Hi everyone,
Are you ready for Valentine’s Day? Well, I should ask are your DOLLS ready? I know someone who is!
Today we are blessed with some pictures from Debbie (in North Carolina) showing us her dolls. She went straight from Christmas to Valentine’s Day this year saying, “Who knew it would be a winter for the record books!”
This was what she said about them:
My Little Darlings have welcomed Abagail in the pretty pink and white dress that Sissy made for me. I think it suits her perfectly with her green eyes.
Valentine’s Day is my excuse for displaying Mary Poppins and the Penguins in her dress from Jolly Holiday. If you asked my favorite childhood character, it would definitely be Mary Poppins.
The other two dolls with Mary Poppins are both from Ruby Red Fashion Friends. The sible is Queen Elizabeth II as a child with her Corgi. The blonde is RRFF Pilgrim dressed for a walk with the Corgis.
Warm wishes,
Debbie
Thank you Debbie! Your girls are just beautifully dressed and shown off in that glass cabinet! I love your collection of dolls and they are definitely READY FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!
Thanks so much!
See everyone tomorrow…You won’t want to miss some “January Dolls!”
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, what a treat–more dollies to admire! Thank you Debbie, for sharing today!
Your Little Darlings are wonderful, and look all ready for a Valentine party!
It’s nice to see the Pilgrim girl dressed in modern clothes. I didn’t realize how pretty she was!
I had thought to get Princess Elizabeth, but didn’t (don’t remember offhand why…) but I did get the Diana doll, just because I liked her (the doll, I mean) so well.
And as for Mary Poppins…I was already an adult when the movie came out and mom wanted to see it, but I resisted, because it was a “child’s” movie! Haha…Then two things happened: I babysat for a family who had the soundtrack record, and I played it and fell in love with the music; and then, in my first library science (my minor) class, I read the book, Mary Poppins….and realized I had read it as a child, but had forgotten! There was one part I particularly remembered puzzling over (it wasn’t in the movie), and that’s when I knew I had read the book before, and Had to see the movie! Of course, I’ve seen it a number of times since then!
Thank you Charlotte! Constance the Pilgrim was overlooked by collectors. I confess to buying her when she was originally offered then selling her a few months later. Not long after I knew that I had made a mistake because she is a beautiful doll. Lucky for me “Happily” had not sold all of their Pilgrims. I can see her dressed for all seasons. Princess Elizabeth on the other hand is not a stand alone beauty but her outfit is another exceptional ensemble by RRFF and so true to the original that Princess Elizabeth wore in a famous photograph.
I love that you were reintroduced to Mary Poppins through the soundtrack. My mother drove me to the movie theater in downtown Lancaster, PA to see Mary Poppins when it was released. I think I would enjoy reading the book as an adult.
Debbie, what a treat for us today! I simply love your beautiful dolls all dolled up in the glass cabinet! So pretty!
That dress that Sissy made for you is darling! I also love that red and white dress with the smocking and cherry print next to it! Just darling!
Your RRFF doll, Pilgrim is beautiful, and what a darling outfit she has on!
But Mary Poppins, well, what a trip down memory lane for me! I love her outfit, but what I remember the most about her, is that my “future” husband took me to see the movie back in 1964 when it first came out! We had always gone to the movies he picked out, think “James Bond “ and the like, but I mentioned that I would love to see Mary Poppins when it first came out. He was really blindsided by that!😊. It was a big deal then when the first showings of that movie were out, and ours was at a very fancy theatre in St. Louis, that is now Powell Hall, home of the St. Louis Symphony. It was packed with families and all kinds of people, all very nicely dressed up, if you can imagine. Of course, I wore a fancy dress and heels for that! I think this was his first realization of what kind of person he was going to marry!
My girls are still sledding and skating, but whether they like it or not, they will be getting ready for Valentines Day soon! It might be difficult!🙁
Thank you Linda! We still have snow on the ground in North Carolina. Nothing like the deep south but hoping for a thaw next week.
I did not know how much I loved pink and red until I started collecting these outfits for the Little Darlings over the last 2 years. They gave me a good excuse to admire Mary Poppins for a few months. Constance the Pilgrim is wearing an outfit by MaggieKate. I love the elegance of the lacy dress. There is also a stunning hat but I was so afraid of messing with the braid.
What a sweet story about your date to see Mary Poppins. I am sure your husband to be realized that he found a very special girl.
