As I mentioned yesterday, here are some fun pictures from Sally. She has dressed her girls in some wonderful outfits and I’m sure you will enjoy looking at them. I will send along what she said about each picture.
Hi, Jeanne,
I was feeling rather guilty that my AG dolls have not been changed since just after Easter, and some sisters have submitted pics of dolls in Halloween. To help you out, if you need it, I am forwarding pics of some of my kids in storybook costumes and a couple Halloween. They’re pretty happy dolls to have finally gotten some attention.
Addie was adamant about being Alice in Wonderland because she wanted to break down the stereotype. I said, “Sure, why not??” Willy is Little Boy Blue, and then, name not remembered because I am a bad mom, we have Dorothy and Toto. All of these outfits are by Kathy Keroack of SugarloafDollClothes.
(Sally, I think that might be Gabriella…??)
More coming. I am very much liking your Comfort Gray paint!
So, Sonali is wearing the AG American Indian outfit. I liked the outfit but not the doll so much. Ned and another doll whose name I don’t remember, are wearing coordinated Pilgrim outfits by Eve Coleman. Figured I might as well do Thanksgiving when I’m in the mood to go through this long process. The rest of the AG dolls will be put in holiday outfits and winter coat sets. Maybe next weekend…
(Sally, I think it might be Marisol in the Pilgrim outfit!)
Two more girls ready for Halloween. The witch is made by an Etsy seller long ago. I noticed I paid $19.99 for it. A bargain! The candy corn outfit is AG.
A girl of the year as Little Red Riding Hood, and Molly, who wanted to be the first to wear the WWI nursing outfit with wool cape. She even has a Red Cross armband under that cape. Both outfits are also by Kathy Keroack of SugarLoafDollClothes.
There you have it. All the beautiful colonial outfits on some of these dolls have been carefully padded with tissue with all necklaces, mitts, hats, etc all separately bagged EXCEPT Felicity who is wearing your green colonial Christmas. She said she didn’t mind keeping it on for the holidays because she loves it so. I thought that was pretty swell of her.
Hope today’s painting is going well. Sending hugs and gratitude.
Thanks Sally… I appreciate you getting your dolls all dressed up for “showtime!” and hope they are seen all over the world! :o)
You have some beautiful outfits on them and just because you couldn’t remember their names, you aren’t a bad mom! You’re just busy with lots of dolls and names come and go occasionally! :o)
Kathie sent this picture to me of some masks and an email explaining the picture. “One of our Members brought masks for all of us. We had a great time and some good laughs. The back of the mask was marked from Madame Trousseau’s Museum.😵💫
We are a fun doll loving group and manage to have some great programs too.”
(
Those are REALLY interesting masks, Kathie! Are you in the gray quilted vest? I bet you had a blast wearing them!
And last up are a few pictures of my sitting room now. We DID get the floor finished, but it wasn’t without lots of hours of work. I never dreamed it would take us all day to just do that little section, but there were just challenges with the floor being higher in spots and having to add slivers of flooring to the edges of both walls. The planks weren’t wide enough when I added that plank going back into the computer area to fit against the wall. So there was a 1 inch gap along that wall, and then there was a gap on the wall with the big window. We probably spent 2-3 hours just on getting that figured out. But it’s all done now… well, the flooring part. I still have to finish painting the computer area but that shouldn’t be too hard or time consuming. We still have to put down the flooring in my hubby’s office. He is still changing out the outlets to white. We still have to put up trim around the doors and baseboard trim needs to be put on. I’m still hoping to change out the trim around the closet door. I can live with the computer window and the big picture window having the corner blocks for trim… I can hide those with curtains…
Anyway, here a few pictures from today. I was really dragging when we finished at 7:00 tonight. I’m about as pooped as I have ever been.
BUT we got the floor totally finished…
We had to move the computer around the corner so we could finish the floor on that side of the room. It had to be hooked back up but we were careful not to get anything pulled out… my satellite cable was fortunately long enough to move with the desk too.
That seam you see across the floor was about 1/4″ higher so my hubby had to sand it down and fill some dents in the floor with wood filler.
