Hi everyone,
Weren’t those bridal dresses from Elizabeth just adorable, or maybe elegant is a better word? I just spied that Barbie I recently bought for her rubbery clog shoes, laying on a table in my sewing room and have a new appreciation for all the work on those wedding dresses. Sewing for Barbie, especially with the expertise that Elizabeth did, deserves a medal! It would be NO SMALL TASK… let me tell you!
Rosemary, I’m so sorry you lost Miles… my heart hurts for you. :o(
Charlotte, I’m glad you had Daniel and some friends to go with you to the cemetery on this anniversary… I know it was a tender time for you, and hope each time you go it gets a little easier. You are a remarkable woman!
Joy, thanks for finding out about the cow that was speared by that 2×4! Ouch! I almost hated to show it, but I just wanted someone to pray for her besides me.
Okay, let’s see what my sister, Cindy, found for us at Yesteryear Antique Center, where she has a booth. She said she noticed some new dolls in the lady’s booth that carries the dolls and sent me some new pictures. See if you can recognize any you know the names of.
The pictures Cindy sent, were on the small side, but you can hit the control button in the bottom left of your keyboard and then the + key on the top row of your keyboard and they will enlarge.
Well, I did a little sewing today… Ten Ping now has pink bows on each shoulder and a new slip! I hope to decorate her hat tomorrow! :o)
I’m heading to bed early tonight… too many late nights for me lately!
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
First of all, thank you for all the lovely responses to my comment yesterday. You gals are the best! And thank you, Jeanne, for your above comment, too.
Rosemary, I’m so sorry about your cat. It’s always so hard to lose a precious pet!
What fun pictures, and so much to look at today! That second picture has two Raggedy Andy dolls in it. When we first got our son, we decorated his room with Raggedy Andy. I had sold Tupperware for a while and they had Raggedy Ann and Andy wall plaques–there was one of each, and then one that had both figures plus some pegs to hang jackets–in their hostess points catalog, so I had bought those, and then found a RA&A bedspread in the Sears catalog. Our son was 3 years old when we got him, so no crib, he had a “big boy bed” right away. Years later, we brought those things to him and his then wife in Kentucky, so they could use them in their son’s room.
In the 4th picture, I see some Hummels in the background. The little girl in the foreground with the straight red hair is a Madame Alexander, I’m sure, but, although she looks very familiar to me, I can’t think of her name offhand. I see a Nancy Ann doll in her polka-doted box in that picture, too
In that last picture, I’m wondering if that doll on the far right is a Sonja Henie doll; my friend Maurine, who was in our doll club of years gone by, had one and that looks a fair bit like hers, as far as I can remember.
Thank you Charlotte for your sympathies, It is getting better here,. Our only kitty Princess has a very tiny brain, and she is processing quite well too 😀
I believe you are right that is a Sonja Henie doll
Charlotte took the words right out of my mouth as far as identifying some of those dolls! Raggedy Ann and Andy were also a part of my children’s decor in their nursery! At that time, we had a little two bedroom house, and Jennifer and Brian were born just 19 months apart, so there were two Jenny Lind baby beds in their room, with circus wallpaper and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for them that a dear friend had made. I still have those dolls, although they don’t look quite as they did when new!
The doll on the right in the last picture is a Sonja Henie doll, and I know because I had one! I got her when I was 9, and she was dressed in the most beautiful skating outfit and had ice skates with silver blades. How I loved her!
The doll next to her, in the brown dress looks to be a Madame Alexander doll from the little Women series. The first pictures were dolls from before my time, I’m afraid!
Thank you to Cindy for sending the pictures! I always love seeing some “old friends” from time to time. They sure do bring back happy memories!
There’s a SH ice skater doll on Ebay now. Wonder if she was like yours? Very cute in a red dress.
There are a bunch of Sonja Henie dolls on Ebay, but most look to be older than mine, which was from 1950. Mine had a sweet Tyrolean outfit on, with an embroidered vest, and her hair was very in tight, short blonde curls. I look every once in an awhile, to see if I find one like mine, but so far nothing turns up.
