I’ve been gathering up pictures from ALL my dresses that I made this year, and I’m going to share a post of them, but thought in the meantime I’d share just a few more from one of my subscribers, Carolyn. She and her friends do something really extraordinary for the little girls in their Texas community… read on… and I am hoping the pictures are all right side up… The last time I tried to show pictures from some that were sent to me, they were upside down and sideways…I’ve worked for over an hour trying to get them right side up and when I post them I have to put them on their side, to be able to have them show right side up…I hope it works…
Here is a little background that Carolyn shared with me…
“I have three friends I sew with, and every year for the past five or six years we have sewn doll clothes for what we call “The Doll in the Box.” We each purchase an 18-inch “My Life” doll, and we meet one night a month to decide what to sew for the next month, share patterns, show off what we made the previous month, and just catch up on everything. When we meet in December, we bring all the clothes we have made and the purchased doll. The doll is removed from the box and redressed in her Christmas dress, then the doll plus all the clothes, and a few extras like hairbrush and extra shoes are all placed into the box. The four dolls are donated to the local Toys for Tots program. We have fun all year doing this, and it keeps us sewing.” (Each lady uses their own doll as they make the clothing to keep the new doll brand new.)
Here are 3 of the dolls in their Christmas dresses with their outfits stuffed in the boxes behind them.
Here are a few of the outfits made throughout the year for the dolls…
Good things are happening down in Texas, aren’t they?
Carolyn did find a little time to make a few of her own dolls their Christmas dresses…
Thanks for this heartwarming story and your generous efforts from you and your friends. I’m sure there will be at least 4 little girls this year who will have a most memorable Christmas!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
How very sweet of Carolyn and her friends to do this, and what a wonderful surprise those 4 little girls will have! I see they also took the trouble to find matching shoes for the outfits they made! What a great way for Carolyn and her friends to stay young and feel the Christmas spirit!
The pictures were right side up and some sideways on my desktop, but it was very easy to see. No worries, Jeanne!
HI Linda,
I was just so blessed by what Carolyn was doing, I had to share it with everyone. And several of you are taking the idea and running with it…so thanks Carolyn!
Not only did they find shoes to match, but she also told me they made panties and pajamas for their dolls too… I think this is just the sweetest gesture ever…
I don’t know what’s going on with the pictures…but hopefully my “engineer” brother and his wife can help me solve the problem… I feel bad that my pictures are every which way but up, but I’m at a loss as to what’s causing this problem…
Thanks so much Linda….
Oh, I’m coming to St. Louis tomorrow… Sara and her family were given plane tickets to visit friends in New Jersey so we are taking them to the airport tomorrow…I sure do wish that American Girl doll store was closer… but I’ve got my eyes on a few fabric stores… and that will have to do! :o) and :o(
Blessings, Jeanne
For me, the photo that includes supergirl was right side up, the others were sideways. Don’t you feel like tossing them in any which way, knowing that some will come out right side up and some won’t, no matter what? On my desktop, the pictures usually come out right side up, but not today.
Carolyn’s idea is wonderful and inspirational. If I were a little girl and got one of those dolls, I would want to sew for it, like she did, and there would be one more little girl teaching herself about making clothes, learning about pattern books, and spending babysitting money on fabric. Like Linda, I was impressed by the extra shoes — one more thoughtful touch.
I see that Carolyn is another person who likes red, white, and black as a color combination, and her dolls do look wonderful in it. I also especially liked the satin flounces on the colonial era skirt.
Jeanne, while I was complimenting you on the snowflake pin, I forgot to mention that I liked your earrings too.
HI Marilyn,
I do feel like anything goes with the pictures right now… I’m just confused as to what could be the problem… someone with more brains than me will have to figure this one out…
You got it right when you said Carolyn’s idea was “inspirational!” That is exactly what it is and exactly what has happened… several ladies have already emailed me and wanted to know if it would be okay if they did it in their part of the country…this might turn out to be a snowball effect!!!
I ‘ll have to show you the earrings up close…they are REALLY pretty… I got them back at the church yard sale… and just love them…
Thanks so much Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a wonderful idea! I’ll start next month and have something special for the fire department next year. I love making the little clothes as the process doesn’t take up as much room (make such a mess) as making “people” clothes. Great idea to include accessories and shoes. Congrats to the ladies on making so many little girls’ Christmases special and to Jeanne for sharing the idea.
The pictures on my HP laptop have always been fine until today when they were, like Marilyn’s, all sideways except for the first one. Strangely, they were fine on the Verizon mini iPad on which I sometimes read them first (before getting out of bed like one of your other faithful readers). It must be an interface problem and not really solvable by you, the sender. Your readers have too many different kinds of computers and are downloading pictures from different cameras to too many different picture programs for you to be able to solve this for everyone. I hope you’ll not worry yourself about it and continue to enjoy putting together your wonderful Blog. If people want to download the pictures, they can apply the Rotate function to right the pictures.
