Sunday, July 20, 2014

Grab Bag Fun

Brandy welcomes you to this post.

Earlier this year I stumbled upon the glory that is Michael's Grab Bags. Since then, I'm always on the look out for some. Unfortunately, they aren't put out with any regularity so finding them is rare. Which is why I turned into a glutton when I recently saw a cart full of them.


I got 7 of 'em. Some were double bagged and some singled. If they had all been doubled I probably would have purchased more. However, since a few were single bagged, I could see they had plates and napkins in them and I didn't want bunches of that. I did not buy that Premo clay sitting on top of the bags. I stumbled over it in the parking lot and kept it because finders keepers.

Plates and napkins were in every bag, but lots of other stuff too. Here's the run down:

Little flowers and ribbons.


Multiple embellishment packs.
Brandy's earrings came from these. ^__^

Tons of metal studs.

Betsey Johnson phone thingies and notepad.

Nail files. The lady one is so cute!

And then the freaking circus came to town:

Cup cake holders, wrappers, plates and napkins will all be thrifted.

Magnet frames, paper bags, bow tie and invitations.
I can always use magnets, so keeping those and thrifting the rest.


These are "Party Packs." The three different versions have banner letters that spell out; Celebrate, Big Top and Birthday Party.


They come with rope to string the banner and little flags that hang from skewers. Brandy shows that the little flags are a good 1:6 scale. The other things are bottle and straw wrappers. The wrappers aren't even adhesive (I licked one), you have to tape them into place. Pfft.


What a disappointment. I totally thought these were candy. I was all, "Ooh, lollipops!" I ripped it open, pulled away the big circle and it was just a stick inside. Then I was all, "What the blank is this bleep?!" The back of the packaging shows that you just poke them in the cake. These things are 3.5 inches in diameter! Unless your cake is the size of a desk, they are ridiculously huge.


This is my haul from the circus stuff. I'm keeping the rope, banner letters, little flags, magnets, non lollipop sticks, flag skewers and the backgrounds from the party packs.

Brandy demonstrates why I'm keeping the backgrounds. Pretty cool!

A lot of circus fail in this bunch, but I can craft the heck out of the rest of the stuff I got.

26 comments:

  1. I agree, that background is pretty cool. In addition to earrings, I see you were able to make Brandy a brooch, too.

    I guess no one was in the market for circus-themed party stuff.

    dbg

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    1. Hi, Debbie! I actually did not make that brooch. I got the dress from Chynadoll and the brooch was already on there. It just happened to match well with the embellishment earrings.

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  2. Agree about the background - cute - and nice to see Brandy showing off stuff. But cake sticks? What person is going to stick sticks into a cake? Not an efficient or sanitary way to eat cake ;-)

    I look forward to seeing how you use the ribbons and little flowers. Still, nice haul. Yay, Muff!

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    1. D7ana, I think this is the first time I had Brandy be a model. Now that my thrift dolls are organized I wont have to keep using the same models over and over. Yeah, man, those cake sticks... I don't get them.

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  3. For two bucks you got some useful things. You're a brave soul, though. I shudder at clutter and would not have had it in me to take advantage of such an offering. I seriously hope you reap lots of fun! Brandy looks pretty, by the way.

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    1. Roville, that's why it's so easy to massively gobble these bags up. For only 2 dollars you know that as a crafter you can at least use 1 single thing in the bag. So no matter what, you're getting a bargain.

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  4. Yes the background is cute and Brandy looks fab! I have been looking for grab bags with no luck. Maybe I will check later in the week.

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    1. Brini, finding the bags is VERY RARE. Maybe because goobers like me buy a mass of them at once, leaving nothing for the other shoppers. First come, first serve though! ^_^

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  5. Sometimes it is just the fun of it! You may want to keep a few circus things...you never know when one of your ladies say they want to go on a date there some sumpin' Just think...cotton candy etc. LOL All in all you done good!

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    1. Grandmommy, it is fun! The wondering, the anticipation that you just might get something awesome, but not caring if it's not because it was only 2 bucks.

      You know, I actually loathe the circus, but that doesn't mean some of my dolls might not like to go. Good idea.

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  6. Hello from Spain: the background is fabulous. Brandy is beautiful. You have too many useful things for Barbies. Keep in touch

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    1. Greetings from sunny Florida, Marta! Brandy is quite lovely. I bet she's glad she had a moment in the spotlight.

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    1. Thanks, Roxanne! That background is giving me a All American, You Can Do It, kind of vibe.

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  8. I love the manga effect of the background!!

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    1. Hey there, Sergio! The background does have that effect.

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  9. Oooo! Fun Muff! You got some cool stuff! I love the studs and scrapbooking embellishments - lots of doll crafting possibilities for those. Brandy looks cute modeling everything :)

    Grab bags are fun! Not knowing and being surprised by what's inside is half the fun!

    As always your writing style is so witty and funny! You make me chuckle :)
    ~Zoila

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    1. Thanks, Zoila! Even with all the circus stuff I think this was an excellent haul.

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  10. I love seeing what turns up in these grab-bags, even when most of it ends up not being anything you need or want, it's exciting (which is probably a silly thing to admit, but it's the truth!).

    And that background really is a great find!

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    1. LOL, jSari, it's not silly at all because I totally agree. I get completely excited when I find these no matter what's inside.

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  11. I have yet to see these grab bags. Brandy looks great and very cool background!

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    1. Georgia Girl, they are very rare. I had gone to 4 different Michaels and asked how often they put out the bags and two told me they hadn't done any all year and the other two said they just do them "whenever."

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  12. That Brandy doll is really special. She was an early articulated model with arched instead of flat feet. I also love the micro braids. I bought mine at Target years ago and she looked so good I had to buy her a purple outfit on the spot so she would have a change of clothes when we got home.

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    1. Hi, Limbe Dolls! I found both of my Brandys at the thrift store and the one pictured did come with that body. It was so wobbly though I had to rebody her. They did an excellent job with the braids.

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  13. Hola, que cosas tan variadas. Seguro les daras buen uso. Brandy es muy bonita, por aca no hay, seria bueno me consiguieras una y me la vendieras, ¿como ves? Saludos.

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    1. Lindaivette, Google Translate está siendo difícil hoy en día, así que no estoy seguro exactamente lo que dijiste. Brandy es una de mi tienda de segunda mano favorita encuentra para no querer renunciar a ella. ¡Gracias por parar cerca!

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