Oh, the one you had sounds so cute. 🙂
Just looking around and the Carmel Doll Shop has one that I think is your girl. https://www.carmeldollshop.com/miscellaneous-dolls/misc-796?gQT=1
I think she has a head crack but it is covered by her wig. 🙂
Yes I am with Charlotte and Linda identifying the dolls and the Hummels. What fun to see them all! The paper dolls remind me of the kind of clothes my mom would have worn when she was young. I am so glad Cindy sent these fun photos. I’m sure it would be fun to wander through her shop!
I am looking forward to seeing the finish on Ten Ping, Jeanne. I am glad you got more sleep last night. We don’t want you to wear yourself out!
Today is a sunny chilly and it is going to be 70º, I am grateful for this kind of moving weather,
We have not hired a moving company yet !! but I am moving all of my treasures and clutter myself. Oh my gosh, I am still not sure how some of this is going to fit in this house.
I did not go back and look at any notes yesterday, So much to do, and I forgot.
Thank you all of you for your kind words. Losing a pet is hard, they are like our babies.
These dolls are beautiful Jeanne, and they all look in great shape.
I see the Hümmel figures and the Steiff bear, my husband has one and I keep it well preserved but his is loved a lot, Raggedy Ann and Andy, I have small dolls of those but they are from the 70s I think.
Today more packing and loading the car. Then Hubbs and I have to visit Homie Depot and look at some new lights for the front of this old house. Lot’s to fit in. I am starting to feel at home at the new house. Just putting stuff in, and figuring out where to hide all of our stuff.
I am going to read yesterday’s comments now and see what happened to the cow.
Love to all of you
I hope all of you enjoy a happy day. I am trying to remain calm.
Oh, Rosemary, so much to do, but how nice it will be when it is all finished. Having lived in our home for 25 years I am overwhelmed with all the stuff of dolls and fabric, fabric, fabric, I have accumulated over these years. I tried selling it on fb but that didn’t work out well so some of it has gone to Goodwill and now I found a Dorcus group to give it too. Still haven’t made a dent.
I am so sorry for your kitty. I know what it is like to take a loved pet to have it put down, I have had to do it twice with 2 loved doggies. I just remember the fun times I had with them, each lived 16 years.
Exciting times moving in. Sure hope you can remember where you put all of your stuff. I would be going crazy trying to figure it all out. I’d probably remember where an item used to be, but finding it again would be tough. Can’t wait to see your new place when the dust settles, as they say. I’m sure it will be spectacular. 🙂 We’ve been in our current house for fifty years come October. Moving all of this stuff would be a huge encumbrance, so it’s staying here for now. 🙂
Great pics from Cindy. I have my Raggedy Ann doll from the early 50’s. No Andy though. Yesteryear Antique Center has a Facebook page and wow are there some great things to see there. Should I ever make it to Hanover, PA, I’d love to visit. Thanks Cindy and Jeanne for sharing the fun vintage doll pics.
Around here, one more day of heat and high winds and then a cool off. I’m working my way along the fence line pulling out blackberry and weeds as I go. About a five foot wide bed of sorts. Some of the blackberry is so deadly that it penetrates my leather gloves. Yikes! I can only get in an hour and a half or so a day after the shade arrives in this weather, but I’m creeping along discovering a few hidden real plants as I go.
Looking forward to see the additions to the Ten Ping outfit. It is a cute one. 🙂
I hadn’t seen anything about the new L’il Dreamer yet so I looked her up. You’re right. She is lovely. I was trying not to buy any more of them since my shelf is filling up, but she may be irresistible. But I still have two other dolls that are supposed to come in May and June so I really have to give some thought to buying another doll at the moment.
I’m kind of in the wait and decide mood. I don’t think she will be available until June or July? Have to look again.
I didn’t comment yesterday, so I’ll start there. Elizabeth is an amazing seamstress to accomplish designing and creating those wonderful bride dresses! I’m especially in awe of the first one. Looks like she could come straight off the page and walk down the aisle! They are all beautiful and a wonderful and thoughtful gift for your daughter.