Loved hearing about old, St. Louis. Nice guy to take you to see Mary Poppins. 🙂 And, sledding/skating is perfect for January. Loved your scenes.
More very special dolls beautifully displayed, Debbie. Aren’t you fortunate to have a Sissy original! Thanks for sharing your lovely collection.
I seldom comment on the weather where I live but here goes: It’s 70 degrees with 17 mph winds, going up to 87 today, highly unusual. I live eight miles back from the beach in Orange County, California . No one has told my orchid plants that there’s no climate change. They used to bloom in mid-to-late February and they’re blooming now. Trees are in bloom earlier every year too for about a decade now. I live on what’s referred to as “flat land,” not in the picturesque mountains. This whole area has had 0.02” of rain since September, supposedly the start of the rainy season! When it does come, it’ll bring landslides in the burned areas. Everyplace has its advantages and disadvantages at some time. Just a little update from this corner of the world. 🌎
Susette, I know there was a fire near SD, but I guess they got it out quickly. So glad that you weren’t affected.
I am hoping that you are not in a fire zone. They just keep starting up out there. Rick has an aunt and cousin in San Diego not far from the ocean. We have seen that proximity to the ocean is not a deterrent to fire. Prayers for all during this dry winter.
Thank you for your compliments. We live in a home with lots of bright light situated in sandy inland area. If they weren’t in the cabinet the dolls would surely suffer.
Pink rules! Well, for today anyway. Thanks so much Debbie, and Jeanne, for sharing the lovely photos. The outfits and girls are precious and displayed so well. Loved Sissy’s, dress and the others too. Constance, also lives here, but she unfortunately, does not own a beautiful dress like the one Debbie’s, girl is sporting. So fun to see the collection. They look great.
It was only 35 here this morning, so no frost. Yay, because I forgot to cover the porch plants here last night. Bad me.
Hope Jeanne’s recovery is going well. Take it easy, please.
Thanks Joy! The Little Darlings were one outfit too few so Sissy’s dress was just the ticket. I was in such a rush to include her that I did not push the elastic under the sleeve as it should be. It is so wonderful to own one of Sissy’s hankie pieces. I did not know she was such an artist with them until the fashion show we were treated to yesterday.
Our patio plants are not happy at all. I think some of the pansies will survive but little else. Hubby thinks all plants should be perennials – less work.
Good morning Everyone.
Thank you sincerely for your advice regarding the selling and finding good homes for our over flowing home and down sizing necessary. !! Wow, I know a friend that did this,.
Thank you so much for the brilliant advice!!
Debbie, your dear girls are so precious. Each one of these outfits are so unique and wonderful. Wow, the ruffle trim, the lace trim and the hats. The hat and coat are lovely. I used to have a red wool coat. The sweater…oh my, the doggies and the penguins
Thank you for sharing your fancy Valentine scenes
Have a good day everyone.
Thank you Rosemary. These dolls are wearing some of my favorite outfits which is why I could not wait until February to see them.
I did go back to Monday and read your post about downsizing. I am thinking about this everyday and we just moved 3 years ago and downsized a bit then.
When we moved to Tennessee in 2011 we had a garage sale. We earned $300.00 – never again!
In 2018 our son moved out of our forever home to work in North Carolina. We emptied the attic, our closets, the dining room, and one bedroom. I called an estate sale company that wanted only the whole house. We paid her to take our life long possessions and cried the whole way back to Tennessee.
I don’t think this is our last move because we chose a house that requires a lot of upkeep. It is too big, but the dolls have their own room. LOL
I told my hubby that the next time I will pack my suitcase and call the auction company to sell everything to the walls. Furniture is easy to replace. I hope you have a good choice of downsizing help. I know facebook marketplace is very hands on and little money for your efforts.
Adorable girls, Debbie, and so fortunate of you to have one of Sissy’s darling dresses. A beautiful curio to display them in as well. Constance is lovely. Everyone is so sweetly dressed in shades of pink, rose, and red. I loved Mary Poppins as a child and still do now.
Thank you Laura. I will never tire of Mary Poppins either.
I am glad everyone is enjoying my dolls. It is so much work to get all of them dressed for a season or a holiday but once it is done I enjoy my efforts. There is a very small room that I don’t think qualifies as a bedroom. It would be a tight fit for a person but is an excellent place to display the dolls.
I did see Linda’s dolls on Monday but missed all the comments. I did go back and carefully read each one.
