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Thursday, August 29, 2024

Doll Purchases in Review 14

eBay purchases/wins 05-28-24 through 07-08-23

This post features dolls purchased or won in eBay auctions on May 28, 2023; June 1, 2023; and July 8, 2023.


Red, White 'N Warm Christie, a reproduction of the 1968 Christie wearing a reproduction of the Red, White 'N Warm fashion was purchased as a gift for a friend on May 28, 2023. I acquired my doll in 2007 when it was released by Mattel through the Barbie Fan Club. That was a year before I began writing blog posts here. My doll is featured in my 2nd book, Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, and will be installed in DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum soon.

Metal doll stands for Barbie-size dolls are getting more and more expensive! I purchased this set of 12 on June 1, 2023, as a gift for the same friend who received Red, White, 'N Warm Christie. 



Sian by Nancy Bruns, a 23-inch carved cherry wood Brunswood doll from 1986, was a delightful find on July 8, 2023. Sian is one of two Brunswood dolls in my collection. Both dolls are permanently installed in the Virtual Black Doll Museum.

Related Links


Links to Previous Posts in This Series About Past eBay Doll Purchases
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10


©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Why We Collect Stuff



In the fall of 2011, I was one of several collectors of objects asked to contribute to the New York Times article, "Why We Collect Stuff." I was the only doll collector contributor. My contribution, "Collecting the Dolls I Never Had," remains accessible at the link below. I have also copied images of the contribution here to ensure it stays online.






©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Doll Purchases in Review 13

eBay doll purchases from January 2023 through May 11, 2023


I began reviewing and publishing blog posts that feature past eBay doll purchases dating back to October 2020. This post features purchases made on January 18, 2023; March 23, 2023; and May 11, 2023.

Heidi Ott Doll with Braids

Part of the Heidi Ott Little One's collection, this eBay doll purchase was made on January 18, 2023. The auction thumbnail photo had been deleted when I captured the "delivered" image detailed. So, I inserted a photo I took after the doll arrived. Links to the blog post about this doll and the other two dolls featured in this post are under the Related Links. 

***

Johnna Art Doll

On March 23, 2023, I found a Johnna Art Doll by Barbara Buysee at a price I was willing to pay. These dolls usually sell for several hundred dollars. This adorable boy displays well with dolls from my cloth doll collection, as illustrated in the next two photos. 

This doll by Barbara Buysee stands out among the rest.

The sad boy is seen once again.

***

Three 1950s hard plastic dolls

Three 1950s hard plastic head-turning walkers were purchased on May 11, 2023. The black doll, a 1950s Roberta walker, piqued my interest the most. The other two came along as temporary companions. All three needed major to minor restoration. The black doll's restoration was minor.

Related Links

Links to Previous Posts in This Series About Past eBay Doll Purchases
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Black Dolls for Kamala


A few weeks ago, I purchased the Presidential Candidate Barbie and modified it to represent presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Because Vice President Harris often wears Converse sneakers, I wanted another doll dressed casually in Converse to represent the candidate. Instead of another doll representative, I opted for a casually dressed Kamala Harris for President supporter. Several other dolls wanted to show their support, and the theme, Black Dolls for Kamala resulted.

After President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and nominated VP Harris as the democratic candidate, tremendous support from several groups began and continues. Black Women for Kamala, Black Men for Kamala, White Women and Allies for Kamala Harris for POTUS 2024, Jewish Women for Kamala Harris, Cat Ladies for Kamala Harris, White Men for Kamala, Veterans for Harris, Republicans for Harris/Walz are a few Harris-Walz support groups. The support has been phenomenal and we're all hoping for a huge blue wave win!

Made to Move Barbie—the first doll supporter


While the dolls cannot vote or donate to the Harris-Walz campaign, in this space, they illustrate their unwavering support.

Casual fashion doll clothes and shoes (stretch denim pants, a light blue sweater, and Chuck-style sneakers)


I redressed my Made to Move Barbie casually after repainting a pair of Converse-style fashion doll sneakers.

The unpainted fashion-doll sneakers

The unpainted sneakers and two toothpicks are placed in the center of a paint palette. Blue and red acrylic paint are in the background.

For the sneakers, I used acrylic paint, masking tape, toothpicks or a narrow-bristle paintbrush to apply the paint. Ultra-fine-tipped markers refined the blue and red painted stripes. 

The areas above and below the stripes to be painted were covered with masking tape. (This was done first for the red stripe and repeated after that stripe dried and before the blue stripe was painted.)



The desired look

The above online photo of a low-top white Converse was my inspiration. Unfortunately, I viewed the photo the day before I began painting. 

Relying on my memory, I incorrectly thought the blue stripe was wider than the red and that's how it was painted.

The blue stripe is considerably wider than the red...
...but it works for now.

A white stripe above the top of the blue stripe will narrow it, but I will leave it wide to represent the forthcoming blue wave of majority blue voters in November.

Holding a sign of support, Made to Move Barbie wears the painted sneakers and the casual clothes.


Redressed Made to Move Barbie holds a sign that reads Black Dolls for Kamala. Several other dolls show their support for Harris with different signs.

JHD Midnight Orchid YaYa gives Harris-Waltz her full support.


Varsity Plaiditude Barbie is all in for Harris-Walz 2024.

Keeki Adaeze is also a Black doll for Kamala.

A vintage Integrity Toys Janay supports Harris-Walz 2024, too.

The five doll supporters took one final photo.

Black Dolls for Kamala 2024!

We are moving forward and not going back!

