South African Ngoni People 16" Wood Carved Giraffe, Toys, Dolls, & More

I am getting a bit behind in my posts, as things have been a bit busy here lately. I suppose once the guys finally get their rears in gear and get with the building of the new house, things will only get more so. I have been off to the shops a few times and found a few fun things, so hopefully I can get caught up with my postings, so you can enjoy it all.

 The first fun and lovely piece was this 16" carved wooden giraffe marked simply, "NGONI." The Ngoni are a people of South Africa found mainly in Malawi, Mosambique, Tanzania, and Zambia, according to Wikipedia. I do not known much of anything about them, only what I have read online. If this fun giraffe is anything to go by, they have some very good woodcarvers.

 The only similar piece I could find online is this fellow, who is being sold through a fair trade company by the name of africancraftsmarket.com. Theirs they say is made of olive wood and made in Kenya, and is not marked Ngoni. I thought it interesting that the painting was similar to the one I found. These sell, depending on size and style, starting at $15, so I was really glad to get mine for just $3.99.

Not only is he bright and colorful, but I found it rather astounding that he hadn't so much a crack or a blemish. I don't know if mine is made from Olive wood, but whatever it was carved from, it is sturdy stuff. He is such a mysterious and wonderful giraffe, he has positively cast a spell upon me, so I am thinking of calling him, "Neck Romancer!" ha ha ha

 I was really delighted to find this hilarious Monster High "Frankies" Vanity with its chair. I think it is super fun. The drawer actually opens and the mirror does too. Whoever had the job of coming up with these things is certainly clever.

You know I couldn't resist snapping a few pics of my Draculaura's with the vanity, even if it is Frankies.

 I was hitting it well that day on the shelves, for not far from Frankies vanity was this hilarious Draculaura powder room sink vanity. I really had to laugh at the headless reflection in the mirror. What will they think of next?! Vampire's don't have reflections! ha ha ha So tell me, how do they apply makeup? I paid $2.99 for Frankies vanity and $1.99 for Draculaura's sink vanity. Too bad I couldn't find Draculaura's high backed claw-footed tub. Oh well, maybe next time?!

Here are my two Draculaura's with their vanities.   ...wink...wink...

I think if I had, had dolls like this when I was a kid, I probably wouldn't have minded playing with dolls all that much. These have a great deal of scope for the imagination. However, I'm having a hard time thinking anything this cute could be a monster, let alone a vampire, so I will just think of them as just, "Two Ghouls With Vanities." ha ha ha

Speaking of cute, I just couldn't resist this adorable little Hello Kitty in a bunny suit. It is so very sweet and cuddly, and oh so pink. It washed up nicely and I just love it. I paid just .99, and it was money well spent. Every time I want to smile I just look at this sweet Hello Kitty. Her real name is Manx, even if she has a tail. She is an undercover Easter Bunny. Someone has been poaching Chocolate Easter Bunnies lately, and she must get to the bottom of it.

Speaking of cute, who could resist this Shopkins Shoppies doll?! She is known as Popette's Popcorn Stand doll. I think she is simply a riot. Look at all of that delicious curly hair and the funny popcorn hat and popcorn in it! She was just $1.99 and simply, fun, fun, fun.

 I thought this tiny Lovely Gal doll would make Popette a fine companion, at .99 she was a good price and was still attached to her original cardboard card. The thing that amazed me most is that they both still had their shoes. Usually at GW doll accessories are the first things to go, because people five finger discount them. These were like new, and were a cinch to clean. Aren't they just as cute as a button?!

The weather can't make up its mind to be hot or cold these days, so when I saw this cute top I couldn't pass it up. It will come in handy as a layer, or not, depending on what the day may bring. It would have cost me $4.99 but as it happened it had a 50% off tag so was just $2.49. This was definitely a price I could live with, even if it did take soaking for hours in lemon joy, followed by vinegar water, and then oxyclean, in an attempt to remove the sickening strong smell out of it, from people's too perfumed soaps and dryer sheets. I finally achieved my goal, but it took me two days. Phew!
Cable & Gage is a nice name brand, tops similar to this one, sold by Lord & Taylor cost $30, so I was more than happy to go to the effort of cleaning it up.