Before I talk about Kirsten, I thought I’d show you what my kids got me for Mother’s Day… Rebecca was the practical one this year… she saw how AWFUL my ironing board cover was and secretly ordered a new one for me from Amazon…It’s supposed to be scorch proof… We’ll see! My ironing board is an extra wide one and it DOES get a workout… I was surprised and very pleased…
Kristoffer was the creative one this year… He made a picture for me… he said he used pieces of thin foam-like material that came from some packaging he got in the mail… then he shaped them like flowers and dipped them in pink paint and then sprayed then with fine glitter spray. He bought a bag of rocks at Hobby Lobby and said these were the only small ones in the bag… so he made me and him from them… I love it… It’s in a shadow box… :o)
The siding is all complete, the mess is all cleaned up, Mother’s Day is over and mine was wonderful! (Thank you for your kind compliments on my kids…) I kind of think they are pretty special too! : o) :o) I got some more painting done on my kitchen cabinets, so let’s see, where were we? Oh yes… Kirsten’s new dirndl… I finished it this evening, but it was too late to get it listed on Ebay. The plan is to try and get it listed Monday evening, but no promises… I am just hoping so!
I put together a pail of flowers for her and made a pair of ties for her braids. I figured out how to make those looped braids… take the ends that are all “frayed-like” and just tuck then in the back of where her braids start…maybe you can tell what I mean from my pictures…
I hope you’ll enjoy these pictures…
Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Just beautiful Jeanne. Love the way the blues in the dress pop next to the pink and the dirndl apron is so pretty. Two thumbs up for this one
HI Lynn,
I’m happy you like it… there might be a “little” change when you see it tomorrow! Hope you’ll still like it!
Blessings, Jeanne
What thoughtful gifts from your kids! One caution: if you are fusing anything, you might want to be extra careful, as this type of cover reflects heat back into what you’re ironing, and the fusible could get too hot and bubble. So you might want to try some samples until you get a feel for what your ironing board cover will do. (same if you are pressing synthetics.) Or you could keep a chunk of muslin handy to put between the new cover and whatever you’re fusing.
Loved Kristoffer’s picture, too–such a clever way to make flowers, and a thoughtful sentiment.
Kirsten’s outfit is lovely, and, yes, in my Kirsten, her braid ends are tucked up under her hair, much like you have yours done. (I’ve never had my Kirsten’s hair down.) The bucket of flowers is the perfect touch.
Had a nice Mother’s Day–church, then lunch with Ron (who was able to come to church today, too) at Panera. My son stopped by with a gift–a large porcelain toddler doll dressed in a beautiful outfit and still in her original box! Normally I’m not into porcelain dolls, and really have no good “spot” to display her at the moment, so she is residing in a safe spot in the basement just now. But she really is a beautiful doll. It was his girlfriend’s idea, and when I posted a thank you on FB for “my beautiful new dolly”, she immediately responded that she was glad I liked it. After all, it’s the thought that counts, and she knows I love dolls!
Hi, Charlotte,
So glad to hear you and Ron got out. That was super news! Hope progress continues for you both.
HI Charlotte,
Thanks for the heads up about the ironing board cover making things hotter than usual. I generally use a teflon sheet when doing fusibles, but I might just keep a scrap of muslin close by and use it too… I don’t want to ruin this thing…
Kristoffer got me a porcelain doll one time (I think it was his girlfriends idea too!) I kept her out for a little while, then she went in a drawer. He never asks about her anymore, so I think I’m safe.
I do love my picture from Kristoffer and I think I’ll find a nice spot for it in my sewing room, so I’ll think of him every time I see it… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, what thoughtful gifts from your kids! They really do know you, and the fact that they do is a testament to what kind of mother you are!
Kristen looks darling, and I love the fabric ties! that looks more authentic than a ribbon would look. The whole set, is just wonderfully spring.like and sets a tone of happiness! The flowers in the bucket match perfectly with the flowers on the skirt too!
I love the outfits you make for Kirsten, and don’t find many on either Etsy or Ebay. That is one reason I don’t have her, because you can’t find much for her to wear. You do a wonderful job making outfits for her that match her heritage. She just wouldn’t look right in a modern day outfit!
Mother’s day here was a dreary day, rainy and chilly, but I got to have lunch with my daughter and catch up, so that made the day sunny for me!
