Thrift Store Tianas

Thrift-store-found Princess Tiana dolls

I found two different versions of Princess Tiana dolls at a local thrift store. Both were in very preloved condition. 

I freed them from the plastic baggies, thoroughly examined them, and made note of their manufacturer's marks.

The shorter, 11-inch doll by Hasbro and Disney ©2018 was missing the bottom of her gown and her shoes. The taller, 12-inch doll by Mattel and Disney ©2012 appears to have been redressed. (I've never seen a Princess Tiana doll in a pink gown. Have you?)   

I undressed the 12-inch doll and found clothing items, shoes, and accessories for them to wear.

First, I needed to tackle their hair.

I removed the rubber bands that held their updo styles in place before adding conditioner to their hair and giving it a thorough rinse.

I refashioned their hair into updos using rubber bands. The taller doll's hair fell into a perfect bun while the shorter doll's hair had to be tucked in place.

This view from the back illustrates their bun styles.

Next, their ears were pierced using quilting pins. For the 11-inch doll, I painted yellow quilting pins gold. Light blue quilting pins were used for the 12-inch doll to match a pair of Barbie mules I found for her.

The 12-inch Tiana was the easiest to restore. After piercing the ears, I dressed her in a yellow sweater dress and added light blue shoes that match the earrings.

Next, to add color and accessorize the dress, I attached a child's teddy-bear earring (now a brooch) to the collar.

More time was required to make the 11-inch Hasbro/Disney Tiana presentable.

Because of her huge feet, it took me a minute to find shoes that fit. All of my Barbie shoes were too small. Then, I remembered the few pairs of black shoes that fit Monster High and Stardolls that were purchased a few years ago. 

The Hasbro Tiana now wears the green Sparkle Girlz skirt seen on the left.

Initially, I was going to make a long wraparound skirt using green felt. While looking through my Barbie and similar-size fashion doll clothing, I found a green Sparkle Girlz skirt (seen on the left in the photo immediately above). The skirt had a pink elasticized waistband that I painted gold with metallic paint. I used the same paint for the black shoes. 

The handle of a gold faux leather Barbie purse that was part of a Barbie Basics accessory pack was beginning to flake, so I used the gold metallic paint to seal the entire purse. While looking through the clothing stash, I found an ornate gold Barbie choker, which along with her original crown, helps maintain Tiana's look of royalty.

 

In this profile picture, the newly painted metallic gold purse and the sides of her gold shoes are visible. She looks as though she is marching off to find her Prince.

Here she is again in a frontal view. (Tap to enlarge or stretch the photo to see the choker better.)

Both Tianas pose for this final photo.

Because they are Princess Tiana dolls (Disney's first African American princess doll), I couldn't leave them behind at the thrift store and, for only $1.99 each, I'm glad I didn't. 

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

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

__________

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Found on a Rainy Highway

Circa 1940s mask face doll

This little girl had a rough life for a known short period of time. After she was offered to me, despite her circumstances, I agreed to pay for her travel expense. 

I received the following email from a fellow blogger, Tam of Planet of the Dolls. (The link to her blog is at the end of this post).

Hey Debbie, This is Tam, from Planet of the Dolls. My husband and I 
recently rescued a tub full of dolls from a rainy highway, and there was 
one I thought you might want. You can have her for free, if you want to pay 
the shipping. I rescued all these dolls, but I don't want them myself, so 
I'm giving them away. I just did a post on the 'rescue', so if there is 
anything there you want, let me know. I thought of you for the cute little 
girl in pink and white gingham, but don't feel you have to take her.

Some of the black or dark brown twill fabric used for her face is faded and was probably like that when found. Otherwise, the cloth on the face and body is in perfect condition.

Tam shared pictures with me and I decided to adopt the doll. She had been through so much and my doll-rescuing spirit compelled me to take her in. 

Before her departure from Tam, her romper was washed, which I greatly appreciate. I really did not know what to expect regarding her in-person appearance. However, the only thing I did after she arrived was reattached a loose snap in the back of her romper after first wiping her off with an alcohol wipe. Her description is recorded on my Excel doll inventory spreadsheet for 2021 as follows:

11-inch cloth-over-molded face doll has side-glancing black eyes, black faux fur (or plush) hair adorned with two red ribbons on the top sides, painted circle mouth; wears pink and white gingham romper. The body is made of black cloth. Found with several other dolls on a rainy day on the side of the highway by Tammy Sedam, who offered her to me for the cost of first-class postage.

The faux fur used for the doll's hair is illustrated in this closeup of the back of the head.

The rescued girl is now on display with a few other cloth dolls.

Read Tam's blog post about the discovery of this doll and several others here. 

I found Tam's next post about a doll show she attended fascinating. There didn't appear to be many Black dolls there and none that I actively collect, but it was wonderful seeing a room full of vintage dolls that all seemed to be very well preserved. 

This little found girl has now been installed in DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum. Read her installation here.

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.

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!