Puppy Love Grooming Set from OG and a new outfit from Build A Bear store.

A while ago I purchased this cute set from Our Generation, at Hudson Bay store downtown. They have the cutest mini sets and I can't resist them.

I finally set it up using a sewing machine bench, a bucket from Dollarama, Mary Ellen dressed in a cute pet outfit from Build a Bear, and Piki, Alika's dog. 

I think it all matches really well together.

By Loretta Houben

Meet June, a new retro Our Generation doll!

Here is my newest 18" doll!

I really do love the Our Generation dolls, and am so pleased that Hudsons Bay downtown has a large collection.

Last week the whole area was on sale 20% off!

If only I had more room...

But June came home with me, and is happy exploring her new surroundings.

 The temps this past week have been amazingly hot, and the sunshine is dazzling! My garden is in full bloom.

 Here is what June looked like before I took her out of her box. She was very sturdily stuck in there, let me tell you!

 June is wearing a beautiful outfit from Maplelea, a Canadian 18" doll company which makes really good quality clothes and dolls.

 I had been eyeing this outfit for some time, and it came on sale for $37 Cdn; top, skirt, jacket, purse and shoes!

 I also got this cute set for only $25 Cdn!

It came with all these things; tennis dress, panties, hat, socks, shoes, towel, hair bands, bag, tennis racket and ball!

It was all shipped for only $9.00 Cdn. Love it!

By Loretta Houben

A new retro Our Generation doll!

Today was a lovely, chilly, crisp day with sunshine and blue skies! After my grocery shopping, I headed downtown to drop a DVD off at the library. Then I checked out The Bay to see the OG doll selection, because at Christmas time they have more items.

I noticed that all toys were 20% off!

So I headed towards the dolls, and I spotted the above doll for only $15.50!!!! I thought it was an error as the other OG dolls were $39.99. 

But I took it to the cashier, and lo and behold it rang through as $12.40 Cdn! 

I was simply astounded. I think she's adorable. Her name is Joy, which is my sister Leona's middle name. I love her red hair, and she could easily double as Anne of Green Gables.

So now I have two Retro dolls. It pays to check things out!

By Loretta Houben

HALLOWEEN 2017!

Halloween 2017 dawned clear and fairly warm for these parts. I gave most of my decorations away this year as I've absolutely run out of room. So the long lived hay bale is now history. But of course I still have the dolls! This year I didn't dress up Chatty Cathy. I only used the American Girl dolls. Nanea is the newest to join in the fun!

Here she is wearing a cute dress bought on eBay.

Grace is wearing a black T-shirt I made, and a dress from Dollarama; it's a child's dress pinned in the back. It was only $4.00 Cdn and I'm sure I could squeeze 2 from it but ran out of time of course. I love the fabric.

Here is my Hawaiian AG doll wearing the 150th Canada outfit from Maplelea, and Yolanda (an OG doll) wearing an outfit from Build a Bear.

And here is Miss Pippa in her Halloween finery!

She was astonished to see 103 trick or treaters come to the door! Some of them came up close to look at my display. The ceramic Jack o Lantern belonged to my Mom and was made in Japan. It still works!

I carved a pumpkin on Halloween afternoon using a free internet pattern of an owl. It turned out quite cute, and it only took 40 minutes total to carve out the innards and carve the design. It's a thing I really enjoy doing!

Robert dressed up for his job, so he wore the mask at night and didn't really scare anyone.

By Loretta Houben

Crafting fun!

Crafting doll items is just as fun as collecting doll items!

American Girl Ideas is a great place to visit.

Recently Rudy posted a darling craft to make; a Build a Bear box in 18" doll size with a certificate.

I couldn't resist and printed it off immediately and made it today. 

I had the perfect little bear too, the one I gave hubby with his chocolate rose for Valentine's. He in turn said to use it for the dolls. So here it is!

Now to name him....maybe Charlie.

By Loretta Houben

Our Generation at The Bay

Ah, the fun of discovering a whole new toy section you didn't even know existed! After shopping in New Westminster briefly today, I decided to stay on the Skytrain and I went downtown to Vancouver in order to see the beautiful fall scenery along the way. I got off at Granville Station and headed through The Bay.

The lower floor had CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS already put up. I think this is simply ridiculous, as summer was one week ago.

So I ignored that section, and headed to the escalator but noticed that the Christmas display was cut in half from other years. In the other half was a gigantic toy display. I could see 18" dolls in the far distance so headed there. I was astonished to see a huge collection of Our Generation dolls, clothes and accessories, including horses, the diner, the camper and car, the ice cream truck and the kitchen set! Just amazing. I took lots of photos. 

I think the above sets is one of the cutest ever. It's a gardening set with a wheel barrow and gardening tools. I may have to go back and get it! It was $34.99 Cdn.

I did buy this set; the garden party.

I can't help it; I love parties and food and lemonade!

It was $24.99 Cdn and there were only 2 sets left.

I really liked this doll. Her name is June.

She is $39.99 Cdn, a much cheaper price than $154 for an American Girl doll, which is what I paid for Addy in April!

I'm quite pleased I found this today.

Of course, one can never be too sure how long it will last...

By Loretta Houben

Target store in Burnaby BC, and Our Generation brand.