Hi Linda,
Just wondered if you meant extra outfits for Kirsten to wear besides her collection. I don’t have a lot of her clothing, but do have quite a little bit of her accessory sets. I have and love her meet, her winter skirt and blouse, work dress (one of my favorite outfits PC made), and her checked dress, apron, and shawl (On the Trail). Actually, as a pioneer, Kirsten wouldn’t have had more than two everyday dress, a nightgown, and Sunday Best. If you bought all the PC/ AG clothing and Jeanne’s outfits she would have a large wardrobe. LOL
I love Kirsten and she was my daughter’s first doll. I don’t have her because, besides Felicity, I wanted my dolls to be different and I would only want a German Kirsten as well.
Hi Laura! I do mean extra clothes for Kirsten, but I also mean her accessories too. You see, when I collect for a doll, I want to get all of her books, her movie , if she has one, at least one piece of furniture for her to stand by to keep here in her times, and enough clothes to make her fun to collect for. I do have a lot of Kirstenās clothes now, but Cecile wears them, and very well, except for a few prairie type dresses. I know, girls back then didnāt really have a lot to wear, but if you saw what the rest of my dolls have, well, I think Kirsten would be a bit jealous!
Hi, Linda,
Sounds like your dolls have lots of clothes! That made my face light up like a Christmas tree! What fun! āOur cup runneth overā here at my house, for sure. Love hearing others have the same āproblem!ā Haha!
HI Linda,
I made a “small” change to Kirsten’s dress with, I hope, a good response from everyone tomorrow…
Once again, I had all those flowers in my stash and didn’t have to buy a thing… “except” for something I picked up today… :o)
It was dreary here too, yesterday, but just being inside with the kids, after we got back from lunch at a Mexican restaurant, was nice… we just laughed and told stories and looked up funny things on our phones and laughed some more. Oh, and at coconut cake and banana pudding… what could be better? :o)
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
What nice gifts! I love practical gifts, and I love handmade gifts, and you got both! My mom, daughter, granddaughter, and I went out for lunch on Saturday so Sunday was more low key.
I really like Kirstenās finished dirndl, and the little bucket of flowers makes a nice, authentic-looking accessory.
Thanks Carolyn,
I’m glad you had a nice day and a girls time out… :o) I LOVE low key Sunday’s too! :o)
I hope you’ll still like Kirsten’s dirndl when you see the tiny change I made to it…
Blessings, Jeanne
Miss Kirsten is the perfect expression of spring in doll form. š
Thank you Julia!
She does look “pretty” Springy… doesn’t she?
Blessings, Jeanne
Jeanne, as you know, I don’t comment much, your blog comes to my email to read. I love Kristoffer’s gift, so thoughtful and lovely to have to look at every day. I am happy for your Mother’s Day from your beautiful daughter and son, and love their photos. I have an ironing board cover like your, and am grateful for Charlotte’s comment about it. I wondered why some of my fusibles messed up! Also, just to let you know I am overwhelmed with awe at you and your hubby, and what you are doing to fix up your home. You two are amazing! And as for Kirsten’s dress, I love it except for that little checked bow. I drives me nuts! To me it takes away from the lovely fabric and trim on the dirndl. I can see something small there, like a small broach, but that’s just me. I’m sure it will bring a great price.
Hi, Sissy. I too mentioned that tie as it doesn’t work for me either. The broach idea sounds great. Maybe the winner will add that. š
HI Joy,
Just you and Sissy wait and see what happened… I had to go to town because of you both! :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you Sissy,
It’s always fun to hear from you and see what you have to say… and I did take something you said to heart today.. You’ll see tomorrow! :o)
There are SO many things we could do on this house… it really has been a work in progress since 2004! But slowly it’s becoming nicer and nicer…
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Happy Belated Mother’s Day to you Jeanne and all of your followers. I did read your post Sunday morning; what beautiful and thoughtful children! I am sure your son inherited your creative gifts. Nice work on the Kirsten dirndl! Off to PT, I haven’t been able to even display a doll, let alone dress one since my fall. I hope I turn the corner soon; missing out on so many things.
Debbie
Hi, Debra. Iām pretty new to participating in this blog, but I am sorry to hear you had a fall. I had one last summer that was really serious and after a total reverse shoulder replacement, it got even more complicated. Itās hard work, but keep doing your PT. I hope you can turn a corner soon, too, because it sounds like you are getting discouraged. Hang in there!
Sally, thanks for your words of encouragement! I am new here too but Jeanne’s blog has become the highlight of my morning.
Debbie
How wonderful! I am enjoying it so much, myself. How terrific to be able to connect with other gals who love dolls and make new friends.
