Goodwill Haul

Some of you may remember from earlier posts that a new Goodwill thrift store opened in my town at the end of March.  That has been both a good thing and a bad thing, if you know what I mean. ;)  It's great because I've found a lot of wonderful items at phenomenal prices.  Unfortunately, it's very easy to nickel and dime a bit too much.  My mom and I have both been guilty of going to Goodwill more than once per day! :} The thing is, they put new stuff out all throughout the day, so you do find things, even if you go again on the same day.  And pretty much every time we go in, we find something.  This makes it a bit difficult to stop going. ;)  

Thankfully for my recovering checkbook, it is rather stressful to take 3 girls in there and try to have a relaxing shopping experience, so I have a feeling my trips to Goodwill over the summer will be much fewer and farther between (I usually go after dropping the older two off at school).  The nice thing is, my Mom is collecting doll stuff too and is pretty aware of what I look for, so whenever she goes, she'll be on the lookout for special Beast'sbelle items. ;)  

Anyway, here are just a few of the special treasures I've discovered over the past 2 months:

A Jeff Gordon Nascar car for my Emma doll-99 cents.

An Alexander Girlz doll with nasty hair-$2.99.

Knowing that her hair was not that great in the quality department, I decided to skip the Downy Dunk and instead opted for a re-wigging procedure. ;) 

Here she is with her new hair.  Much better, don't you think? :)

By the way, the dress, hair bow, and shoes were not from Goodwill, just in case you're curious. :)

Lady Lovely Locks doll, complete with dress, shoes, and 3 pixie tails-$1.99

I'm pretty sure these are her original pixie tails! :D

2 Disney Store Belle dolls-99 cents each.  Once I get these cleaned up and do a little more research on them, I'll add them to my Disney Store Belle doll comparison post. :)

One frustrating thing about Goodwill is that they put the prices directly on their product in pen.  I'm guessing it's some sort of dry erase pen or something, because usually it's removable.  Unfortunately, it does not like to come off of the soft vinyl on fashion dolls.  And for some annoying reason, they often decide to write the prices on the dolls faces or heads.  These pics were taken after I'd "removed" the price markings.  So basically, I have two Belle dolls with tattoos...which I've actually thought could make for a funny plot line on Belle's Bulletins. ;)  "Belle meets the Goodwill Girls" sounds about right. :}

This one kills me...it's so visible! :(

I can't complain, though, because I also found this beautiful, barely used Disney Store Tiana doll for $3.99! :D  And thankfully, they decided to write her price on her back, which is made of hard plastic, so it came right off.  

I'm not a huge fan of "The Princess and the Frog" because of its dark themes, but I did enjoy the beautiful animation, the great songs, and the main characters themselves.  Plus, I went and saw it in the theater with my best friend, so I have some fond memories associated with the movie.  So even though we don't do much of the movie in our house, I think I'll probably keep ahold of this adorable gal. :)  (In fact, I even ordered a Prince Naveen from the Disney Store to go with her.  She seemed lonely.) ;) 

My mom found this great Chococat mirror and jewelry holder that is just the right size for a vanity for Jenna. :)  (Remember?  She's a Chococat and My Melody fan!)

My mom also found this lovely, old-fashioned dresser jewelry box, also the perfect size for the dolls.

I think this will also belong to Jenna.  It really suits her. :)

And here's a picture of Jenna, just because she's such a cutie! ;)

This shows the size of the Chococat mirror.  It doesn't exactly match the dresser, but you get the idea, anyway. ;)

It's been fun finding vintage toys from my childhood there, like this Fashion Star Fillies Joelle horse.  I think she was 99 cents.  Anyone remember these? 

Joelle's face.  Her coloring really reminds me of Lady Lovely Locks' horse Silkymane, which is one of the reasons I got her.  I figure she can be a stand-in until I find the real thing.  :)

Gotta love those 80s colors! ;)

She still had her original "saddle", or whatever this thing is supposed to be.

I think this is also her original hair accessory.  It was braided into her tail.

Here's one of my most exciting finds:  A lovely Beauty and the Beast Trinket box from the Disney Store, still in its original box, for just $3.99! :D  This appears to have been released at the same time as the diamond edition Blu-ray and DVD.  

I love the detail on this!  It's absolutely perfect for my collection. :)

The bottom of the box has the Beast's head and a rose above him.

The four feet that hold the box up look like the Beast's claws. 

A shot of the back of the box.

The top simply lifts off to reveal the storage inside.

Underneath is an on/off switch.

When you turn it on, the box lights up.  I was so excited that it still worked! :D

One of my favorite sections to look through is the 49 cent table at the front of the store.  It's full of McDonald's toys and other similar-sized figures to dig through.  It's a lot to look through, but if you're patient and persistent, you can find a lot! :)  

I found this Genie bee...

...and a Rajah for Hayden's Jasmine collection.

I was really excited when a month later, I found a Jasmine to go with him! :D

I also found this adorable like-new Madame Alexander McDonald's doll.  Isn't she a cutie?  Right now, she's on Nahji's bed. :)

By far, my most exciting 49 cent finds were the vintage Strawberry Shortcake pets and figure I found just last week:  Souffle Skunk (Angel Cake's pet), Burrito (Cafe Ole's pet), and Blueberry Muffin! :)

I was so excited to find this vintage Lady Lovely Locks wrapping paper, still sealed in the plastic, for just 49 cents!

And this Hello Kitty cup, also 49 cents, makes a perfect trash can for Hailey. :)

I've also been able to find several American Girl doll books.  These ones were $1.49 each...

...and this one was 75 cents.  

I've found other things too, but if I were to put everything on here, it would be an incredibly long post. :}  I just wanted to remind everyone that with a little patience and creativity (and willingness to shop thrift and secondhand stores), you can find some great stuff that works with your budget.  You never know what sorts of special treasures may be waiting for you in your local area! ;)  What are some of your most exciting thrift store or garage sale finds?  I'd love to hear about them! :)