After several hours it was time to really move along… the “middle parts” are always the easiest. No floor registers, no doorways to cut around… (well, there was that one in the first row, there to the right of the closet door), but we made good progress till we reached the wall… well…”almost reached the walls.”
On both sides of the areas we had to finish, there was a 1″ gap where the trim had to be fitted in to fit. The planks just happened to hit in the wrong place as we moved across the floor.
I hated that we had to shave off 1″ on a perfectly good plank to fit in there next to walls, but we didn’t have a choice. It stuck out underneath the baseboard that we already had up so we had to go with it. I can still maybe use those few planks we had to cut that 1″ piece off of in my hubby’s office, along the walls.
So my sitting room now looks like this…
It’s REALLY nice and we can hardly believe it after 17 years of walking on that plywood!
After we get those other things done, I guess I’ll have to do some decorating. I have already been looking at curtains, drapes, etc…and hope to use several pieces I already have. We’ll see…
Well, I better get a shower and get to bed. I can’t wait to get in bed!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Sally, thanks for sharing your pictures! It’s hard to choose a favorite doll/outfit, but I really do love Addy as Alice in Wonderland, and the little Pilgrim Girl outfit is awfully cute, too. And of course Molly did have to be a nurse, since her dad is a doctor!! My Molly has a nurse’s uniform, too–a white dress I made for her one year, and then made a nurse’s cap out of paper, and added white tights and shoes.
Kathie, those masks are wonderful!! Really quite amusing, too!! So, which one is you?!
Jeanne, congrats on getting your floor completely done!! Now you need to take a day and just relax (or maybe sew?!), and not think about house projects for a while!
Hi, Charlotte,
First, how is Ron doing this week since you took over his medication dispensation? I hope you are both starting to see a bit of difference.
Haha…yes, I think dear little Addy carries off “Alice” pretty well. A little startling, I suppose, but a fun twist. I am glad you enjoyed that and the nursing outfit. Kathy and I worked on that a lot. A wonderful seamstress and a very good friend. How fantastic that you, as a skilled sewer, could make your own nursing costume. Has to be so satisfying!
Thank you so much for your kind comments. You and Ron have a lovely weekend.
Jeanne, your house looks better and better. Are you running out of rooms to work on? What will you do once the house is complete?
Sally, I too am a Sugarloaf fan — I love looking at her work on Etsy and finally figured out how to look at previous outfits. Nice inspiration. She remade some American Girls into American boys and I like them better than the AG company versions. She’s one of the few seamstresses to make boy’s clothes. I have to say that that the green witch, which is not hers, is wonderful. Jeanne doesn’t go in for Halloween costumes, and it’s too late for Halloween this year, but I can visualize Jeanne making a lovely witch out next year. Maybe.
I was off at the doctors having an infusion yesterday — that means sitting in a comfortable chair for hours (usually six) with a needle in my arm, sleeping and reading. Yesterday’s book was The Woman Behind the New Deal https://smile.amazon.com/Woman-Behind-New-Deal-Conscience/dp/0385513658/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1635502519&sr=8-1
The book is about Francis Perkins, the first woman cabinet member. She served as the unglamorous sounding Secretary of Labor, and much of FDR’s domestic policy, like Social Security and Medicare, were her issues. She was an eyewitness to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in which 146 women died. (Wikipedia has a description.) Perkins, who was having tea with friends across the square, was already engaged in Social Work, and this horrible event increased her desire to bring about reform. The fire is one of those events which caught the attention of the country, and the unnecessary deaths (the doors were locked, many women jumped or fell to their deaths rather than being burned alive) of the underpaid, overworked seamstresses helped bring about the changes Perkins later worked for.
Hi, Marilyn,
I knew you have been a SugarloafDollClothes fan for some time as I have seen “Marilyn” in some reviews probably a long time ago. Figured it was you. Kathy knows I am way done with procuring any more AG clothes, but we remain friends and get together for lunch when I’m out East. So talented and so nice.
Happy to hear how you were finally able to see her old sales for a review of all she has done. She also has a Flickr site, too, though I find it annoying to have to log on or whatever.
The book about Francis Perkins sounds really interesting, and I appreciate your mentioning it. Eleanor Roosevelt has long been about my favorite historical woman (we share the same birthday, so I always toast her). Maybe 10 or 12 years ago, a two volume biography about her was published that I really enjoyed.