I’ve thought for a while that Jeanne might want to make two of some of her creations and keep one for the possibility of a granddaughter. Am I overthinking this thing? Looking forward to seeing Ten Ping’s finished ensemble.
I no longer go to antique shops now that I AM one. But I sure like seeing Cindy’s pictures because I’m safely far away. The Teddy Bear looks like the one I got for my first Christmas in 1942! My Nana stayed after her beauty school closed on Christmas Eve to buy the bear in the Stix, Baer and Fuller window in St. Louis as they wouldn’t part with it until then. I think the original succumbed to moths according to my mother. I bought a huge replacement Steiff bear about 20 years ago. Silly me!
Fun antique store photos. I love the framed paper dolls. My dad has been collecting some Lion Coffee paper dolls for me. I can’t wait to see them. I see Raggedy Ann and Andy and a Steiff bear all who are carefully stored in the cedar chest here.
I also see Madame Alexander “Maggie” doll. My mom still has hers, but she needs to be restrung.
I also see the Hummels. We have a small collection. Some are pre-war.
That was nice of Cindy to send the pictures of the various dolls and other antique store items. I haven’t been in one of those stores for along time.
The second picture has a doll that looks like a Shirley Temple, only because of the curl on the side of her hair. I doubt she is. I have 2 Shirley Temples and one is about the size of the one in the picture.
Of all the dolls I have and have collected over the years, my favorites are the still the American Girls, the Barbie’s, and RRFFs. I have a few Madame Alexander’s left but gave many of the 8” ones away over the years. A few dolls I’ve sold as well as some for my sister and niece. I simply need to downsize the amount I have as well some accessories. I have way too much.
However, I’m glad others, like the Sofa Sisters, enjoy and love dolls as I do – it’s a fun hobby to share.
Thanks to Cindy for sending the wonderful pictures. I didn’t recognize most of the dolls but I can say that the doll between Raggedy Ann and Andy is a Toni doll. My sister Beth and I each had one exactly like it circa1951. I wish I could have kept mine, but she was handed down to one of my younger sisters and after that I have no clue what happened to her. I have one I recently got on eBay but she is a later version. Mine had the dress the color of the one in the picture but the later ones had a dress that I would call royal blue. I couldn’t find one with the aqua dress like I had. I would have loved a Sonja Henie doll. I love that movie “Sun Valley Serenade” and recently bought it from Prime Video so I can watch it whenever I want.
After being in our house 35 years I totally dread the thought of moving. I would be content to stay here and spend summers in cooler climes as my in-laws did. They lived in Kansas but spent summers in Colorado and winters on the south Texas coast. They did eventually move from Kansa to New Mexico where my sister-in-law lived and I saw what they went through doing that. It took a toll on both of them doing it so late in life. But hubby is determined to not spend his twilight years in southeast Texas and as far as climate goes, I’m with him on that one. I just don’t want to have do the work of moving.
When Dad and I lived in the house by the river I had a workroom there which was packed with all my craft materials. A couple of people said “What are you going to do when you move?” I said I’m never moving so it won’t be my problem it will be the kid’s problem. My advice is don’t tempt fate!! We had an earthquake, the house was red zoned which meant we couldn’t rebuild on the land even, and we had to move, so it was my problem. In fact we had to move twice, we couldn’t live in our house and we couldn’t buy another until all the insurance was settled so we had to rent for 6 months. I never say never now lol.
First, I would like t say thank you again Jeanne, for including my Barbie wedding gowns and roomette in your post from yesterday. I so appreciate the kind comments made from my “sofa sisters” too!
