like that I'd for sure get rid of them PRONTO. Well, yesterday Ebay opened the door to the days before my time. The golden yesteryear. I met Patsy Sue, Linda Baby, Terri Lee, Posie, Tony, Betsy McCall and her little sister Linda, Daisy, Ann Estelle, Roberta, Honey, Gum Drop, Princess Mary, Rosemary, Nanette, Mary Hartline, Sara Ann, Fluffy and Sweet Sue. Granted, not all of these dolls are from the 50's; they may range a few decades (but I didn't go THAT far in my research). #1. I think my mom's doll may be Roberta, Princess Mary, or Rosemary. She'll have to tell me which one. #2. My name is Tara LeeAnn, and growing up my mom would call me Terri Lee and I HATED IT! My name is Tara, NOT Terri!!! However I didn't know until yesterday there is a BEAUTIFUL DOLL Named Terri Lee. I called my mom and told her it will not hurt my feelings any more if she calls me Terri Lee! Really, you can ask her! lol #3. I found out why my mom had to do a moving impersonation of her doll. It is a "walker" doll. The doll is designed to walk and because it doesn't have bones and free motion, it only has joints so will walk a little CREEPY! There is a collection of dolls called "Saucy Walkers". Some of them do have faces that remind me of Chucky, but some of them are extremely beautiful! They range in size from 7.5 inches to 30 inches. And there are patterns for almost all of them. Patterns I have fallen in love with. I have mentioned on the blog before I am a sucker for vintage patterns. Mercy. I am in trouble. Now I have about 150 patterns in my watch list! And a few of the dolls, too. I like the Patsy and Honey dolls. And something else I realized. My grandma had some dolls for us to play with in the toy closet in her house. After she passed away, I kept some of them. No one else wanted them. They were small and plastic and old. Well, I had them until last year when we moved. We got rid of a lot of stuff we either weren't using or didn't need/want anymore. Guess which bag those dolls went into. Notice I said "bag" and not "moving box". I believe their final destination was Open Door. Maybe they met my Cabbage Patch girls. Those dolls were made by Effanbee. One was just a plain ol, nothin' special baby doll. But the other was an 8" Fluffy. Grandma had even made a few clothes for it, but I don't have the pattern she used. I could just kick myself. I don't have any 8 inch dolls to sew for here in the house. But there are so many 8 inch doll patterns available. I am a mess, I tell you! And today I told myself I am NOT going to Ebay. I have things that need to be done! But I have this hankrin', I want to see if what I was looking at is still available. My name is Tara, and I am an Ebay-aholic.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Ebay is my Weakness!



This week I think I have spent more time on Ebay than anywhere else. We're in the Christmas (present) season. For the last few years my family has been on a spending diet. We have trained ourselves to live "frugally". So in thinking about what I would like to get the kids for Christmas, I came up with a few ideas and went to ebay to see if I could find some good deals. What I really found was that I could sit and browse through the vast selections for HOURS on end. I DID! UGH. SHEESH. And then I realized I was looking for things I liked as a kid. Not the things that are cool today. I looked at My Friend Becky and Cabbage Patch Kids until my eyes were crossed and I had like 150 of each on my "watch list". And then I had another realization. I am getting old. Why? Because I don't even know what is COOL today. We don't have cable, so I don't keep up.
Then I found myself looking for vintage doll sewing patterns. My great-grandma, Mimmie, used to make dolls for all the granddaughters every Christmas. I am thinking about re-birthing that tradition with my daughters and maybe nieces. We'll see. Backtrack with me for a moment. Yesterday while I was yet again caught in 1983 and looking at the CPK's on ebay, I remembered that a few years back I still had all 3 of mine. Valentina Cornelia, Hetty Tara, and Olive Candace. They were my all time favorite dolls. And believe you me, I was NOT a doll person growing up. I hated Barbie, I didn't care for paper dolls. I loved my Billy the Kid cap gun, A-Team walkie talkies, and I wanted to be a stunt man when I grew up. (Some dreams do die!! Thank heavens.) But I loved my Cabbage Patch Kids. Well, I had saved them well into adulthood. I couldn't bear to part with them. Then after AJ was born, I pulled them out of storage and cleaned them up, and "lent" them to her to play with. But much to my dismay she didn't like them. She didn't play with them. She didn't dress them. She didn't want to take them with us in the car, she didn't want to take them to church, she didn't want to sleep with them or have tea parties with them. She didn't like them. Period. So finally after years of being a pack rat, I read some books on organization, and cleaning up the clutter, and how to keep memories without keeping things, and I went on a purging binge, and added my CPK's to the boxes of "stuff" to go to Open Door or Salvation Army. And I took them! Yesterday I vaguely remembered doing so, but in hopes that maybe, just maybe "their" box didn't go bye bye, I went through all my boxes in the storage closet to see if I could find them. I wanted to cry. The girls are gone. But I did find my boxes of handmade dolls from my great-grandma. I let little Curly Top pick 2 to play with. She likes them, but she doesn't want to see them when she's going to sleep. Sheesh. I also remember having My Friend Becky. I mean having her well into adulthood as well. And I remember purging her as well. But memories! She had a green dress with little pink flowers, white slip on shoes, and a white straw hat with an elastic band to hold it in place. She had the sweetest smile, and red hair. And my big sister had one just like her. My sis, DJ, and I used to share a room with a full size bed. When making the bed, we would mirror image our stuffed animals and dolls for display. It totally makes me want to go back to 1983!!!!! Had I kept Becky to ebay her (instead of donating her to charity) I could get $50 or more! Its crazy. Anyway, because I loved these dolls so much I was once again thinking maybe my little Curly Top might love them, too. So I spent time on Ebay looking for the perfect ones for her. I saved so many to my watch list! And then I got hit with a reality check. If the dolls are mint in box now, they are priced so high I won't pay for it. And if they are not mint in box, they've been out for around 30 years! collecting dust and germs and whatever! And do I want to spend good money on 30 year old dolls for my daughter who might hate them??? Probably not. A better question would be, "Tara, do you want one of these dolls for Christmas?" To which I would reply, "Shh, don't tell anyone, but YES!!!" I wouldn't play with them or take them to the store. But I would sew clothes for them. I have my grandma's vintage CPK sewing patterns. But the Fisher Price My Friends patterns are hard to come by. Ok, its getting late and my eyes are crossing. Time to say goodnight!!

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