Hope your infusions are going well. You must have a pic line? Definitely a good time to catch up on reading. I had daily double antibiotic infusions for six weeks in the beginning of the year. They were not 6 hours though. Only about 2 each time.
Have a fun Halloween and thanks for your comments.
Marilyn, I forgot to add that it was Kathy who encouraged me to make my Willy. I had a second hand Kit that had her wig glued on a bit too far down on her forehead. Kathy took me step by step to remove the wig. I did pretty well, and I bought the boy wigs Kathy recommended. Some of them, though, keep popping up which bugs me. Joy told me about Maker’s silicone wax which I bought at Walmart. So when Willy was becoming Little Boy Blue the other day, and his wig was being very annoying, I took a glob of that silicone wax and pressed it down on his head, and now? Happy Day! The wig staid on! Kathy HAS certainly made some outstanding boy outfits. We have more than a few….
I’m with you. I haven’t cared much for the AG boy versions.
Sally, your dolls look wonderful and you have kept their clothes so pristine! So much to say for keeping them stored nicely and it certainly helps when dressing them that everything is in place. I love the colonial outfits, but I hardly ever look at Etsy, things are just too much for my pocketbook! You certainly did get some winners there, and that green witch outfit is just wonderful! When you show it with all the others, it looks just as expensive! I love Molly’s WWI nurse outfit! Now my Molly is going to want one like that! Thank you so much for showing us your treasures!
Well, Kathie certainly is in a fun group! Such different masks!
Jeanne, your house is getting better all the time! I love how the colors seem to just flow together so easily and the new flooring makes the room look bigger and brighter. So happy for you that you are as far along as you are! Not much left to do anymore, is there?
Hi, Linda,
I hope your knee recovery is moving along and that you are pleased so far.
That is a really cute witch outfit, I agree, and the fabric for the cape and hat is satin-faced. It was on clearance from an Etsy shop 7 years ago and sometimes, you CAN find some bargains there. Never hurts to look, especially if you have a lot of self discipline. 🤓
Perhaps you can sew your Molly a nurse uniform to “mollify” her! Sorry! Had to say that. But she does make a great nurse. And I know you DO have the skills!
Thanks so much for your lovely note. Enjoy Halloween and keep up the good recovery process!
What a day! Dollies and finished floor. Exciting to see both.
Sally’s girls with their really lovely outfits are a special treat. Not a trick for sure. 🙂 And I’m with you Sally as I too have no idea of some of the names of my AG’s. 🙂
How fun to see Kathie and her friends in those fun masks Such a party group. 🙂
And on to the amazing flooring job. Wouldn’t you know that there would be one long gap on the edge. But, great save. It really looks amazing. If I were you, I’d scout the attic for a table on which to put your computer screen and keyboard. That desk seems really huge for the space. And you have that great closet so close by for storing any supplies. I think without that big hutch on top of the desk, the area would look much more spacious. I say that, because we have the same problem here with other person’s gigantic desk and hutch that I’ve subtilty asked about removing for years. Just a thought. 🙂
Trying to get organized as I forgot that today is Covid booster shot day. I planned to photo my Halloween kids this afternoon, but not so sure now. We’ll see. 🙂
Thanks, Joy. Happy to hear you got a little kick out of the pics. Loved your outfits that YOU made for your Siblies on FB. I think you will be forwarding them to Jeanne for a sharing. Really, really cute.
Happy Halloween!
Thanks for sending the pictures along, Sally. They are all great, but of course my favorite is the witch! Beautiful! Sorry, not scary. The dresses are all so well preserved. Don’t worry about names as I had to take a look at yesterday’s post and go to the RRFF website to remember Elinda’s name. Someone who has her too please remind me what kind of box she came in.
Everyone looks so cute in their masks. I’m wondering too if that’s you in the vest. What a great group.
I’m glad the finishing work is being completed on the house. Back to sewing soon.
The Elinda here came in a newer type box pinkish with her picture within a heart on the front. 🙂
Hi, Susette,
Thank you very much for your comments. I like that witch sett, too, but that dear hat takes up a lot of storage space, but I love it. Because I have invested a lot on my doll wardrobes, I am very particular and careful about storage. It pays off, but is very time consuming and at this point, rather exhausting.