HI Debra,
My son LOVES to do crafts… always has and probably always will! Give him scissors and paper and he goes to work! :o)
I do hope your PT starts helping a little more and you can back to dressing your dolls… that’s a bigger for a doll lover! :o)
Thanks so much,
blessings, Jeanne
Glad you had a nice Mother’s Day. We drove down to see daughter and grands and to check out the remodel progress. The remodel is getting close now as they wait for a couple more cabinets before the big finish. Had lunch at our favorite restaurant there too. Fun to see son in law’s recent purchase. A vintage Datsun 240Z. I think the remodel/pandemic drove him to the purchase. He’s going to fix some things, and only plans to drive around town in it as it doesn’t have airbags or possibly seat belts.
Sounds like everyone had a fun day.
HI Joy,
Well, your Mother’s Day sounded pretty wonderful… food, family, fixer-upper news, and a flashy, (maybe?) Datsun 240Z! Glad you had a nice time!
Blessings, Jeanne
I had to go and see the pictures from yesterday. What fun memories and Kristoffer and Rebecca look really close. I’m glad you had a lovely Mother’s Day and what wonderful gifts, both of which are perfect in your sewing room. Interesting what Charlotte said about the cover. I only buy cotton, unbleached and untreated covers for my ironing board. I never wanted to run the risk that a color from the cover would transfer onto what I was ironing.
Kirsten looks so fresh and springy in her dirndl and the bucket of flowers is so appropriate. It looks as if she grabbed an extra milk pail to put them in.
HI Laura,
My kids are almost exactly 3 years apart… but you’d never know it… they used to get mistaken for twins when they got a little bit bigger…
I’m going to keep a piece muslin on my ironing board to keep those fusibles from melting on my fabrics… maybe I’ll just use a lower temperature when pressing interfacings on…
I’m glad you like Kirsten’s dress, but there has been one little change made… :o)
Blessings, Jeanne
I’m with you, Laura–I only use heavy cotton duck for my ironing board covers. It’s getting a little harder to find them, but so far, I’ve managed. They last quite a long while.
A funny story–my ironing board had a floral cover on it years ago, and more than once, I’d be ironing something, and thought I had missed getting a spot out of something. It turned out the print was showing thru! When that one wore out, I stuck to plain off-white ones!
I will definitely be watching this when it comes up for auction. I know a little girl that will need it. My new Kirsten is supposed to be delivered on Wed, yay! š
My daughter took us to the GA Ren Faire for Mother’s Day. We always start that trip with brunch at the Peacock Tearoom. It’s amazing, good food and wonderful teas. I’d go just to eat at the tea room. Chef Randy had his blue tea back on the menu. It’s called Vanilla Sapphire and it steeps blue! It also tastes so good. š I was in a walking boot this year, so we didn’t do as much at Faire, but still had a good time.
Hi, Melody. I am excited for you about your new Kirstenās arrival. Nothing like getting a dolly box or an outfit box. I agree with you; your new girl NEEDS this outfit. Good luck!
HI Melody,
Oh, how fun that your new Kirsten is coming so quickly. I hope you get to play with her all day long… you are going to have so much fun with her! I bet you can’t wait! :o)
Well, it’s a good thing a walking boot doesn’t keep you from playing with dolls so much! I hope you get out of it soon!
Blessings, Jeanne
Glad everyone had a good Motherās Day. We arched a slide show my DIL put together for her first HS Grad. It was watching her grow up in 20 minutes. They always took lots of pics and it sure paid off! We all had tears in our eyes.
Loved your new ironing board cover… mine is such an odd size I have to make themš„“
The little frame from your Kristopher just melts my heart. He is such a sweetie!
The dirndl will be a beautiful auction….she will stand out for sure! Good luck!
HI Kathie,
I’m glad you had a wonderful time with your family… I’d like to get out some old slides and watch them again…
I’m keeping Kristoffer’s picture in my sewing room.. .I love it too! :o)
Kirsten’s dirndl is actually going to be on Ebay in about 15 minutes! Yay.. I was busy today!
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
What lovely gifts you had. You definitely needed a new ironing board cover, however did you manage, working around that hole lol! The picture was lovely as well, so clever, I must show Sam.
Kirsten’s outfit will do well at auction, it is so pretty.
Thanks for the information about the ironing board cover Charlotte. I recently changed my cover from the kind Rebecca bought and bought a different type of fusible at more or less the same time. I am having much better results from the fusible than previously but now I am not sure whether that is more the change of cover than the change of product lol!!!!
