Doll Owner’s Corner: Buying Doll Props

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First of the month and the year (wow time flies!), time for another Doll Owner’s Corner.  When I, the doll owner, talk about what ever I want.

This month’s topic:

Doll Props

…Or where to buy them.  Doll props are those cute little items you buy or make for your dolls.  Little things that make “playtime” fun and make your doll photos come alive.

These include:

• Food, and tons of it
• Dishes (like Hikaru’s tea set)
• Doll sized furniture
• Toys and plushies :)
• Tools and fantasy weapons

And many other fun things.

The tricky part about them is finding them.  Not everything is easy to make (especially for the non-crafty) and when buying it can be difficult to find what you want in the right scale. 

Not to mention the cost.  Many of the stores that sell ball jointed dolls do carry super cute props for them at not so cute prices.

Luckily, if you look hard enough, and think outside of the box, you can find fun doll props in some pretty interesting places and with great prices. 

Here are a few of my favorites.

Thrift Stores

If the thrift shop posts haven’t already clued you in, thrift shops (like Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.) are a good place to start looking for cheap doll props. 

Check out the toys for small useable items and maybe actual doll stuff, but don’t forget the household items too. 

You can find small dishes and knickknacks, tiny picture frames, jewelry boxes that look like small trunks and doll sized furniture, chairs (meant for teddy bears), even tiny picture frames.

Dollar or Discount Stores

Be it Dollar Tree, Family Dollar or (if you’re lucky to live near one) Daiso, you can find some pretty useful cheap stuff for dolls. 

Browse the toys for small items like figurines, tiny dishes, mini-puzzles and such. 

Also check out the stationary for cute food erasers, hair accessories for tiny clips and such, the party supplies for small items and the rest of the store for small novelties.  I’ve seen reading lights in electronics that look like table and desk lamps.

Oriental Trading Company

Oriental Trading Company is an online store known for selling bulk items for use for parties, classrooms and large families. 

You can find fun novelty key chains shaped like all kinds of useful things, small toys and books, and even holiday items.  I saw small Halloween pumpkin buckets intended for party favors that would be perfect for small dolls.

Party City

Party City and other party supply stores can be a brilliant source for doll sized goodies (see Finding Doll Props: At the Party Store?). 

They sell all kinds of party favors that are the perfect size for dolls, similar to some of the stuff at Oriental Trading Company. 

But unlike Oriental Trading Company, you can buy most of them in smaller amounts, even only one or two pieces for as little as 25 or 50 cents each.

Craft Stores

Joann, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby and the like can have great stuff for dolls. 

Look for doll house miniatures, “doll making” supplies, small wooden drawers and chairs, fun shaped charms and such in with jewelry supplies, small toys (obviously), and even seasonal items. 

And near the checkout at Joann and Michael’s you will find their cheap novelty area that sometimes holds doll sized treasures.

Target

I regularly browse around Target for doll sized props.  It’s my go to place for buying blind bags (see Finding Doll Props: Surprising Blind Bags) and other small toys found in the toy aisle as well as with the trading cards near the checkout. 

I also stop by their “dollar section” by the door.  You can frequently find cute items that would work for dolls like fun shaped erasers and lips glosses, small seasonal novelties, etc. 

But I still mainly check out the toy section for one specific reason…

18 Inch Doll Lines

Yep, I mean those 18 inch tall play dolls, the most well known one is American Girl with their $120 price tag, but others include Target’s own Our Generation dolls, Springfield Collection (available at Michaels and Joann), My Life As..(from Walmart), Journey Girls (from Toys R Us) and many others. 

Many items made for these dolls are the perfect or near perfect size for many ball jointed dolls.  Look out for furniture sets, food sets, instruments (seriously), storage and carrying cases, accessories, sometime even clothes depending on the piece.

Grocery Stores

Technically, most of the stuff you would find at a grocery store you can already find at any other store (like toys, tiny hair accessories, etc.).  This is part of that whole constantly looking out for doll props habit that many ball jointed doll collectors develop.

However, there is one thing that you normally only find at grocery stores.  Tiny toy and candy machines. 

You know, those little machines by the door that you put quarters in to buy little toys and gumballs.  Many of those itty bitty 25 and 50 cent toys are perfect for my dolls.  Which is why I’ve been saving quarters like mad lately.

And if you’re lucky enough to live near an Asian grocery store, see if they have any gachapon machines. 

These are like the Japanese version of the toy machines, only they are much nicer (check out this video about them).  The toys are better quality and super cool.

That’s it for the moment, I hope this has given you a few good resources for finding fun things for your dolls.  Feel free to share your own favorite sources for doll props.

And stay tuned for more fun with the dolls.