Hi everyone,
A few weeks ago, about 25 ladies from our church went on a Ladies Day Out to the town next to us. It’s just 7 miles away and we went there because they have several antique shops, a great lunch place, some junk stores, a couple clothing boutiques, a weaving/loom place, and a pretty big furniture resale shop. It was fun just to get away and see what everyone was selling.
Well, I spotted something in the very first place we went to…bought it and brought it home and put it in my sewing room. Dorothy in PA, noticed it when I was showing the “tour” of my cleaned up sewing room. It was this blue box that caught her eye! After I showed my room, a few of you had questions and I have them written down and am getting to them as quickly as I can…
Dorothy mentioned it looked like a Madame Alexander box… and she was RIGHT! Good eyes, Dorothy!
Yes, the first little junk shop we went into, I saw this opened box with this sweet little doll and the note that caught my eye. She was sort of bent over and in terrible need of some help. She was the “Israel” Madame Alexander doll and had such a pretty face.
I asked the lady at the counter if she was indeed free, and she said yes, but I paid her $5.00 for the chance to try and fix her. I had never tried to restring a Madame Alexander doll before.
I watched a video on how to restring a Madame Alexander doll… it was from JollyMollyTV and she has an Etsy shop that sells the hooks and elastic rubber bands. I didn’t want to wait for an order, so I thought I would at least try to use some rubber bands I have doubled up and make my own hook that was missing.
She was a mess as her rubber bands had all rotted and she fell apart when I tried to pick her up. Her head fell off, the arms fell out of the sockets, but not completely detached, but the legs weren’t able to hold her up. It wasn’t until a few days later that I actually took a better look at her. She did have the long hook part that held her head on… rubber bands held the arms on and would have to be replaced. She only had one of the leg hooks and the actual rubber bands that were used were absolutely useless and totally rotten.
Here are the parts I had to work with…
You can see how rotten and old the rubber bands are that held her together.
Since I only had one of the hooks used to hold her legs on, I decided to try and bend a paperclip and see if that would work…
I bent it with some pliers and got it pretty close.
I did the arms first using 2 small rubber bands together… it was very easy to do them… The rubber band just went between the two arms and hooked onto the molded holders in the arms. They just sprung back in place and viola! They were nice again…
The head connected to the legs was a different story… it wasn’t hard, but a bit tricky to keep the rubber band from springing back inside the dolls body.
Once I got the hook attached up inside the dolls head and then used a crochet hook to pull it down, I laid the crochet hook perpendicular to the doll’s leg opening while I attached the hook to the legs and then to the rubberband. When you gently pulled the crochet hook out, the dolls legs went in place. Then you had to fish with the crochet hook for the rubberband inside the other leg and do the same thing.
It was actually very easy and quite satisfying seeing her like this… TOGETHER AGAIN!
She felt free and showed me how she could do the splits! :o)
Then it was just a matter of getting her dressed! her panties, a slip, her dress, Jewish Star necklace and mob cap. It was amazing she still had her necklace and BOTH shoes!
Here she is… all freshened up and not in pieces anymore!
That’s what I did this evening…
I had a dentist evaluation/appointment today because half of a crown fell off while I was BRUSHING MY TEETH! What???
I have to go back tomorrow to get started on the new one…
Then we had to get our car to a shop for some sensor that we were told needed to be changed… but when they tried to check for it this time, they couldn’t find anything wrong! YAY!
I sold some more board shorts and flip flops and had to make a stop at the Post Office to mail them… (By the way, my postal clerk told me shipping prices are going up 8% in July!) She was preparing me!
Well, I better get to bed as I have to get up early for the dentist… My least favorite place to go in all the world! (well, maybe!)
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Your little Miss Israel turned out so cute, and I’m sure she’s happy to be “pulled together” once again!
Bummer about your crown, Jeanne. I hope and pray you have minimal discomfort.
By the way, I responded to the comments of Rosemary, Barbara, and Marilyn on yesterday’s blog.
Little Miss Israel looks like a brand new doll now, Jeanne! So now you are a Doll Fixer-Upper! What can’t you do? I have never had a doll fall apart, except for my Ginny doll whose rubber bands must have just snapped from age. I wouldn’t mind having her restrung, except one of her arms is missing! I got this doll way back in the mid 50’s I think, so she isn’t exactly brand new!🤣. I just keep her, and won’t do much if anything about it, since I have plenty of other dolls to keep me busy!
I hope the cracked crown is in the back! I have more crowns than actual teeth, I think! Hoping and praying all goes well today at the dentist!
yes, I have more crowns than teeth.
My mother had weak teeth, my father had just okay teeth.
I dentist in Belgium (whilst filling one of my molars) told me my teeth were as soft as butter.
That said, some years ago, our dentist at present told me that my husband teeth are “hard as rocks”
Rosemary, both of my parents had a complete set of dentures. I did not inherit good teeth, that’s for sure! My father never did even have a second set of teeth formed in his gums, since my grandmother had poor nutrition while pregnant with him.
My mother and sisters (half) had those very soft teeth. Mine are like your hubby’s.
