Friday, December 27, 2019

Goodies Added to My Etsy Shop!!

I hope you all had a very special Christmas this year. It has been a wonderful year of ups and downs and mostly growing and learning year. I can't believe its almost 2020!! Time just flies doesn't it?!

Here are some new items that will be added to my Etsy shop soon, if it hasn't already been added?! LOL
 I discovered this lot of toddler doll dresses via Ebay and was able to get them at a decent price. They are all NOS dresses by Premier for dolls that are 20" to 21". Like Alexander's Janie, Baby McGuffey, Pussycat-Puddin, Effanbee's Sugar Plum and Ideal's Baby Velvet dolls. But if you look closely, the yellow dress with the blue and red trim on the apron, is similar to Chatty Cathy's dress! I most especially love this blue daisy dress! I'm so tempted to keep. Sadly Sophie can't fit it, it is too large for her even though she is a 20" doll. Ugh. But, maybe someone could use it for their doll or plush. I love the vintage style and look. Some of them come with pantaloons, some don't. So please look for them in my Etsy shop!!





 This cutie, I found via ebay. She is a vintage Hong Kong doll. If you look closely, her face is very similar to Tiny Terry! But, she is really a Herman Pecker "Boots" doll. I guess the previous owner decided to give her a toddler body, I don't believe it is original to the body, as the head is loose. But she is still so cute even as a toddler or baby doll. I will also add her to my Etsy shop. Next, I won this lovely long cat coin bank from Yahoo Japan. Adding this to my shop as well. In lovely condition, still has its original stopper as well.




 I opened up my World's Smallest Lite Brite!! It was fun to try it out! Sara enjoyed it as well. Good old fashioned toys, not like our phones. Ahhh the memories!! If you haven't checked out the World's Smallest toy series, you need too!! Haha! Finally, one of my ultimate ISOs, a vintage tin Fanny Farmer candy house coin bank!! Yippee! I found it just before Christmas week, up for grabs on Ebay. It was a bit pricey, but so worth it! Missing its key, I hope to be able to find a spare or use pliers. Haha. I can't wait to use it for scenic dolly or toy pics soon. I will admire this on my end table...


 That's all for now, so be sure to look at my Etsy shop! I've listed a few of the dresses so far, and just need to list the rest! It's Friday here! Happy Weekend ahead to you all too!

Thank you for looking! ~ ggsdolls

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Restoration of a Rare Rushton Ballerina Bun!!!

I recently splurged on myself for Christmas, Teehee!! I was able to bid and win this lovely vintage Rushton plush Bunny Ballerina from Japan. She has quite a unique look to her, and not like the similarly quirky eyed, Easter dressed large bunnies you often see on Ebay or through collectors pics on IG. This girl is quite rare, and I have only seen her twice before this! So, either they didn't sell many or perhaps, she was loved so much, that she fell apart in time... She stands about 10 inches tall, counting her ears, then about 12 inches. She wears a white with blue and pink dotted sheer ballerina skirt, with pink stain bows on her shoes, waist, neck. On her left ear an artificial rose, I believe she also had a rose on the bow of her skirt. Her ears are bendable, and she has peach pink felt shoes, and same colored satin ear lining. She stands just like the other Easter Bunnies, but in a smaller easy carry size for little ones. Her eyes are just a bit quirky like the larger bunny gals, in pink, and has blonde hair. Her fur is white.
On Wednesday she arrived safely from Japan! She was a lovely surprise, after having that whole car situation. (Off subject, we did get a new car, a Honda HRV 2019.) Any who... Above, as soon as I opened her box. She arrived safely, but of course, I knew she'd need cleaning. Her fur was dingy, and she still had one of her roses, along with all her bows and her tulle skirt. Her original tag was in tack. I thought for a bit, and decided to put her into the wash. Yes, I know I've warned about the felt shoes, not lasting in the wash, but I wanted her clean. I placed her into the washer and on medium cycle, praying she'd survive. To no surprise, she did not. Uuuuugh! I immediately cleaned the washer and took her out carefully. There was stuffing everywhere, and her felt shoes broke apart, mostly the top half of the shoes. Please be warned, felt does not last in the wash.
 Before and After
 I laid her out to dry and found her cardboard soles, laid them out too. Her felt shoes were hanging on by threads literally. I had to wait til' she air dried and that gave me time to think about how I could fix her feet or if I even could. But, she was nice and white again and looked amazing, with tag in tack still, whew. Even though her shoes were basically shredded... I slept on it, and thought of what to do. By the next morning, I had an idea of what I could. I immediately started to take out her stuffing. It took a bit of work and time. Even though I had two places to take stuffing out of, both her legs of course. I just didn't want to risk any more damage to her. Slowly, I removed all of the cotton batting, even through to her ears. I did leave the stuffing in her arms. As I did, the stuffing was damp and needed airing out too. She had a tear on her chest, that I noticed as I was doing this. I had sewn that part up, and did a quick check to see if there were any other areas. I stuffed her head with regular cotton stuffing, and decided to reuse the rest of her cotton batting for her body. I liked the weight of the cotton batting, and I knew that would keep her upright, and not too soft, that she'd be floppy.
 After, replacing her cotton batting, which kind of looked like strawberry cotton candy or oatmeal. LOL I started to work on her felt shoes. I didn't have peach pink felt, only pastel pink felt. I used paper and traced out her foot. Cut the felt and started to figure out how to create the top half of the shoe. That didn't go to well. Ugh, So, I started again, and this time decided that the bottom half of her shoes had some moth eaten holes, but were still salvageable. So, I used them and found a felt vest from another Rushton bunny, that I sold last year to use. Its color was much closer to the peach pink original felt. Yay! I glued extra felt over the moth holes from the inside of the shoe, replaced the cardboard into the shoe, and began the hard work of sewing the felt onto her ankles.
 It took some maneuvering, but it got done. So, if you look at her shoes underneath, they are the original felt, and only the top half is replaced vintage felt, a little bit off in color, but it was subtle. I brush her fur, and found a bit of a tear on the backside of her arm. Fixed that part and put on her ballerina skirt, and ribbons on her shoes. I decided to double tie her large satin ribbon bow, and added a blue sheer bow to her neck. I will try to find more artificial pink roses. But for now, her original one is on her left ear. She turned out lovely, and I was so happy, that I could still fix her shoes with not too much fuss. Whew! She is able to stand up on her own too! Yess!


