Restoration Abound!!

 The past few weeks, I have been working mostly on restorations that were commissioned. And it has been a labor of love, honestly! I feel so honored, that these fellow collectors, want little old me, to bring life back into their beloved plushies, and for that, I thank you so very much for choosing me to do them!!

Now, onto the restorations...

First, this well loved and much soiled Rushton Happy Bear! Believe it or not, he was pink and white before, and as my customer said, you could see it from his tail. His face was oily and grubby, there was practically nothing left of his fur. So, I knew my work was cut out for me for sure!! I began with a good wash. I removed his stuffing as you can see on the before shot, washed him and laid him out to dry. After a few days, I had to wait for the fur in the post to replace him with came in. When it did, I began work on him. After, replacing his fur with bubble gum pink and white. I began working on his face.

I used the Mr. Clean eraser and carefully cleaned his face. I tried to remove as much of the caked on dirt as I could. But his face was still tan, at least not grubby as before. I touched up his face paint, trimmed his fur and added a blue satin bow. He turned out amazing and now has many more years of enjoyment to come! I have already sent him home to his Mommy! He was definitely a challenge, but I am so happy with how he turned out!! Very much worth the effort. Thank you dear Britecoolvintage for thinking of me to restore him for you!!

A pic of him beside my original Happy Bear!! He is nice an fluffy again! Yippee!! My next restoration project was this lovely My Toy Co. side laying Bunny Thumper. The owner wanted me to use another vintage bunny's ears as replacement. First, I washed both bunnies, took out stuffing and added more. I did the transplant of the ears, which by the way still had great wiring inside, Yay! Last, touched up her face paint and added a blue satin bow. Now, she is gorgeous! I love how she turned out!! She is ready to go to her Mommy in today's mail!! Yippee! I love My Toy bunnies, they are just as adorable as Rushton buns are! So far, I've seen pink, blue and now this peach version! Sara says, the contrast of the ears color makes her more cute and unique! I agree with her!

Next, I was able to snag this cutie, and decided to see if I could fix him as well! This lovely Rushton boy bunny is similar to my other costumed bunny in a pink dress, as shown in the ad later in this post. He got the full day spa treatment, and I also created his little hat and appliques myself, based on the Rushton ad. I think he turned out lovely as well. I may replace the felt on his feet, but I need to order the same or similar color. I will do that later. Now, to decide if I should sell or not?! LOL

It has been a labor of love to restore these babies!! Now, let's see what December has to offer!! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Stateside. Now on to Christmas!!

Thank you for reading! ~ ggsdolls

Wishes Come True Twice in One Year!!

 If you recall my post here, I was gifted an ISO by my husband. Well... I had sold a few rare vtg Rushtons to some close collector friends and saved up the funds for a moment like this!!! I made the investment and got another vtg Rushton in light pink Happy Bear!!! My first choice was always a light pink version in the large size. But, for months there wasn't any being listed. In the past, month one was, and I was thrilled to know I could possibly own one I actually wanted. So, I did! Yippee!!

This adorable version arrived to me actually on Monday, but even though I lined up at the counter, at USPS, and had the slip to pick him up... He actually wasn't at the facility yet. The guy even chucked at me, saying you have to wait 24 hours after getting a pink slip to come up and get it. I was like, well it was worth the try! Because sometimes, when I go to the counter to pick up a box, they give me the box that a slip was just given that day. So, obviously, it depended more so on the persons who bring the boxes to Hagatna from the Main Facility in Barrigada. Oh well. So, I went home empty handed. But no worries, my hubby worked that night and was able to pick him up from the PO after work. I just had to be patient a few more hours. Haha!

The box arrived without any issues and when I opened it up, first is the note you see. The seller was very sweet. He said the bear was his mother's and that she had passed away a few years ago. So he was finally going through her belongings to sell. This was her original Happy Bear from the 50s along with a few others. Then, he also shared that he used to live on Guam in the 90s!! I was like oh my goodness, truly a small world indeed! Thomas, was very kind and I was happy to own his Mother's treasured bear. The stars could not have aligned any more so, for me to own this baby. Inside, the box was another box and tucked away underneath white tissue paper and in a clear bag, was this lovely pink and white bundle of joy!! Upon immediate inspection, this bear was immaculate. The photos did not do it justice, seriously! This bear was in almost perfect condition. Thomas did share that one side of the bear was lighter then the other, but, it was "Bearly", Haha, (Pun inserted) noticeable!!

This is the pic I took of the bear prior to a wash. His fur was just needing a bit of freshening up. Afterwards, just drying and the next morning. I brushed him out and wiped his face down with magic eraser, and TADA!! His fur is full and fluffy, his face paint is just amazing, there are a few tiny spots and perhaps a bit of imperfections from the manufacturer. But, he is gorgeous!! Nicely stuffed and oh my gosh!! Squeeeee!!!

Here he is with my first Happy Bear. I can't keep both, so be on the look out for a post via IG or my Etsy shop when I do list the Hot Pink one. I might take a bunch of pics before letting my hot pink Happy Bear go?! LOL

Feeling blessed. Have a great rest of your week!

Thank you for looking! ~ ggsdolls