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Sadly, not all of us are blessed to have a Hobby Lobby within driving distance. For those who are, the place can be a wealth of intended and unintended mini shopping.

They recently took away several of their dollhouses (the Princess Anne comes immediately to mind) but did add a handful of new furniture.

I know a lot of us have recently purchased some of their newest items (Just One More did an amazing distress on the new black bedroom set and has already placed her stainless kitchen set in a house). But if your store is anything like mine, they may have a selection of 3 (I think) new items out there and of those, just a quantity of one of each. The web only shows a few items (jewelry armoire, patio set, table/mirror set, a sewing machine, some new wallpaper & the kitchen). There's still a bedroom, a black leather living room set, & picnic bench set that aren't on the web. There might even be more stuff out there that I don't know about.

I got to thinking... maybe they don't realize sales might be dropping off because we're just so tired of the same old thing (especially accessories - isn't everyone just about sick to death of those framed prints of the woman, ship & horse?!). Maybe they don't realize how hungry we are!

So, I just sent them a quick email thanking them for bringing in some new stock and begged them to please continue adding to their stock - both in variety and quantity. I thought that maybe if several of us expressed our gratitude and our appetite for more, they might comply!

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Sadly, not all of us are blessed to have a Hobby Lobby within driving distance. For those who are, the place can be a wealth of intended and unintended mini shopping.

They recently took away several of their dollhouses (the Princess Anne comes immediately to mind) but did add a handful of new furniture.

I know a lot of us have recently purchased some of their newest items (Just One More did an amazing distress on the new black bedroom set and has already placed her stainless kitchen set in a house). But if your store is anything like mine, they may have a selection of 3 (I think) new items out there and of those, just a quantity of one of each. The web only shows a few items (jewelry armoire, patio set, table/mirror set, a sewing machine, some new wallpaper & the kitchen). There's still a bedroom, a black leather living room set, & picnic bench set that aren't on the web. There might even be more stuff out there that I don't know about.

I got to thinking... maybe they don't realize sales might be dropping off because we're just so tired of the same old thing (especially accessories - isn't everyone just about sick to death of those framed prints of the woman, ship & horse?!). Maybe they don't realize how hungry we are!

So, I just sent them a quick email thanking them for bringing in some new stock and begged them to please continue adding to their stock - both in variety and quantity. I thought that maybe if several of us expressed our gratitude and our appetite for more, they might comply!

They used to have much nicer furniture. They had the wooden Roper-type ranges in white and black for quite awhile. They had wing chairs I re-upholstered. They had a bedroom set with pillows, a set of sheets and dust ruffle that were all removable. Finally they are coming out with new things but very pricey. Thank goodness for the 40% off coupons. The hardware, doors, baseboards etc. are all one to two dollars more. I've asked the department manager several times if they could get some of the old things back. She says they just don't sell. There's always HBS I guess but I like to actually see what I'm getting.

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I was impressed with the new items. I don't like a lot of the old stuff. Good for kids, but not my taste. Jennifer - it is funny you mention the pictures!! I went to 2 HL saturday and bought all the frames I could get my hands on. I can paint them and put new photos in them. I am thinking a family picture would be great for starters!

I am sorry for my mini friends that cant get to a HL at the time of the sale. I wish I knew some of you better - we could pick up what our mini friend needed and ship it off to them

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Our A.C. Moore is VERY overpriced on dollhouse items. I got my living room set from there, but only because I had a 40% off coupon. Plus, the section where they have anything is not even a whole aisle dry.gif

Yep same here. AC Moore is high on a lot of things. I rarely buy anything there without a coupon.

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We had to run in to Tallahassee for the day yesterday (more hoop-jumping for the new RL house) and wound up in a section of town we don't normally frequent, and I spotted a Hobby Lobby! off in a shopping center behind some buses that I normally don't bother with. Of course, living where we do, we NEVER hear about new store openings if they don't advertise on the local TV stations during the news broadcasts, and we had so mini errands there was no time to stop and check them out, but I mentioned to DH we need to stop next time we're doing one of our Tuesday trips.

The latest coupon is only 25% off.

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On the Hobby Lobby website they list 475 stores in 40 states. They have the store locations you can enter a zip code or click on a map to see local stores. They also have a 'Store News' link http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/store_news.cfm that lists new stores opening for 2011. I haven't been in to HL in a while, since they are 40 minutes away from home and as mentioned stock is limited both in selection and often quantity--sometimes (especially during dh sales) lots of empty stock pegs and not much stock! I do want to get that bedroom set that Just One More got, but am sure it won't look nearly as pretty brand new as her repainted version!