Jeanne, every thing about that doll looks brand new except for the broken rubber bands. She must have been kept in a box or in a place behind glass! You showed us one more thing you can do, you never fail. Thank you for the lesson and what will you do for Miss Israel now? Make a dress like hers for a larger doll and sell them? I know you will think of something.
I hope your crown goes quickly and well.
We have to go to the dentist today as well, for our cleaning. Not as bad as what you have to do.
I will have to get busy to pack up one of the dolls I sold yesterday. I hope the other goes today.
“Calling Dr. Jeanne, Dr. Jeanne” “Calling Dr. Jeanne, please come to the ER, STAT”
Excellent surgery and look at her recovery! Remarkable!
This is so sweet that you saved her. Your adventure sounds like a complete blast! 25 ladies on the loose- a mob! The shop owners must have been thrilled to welcome all of you.
Congratulations on accomplishing big stuff yesterday, I also had a list and stuck to it.
Good luck at the dentist today! Agree, it is not a fun place to hang around, I do have a very good dentist, now… he is retiring. I spoke with an acquaintance about a year ago that related a crazy story about a local dentist here. She has cracked her crown, a chunk fell off! and she needed a new crown, she sat in the chair for hours and when the crown was ready to install, the doctor? someone noticed the new crown was printed out the same shape as the old cracked crown! Whaaat? So she had to come back?? I do not know the rest of that story, but what a shame.
Our cars (three, including mom’s very old mercedes) are all about 15 to 20 years old! We like our old cars but they do get a funny glitch now and then. It is good to have it checked and thankfully you had an honest repair shop!!!
Have a delightful Thursday everyone!!
Charlotte, “Clergy black with Devil Red interior” hahahaha That was a fancy car with the huge tail fins.
Joy, Those little bags are adorable…: Vera Bradley 🧐 quite over priced, how awful! Let’s try to make one. haha. I need to look at the product so I might jaunt out there this afternoon, as we have a brand new Target right down the road.
Barbara, I hope you get the cutest little boy doll!
So funny, our hobbies can be very expensive. I have a mountain of fabric and yesterday I was actually looking at a site called Stash Fabrics in GA.
Just put about $35 worth of half yards of Heather Ross fabric in a cart….
I have not checked out yet…. I will think about this.
I love the talk about all of the old fancy cars. I married “Mr Car” and I will just say I know more about cars than I ever every dreamed.
If you make it to Target, The tiny totes were located on the main aisle, on an end in the area where they have new dishes/accessories/decorating things, and close to the pet food aisle. Aren’t all Targets arranged kind of the same? Don’t know. I think they can easily be made even using a standard zipper cut to size. So cute too. 🙂
I will certainly go have a look.
If anything else, I could buy it, examine it, make a pattern, and return it. hahahahaha
I too have a fabric stash that looks like a fabric store but I just can’t resist buying more if I see something I like. I usually go through a site and put everything I want in my cart and then go back and weed some out or the price would be mind boggling. I’m sure it would be okay with the person selling.
Yes, we need to support small businesses!
Oh, those crumbling rubber bands bring back memories. Well, I still find the same in our junk drawer, but I do remember fixing my own Ginny’s way back in the 50’s. I guess that I was eight or nine at the time. I had plans a few years back to restring my dolls and talked to someone who fixed them a lot. She used elastic rather than rubber bands and tied them tightly. She said that the elastic didn’t disintegrate like the rubber bands do, so I bought some. It’s in that pile of things to do. 🙂 Maybe Jeanne has given me some incentive. Hope so. Little Israel turned out great. How wonderful that Jeanne, was able to save her.
I know that Linda, mentioned one of her dolls was missing an arm. I have one without a leg. I guess we should both check Ebay for missing parts. 🙂
Not good to hear about the shipping rates increasing. I guess that we will have to pick up more stamps at Costco before then as I’m sure that they are going up again too.
We ended up getting more rain yesterday, and I had hopes of getting back out to yard work, but it was still too soggy. Hopefully, today it will dry out more. Perhaps, some of our rain might head east to help out Sissy’s area. Lots of fires going on there.
A new doll is coming out Saturday at Ruby Red. You can see her now. I think she is a coreline. A cute redhead. Hummm
Bummer that the postage rates are going up. I loved that they came out with the forever stamps. I probably have avoided several price increases by buying a bunch one time. I don’t use stamps much and “forever” really means it where I’m concerned.
I just made an online purchase of a lot of stamps to pick up at our post office. I like that I can just pick them up while I am out exercising one of the cars 🚙
Joy, I am planning on making a “Target run” tomorrow as I have a few other errands out and about. Let’s see how far I get before I just wanna go home…. but I am planning on looking at the VB tiny bags and noticed on the webpage (Target) they also have a “cheaper” little bag: https://www.target.com/p/micro-satchel-bag-charm-universal-thread/-/A-94810390?preselect=94780205#lnk=sametab
kinda cute. hmmmmm🤨🧐
Rescuing something may be more satisfactory than getting it new. Besides, some older things are nicer than some newer ones. You new old doll illustrates that nicely.
