I mentioned in my post a few days ago, that I might try and get Rebecca to make a pretty little pearl necklace to go with Lian’s smocked dress. The dress was ending last night and I thought it might be a fun addition to the set. Well, she did find time to get that necklace made and I thought I’d share it with you.
[If you click on any picture, it will enlarge.]
The Little Darlings have a neck that is sort of hard to get a necklace to fit right on. Rebecca can’t find a magnetic clasp lightweight enough to keep from pulling the necklace up in front, because the clasp is too heavy in the back. So everything she makes ends up looking like a choker. If you pull the necklace up in the back, it looks wonderful, but as soon as you let go, it rides up in the front. I know it looks like if you just made it bigger around it would sit further down on her neck, but it still just slides to the back… I didn’t want the necklace to come down on the dress, so it will have to do… It’s still pretty cute on her. (and may I say publicly…thank you very much to the bidder who generously bid and won this dress… now I have 1/3 of my crown paid for… the dentist is finishing it up this morning.) YAY!
I had a few errands to run yesterday, so I stopped by my local Thrift Shop. You never know what you’ll find at ours and today I found a fun little treasure for my girls. I love looking for little props and this definitely fits in that category. You know those “Dickens” Christmas houses… well, I found a tiny little set of sweetly painted resin houses, only these were “Easter” houses with tiny rabbits living in them. When I first opened the box I saw 7 houses and thought wow…these are pretty cute. They were $3.50 and I thought my girls could get $3.50 worth of fun out of them.
When I got home and looked at them… I discovered… there WERE 7 houses but 3 of them were duplicates… *sigh*
But that’s okay… 4 is probably all I can realistically fit into a picture anyway. The neat thing about them is they seem to work for all my girls.
Look at this… no matter the size doll, they still look right…
They have the sweetest details on them…
Here they are with my American Girl doll…
Here’s Isabelle, my 13″ Effner Little Darling playing with them…
…and here’s tiny 8″ Ten Ping rearranging them too…
I didn’t show my 10″ Patsy Tonner with them because I think she’s going to be next in line for a dress.
That’s it for today… houses and necklaces…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Several of us thought that Lian’s outfit was going to be a winner, and it certainly was. It’s so nice when someone loves something you made that much. That was a lovely compliment, and you deserved it. You should show off some of the pictures at the dentist’s office so they know where the money is coming from. You should show the price off to some of the people who think making doll clothes is silly. Taste and talent deserve to be valued, and I’m so glad they were.
HI Marilyn,
I am back from the dentist with a brand new crown!!! YIPPEE! I did tell my dentist about the doll dress and how it was paying for my crown too… He was impressed! I’m still in shock and very humbled…
I liked you line where you said “you should show the price off to some of the people who think making doll clothes is silly.” I’m going to remember that… and maybe use it sometime. It’s always fun for me when the auction goes until the last 4 one hundredths of a second to see the selling price! George was gone but Rebecca watched the end with me… her eyes got as big as golf balls… I just silently screamed!!!
Thanks so much Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m so glad for you too, Jeanne, on the sale of Lian’s outfit. It was indeed a nod to your wonderful work with your needles, etc.
The little houses are cute. Your dolls will look very quaint together with them in “scenes”.
Take care.
HI Becky,
Thanks so much for your kind thoughts on the sale of Lian’s dress.
I need to find just the right fabric for Patsy so she’ll match the houses she’ll be playing with.
I have a new crown… I’m good!
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh gosh, Jeanne! How lucky you were to get what you got for Lian’s outfit! Actually, “lucky” isn’t the word, “deserving” is more like it!!!
The little necklace is adorable! I know how hard it is to get things “just right” on these small little accessories! Rebecca, as usual, did a good job. On a side note, I’m trying to figure out how to write a comment on your Etsy page. Where do I put it?
The little houses are cute, who is going to know that some are identical?? You can do different houses with different scenes, and no one will be the wiser!
HI Linda,
Thank you so much… it doesn’t happen very often so when it does, I’m thrilled, giddy, and humbled all wrapped up in one… Rebecca just kept saying, “wow, mom!”
When you go on Etsy, go to the little icon at the top that says YOU… click on it and a menu will pop up.. go to purchases and reviews and that’s where you can leave a comment. Hope that helps…
I’ve got to see how they look with Patsy because she was going to be the first to model a dress with them as the props… I think she’ll be okay with them… I’ll have to think of a good story line for them…
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
I was watching Lian’s dress last night as well. I am sure the second top bidder thought she had it and then no, she didn’t. When I was completing everything I loved from Samantha’s and Felicity’s collections, that’s the kind of bidder I was… “waiting in the wings” gauging how to win without going beyond a affordable price. It worked most of the time, but I’m glad it’s over and I can just enjoy. Addy won’t be a possibility until autumn at the earliest. I think that was the prettiest LD dress I’ve seen you make, the winner will certainly enjoy it and the necklace looks so sweet.