Laura….my three daughters played with Skipper dolls too (if any of you think sewing for Barbie is a challenge, try sewing for Skipper, who is even smaller!) My girls also played with the Sunshine Family of dolls and I still have their dolls. I will try to send a few photos (if I can load them onto my phone or thru email) of the dollhouse my Dad made for two of my daughters about 45 years ago. (The dollhouse is geared for the Sunshine Family, so not quite the size scale of Barbie houses) My third daughter was not born yet, but all three girls played with the house during their childhood. I finally had the time to renovate and decorate the house once retired, and so I started the reno project in 2017….and used that year as the house number in little gold numbers by the front door! I enlarged some of the windows, added five more windows for plenty of light inside the rooms, French doors in the living room (that opened out to a narrow pergola, that stretches across the entire back of the house), opened up one side wall of the enclosed stairs up to the 2nd floor, added a covered front porch with a matching peak to the 2nd floor dormer for visual interest, and started adding wood flooring, wallpapers, molding, window trim & shutters, stained roof shingles, and fresh exterior paint. I guess you could say that HGTV and Fixer Upper shows had an impact! I so often wished that my Dad could have been here thru the dollhouse renovation….I certainly could have used his help cutting out the new window openings! (He had power tools…I did it by hand!) I took my time working on the interior décor…making kitchen cupboards, appliances, stove hood, toilet fixtures including a shower stall. Its a work in progress…still want to remake the kitchen table for a better fit, and make a loveseat couch for the living room. I have asked my daughters to please hang onto the dollhouse when I am no longer here…they could share it with Granddaughters! I have also thought about putting the story together and sending with photos to a popular Miniature Magazine to see if they would be interested in publishing it. What a bonus of retirement and a legacy to have my girls save, to go with the dollhouse!
Rosemary, I am so sorry to read about your feline friend. We have been a cat family since my daughters were little, and it never got easier to make that decision when the time came. The cats lived long lives with us….one made it to 20 years of age, another two at 18 and 19 years. Kitties become members of the family and add so much joy to our existence on earth. (My youngest daughter has eight…she never had children, so they are like her children…I’ve lost count of how many cat trees she has in the house!) When I moved down here to Texas a few years ago, I brought my 12 year old cat who already had the start of an ear disorder (the vet had said if the cat was sent for surgery to remove the ear structure that I would not get the same cat back, so I wanted to let her live out her life without the agony of that type of surgery) She lived almost two more years before it was time. It was during the Covid isolation time, and my sweet girl was not with me…easier to put up a strong front during the daytime but at night, I cried, wishing she was still here. A few weeks later, my youngest daughter pulled up the Austin Pet’s Alive adoption site, one day while we were visiting, and peaked my interest in the kitties that were up for adoption. I did start reading their descriptions and with my daughter’s encouragement, I decided to put in a request for one. I had been thinking I would not get another cat during my elder years since I wasn’t sure I would be able to live long enough to take care of one until their end of life. But I did adopt a sweet young tabby cat named Izzy and she is my companion, and helped me get thru the isolation of Covid times. As it turns out, My middle daughter and I bought a home together and she has two cats, and we introduced my one cat to hers….took about 6 months for them to adjust and live together as friends. My cat has bonded with my daughter as well, which brings me great comfort to know that she will be cared for and loved when I am no longer here.
Adopting a pet during Covid was an interesting procedure….the entire process was done online as so many places were closed to the public. You viewed the pet’s photo, read the pets description, filled out a long form online and applied for adopting the pet, and paid the adoption fee online (it was a first come, first serve process…the first two cats I applied for were in line for adoption before me, but I did get the third cat I applied for….I think it was karma, and she was meant to be with me!) Then I was able to do video chats with the cat foster mother, to “meet” Izzy, my future cat! Izzy had just given birth to five kittens and needed to wean them and then she had her spayed operation before she came to me. I offered to meet the foster mother halfway by car, but she brought the cat to me since I didn’t have a car and would need to have my daughter take me. I must add that the foster mother’s written description of my cat was spot-on….she really captured her personality in words!
And thank you Joy, for letting us know that the cow with the imbedded slat of barn wood was able to be helped and was recuperating. I, too, had that vision in my head all day and could only imagine how terrifying that must have been for the cow.
Well, I am back to finishing up the three cloth baby dolls I started two weeks ago….one for the newborn Great Granddaughter and her sister (the 10 year old I made the Halloween costume store and the dollhouse as gifts last year), and one baby doll for my other Granddaughter who is expecting her first child in September…and we know it’s a girl! I’m over the moon anticipating sewing doll clothes and making room settings in the future!!