Whew! Glad some other sisters forget names, too. And Joy is right; Elinda came in one of the nice, sturdy pink boxes with her name and face in a heart on the cover.
Have a fun Halloween. I hope you get a lot of witch visitors!
Dear Sally, Thank you so much for sharing your sweet AG girls. Those pilgrim outfits are lovely. I also really like your Little Red Riding Hood girl. You have beautiful dolls and absolutely wonderful clothes for them. If you don’t remember their names, just give them a new one. I also like your boys. I like the idea of a boy doll, but that would be more historical clothing and cost-wise I can’t go there. I do have a boy in imagination only to my girls.
Your doll group looks like loads of fun, Kathie. The masks are really cute.
How wonderful to get the floor finished, Jeanne. The room looks very nice. When Rebecca comes next to visit she won’t even recognize her old home with all the upgrades that have been done.
Hi, Laura,
I’m so glad you got some enjoyment looking at those outfits, and I agree, that Little Red Riding Hood outfit is as dear as it can be. Thank you for your kind words and the forgiveness for forgetting names.
It’s pretty easy to make a boy from a second hand AG. Perhaps you could sew your own historical outfits? Maybe one colonial, one regency (you might be able to make the breeches just once to cover both periods? Every now and again Felicity’s breeches come up on eBay for a good price. I hate being an enabler! (What a falsehood that is!)
Happy Halloween, and thanks again.
Loved seeing your boys and girls dressed up Sally. and it was fun seeing all you and your friends, Kathy, in your masks.
The floor looks wonderful, decorating is the fun part, not nearly so exhausting. Enjoy.
Thank you, Anne! Are you sewing at all this weekend? Do you have Halloween?
Hope your weekend is lovely and that spring is in full swing!
Your house just keeps getting better and better. Looking forward to seeing how you “decorate” your sitting room. And also how you will do the guest bedroom. I love that bed.
Sally, all your dolly children look so fantastic for the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays. Love that witch!!! The doggie in the basket is too cute.
Kathie, what a fun group of ladies you’re part of. Those masks are wonderful! Such good fortune that you have such a wonderful group to share your dolly interest with.
Thanks Marilyn for your synopsis of the book about Francis Perkins. I vaguely remember reading about the shirtwaist factory fire. Why were the doors locked? I’ve seen where there have been lots of similar incidents but they’ve always been in third world countries. Hard to imagine it happening here.
David and I spent the morning pre-registering for his knee surgery next Tuesday. Met a lot of very nice people in the process. Another beautiful breezy day here with temps in the 60s.
Hi, Barbara,
I’m very glad you enjoyed the outfits.
We’ll all be thinking of you and David this coming week, you can count on it. Very happy to hear your weather is being kinder, more enjoyable. Happy Halloween, dear sister.
Sally’s doll costumes are beautiful. Inspirational to sew your own.
The renovation of the house is probably already over? We’ll get Jeanne back soon and follow her designs. The house looks great.
Thank you very much, Alina; I am so glad you enjoyed seeing some of the “kids” in these outfits.
It’s so great to see you posting again. Have a wonderful weekend, dear sister in Krakow!
I do love the home renovation info. I’m wondering what it’ll take to get me to paint… more than 20 years hande passed since I helped mother paint in this house. And floors and trims still unfinished upstairs 🤔
We were gone today so didn’t see your post till this eve🥴
Sally your AG’s are the epitome of beautiful costumes! One cuter than the other! For some reason Willy took my eye over the beautiful girls! He is just perfect!
Jeanne the house will be done before you know it. It will be so nice to enjoy all your hard work. Every time I see that floor I like it more.
Our Doll Club did look so different didn’t we🥴🤗? ! Those masks were a hoot and each time we took a good look at each other we laughed! Yes, you guessed me .the one in the grey vest☺️Happy Halloween everyone
Thank you, Kathie; you are so kind and I’m happy you enjoyed the outfits. I enjoyed your masks and that you have a doll group that meets and whoops it up! Very nice! Thanks for sharing your picture, and Happy Halloween to you!