It was only 3 years ago on November 20, 2013 that Target Stores opened in Canada. This is my local one at Metrotown in Burnaby BC. Long ago in the 1990's it was Woodward's, a Canadian store which went bankrupt in 1993. I still miss that store!

Afterwards, Zeller's was in this spot, until it closed in March 2013. 

Zeller's was a good store until the last five years, when it went downhill with cheap goods. But I still miss it! 

I hurried to Target on this day, but there weren't any crowds. I was never very fond of their fashions or their prices although many others were, including my sister in the USA. But the Target stores in America are quite different from what we got, as everyone soon discovered.

The above photos were taken by myself showing the red balls (which are still there) and the new doors and new facade. 

I never ever expected Target to close all 133 stores in Canada in less than two years! It was a total shock. But one of my mottoes in life is: enjoy each day and live it to the full! So every time I visited Metrotown, I'd go and look at the toy section, especially the Our Generation dolls. On Nov 20/13 I bought Sienna, a travel set and a dog. I'm glad I did. Little did I know my time was limited.

I think Sienna is very pretty. She has lovely brunette hair and brown eyes. The travel set is very cute indeed. 

I didn't really have a chance to purchase many other OG items as my doll funds were rather limited during the short time Target was here. But I enjoyed what I did get, and now it seems like some hazy dream that I once walked the aisles of Target. The huge store sits completely empty now. What a waste!

By Loretta Houben

"It Seams Perfect!" by Our Generation: sewing set

I had to take it easy yesterday, so I wrestled with the Our Generation sewing machine set and got it open. These things are not easy! It takes great skill. This is the set I ordered online as there was FREE shipping over $60. This is a Very Cute Set indeed. I'm so glad I ordered it; it's adorable and very well made. The only odd thing is the dress form; the top part balances but doesn't actually snap together with the bottom part, so if you nudge it, it will fall off! Very odd indeed.

The OG sewing set has the cutest accessories! I think I actually like them better than AG sets I've seen recently. Whoever designs for OG is a genius! There is an actual dress pattern made out of tissue paper, and a bolt of fabric so dolly can cut and sew her own dress!

The OG sewing accessories.

OG is designed by Battat in Montreal, Quebec, Canada!

But of course, made in China. That's why I'm so happy that the OG products are now being sold here in Canada.

By Loretta Houben

My Maplelea doll, Leonie.

This photo was taken in December 2013, when we had a few inches of snow. We've had quite a lot of snow over the years since we moved to this house in 1994. The snow has been quite deep at times. I had recently purchased the amazing well made in Canada toboggan so I had to take a picture. It took me all of yesterday afternoon to find it! I have thousands of doll photos. Now when I find one, I date it and file it in a special file folder for that particular brand of dolls!

Leonie is a Maplelea doll from Canada, sold only in Canada at their website. I found her for only $15 (regular she is $99.99) at a local thrift store. If you keep your eyes open, it's positively amazing what you can find in thrift stores.

The dolls are very well made. The only thing I don't like is their eyes stay open, and look like they're staring, but in person they are cute; they just aren't too photogenic.

Sienna is an Our Generation doll, and she is dressed in an OG outfit appropriate for the snow. OG is also a Canadian company!

Maplelea designs the cutest outfits, and ships all packages for only $9 Cdn to anywhere in Canada! This is the cutest outfit, and so Canadian! The snowman is a Hallmark item, and is great for doll prop photos.

By Loretta Houben

We won a prize!!!

Yolanda is very excited!

She had the most fall-like outfit on, so she was chosen once again to model a dolly item. It had just arrived in the mail box, all the way from Texas. Another doll lover, Emily, has an adorable doll blog in which she shows photos of the adventures of the dolls which live with her. Last month she had a give-a-way contest, so of course I entered. You can't win if you DON'T enter, can you?

But all the same I was astonished when Emily posted the winners:

Stitching with Elli

I had chosen the adorable little tan bag with the emblem for Texas on it, as my maternal grandparents and great grandparents lived in Taylor Texas for a time before moving to Amity Oregon.

One of these days I wish to visit Taylor so I take this as a sign that my dream will come true!

Emily has the cutest blog with the most well dressed dolls you've ever seen. Please pay her a visit!

Thank you so much, Emily.

Yolanda and I are delighted with your embroidery and sewing skills. And it's so lovely to get a package in the mail all the way from Texas!

By Loretta Houben

Yolanda's new sewing machine!

I'd seen this on a few FB pages.

We no longer have a Target store in Canada.

After less than 2 years, they all went bankrupt; all 130 of them.

I still can't quite believe it, and I still miss going into the Our Generation toy section on the 3rd floor at Metrotown Mall in Burnaby BC.

So when I found this at MasterMind Toys online, I bought it in a hurry, because any order over $60 was FREE shipping!

This set is just darling. I haven't opened it yet.

Inside is a sewing machine, table, chair, dress maker form, pin cushion, pattern, fabric, etc.

It's just adorable! I have another sewing machine for 18" dolls but it's vintage 1900's style.

This is modern.

Yolanda is very excited and happy to be the first to use it.

Well, she assumes she will be!

She also got a new desk with a laptop earlier this year, so she's on a roll.

I'll take more photos once I open it.

Now I'll enjoy it for a while, as I don't get too many packages in the mail anymore.

By Loretta Houben