Attention Deficit Disorder and Doll Collecting

As an elementary school teacher, each week I work with children who are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  As a doll collector, I find myself on the other end of it.

Recently, I came to a serious epiphany.  I am feeling out of control with my collecting habits because I AM actually out of control with my collecting habits.   When I look at my bookcases of dolls, I am as confused as the student who cannot read the words on a page.  Instead of the letters being all over the place, my types of dolls are over the place!

There are the Vintage Barbie dolls.  They remind me of my childhood.   I seem to be unable to resist the purchase of a pristine vintage doll at a good price.  A 1970 Go-Go Cocoa Standard Barbie all-original was added to my collection and cost less than what new Fashion Royalty dolls are selling for.

I also have Basics and Silkstones.  I got sucked into the Monster High craze.  My Walmart recently had the Skull Shores Frankie (black and white) for $4.13.  I purchased five of them because I thought I could use the torso for the kit dolls I have.  It took some patience, a dremel tool, and some mild cursing, but I got it to work.  I decided to paint the torso white to match the limbs.  Here is "Boney" for you.

As far as cute dolls I enjoy playing with, I guess my very favorite Integrity Line is Misaki.  I have several of them but haven't purchased one from the past three years.  Here is my punk miss!

When Poppy Parker came out, I thought she would be the ideal friend for my Misaki dolls.  They have the same body and can share the same clothing.  Unfortunately, Poppy has become too popular.  I don't have the energy to fight the masses for this doll. I still have six of them in my collection.

Another line that I enjoy playing with is the Dynamite Girls.  I love their "street clothes" and the modern feel to them.  Recently, I was able to snag Cruz for retail when Mary T's went out of business.

Integrity has a way of pulling you into their different lines.  I also collect the Monogram dolls.  They are so sophisticated!  I got Fascination from Mary T's sale for 50% off retail.  (Who would've resisted such a sale ... not me, anyway!)

And then Integrity had an IDEX unveiling of dolls, and I purchased a couple from that line.  They are now producing these dolls with eyelashes.  Just when you think you're finished collecting a group of dolls, Integrity goes and does one better.  Here is Allure.

I also have the NuFace dolls and two Mini-Genes who have similar bodies to the Monograms.  I have a couple FR2 girls and dolls from the Integrity Direct line.  Then there are the Fashion Royalty dolls.  (If anyone is counting, I am up to over one dozen different types of dolls 12 inches or under.)

 

The Fashion Royalty line makes up the majority of my collection.  I think having too many different lines and so many dolls released everyyear keeps me from appreciating my old favorites.

I recently purchased a fabulous hand-crocheted romper from Jessica of Cozy Couture.  I fell in love with this from the moment I saw it.  I wanted to try it on a tan girl.  I had completely forgotten that Going Public Eugenia lived here.  When she first arrived she was my very favorite doll.  She got more re-dressings and photo shoots than any other girl .  When I put the romper on her, I remembered how much I enjoyed this doll. It made me sad, that I am so overwhelmed with new dolls, that I've missed that joy I feel from some of my older dolls.

Tomorrow Integrity is unveiling its new line.  I am excited by the anticipation of what will be shown and fear that I will become even more overwhelmed than I currently am.  When I return to school, I will be quite a bit more compassionate with those children who suffer from the disabling effects of ADD.  I definitely understand how they feel.

On The Dotted Line

Last week when I was taking photos of my redheads, I had trouble choosing just the right outfit for Current Pursuits Vanessa.  This is another outfit I had tried her wearing.

The little plaid skirt was cute, but more Scottish than Irish in my opinion.  However, it did bring me to the topic for this post.  If you look closely, you can see how the collar on this bodysuit just refuses to lie down properly.

One of my dolly friends had hooked me up with a remedy for these problems last year.  Many of you are probably very familiar with this product, but I thought I would share it in case anyone else was as behind times as I am.  

You can purchase these at any Crafts Store, or in the crafts section of the local Walmart which is where I made my purchase.  There are 300 in the package, and I paid about $3 for this box.  They are individual dots on a glossy roll of paper.

I purchased the "thin small" type which is still big enough to where I have to cut them down to fit.  I used one dot for the collar and had quite a bit left over.

You can use them on a doll's body to hold strapless pieces in place, on shoes to hold them onto feet, in the palms of hands to hold items, or even keep rings from slipping off fingers.  It is another of the products that I simply cannot live without.  I do not leave the items on the clothing for fear of yellowing or discoloring fabrics.  I'm not aware of this happening from anyone's use; I'm just a Nervous Nellie about staining my doll's clothing.  As soon as my photo shoot is over, they lift right off!

I hope this helps someone who reads my blog.  I get so upset when I spend the time to take a bunch of photos and then see where things could look better.  This saves me a lot of time and aggravation.