Thanks again for the wonderful Posts and sharing ideas. Please don’t spend another minute worrying this probably unsolvable “problem.” How fortunate we are to be able to share this way.
Hi Susette,
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the post today and that so many of you are inspired to do it next year for your area… It’s truly a great idea…I just loved it when she shared it with me.
I WAS worried about the pictures as I really don’t want everyone straining their necks to see the pictures, but I don’t have a clue how to fix it and there is no one that I know who can fix it, so I am waiting for my brother and his wife, who are extremely talented with computers and gadgets and hope they can help me figure it out… It’s probably some little something but I’m not that gifted to be able to figure it out…
I decided to stop worrying about it, but just add a disclaimer every once in a while to let anyone new know that I “Know” something might be upside down or sideways and I’ll get it fixed as soon as I can…
I hope my words speak louder than my pictures for the next little while…
Thanks for the encouragement, Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
It’s wonderful that Carolyn and her friends are doing this for some blessed little girls. What a moving and generous thing to do for some blessed little girls. All their clothes are sweet and it’s a great combination for the dolls to have. I can imagine how exciting it will be for some little girl to open that box on Christmas.
Carolyn colonial dresses are beautiful too. I like the gray gown and especially love the burgundy one with that panel of ruffles down the front.
Have a great day Jeanne and may you get on top of things you want to do!!
HI Paula,
I’m with you, thinking how fun it would be to see the little girls get those dolls and how fun it must be for them to open up the boxes and find them filled with all kinds of clothes and shoes and accessories in there. Talk about a fun Christmas present….!!!
I like those ruffles on her Colonial dress too… I’ve always liked ruffles…
Tomorrow we are taking Sara and her family to the airport as someone blessed them with plane tickets to visit someone in New Jersey. I’m going to do a little shopping in St. Louis at some fabric stores and a big thrift store called Savers!
Thanks Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
Some little girls should be very happy this Christmas.
Love the candy dress with the black. So sweet.
HI Joy,
Yes, there will be 4 very excited little girls this Christmas. I think it would be neat if 2 of them were friends and they each got a doll…how fun would that be?
Thanks so much, Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
What a lovely thing for Carolyn and her friends to do for some little girls. They will be thrilled with a new doll and wardrobe for Christmas. they certainly make a variety. We have done Samaritan;s Purse many years and one year we were able to find dolls that fit in the shoeboxes. My daughter wished she could have known who received them. It is so wonderful to brighten a child’s Christmas.
All the dresses are lovely, but I especially like the gray gown on Elizabeth. Gray is so often overlooked in doll clothes
The pictures are sideways on my desktop today except the first and the one with the doll in the supergirl costume
Hope your having a restful Sunday.
HI Laura,
Carolyn and her friends certainly get my vote for the “creativity award” this year. I think their idea is the best one I’ve heard so far… and so inspirational… I just love it!
I’m sorry about the pictures… it’s out of my control… I need Supergirl to help me out…
Rebecca is baking today and I’m making a few extra skinny scarves…
Thanks Laura,
Blessings, Jeanne
Samaritan’s Purse now has a feature where you can find out where the box went for a $7 donation if you want to follow it. This was the first year I’d done it and I’ll be looking for things all year instead of at the last minute. I found out about it through Hobby Lobby’s emails.
HI Susette,
I think it would be fun to see where your box went… If you watched for things all year, you could have a really nice box… :o)
Thanks Susette,
blessings, Jeanne
Pictures are lovely and came up on the tablet perfectly. How wonderful for each sewer to imagine the excitement of each girl opening her gift.
HI Jan,
I think we are all thinking that… how fun it is going to be for those 4 special little girls when they get their boxes… Oh how magical that moment will be for them… and also for the ladies who sewed all those outfits… they must be so thrilled to have accomplished so much! What wonderful women they are…
Blessings, Jeanne
I have to say it was a surprise to look at today’s post and see my photos–again, I apologize for my photography skills. It’s not something I’ve ever been very good at. I appreciate everyone’s nice comments. The Toys for Tots distribution was yesterday, and I hope all the kids were blessed by the gifts.
HI Carolyn,
I just sent you an email…someone wanted to know what pattern you used for the Colonial dresses…
I think everyone was so inspired by what you and your friends have been doing…and they want to do it where they live… It’s just such a wonderful story… I loved this post…crooked and upside down pictures and all!!!
Blessings, Jeanne