I didn’t really plan it this way, but last week I introduced Amanda on a Tuesday and today (Tuesday), I’m showing you the BONUS dress the winner will receive along with her coral colored dress and apron.
The winner said she didn’t care if I made a Christmas dress or just a sweet little girls dress that could be worn anytime, so this is what I came up with… a special occasion dress, but not TOO fancy.
I wanted to make something that would match her hair bow so it didn’t have to be taken out. The less you fiddle with mohair wigs the better they look. I’m not sure if this buyer is a doll collector or if she’s into changing her dolls clothes for every holiday that comes along.
Anyway, I love this fabric and it looked nice next to Amanda’s skin, so I went with it.
She needed a slip to hold it out just a bit so I made a white one that can be used for any other dresses the buyer may have.
So I’ll get this boxed up and shipped out tomorrow… Of course it’s going to run into that Thanksgiving delay, I imagine, so it will be a few days before she receives it. I hope she likes it.
I also received an email from Joy showing me her ever growing family of My Meadow dolls… Giggi down in the bottom right hand corner is her newest little Twinkles doll. Joy must have lots of patience to set them all up like this. I know it can take a while to get everyone standing and not have that “domino” effect!
If you think they look like they are waiting for rain… THEY ARE! Joy said it’s supposed to come Wednesday so the gang is doing a rain dance and looking forward to the air being cleaner and some much needed rain to help the firemen!
Well, I’ve got to get busy as Sarah and her mom, Alba, are coming over Wednesday to help me get a lot of my Thanksgiving dishes made ahead of time. There’s corn casserole to be made, sweet potato soufflé, my 7 layer salad, my potatoes peeled, a crustless pumpkin pie made, and some cookies. It appears from my list we’ll be in the kitchen ALL day! :o)
Hope your Thanksgiving plans are going well… If you have any “pie” questions, ask Kathie. She seems to be the pie queen around here! :o)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Amanda’s new dress is just beautiful, Jeanne!! How could her new mommy not like it?! It’s not exactly Christmasy, but festive-looking and dressy enough, she can wear it in the Sunday School program!
Joy’s dolls are darling, all dressed up in their newspaper pirate hats! I remember my brother and me making hats like that when we were kids! I’ll bet some of your other readers did that, too!
A blessed Thanksgiving to all!
HI Charlotte,
Amanda’s new mommy seems very excited to receive her…and she loved the new dress…I couldn’t resist sending her a few pictures in anticipation of it arriving!
I remember newspaper hats too…such fun memories!
Thanks Charlotte,
Blessings, Jeanne
What a pretty little dress for Amanda, plus a sweet little slip too! The colors of the fabric accent her darling curls in her hair, and the bow matches perfectly! Very good job, Jeanne!
Oh, how absolutely adorable Joy’s dolls look! They certainly capture the imagination of childhood and I do think having dolls or varying sizes adds to the cuteness of the picture!
You are making a crust less pumpkin pie?? How does that work? I actually like the crust best of all in a pie, sorry about that!
HI Linda,
Thanks for the compliments on Amanda’s new dress! She really did look pretty in it when I packed her away in the box.
The crustless pumpkin pie was a recipe I tried probably 10 years ago and we liked it so much that we decided we could do without the carbs on the crust and put them towards something else. As long as you have whipped topping on it the crust isn’t missed too much, although it is a big favorite of mine too!
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
I just met someone who couldn’t eat food with flour in it, so she makes small crustless pumpkin and fruit pies and says she almost doesn’t miss the crusts. There are so many good things to eat on Thanksgiving that it’s almost not a sacrifice. Your dinner sounds wonderful, Jeanne. In my family, starting when we were in high school, we realized we wanted something green on the table to contrast with everything else, and through the years we’ve experimented with various vegetables, usually consulting Julia Child for something to make them a little more interesting, or choosing salads with lettuce and oranges and blue cheese or mandarin oranges or apples.
Amanda’s bonus dress is perfect for her — you were right, the colors make her skin even prettier. I am so glad you made that offer, and the winner is going to feel like a real winner when she gets that box.
What a cute set of Meadow dolls. They look like they belong in a meadow, but Joy’s porch is just as perfect. What is the name of the optimistic blond who is looking at the sky, believing the rain will come at any moment? Second row, right end? The most remarkable thing in the entire picture may be the blue and green plaid shirt — matched plaids! How often do you see that?