Tappy

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On the Hobby Lobby website they list 475 stores in 40 states. They have the store locations you can enter a zip code or click on a map to see local stores. They also have a 'Store News' link http://www.hobbylobby.com/stores/store_news.cfm that lists new stores opening for 2011. I haven't been in to HL in a while, since they are 40 minutes away from home and as mentioned stock is limited both in selection and often quantity--sometimes (especially during dh sales) lots of empty stock pegs and not much stock! I do want to get that bedroom set that Just One More got, but am sure it won't look nearly as pretty brand new as her repainted version!

Tappy

Wait for a 40% off coupon to get the bedroom set. I didn't re-paint it, just sanded with very fine sandpaper and then put antiquing medium on it just enough to cover the wood exposed. I get it at Hobby Lobby also. It's by Folk Art in the craft paint department. I use #811. #818 is a little darker. They usually don't stock more than two of each at a time. It's $2.99 for a 2 oz bottle. I use it to stain all my floors, baseboards and window frames etc.

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Audra, I do the same thing. I buy as many as I can get my hands on. Even though most of the frames aren't perfectly squared, they're a perfect size and at $1, so much worth not having to making my own. If I saved each and every ship-horse-mom picture I've ripped out over the years, I'd have enough to wallpaper an entire dollhouse!

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I too feel so badly for my mini friends who don't leave near to a HL store. I don't even live close to one (i drive 40mins sometimes once a week to get there!)...going this weekend actually, and going to an AC Moore this weekend for the first time ever. I hope I wont be too disappointed in them. Btw, I dont know about you guys, but my Michaels has ZERO dollhouse items. I went there for DOLL making items and they seem to have redone many sections in the store and ripped out their doll making section altogether!

Anyway, I figured i'd chime in on my 2 cents here about the picture frames. I find that using sturdy cardboard (backs of notepads or just from a box from deliveries, etc) cutting out a rectangle or square is easy enough and then using some of the thin fancier dowels (like the ones with scalloped edging) from Michaels, I glue the scalloped sort to the cardboard. You can either glue the photo you are using between the cardboard and the dowels Or just tape it to the back so you can switch them out whenever you like. It's probably just as cost effective as buying the picture frames from HL, but if they are out (and MY HL is often out of them) I just make my own from household stuff if I can!

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Wait for a 40% off coupon to get the bedroom set. I didn't re-paint it, just sanded with very fine sandpaper and then put antiquing medium on it just enough to cover the wood exposed. I get it at Hobby Lobby also. It's by Folk Art in the craft paint department. I use #811. #818 is a little darker. They usually don't stock more than two of each at a time. It's $2.99 for a 2 oz bottle. I use it to stain all my floors, baseboards and window frames etc.

Thanks! I added it to my shopping list!

Tappy

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  • 1 year later...

I know. When I first started thinking of doing this as a hobby, all I saw was ONE greenleaf dollhouse. Just one, the orchid. Not much in the way of decor and another customer was complaining about the things you all are writing about.

She said that area is shrinking, smaller and smaller. The other dollhouses are so far up on the shelf, can't tell anything about them. So, after 30 min of looking, I left. They have tons and tons of paper printed up, but I don't want that.

Our Michaels went out and it's gone. I loved it. HL is nice, but they need to cater to everyone, make this into a big hobby. I called the main office in OKC, OK and the stores. I told them about some of the problems last month. I also said IF you could get someone to have a class on these projects, post help or a builder.....YOU all could sell a lot. It got swept under the rug.

What can you do? You try and you try and then you quit.

Sue

So? I will order online. Thought I'd save shipping costs, but when I can't get much, nothing else left to do.

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I was really happy to move to a city that has a Hobby Lobby but I can tell you, the pickings are slim. I was kind of disappointed when I finally visited and saw that their dollhouse stuff is not even an entire aisle but rather a quarter of one and all the way in the back. The furniture is nice but I hate to say its expensive. I can get the same sets online and even with the shipping, it would be cheaper. They have some flooring, wallpaper and other components but not enough quantities to be able to finish a dollhouse. Maybe if it was the size of a Buttercup Cottage but nothing larger. The miniature accessories are just a few and most are not true miniatures but just small things to decorate with like birds, teddy bears and other little knick knacks. They aren't even true to scale.

I was also saddened by the fact that once again, they don't have a Greenleaf selection. All of their dollhouse models are RGT. They had one lonely Orchid under a pile of RGT kits. Looks like its been there forever and since the store is new, it must have sat in their warehouse forever.

The Pearl art store in Miami at least had two aisles of minis and a McKinley, Orchid and Pierce kit. I use to think they didn't have many minis when I lived there but in comparison to Hobby Lobby, they were a mini wonderland.

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Although I live near a Hobby Lobby and got my Orchid for really cheap ($27.00) I am not at all impressed with the dollhouse section...it is one little tiny piece of a huge store...and I mean a bit of a shelf in the back that must be no bigger than 7ft long in a store that is as big as a warehouse. I can only say that my Orchid was cheap and the lighting kit I bought was cheap (with a 40% off coupon). Otherwise, not at all impressed
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