I’ve been seeing a lot of posts and blogs talking about these “natural” hair dolls that are being created by this natural hair group in Georgia. They are absolutely stunning and I’m loving that some enterprising women of color have figured out how to create natural hair on dolls using the same techniques we use to curl synthetic braiding hair (if you missed this, CurlyNikki shared the how-to back in July)! However, I see a lot of women commenting about how they wish that we had dolls like this when we were children. The thing is … we did! At least, I did! You see, when I was 9 years old, my sister Sheri was 8 and my youngest sister Shana was 3, I had my Best … Christmas … EVER!!
It was about December of ’81 I guess. And, we knew that my mom had begun her Christmas shopping for us. You see, we never believed in Santa. My mom told us she wasn’t giving some fat, old guy credit for the gifts she had to buy with her hard earned money. Also, she always stressed that, “Jesus is the reason for the season.” And we were good with that, but we were still kids. So we lost our MINDS around Christmas time in anticipation of the gifts. And Sheri? She was the worst and was born nosy and sneaky!! *lol* So this particular year, she found our gifts, which wasn’t difficult because our house was small and they were on the top shelf in my parents’ bedroom closet.
We were latchkey kids and would be alone for hours after school until my parents got home from work. So … ummm … yeah, we pulled the bags out of the closet and started pulling everything out. OMGosh!!! We pulled out three of the first “official” Black Ken dolls, the first “official” Black Barbie and a couple of Christies!
Why does Ken have more hair than Barbie?
Then, we pulled out this:
It’s the remote control ‘Vette y’all!!
We proceeded to lose our minds and scream our heads off like the kids in that BMW commercial:
We took the dolls out of the box (remember when doll weren’t packaged like gold in Fort Knox?!?) and played with them for what felt like HOURS, quickly stashing them away before my mom got home. From then until Christmas, we would play around with my mom and secretly laugh with each other when she would say that she hadn’t gotten us anything for Christmas. And, on Christmas day, we acted like we were seeing them for the first time! And, she never found out that we knew about the dolls until we finally told her in our late teens. So, not only did we find the dolls and play with the dolls, we got away with it. *sigh* Best. Christmas. EVER.
The Black Barbie and ‘Vette were for ME!!! I loved this doll!
My mom cut down the massive ‘fro of all of our Ken dolls at our request! LOL!!
So, I know you’re thinking … “What’s this got to do with a giveaway?!?!” Here’s the deal! Tell us about YOUR best Christmas ever in the comments below between now and noon next Friday, December 23rd and be entered for a chance to win a specially selected surprise gift from The Look By Joi!!
Highly sought-after lash and brow expert, Joi Mebane, launches THE LOOK BY JOI to include products that focus on the total eye area, with a highly anticipated line of products that go from brow to lash and makeup sparkle. Known as the “lash and brow architect” by many, Joi combines her extensive experience as a makeup artist, licensed cosmetologist, cosmetic retailer, and beauty educator to create the latest cosmetic collection.
With an expert focus on brow shaping techniques and the eye area, Joi has mastered the ability to give the face an instant face lift with a unique pop. “I wanted to create products for the everyday girl. Servicing a multi-cultural base of women from all walks of life for over a decade – I constantly see the frustration of women purchasing beauty products but not being able to effectively achieve their desired results once they use the products at home. This inspired me to create THE LOOK BY JOI Collection,” states Joi (THE LOOK creator). For more information, visit www.THELOOKBYJOI.com, facebook.com/THELOOKBYJOI or follow on Twitter @THELOOKBYJOI.
Glitter for your lips (Retail $20)
Lip gloss (Retail $14.50)
A winner will be selected at random on Friday afternoon!!
(I really hope that you all play along! I can’t wait to read the stories!!)
hairscapades 
The best christmas ever was back in 1992 when nintendo was out and thats all me and my sister talked about , Nintendo , Nintendo! Well on christmas day we openen this big box and what was it A DAMN SEGA GENISIS! WTF! so we were greatful just to have anything cause my dad was in between jobs and funds were low. It was snowing out and my sister and I jumped on the couch and looked out the window and we happend to look down and saw a huge box and it was a IBM computer we were totally supprised. After breakfast we wanted to hook up the Sega I opened the box and guess what was inside !! A NINTENDO . my moms said never judge a book by its cover ! aint that the truth. Best christmas ever.
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Hahahaha!!! That is AWESOME Tiffany!!! LOVE it!!! Gotta remember that for hte day I have kids:)! Have you done that to your cutie patooties yet:)?