The houses are very cute and will be great props for the dolls. they do work for everyone. Who would know some would be identical and you could always include one of the three identical ones in three future auctions and keep the four different ones for props.
Thank you Laura,
I appreciate your sweet comments..and the winner was just like you… she said for her, this dress was her favorite of all the ones she’d see me make and she just had to have it. I did feel sorry for the second place bidder. She was the one who started things, but she lost. :o(
I’ve got some of that green grass for Easter baskets and will probably use it under the houses… I’ve got to go play with them to see what I want to do with them…
Thanks so much Laura,
Blessings, Jeanne
I agree with everything Marilyn said !! She captured my thoughts.
That was a great auction.
Your little houses are cute and yes, I agree, they look appropriate for all the girls’ sizes.
What a nice Easter find.
The market I mentioned the other day sold fresh fruits & vegetables, had several excellent eateries, and my husband bought me a Larimar pendant and ring at one of the jewelry tents. There were a lot of interesting items under each tent including artists who sell paintings or photographs of boats and ships seen in the area. It was a fun market. We’ll go again.
Thank you Paula,
I appreciate your kind words about the dress and the auction. Not everyone has such nice friends that they are happy when someone has a tremendous success with something. I really do appreciate all of you and your happy wishes toward me.
Our Farmer’s Market opens up on the first Saturday in April… it won’t be long. It’s always a fun place to get fruits and veggies. We have the same things at our market too… some are called producers (fruits, veggies, honey, etc.) and others are called Non-producers ( like what I was when I sold my doll clothes and my little girl dresses there, the jewelry people, the dog biscuit people, the pickles people, etc.) It’s always fun to see what you can find there. What a nice find from your hubby… how sweet!
Blessings, Jeanne
Very cute thrift store find. Perfect size for the kids. Bet it will be nice to be “done” with that crown no matter how costly. We’re getting some rain, yay, here in CA.
Hi Joy,
The little Easter houses are pretty cute and I’ll have to keep them in the box, or my girls will be playing with them all the time…
Yes, it is nice to be done with the crown… I’m still just a little bit numb and very sore… but it’s nice to be finished with that…
I’m glad you’re getting rain today… we got rain too, but we didn’t need it like you do…
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne – Congratulations on a great sale – I think this just shows that you need to make more dresses for Little Darlings! wink, wink, nudge, nudge… 🙂 Two more like that one, and that crown will be paid for!
Oh Theresa,
Don’t tempt me… I hadn’t even thought of it the way you said it… “two more like Lian’s and that crown will be paid for!” I would like to think it could be that simple, but it probably wouldn’t work out like that… so I’ll just continue on my dolly list and make something pretty for Patsy…
Thank you very much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Great house finds! The crown was well earned. I absolutely hate the stress of auctions and don’t attempt to compete. i know there are sniper services but never tried this.
Thank you Jan,
I was happy to add these little houses to my “props” collection… it’ll be fun to use them.
The crown is one third paid for now…thanks to Lian’s sweet modeling …and a wonderful bidder!
I never used a sniper service either… I just always tried to win things the hard way… waiting till the last possible second and placing my bid…sometimes I won, sometimes I lost… oh well…there’s always something else to bid on on Ebay…
Thanks so much Jan,
Blessings, Jeanne
The little houses are a wonderful find! I’ll have to stop at thrift shops more often. Placing them in a circle with backs, fronts and sides showing different views would solve the “some are duplicates” problem for photographs. They really are the right size for the girls. Does Lian’s dress have no shoulder seam? It doesn’t look like it and that may account for the sweet look of the neckline. Congrats again on the auction. Fun to watch.
HI Susette,
Yes, I’m liking these little houses and I’m not sure which dolls they look best with but for now, they’ll have to share and Patsy gets to be the official doll to play with them first.
No Lian’s dress doesn’t have shoulder seams.. I butted the seams together on my pattern and made it in one piece. It helps tremendously to do this when you have tiny dolls.
Thanks for being a “watcher” Susette… I LOVE watchers!
Blessings, Jeanne
Congrats on the great winning bid for Lian’s dress! I think you should make more smocked dresses. : ) The little Easter houses are very cute, happy that Patsy will get the next dress.
Thanks Regina,
It was awesome that this dress sold like that! I was flabbergasted! (just between you and me, I think I should make more smocked dresses TOO!
I am showing a sneak peek at Patsy’s dress in tomorrow’s post…
Blessings to you Regina,
~ Jeanne