I was late posting yesterday, so some of the sisters may have missed this link —
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AME7QfEXZ7g
which is quite a thorough look at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation dress, with some of the embroidery shown close up. As my sister pointed out, the colors show up better in some pictures than others. The queen wore it on several other occasions, knowing that people would appreciate the opportunity to see it.
Late in her life, she wore all one color, often a standout color. They were not my favorite choices until I read that she had been advised to dress in ways that would make her a less visible target. Her reply was that people wanted to see the queen and she dressed so that they would know they had. No one ever had to say, “Which one was she?”
Thanks for that wonderful link. I loved Queen Elizabeth and her Mum. Some people should live forever.
Hooray for me!!! I won Alex. I only had competition from one other person so I upped my bid to more than I wanted to pay but actually got him for less than I intended. He’s in great shape. Kathy Anne designs has some wonderful patterns for the RRFF boys so I will probably sew some for him. And then there is Jeanne’s board shorts and flip-flops. I know he will want to join the girls in the pool. What young man wouldn’t want to be among such lovely young ladies.
I read the replies to my comments yesterday. I really enjoyed the discussion on the cars. It was fun to get so many people’s takes on the cars when we were young. When I was out of high school I had a friend whose mother had a Chevy Malibu convertible. We loved that car. I would go with her family to Rehobeth, DE, often. Her mom would drive the Malibu and her dad the car towing the boat. When we got to Rehobeth her parents let us take the Malibu into Rehobeth in the evening. We could safely do that back then.
Funny story about cars. It was decided at one point by my parents that we needed a second car. My mother was a nurse and my dad worked shift work. There wasn’t much money for the purchase and they ended up buying a used little Nash Rambler my mother called the Doodlebug. But mom was not too good at driving a standard transmission, especially after years of driving an automatic. I don’t know why she ended up with that car instead of the Plymouth station wagon, but she did. We bucked our way wherever we went. It seemed she never got the hang of it. It discouraged me from having a standard transmission car but finally in 1978 I bought a car that I could not think of getting in automatic. It was a Mitsubishi Challenger and so sporty looking I had to get the five-speed. I was amazed at how easily I adapted to the clutch even having to “hang” it when I went over the steep ship channel bridge in rush-hour traffic. Not to mention the fact I had no clue how to drive a standard when I bought it. I learned quickly.
Great job on the doll reconstruction, Jeanne. You are so brave to try new things. I have to force myself to try new things and then when I finally do it, I’m wonder why it took me so loo, i.e., making straw hats. I have all the materials so what am I waiting for? Not a clue. So glad the Star of David necklace was still there. My one aunt married a Jewish man and when my cousin was born my mother bought her a lovely Star of David pendant as a baby gift.
We didn’t have a car when I was growing up. When we visited we had to use the train. The station seemed to be a long way away when you are young and bags had to be carried all the way. No wheelie suitcases in those days. My grandfather had a small van which my dad borrowed occasionally. We have a wonderful family story about one trip with that vehicle. Did you ever hear the song “O’Rafferty’s Motor Car” by Val Doonican? That was like that trip lol. Dad actually wrote it down so I can send the story to Jeanne if you would like me to. Actually that story was exactly why in NZ (and in UK) we have mandatory Warrant of Fitness checks every year, that vehicle was a death trap really.
Dad actually wrote a whole lot of stories down, mostly after Mum died, and Sam typed them all up for him When my Auntie Lily died she left him some money and he had them all put into a book. It is a wonderful keepsake for us.
I have been working on the Alice’s Wonderland quilt, I think I am on block 45, however I have done all the EPP blocks so that leaves me with about 30 to do not including the 20 or so applique blocks and the 100 border Diamond in a Square blocks. I still have a long way to go but I have been making ‘leaders and enders’ blocks at the same time and that one is nearly ready to quilt, I only have two more blocks to make. It is the Arkansas Crossroads block and was the most popular pattern I offered in my 4 years doing BOM at Guild. It is entirely made of scraps. I have no 2 1/2 inch squares left in the box! This year I intend to try and finish all the UFO’s I have, also known as WIP’s. Unfinished objects and works in progress. My name was drawn out the last two months to win the BOM blocks and I had to tell them to draw it again because I already have too many things to finish.
I need to go and start my day. Have a great one
Anne, this is a great story. Actually, many times mom and I would go to Holland to see gramma and grampa’s on both sides, we could walk to each house, or we would take the tram and get off near Gramma De Leeuw. Once we had suitcases and it was snowing and windy and really cold, I might have been 16 and not liking that.
I really want to see your quilts, finished or not. I have many not completed and some sort of finished. …. lots finished though. I have so much fabric I could sew a gigantic house cozy for the exterior of my house with a little quilted front door, for use in winter of course.
I forgot to say, Jeanne, what a great job you did on the Madame Alexander doll. She looks amazing now. Is there nothing you can’t turn your hand to? Well done
Hi Anne,
Yes, send me your dad’s story and thank you for thinking I did okay on Little Miss Israel… It was fun for me…
Blessings, Jeanne