Jeanne, thank you for sharing George’s story. Rick is waiting for results from both of you. His situation is more similar to yours than George’s but the leg with a bad vein, same as yours, also has a blood clot behind the knee. The vein doctor has put him off until April citing insurance payment uncertainties. I know that is not true and I have a problem receiving treatment from a clinic that is more worried about reimbursement than patient care. Many prayers for healing.
The ice skating stories were so much fun taking me back to my childhood in Pennsylvania. Ice skating was usually outdoors on a pond.
Debbie’s Valentine pictures are wonderful. I have the pattern for the smocked dress on the right but haven’t made it up yet. Did you make yours Debbie? How fortunate to have Sissy make you one of her originals. When I saw the picture I knew who she had made the dress for. It’s very easy to recognize. It is a lovely dress. I don’t keep up with all the RRFF dolls and I already have several of them so I’m not looking but I sure wasn’t aware of Pilgrim. She is indeed a beautiful doll. The Princess Elizabeth doll with the replica of her coat and hat is a wonderful doll. Didn’t know about that one either or I might have bought her.
32 degrees here this morning but thankfully no more snow or ice for a while. I watched the news the day of the snowfall and in spite of the very cold temps people were out sliding down whatever hill they could find on whatever they could find to slide on. Since we don’t sell sleds in this area, some were using boogie boards, kayaks and just plain cardboard. Since the snow was not real deep most did not have on boots since they most likely don’t own anything other than dress boots. But they were having the best time ever and the kids were over the moon – as were many adults I might add.
We did make it out for our anniversary dinner last evening. The restaurant closed for the day on Tuesday but the freeways were dry as of yesterday afternoon so they opened for the evening. Except for the wedding Saturday I think our celebrations are over now for a while. Between mid-December and the end of January it seems like one big celebration in our family. It just happened to snow on Azure and Dionne’s birthday Tuesday, so she took a picture of him in the snow. It was probably his best birthday present. He loved it. When my first sister was born on March 17 there was a huge snowstorm. They say the weather repeats itself every seven years and on her 7th birthday my mother took pictures of her in the snow after a huge snowstorm. I don’t think we paid attention to what happened on her 14th.
Continuing to pray for the people of California who seem to be facing one catastrophe after another. My cousins used to live in San Diego and loved it. Hopefully this will all come to an end soon without any more loss of life and property. So sad.
Thank you Barbara! I do love that red and white dress on the right but I did not make it. I rely on eBay to tell me who I bought from and what it was. I don’t own many RRFF. Just 3 at the moment and the Princess Elizabeth. I prefer the 13 inch size of the Little Darlings. I would have gone crazy sewing for them in the days when I used to sew. Fortunately for my daughter I did not have dolls to dress.
Happy Anniversary! So nice that you were able to go out and celebrate. Rick and I both have birthdays next week so it never feels like the holidays are over until the end of January. When we lived in Louisiana they did not end until after Mardi Gras. Winter was just one long celebration. I was happy for New Orleans to get that snowstorm. Lifted the city’s spirits. Last night we saw a photo of a former hockey player skating down Canal St. in the middle of the city.
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful dolls in their display case, Debbie! They are a joy to see. I bet you enjoy them a lot.
Debbie,
Jan Smith sent this to me in an email and I copied it so you could see it…
Debbie,
Your Valentine display is so inspiring! And a breath of fresh air for dreary January!
Thank you for sharing!
Jan
Jan Smith
Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.
Adam L. Gordon
Thank you Jeanne. I hope you are having a good day and getting well. ❤️🩹
Debbie, Your dolls are so varied and so lovely. I am honored to have one of my dresses among them! Each is so adorable and different. I especially love the Mary Poppins. I had all the books when i was growing up.
I have a funny story about my the first movie and the new one. I was with my older son’s family and we were planning to take her to see the new Mary Poppins. First we showed her the first one the day before. I told her that her dad was born the year that movie was made {1965). Her remark was, ” Won’t Mary Poppins be awfully old in the new movie?” I laugh when I think of it, LOL! She didn’t like the new one nearly as much and neither did I. That the children’s mom had died upset her, she was only about 8 or 9 then.
Thank you all again for the kind words about my doll dress that Debbie ordered.
That is a funny story and I completely agree, the first one is the best one.
You are welcome. I am so happy to show off your beautiful creation. 💖