Another winning blog entry, Jeanne. I can’t wait to see what you come up with tomorrow.
HI Marilyn,
This crustless pumpkin pie was requested by my hubby, so I’m pretty sure it’s a “good” recipe.
My menu is quite long and maybe I’ve over done it, but we can always send leftovers home with our guests!
Plus we’re having 2 Thanksgiving dinners…one with Bit hard and family and my mom. And one Friday evening with our kids and Alba and Edgar and Sarah…I’ll be so sick of cooking, I may never want a Thanksgiving dinner again!
That’s Patti, or Maddie, to Joy who is waiting for the raindrops to hit her face.
I can’t believe you noticed the matched plaid on Nicco”s shirt…how very observant you are!!!
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Lovely dress for Amanda! Lucky winner too.
And on to Thanksgiving. Sounds like you have all of the dishes covered and it will be nice to have some help getting everything prepared ahead. I do the prepare ahead thing too. We always have to have broccoli/cheese casserole and for the last couple of years I’ve been making Jeanne’s corn dish. I do add a can of mild chopped green chilies to it and top it with some sharp cheddar cheese. The kiddies even like it if they don’t discover anything green in it. 🙂 Since we’re traveling to see the grands, I pre bake the broccoli dish and then just reheat it there. I put all of the ingredients together for the corn dish and bake it there so it will be steamy. We’re trying to keep it simple but, seems like there is always something else to add.
Marilyn the Meadow girl on the back right is Patti aka Maddie around here. The big kids, 11″ about, are mostly wearing hand me downs from the Tonner 10ers. We or I, really need to make them some clothes of their own.
Facebook was down this morning for me. Oh dear! 🙂
We usually did Thanksgiving at our house even after the kids were gone because we had the most room. A couple years ago my son and daughter-in-law bought a nice house with a wonderful set-up for entertaining so we went there last year and will again this. I am making my corn casserole and was wondering if I baked it the day before would it hold up. I reheat the leftovers when I make it at home and it does well, so I hoped that would be the case. But I think I’ll do as you do and put it together in the morning and bake it when I get there. It takes awhile but we don’t eat right away. Thanks for the suggestion.
HI Barbara,
I’ve made my corn casserole several times ahead of time and then just reheated and it’s never failed to be good.
Just make sure you will have access to the oven before you get there…Kristoffer has done that to me…bring something over that needs to be cooked and my turkey is in the oven taking up all the room.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
HI Joy,
I need to take inventory of my dishes to make sure I have enough and one saved for each dish.
My hubby and I were discussing the broccoli casserole this morning…is yours the one with rice in it?
I’m trying to get as much done ahead of time and then just reheat…my turkey’s for each days dinner, weigh 21 pounds, so they will take up all the room in my oven…
I always think my dinner will be simple, but then everyone wants their favorites so it ends up like a smorgasbord. ..
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for the pie reference. My friend who is an awesome cook did some Pumpkin pie research and made our Golf group what was called “ my favorite” Pumpkin pie. This lady wrote a book on Pumpkin pies too. It was an amazing pie so I’m going to try it.
Whoever gets that doll and her darling wig and clothes will be all set. She has such pretty coloring and eyes.
Good luck cooking with your helpers and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
HI Kathie,
I just love a good pumpkin pie, so if your new recipe turns out great, you might be asked to share… :o)
My sweet potato souffle is so delicious, I’m not even making a pumpkin pie this year…
Thank you for the compliments on Amanda”s dress. She’s going to a good home…
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Blessings, Jeanne
When you put Amanda up for auction, I did a little research on the Boneka dolls and thought I might get a good deal by bidding on yours. I did and was in the lead for awhile but it seemed the person that won really wanted it so I bowed out. To console myself I did some searching on e-bay and found this: Robert Tonner Mary Engelbreit Ann Estelle Collection 10” Sunshine Sophie Doll. She is so totally adorable I had to have her. I had been wanting a 10″ doll. I have patterns, but no doll. I can’t wait to get her.
One of the reasons I was willing to bid high on Amanda was I wanted to see what additional outfit you would make her. Her new dress is totally adorable. I love the fabric and you were right to make something to match her hairbow. I don’t like messing with taking accessories out of wigs unless I’m the one that put them in. The woman that won the auction is fortunate indeed and congratulations to her. Another outfit and a petticoat too! What’s not to like about that.