HI Anne,
I had to put a piece of fabric across my ironing board where that scorched spot was… the new cover came just in the nick of time… I was going to get one and mentioned it to Rebecca… she said, “Oh wait… don’t go get one… ” and then just smiled… I knew she had found something for me…
I’m going to have to play around with my temperature settings to make sure I don’t mess up the cover OR whatever it is I’m ironing…
Thanks Anne,
Blessings, Jeanne
Another wonderful I Dream of Jeanne Marie creation. Really sweet. I never really noticed the tie so I guess that means I’m okay with it.
How clever of Kristoffer to do such a lovely picture and so meaningful. And Rebecca’s gift is wonderful and from the looks of things much needed. My ironing board is extra wide also and I wasn’t sure I could find a new cover. I’ll give Amazon a try.
Had a good Mother’s Day. Went to church and got a rose. After church we met Sean and his family and Jason at a hibachi restaurant and had a great meal. I took a nap when I got home and I heard from my daughter later in the day. She was having a lovely Mother’s Day too.
Hi Barbara,
Kirsten’s dirndl is going on Ebay in just a few minutes… you might want to check it out… a few changes were made… :o)
I do love the gifts my kids got me this year… both were special and “one” was VERY much needed! :o)
I’m glad you had a lovely mother’s day too… it was dreary here, but it’s who you are with that counts the most! :o)
Thanks Barbara,
Blessings, Jeanne
I had a lovely Motherās Day too. My sonās family drove down from Santa Barbara, stopping on the way to visit with her 99-year-old mother who is visiting from Taiwan. They brought a lovely little orchid plant and saw the one from two years ago which has so many blooms. We had lunch here with a spring theme with ceramic bunnies in the centerpiece. Deviled eggs, a family favorite, mini ham sandwiches and lemon meringue pie were part of the menu. . Better than fighting the crowds ar restaurants on the first weekend of relaxed restrictions here in California. It sounds like everyone had a very happy day. Your gifts win the day, Jeanne. Kristofferās gift is wonderful. Heās inherited the creativity gene.
Hi, Susette.
Wow! Any deviled eggs or lemon pie left over?? Major yumminess, I quite agree. We were with two of our kids and families Saturday and had a lovely time, but one DIL has RA rather bad and is on strict food limitations, and the other DIL is such a health nut, well, need I say it? No deviled eggs or lemon meringue pie here. š£š
The food at my house was after they had had a traditional Chinese feast at Suemaeās sisterās house at about noon, duck and all the trimmings. I wish I had some of that pie right now.
Hi Susette,
I can just imagine your pretty table setting… and it sounds like your menu was something that could have been served at a tea room.. dainty and sweet! I’m glad you got to be with family for Mother’s Day…
Thanks Susette,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi, Jeanne,
Well, I have zero problem with the gingham tie at the neck. My only suggestion for the future would be to carry over to the back the same material that is used on the front bodice of the āvestā. Having it stop at the shoulder is what I call āa blunt stick in the eyeā. Still, I think this is a marvelous set, and if I didnāt already have one of your Kirsten treasures, I would be bidding. Hope Melody gets it. Iāll be cheering for her.
What lovely gifts from your kids. And looking at Rebeccaās gorgeous hair, I will say it again. You NEED to get Stella Rock Star. There you have it.
Thanks for this precious blog, my dear lady. I am so enjoying you and your friends. šššā¤ļø
HI Sally,
I know what you mean about the vest stopping at the shoulders…and believe it or not, I was planning on putting a back section on it, but I had the sleeves set in before I remembered it.. oops! So I thought I’d let it slide this time… but I won’t make that mistake again…
So you think I need a Stella Rock Star? Well… ummm… :o) just wait… :o)
I’m glad you are enjoying yourself here, Sally… I enjoy you being here too!
Blessings, Jeanne
I second Sally’s telling you that you need Stella Rockstar. You will love her. I speak from personal experience. There’s just something about her.
Hi Sally, I agree–I would have carried the fabric over to the back, too. It just strikes me as “off”. Granted, however, I am a Very picky sewer myself, and I realize it won’t bother some people at all! It’s a matter of perspective, I guess.
Good to see you are actively following the blog now!
Dear Jeanne, sorry I am late weighing in. Happy Mothers Day to you and to all of the Sofa Sisters.
What lovely gifts you received from your children. I think it is so special when our children find just the right gifts for us.