Related Link

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Making Corn Husk Dolls

Corn Husks inspired the creation of two dolls

We cooked fresh corn on the cob recently. After my husband removed the husks, he recalled the corn husk dolls that girls made during the 1950s. Most of these girls did not have the luxury of store-bought dolls or only received dolls for special occasions. I asked him to save the husks for me because I wanted to make two dolls. This doll-making process began on July 25, 2024, and was captured in the following pictures. (This post is photo intense.)

Materials

Most of the materials used to create two corn husk dolls are captured in the above photo: shredded paper from my shredder enclosed in a Ziploc bag, an empty water bottle cut in half (I used the bottom and top), ModPodge, rubber gloves, and husks from two fresh ears of corn.

I used shredded paper, ModPodge, and a small amount of water to form papier-mâché with a loose putty-like consistency. This was used for the heads and hands. 

I added the paper-mâché ingredients to the bottom of the water bottle and mixed the ingredients with a plastic straw.

Mixing the ingredients


When necessary, extra glue, water, or ModPodge were added to achieve a putty-like consistency. I also used a finger to mix.

This is the desired consistency—moist enough to form a ball for the head and to create the hands later.


The dolls' heads were formed by rolling the paper-mâché into a ball.

I tapered the size down before the above ball of paper-mâché was molded onto the neck of one corn husk. 

The ball of paper-mâché is placed on the neck area of one corn husk.

Both paper-mâché heads are on the necks and lie across a box to dry.


After drying, the heads darkened.

To keep the paper-mâché moist, I placed the top cut portion of the water bottle on top of the bottom. This created enough seal to keep the paper-mâché moist. 

Pipe cleaners are hot glued to the back of the torsos in this picture.

The pipe cleaner arms are shown from the back.

The initial plan was to cover the pipe cleaners with paper-mâché, but I decided it would be better to cover the pipe cleaners with corn husks, which is what was done after the glue-on pipe cleaners were removed from the dolls.

With a corn husk cut to match the length of the pipe cleaners and Aleene's Tacky glue spread inside the corn husk, each pipe cleaner was rolled into one side of the corn husk. 

At the top of the above photo, a pipe cleaner is already rolled into one side of the corn husk, and the other pipe cleaner is prepped for rolling into the opposite side. Aleene's Tacky glue secures the pipe cleaners inside the corn husk.


Both pipe cleaners are rolled into the corn husk before cutting the corn husk in the center to separate each. Next, each "arm" was cut in half.

A corn husk, cut in the shape of a shawl, is wrapped around one doll to check for fit and torso coverage.

The same shawl creation was done for the other doll.

The shawls are left wrapped around the dolls but are not secured in place. The pipe cleaner arms for both dolls (that look like rolled cigarettes before they were cut in half) are wrapped inside a corn husk.

After determining the arm placement, the arms were cut in half and glued inside the corn husk shawl. Paper-mâché hands were created and attached to each arm. The shawl and attached arms and hands were wrapped around a pill container to allow the paper-mâché hands to dry.

The same process was done for the other doll's arms and hands.

In this photo, the paper-mâché hands are dry.

Almost complete, the dolls' heads, necks, arms, and hands are painted. I used a different shade of brown for each doll.

This is a close-up of the shawls, attached arms, and hands.

Additional supplies

To create jewelry, make a doll stand, and for hair, I used the above items: 1/8" gold map pins, 9 gauge aluminum wire, my mother's hair*, and my hair. I used a couple of size 8 sequin pins (short stick pins) for one of the dolls, which is explained below.

One doll stand is fashioned using the 9 gauge aluminum wire.


Both doll stands are fashioned.

I changed the doll stand color from silver to gold with gold metallic acrylic paint.



I placed air dry clay at the top of each doll stand but later removed the clay before it dried.


To hold the stands in place underneath the skirts, I placed air dry clay underneath and in the center of each doll's skirt making sure none was exposed from the outside. Next, the top of each doll stand was inserted into the clay and allowed to dry. 

Using Aleene's Tacky Glue, hair was glued to each doll's head and any excess trimmed.

Most of the hair is glued to this doll's head.

Each doll's head was wrapped in saran wrap after gluing on the hair.


Voila! They are done!


A view from the back


Close-up

Final Touches:
Gold map pins create drop earrings for each doll. The same pins were used to hold the shawls in place. I used one gold pin for the dark-haired doll and two for the blonde. I placed an extra, cut-to-fit, piece of corn husk around the torso of the dark-haired doll because the shawl did not completely cover the torso in the back. I  did not want to create a wider shawl because doing so would require regluing the arms onto the new shawl, too much trouble. The added husk around the torso is held in place with two gold map pins in the back, but only one is visible in the photo from the back. I might have used a short stick pin or two in the corn husk that covers the torso before adding the decorative gold map pins. Because the ends of the skirts do not lie flat**, the skirts are held down with a clear rubber band near the hemline and a gold cord tied over the rubber band. I will glue the gold cord in place after the glue pen that I ordered arrives.

It took me almost a month to finish the dolls, but I only worked on them sporadically, doing one thing at a time for only a few minutes because "slow and steady" wins my races.

They are not perfect, but I like them, and my artist-husband was impressed during the initial phases of their creation. I haven't showed him the finished dolls.

*The one that has my mother's hair (hair that I saved each time I washed or combed her hair) is my favorite for obvious reasons. 

**If I make more corn husk dolls, I will form the shape of the skirt while the corn husk is moist because once it's dry, it maintains the dried shape. 

The best lessons are learned through trial and error.



©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!