I love the My Meadow doll picture. They are so totally cute! I looked at them on e-bay too, but they were a bit, well more than, out of my price range at the moment. I need to save up to take my granddaughter (who will be seven on New Year’s Eve) to the American Girl doll store so we can both adopt our new Wellie Wishers. I feel she’s old enough now to enjoy the experience and, hopefully, the Wellie Wisher will not end up in the toy box amongst the other toys as her H4H Dell did. I bought that two years ago and she couldn’t have cared less. Now when she sees my Wellie Wishers clothing patterns she keeps telling me she wants one, so that’s why the plan for the excursion. And then I have to make a few things for her Wellie Wisher to wear. She likes Willa but I’m not sure what she’ll choose when we get there. I’m concerned I won’t have time to make any Christmas dresses for my girls this year. I sing in a civic chorale and we have rehearsals and performances up till the middle of December, and that doesn’t account for the time I need to spend on the music at home. And I thought retirement would be relaxing. Only time will tell how much I can get done in the sewing arena between now and Christmas. And then there’s the decorating…
HI Barbara,
I did notice that you were in the lead for a few days on Amanda”s auction…sorry you lost out on her…but thanks for helping me get a wonderful price for her.
Oh how fun to be waiting for sweet Sophie…I think she is adorable and you will live her! Hope she gets there soon!
Oh, I hope your granddaughter gets Willa…she was and still is my favorite. I hated to sell my Willa, but she just wasn’t a money maker for me. I adored her size and her sweet face!
I totally understand about the “time” thing…my time is running out too and I had such big plans for this season…oh well…I’ll do what I can!
Thanks Barbara,
Happy Thanksgiving,
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, I love Amanda’s new dress! You said it wasn’t fancy. I beg to differ! It is adorable and would gain her admittance to any holiday party (laugh).
I love Joy’s dolls. I do remember paper hats. I hope the dolls can conjure up tons of rain for California.
Now that you have told us what you are serving for Thanksgiving, you know that you will have to set more places at the table (smile). We will all be traveling to your house for the wonderful feast you describe. I call dibbs on the sweet potatoes. Gobble, gobble!
Thank you for the compliments on Amanda’s new dress, Dorothy! I’m glad you liked it. It was very pretty in person.
I might have to fight you for my sweet potato souffle..it’s probably my favorite of everything I’ll be making! I could eat it for a month, probably at every meal and still love it! I guess that’s a sign of a good recipe!
I’d open my home to any readers close by…if only… 😮 (
Thanks Dorothy
Blessings, Jeanne
How generous you are to make the extra dress for the doll. So glad you had a nice auction.
Love seeing Joy’s dolls. They are all so cute, each one with its own personality. Great photo. I second all of the compliments on the Amanda and Joy’s cuties. Wish I was there to share dinner with you. We’ll be going out for dinners in Santa Barbara as my daughter-in-law has a huge weekend with the Street Fair the next few days. It’s one of the biggest sale opportunities for her paintings with so many visitors from around the world coming for the holiday. No stress or messy kitchen for us. Hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving.
HI Susette,
I don’t think it’s Joy’s DOLLS so much who have the “personality” but I think it might be JOY herself who shares her heart and it just happens to come out in her dolls!
I hope Suemae (?) has a wonderful sale with her paintings this weekend. I hope she sells OUT! Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner wherever you end up eating! Nothing like home cooked, but also nothing like NO DISHES! :o)
Thanks Susette,
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving,
Blessings, Jeanne
Beautiful dress and it goes perfectly with her coloring and her hair bow. The owner will love it. I have been busy unpacking, trying to get ready for Thanksgiving as all my kids are coming home. Yeah!!! Trying to keep it simple but am havng the same problem evrryone wants their favorites. It will be great having everyone here. Your dinner sounds wonderful–I guess I should say dinners. Sounds like you will be having a wonderful Thanksgiving too. Blessings Carole
HI Carole,
Yes, sometimes simple turns into “not simple” when everyone asks for something different. I just look at it as you must be a good cook with so many favorites requested..
I hope you get it all done…and have a wonderful time!
Blessings, Jeanne