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I don’t recall the exact year but my best Christmas ever had to be the year when I was around 9 years old (more or less) and got both the Barbie Fashion Plaza and the Barbie Townhouse. Lawd, I loved those. I had all the barbies and no place for them to hang out LOL.
I will never forget it because the townhouse was just about as tall as I was at the time!
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The Plaza and the Townhouse?!?!?! Oh SNAP!!! I would have wanted to play at your house EVERY day!! LOL!!
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LOL you really would have. I had like all the outfits. I was spoiled….til my sister came along booooo! LOL. She is 6 years younger so now I realize that Christmas was before she was born.
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The best Christmas I had was in 2004, 5 months before my mother passed. This is the first Christmas the whole family celebrated together since we were children and didn’t have a choice. There is only my sister and I , but we had a house full of family friends that came from out of town and across town. They all came at their own free will, a lot of them we didn’t even know were coming. My mother still had a little strength in her and she mingled and fellow shipped with every last person. Everyone left with a smile on their face because she had one on hers. To this day we still talk about that day.
Ollie Moss
ollimo91@aol.com
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Oh wow Ollie. I think you’ll probably have the most touching “best Christmas EVER” story of all. The toy stories are fun to remember, but THIS is what it is really all about. Thank you for sharing that with us and God bless.
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My best Christmas was about 30 years ago. All I wanted was a cabbage patch kids doll. My mom kept telling me “sorry sweetie, we just can’t afford it and I can’t find one anyway.” One Friday night (I was allowed to stay up late), I was watching television with my mom and all of a sudden I saw her face on the television screen and she was on the news!!!! The reporter was asking her all these questions about her looking for a cabbage patch doll and my mom looked so dejected. She told the reporter, “I don’t know how I’m going to tell my daughter that I couldn’t find this doll.” I didn’t know what to be more excited about, my mom actually looking for it or the fact that she was on TV and was “famous!” I asked her if she found it and again she said, “sorry baby, I just don’t thinknyoure going to get it this year.” I remember just going to bed, not caring about getting to stay up late. That Christmas, I remember waking up thinking, I guess I’ll go open some presents. Usually me and my brother would be waking my mom up. This year she had to drag me out of bed. When I got to the tree, the first thing I saw was a box about the size of a doll. I had scoped it out a earlier at Toys R Us! I went straight for it. AND IT WAS A CABBAGE PATCH DOLL! I was so excited. I opened the rest of my gifts and could care less because I wanted to get back to my CPK! My mom then tells me to clean up behind the piano cause I threw some wrapping paper behind it. When I went to clean it up I found TWO MORE!! Peggy, Byron, and Laticia. Turns out my moms friends saw her on television and went out and found and bought the dolls for me! I played with those dolls until they were dingy! Still one do the best Christmases ever!!!
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OMGosh Tiffany!! That was the same year that I think everyone was beating each other down for Cabbage Patch Dolls! My mom refused! But that is frickin’ awesome!! She was on the frickin’ news!!! Wow. These stories are making my day:). I was just watching that Jimmy Kimmel Halloween video again and all I can say …. “Oooooooh, you SNEAKY Mom!!” LOL!!
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That’s awesome Tiffany… and yes, your mama was very sneaky, LOL!
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Pingback: December Giveaway Reminders! « hairscapades
This year has been my best Christmas ever. 🙂 My only child is two years old, almost three, and this is the first year that she has been ‘aware’ of Christmas, Santa, and the Baby Jesus–she’s not ‘gift crazy’ either, so even better. Hearing her talk to the Baby Jesus in the nativity scene and seeing how she loves the Christmas lights when we drive down the road has been awesome. And I know that watching her open her gifts will be amazing too. This already has been my best Christmas ever. 🙂
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Awwww, how cute Nikki!! Love it:)!!
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My best Christmas was in my first year of college. I went away to school and this was the first time that I had been away from home for a significant amount of time. I always enjoyed Christmas in my house but had taken it granted being as how I was always home. But that year I wouldn’t be able to participate in decorating the house or the tree. So when I finally got home after finals it was really great to be home again with my family.
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Another great story!! You guys make me a little ashamed that my best Christmas was so materialistic! But, you know, it is what it is! LOL!! I’ve been fortunate to always be with family on the holidays and I don’t have any little ones yet. But, I’m sure that Christmas of ’81 will be outshone when that happens.
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