 She is a welcomed addition to my little Rushton collection. I did sell most of my bears, and may put another up for adoption. But this ballerina cutie, I will keep for now... Thank you so much for reading, and I hope this edition on my restoration of vintage Rushton plush helps you to restore yours!! - ggsdolls

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Online Finds In!!

Well, this week has been quite a ride... My used car of 6 years finally had an issue we did not want to spend any more money on... So, while car hunting. I sold another rare furry for that purpose, and before the car issues, I also found some goodies for my shop...
I decided to get some small banners made for our guesthouse and my shop. I found a shop that did just that through Etsy, and here are the banners. Nice and simple. I was hoping they did colored photos too, but nope. I found this lovely vintage snow baby plush doll made in China from Australia. She is just like those plush dolls shown on the vintage candy tins. Photo example shown below...




 I won this cute "Coraline" type ornament, by Crate & Barrel, titled, "Beatnik Dad". He looks so cool with his mustache, too bad he doesn't have a beard! Now, to find the "Mom'! I was contacted via IG about a lot of vintage rubber faces and they arrived safely from Mexico. I've already put most of it in my shop! They are definitely clones, but still an awesome find! Baby faces, a duck similar to Rushton, a sad face bear, another fox face, and a few unique ones in there too! The duck and baby, the previous owner started to make a mask or plush perhaps... not sure.




 I also won this lovely vintage Tomy Matilda doll suitcase. Its from the 80s I believe or late 70s. It is supposed to hold a small 10 inch doll with her clothes. The doll is similar to Holly Hobby type, with the southern belle dresses. I just wanted the suitcase! And it arrived fast from Yahoo Japan too! Yay! Next, I also won this lovely green haired Passion sitting doll. I've seen pink and green only so far. She is in lovely condition and already listed in my shop!



 Last, I discovered the series called, "World's Smallest" toys editions!! Oh my gosh, mostly because of the tiny little Elf on the Shelf. I had to get these miniature toys of yesterday for my collection!! And they are small enough to store too! Yesss!! As a child I had the popping push toy by fisher price, the pull toy phone, and stackables. I've always wanted the "Lite Brite" as a kid, but I don't know why I never got it?! LOL Now, I have the mini version! Yippee!!
 Mini Nelly, saying Happy Holidays from Tonggan Guesthouse!! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season too!

 Thank you for looking! ~ ggsdolls

BTW, I did get a new car! My husband and I decided on a 2019 Honda HRV. It's nice to have a reliable car again. Thank you all for the support, my family and I truly appreciate it, Love you all!!