More Christmas Present Peeks

If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that I've peeked at my Christmas presents (well, they came via eBay, so I had to open them and give them the once-over, you know...) Anyway, here's the next batch of present peeks. Can you guess what they are???

Christmas is Coming!

Yay: it's December! That means some fabulous new toys are coming soon! Actually, they're already here, via Santa's partnership with eBay, and I've peeked. Well, I HAD to peek "to make sure the toys were okay," otherwise, how could I be a responsible eBayer, and leave prompt, positive feedback for our sellers? Anyway, that's how I'm justifying the peeking. Here's a couple of glimpses: can you guess what they are?

$1 Baggie Dollhouse Find

At a recent antique show, rooting around in a dealer's box of bargain-priced "junque," I found this baggie full of broken dollhouse furniture, priced at just one dollar. (It doesn't look like much here, but just wait...)

The pieces were clearly very old, German-made circa the 1890s-1910. On a closer, surreptitious inspection, I discovered all the bits were there, and they weren't really broken, just unglued. Over the past century, the animal-based glue dried out and gave way.

It was the work of a couple of minutes for the pieces to be reassembled, and ta-da: here they are!

The 4 inch tall chair is made of red stained, gold gilt trimmed wood and pressed cardboard, while the faux wood grained sideboard  is in a much smaller scale at 3 1/2 inches, and fits perfectly into my hard-to-furnish 10 inch tall dollhouse.

Not a bad find for a buck!

A New Peng Peng Bear!

Look who just arrived in the mail: "Candy," one of the latest creations of teddy bear artist extraordinaire, Peng Peng. Just 4 1/4 inches tall, the fully jointed little bear features hand-dyed mohair in a luscious shade of green, milk glass googly eyes, and handmade booties with a tie-dyed dress. Candy is just delicious!

Antique Dollhouse Doll and Friend

A recent find was this little German all-bisque dollhouse doll, circa the 1890s-early 1900s. Just 4 1/4 inches tall, she has an unruly blond mohair wig and one tiny eye slightly offset, which gives her a quirky charm. I think she looks like a Victorian child who's gotten away from her nanny, escaped the nursery, and been running wild through the house, throwing temper tantrums all the way.

Here she is with her new best friend, a 1920s Schuco miniature bear. Hopefully he can convince her to tidy up her hair and sit down quietly for a nice cup of tea: