MERRY CHRISTMAS

Yes, I know I've been neglecting this blog, but I decided to drop by and say Merry Christmas!  I just don't spend as much time online these days.  I had hoped I'd do better, but there's only so much time in a day.

I told some doll friends that I was trying to find time to work on a doll scene for Christmas.  Sometimes I just have to find time to play.

Did you know that it snows in Houston?  Mostly in my imagination although we actually had a few flurries a few weeks ago, but nothing like the snow I grew up with in New Jersey.  So, I have to use my imagination and let my dolls have snow.  

This is one of my modern Vogue Ginny Dolls.  Some of you know her as GinnyFaith.  I've been neglecting her and decided she should appear in some photos again.  I used to include her in just about all of the photos I took of my dolls.  Then the Vogue Doll Company came out with vintage reproduction Ginnys and I kind of lost interest in the modern dolls.  I'm sorry GinnyFaith!

Here's a close up so you can see her spiffy outfit.  My friend Sherelyn gave this to GinnyFaith last year.  Her doll has the same outfit and so does SHE!   I always meant to ask her where she found them.  It's not often that you see a grown woman and her doll dressed alike.

Some of them tried ice skating for the first time and fell on the imaginary ice.  The Madame Alexander Doll on the left is skiing.  She's wearing one of the Ginny outfits that I still have from my childhood by Vogue (Fun Time #49 from 1954).  The Madame Alexander skater in the gray and peach outfit is also wearing an outfit from my childhood by Vogue (Fun Time #47 from 1955 - It's actually suppose to be a roller skating outfit.)  The vintage reproduction Ginny in the white skating outfit I got at a Fire Flies Convention.  The 1954 Ginny Painted Lash Walker is wearing a vintage ski outfit by Vogue (Fun Time #49 from 1955).  I added the red mittens because her hands looked cold.  They didn't come with the outfit originally.  The AA Modern Ginny that took a fall is wearing an outfit that my friend Karen Mowery made for a Ginny Doll list event.

I stood her up so you could see the outfit.  Karen sewed outfits for our dolls for the month of January.  She chose to make ice skating outfits.  Ginny's name is embroidered on the hat but it doesn't show in the photo.  Karen loved to sew and especially loved to quilt.  Sadly, she passed away way too soon.  I'm fortunate enough to have several outfits that she made.  My doll is also wearing a sweater my mom knitted using a kit that Vogue sold (#7869 Knit Kit in  1957).  I also have the matching hat she made.  This sweater was actually made for a Ginnette doll, but it's the only one I still have.  The sleeves are a little bit long for Ginny.  I feel very fortunate to still have it.  The kit had directions and wool to make sweater sets for the Jill, Ginny and Ginnette dolls.

This is a close up of the terrible fall they took.  (I would have had them standing and skating if I could have figured out how to balance them on ice skates!)

They worked hard building this igloo and making all the snow balls in case any stupid boys came by.  That's a modern Hispanic Ginny on top of the igloo in her snowsuit. On the right is a vintage reproduction Ginny wearing a pink and gray ski outfit that Vogue made (Fun Time #6049 from 1956).

On the right is a vintage Nancy Ann Muffie doll wearing her Santa suit minus the correct hat.  I put a more traditional Santa hat on her but the reds were different and it had white trim that was whiter than the fur on her suit.  I settled on the red and white striped hat but I'd sure like to find the original hat that came with this outfit.  I added the red glasses because I thought she looked cute in them.  I have maybe four or five Muffie dolls in my collection, but the Vogue Ginny doll is really my first love.

We all with you a Merry Christmas!

On more thing...

This is one of my Chatty Cathy dolls.  She's still dressed in her Houston Astros uniform that she wore for the World Series.  I bought her Christmas apron down at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  It was designed by a child with cancer.  I left the tag on because it gives the child's name and age.  I wasn't sure if it would fit Chatty Cathy when I bought it.  I probably would have gotten another one if I had known for sure.  It was made for the American Girl Doll.  There's a matching child's apron and a matching one for adults.  I thought it was really cute.

Merry Christmas once more and I'll be back again some day...

"L" as in Lucky for ABC Wednesday

 Welcome to ABC Wednesday and the letter "L" as in Lucky.

It all began with Lucky. 

My life as a future Crazy Cat Lady began in 1952.  This is Lucky in our backyard in Westwood, New Jersey.  I always loved cats.  My mother wasn't crazy about them, but she relented and got one because of my obsession.  Before Lucky came along I would go outside and sit on the front porch and wait for a cat to go by.  That didn't happen very often, so finally my mother decided it was time to get a cat for me.

These photos were actually slides that were scanned.  Here we are in the backyard playing with Lucky (and our dollhouse).  I no longer remember the name of the girl on the left, but I'm in the middle and my sister is on the right petting Lucky.

Lucky was the first of many cats that I've had in my life.  I remember every single one.  I don't even admit to how many I have at the present time, but enough probably to qualify as a Crazy Cat Lady.

To visit other ABC Wednesday posts click here.  Thank you for visiting.

The Doll's Valentine's Day School Party

Yes, another holiday and that means another doll post.

Welcome to my world and Valentine's Day 2017.

It's time for the school Valentine's Day Party.

Jeremy used the opportunity to try and get on Sister Anna's good side.

 The kids all enjoyed exchanging Valentine's Day cards and eating lots of goodies.

I'm living proof that you're never too old to play!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

 

 

Happy 4th of July for Pink Saturday

OK...it's been a while since I participated in Pink Saturday sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound.  Actually, it's been years since I last put up a Pink Saturday post.  I just ran out of pink!  I think a while back the rules were changed and now it's anything for Pink Saturday, so here it goes.

I collect dolls.  Mostly I collect Vogue Ginny dolls from the 1950's and some of the modern day reproductions.  I also collect other members of the Vogue Doll family, some vintage Nancy Ann Muffie Dolls, and any other little doll that pulls at my heart strings.  You can read a brief history of the Vogue Doll Company here.  Sadly, the current owners of the Vogue Doll Company are no longer producing the vintage reproduction dolls and no one seems to know what the future holds.

There are all kinds of doll collectors.  Some only collect vintage mint dolls, but I prefer to collect the previously played with dolls since I like to fix their hair, change their clothes, etc.  I also enjoy setting my dolls up in scenes and have two large cabinets in my doll room with dolls displayed in scenes.

Today I'm going to share my 2016 4th of July scenes for Pink Saturday. 

I recently purchased a toy travel trailer at Target and converted it into an Airstream trailer for my dolls by spray painting it silver and making some modifications.  This year my dolls are going camping for the 4th of July.  A lot of activities are planned.  (You can click on the photos to enlarge them and use your back arrow to return to this page.)

The trailer has been decorated for the occasion.  (Peek in the window and you can see another Cub Scout and their pet dog.)

Most of the "kids" participated in the 4th of July parade.  Bikes were decorated, the scouts were all neatly dressed, and Mr. Jeff decorated and drove the golf cart in the parade.

This was Little JJ Watt's first parade.

After the parade everyone enjoyed the picnic.  Ms. Jill did the cooking.  There were hamburgers, hot dogs, and steamed crabs.

Now it's time for them to rest so they can stay up late and watch the fireworks display!

Please head over to Beverly's blog for a list of this week's Pink Saturday participants.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for visiting. 

Dolls, dolls, dolls

I recently purchased the November 16, 1954 copy of  Look magazine just for this picture.  You can click on it to enlarge.

The bottom 4 rows are Vogue Ginny dolls for the year 1954.  Ginny is the doll I mainly collect.  The first row at the top is the Nancy Ann Muffie doll for 1954.  I have a few Muffies in my collection too.  For me it was fun to see some of the dolls that were available for Christmas 1954.

Good Job!! For Warm Heart Wednesday #24

Welcome to Warm Heart Wednesday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."  This is where we share something that warmed our hearts.

There are so many people and services that we tend to take for granted.  For years I shopped at the same Kroger Supermarket.  To myself I would admire the produce department.  It was usually very neat and well stocked.  The produce looked fresh.  It never even occurred to me to share my thoughts with anyone else.

One day as I was shopping the man that usually worked in that department was putting out some fresh produce right next to where I was looking.  I commented on how nice everything always looked.  His reaction caught me by surprise.  He turned to me with a big smile and said, "Thank you so much.  We try very hard to keep it looking good."  Then he introduced himself and shook my hand.

In an instant I knew I had made his day.  I had seen him hundreds of times.  Why hadn't I said something before?  I guess because I took his good work for granted.  Probably most of the time when a customer spoke to him it was to complain about something.  I had caught him completely off guard by paying him a compliment.  For me it was a heart warming moment and a lesson learned.

Perhaps you heard about the little 3 year old girl in Illinois who enjoyed waving to the garbage man every Thursday?  She would wait for him with her mom just so she could wave.  He would honk the horn and give her a big wave back.

Brooklyn decided she wanted to share one of her birthday cup cakes with him and that's exactly what she did.

It was a special heart warming moment for both of them.

The garbage man is someone we take for granted, but if he didn't show up for a while we'd sure notice!  Thank you Brooklyn for the reminder.

Please head over to Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants.  Thank you for visiting.

Rain, Rain Go Away For Warm Heart Wednesday #23

It's already week #23 of Warm Heart Wednesday sponsored by Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."

Rain, rain go away!  That's what we've been saying in Houston this week.  I live in the Clear Lake area and we probably got a fraction of the amount of rain they got in other parts of town.  I stayed home and kept busy working on some of my dolls.  That always warms my heart.

I recently won a set of Birthday aprons on Ebay.  Back in the 1950's the Vogue Doll Company made a set of aprons for a little girl and her doll.  Here's one of my little girls with her doll.

I was thinking of starting a new tradition.  Whenever a family member has a birthday I'll bring out these dolls to help celebrate.  Don't you know my grown sons will just love this new tradition? Oh well, at my age they can just tell everyone their mother is senile.

I've been working on some recent purchases too.  Most of my dolls are fixer uppers.  I like the idea that some little girl back in the 1950's had fun playing with them.  I also like the idea that they're much less expensive that way.  I see beautiful mint Vogue Ginny Dolls on eBay for $200 and up...sometimes over a thousand.  No thanks.  I love dolls, but not that much.

I recently bought the two dolls in the middle of this photo at a doll show.  The one of the left was $27.50 and the clown was $25.

Both of them had glue all over their faces.  I managed to get it all off without damaging their facial paint and then they had a good cleaning to remove 60+ years of dirt.  Then I removed the thin cut wig on the blond doll.  It was shot.  I rewigged her with another blond wig that I had and reglued the clown's wig where it was coming off.

I still have to comb and rebraid the clown's hair.  

Then my son helped me put in some new elastic so their arms could hold a pose.  He asked that I keep him out of the photograph.  He does not want to be known as a doll doctor.  I respect his wishes so he'll help me again the next time.

Here's my semi-finished Ginny.  I say semi-finished because I'm disappointed with all the flyaway hairs in her wig.  I'm hoping I can tame them.  I ironed her dress and gave her some reproduction black center snap shoes.  She has beautiful facial coloring.  Often these old dolls are faded and/or the brows and lashes have turned green due to copper that was in some of the paint.  She's wearing the Cathy dress #63 from 1953.  She's missing the hat that came with this dress.

You can see a mint Cathy doll on eBay and she can be yours for $365.  I'll put up with my less than perfect Cathy for $27.50.

Before I go I thought I'd share some pictures my friend texted to me this past week.  Sherelyn lives on the northwest side of Houston where I lived in the 1980's.  That area was hit particularly hard with flooding.  She was stuck home for days, but was fortunate not to get any water in her home.  It came close though.

Her next door neighbor is 7 inches lower than her.  That made a big difference.  Their house took in water.  She said they were away when it happened, but are back now.

This was her neighbor's backyard.

These are some views of the street.

It's very important to have flood insurance in the Houston area.  This area is very flat and when a storm stalls and keeps dropping rain the water can't run off fast enough.  Then you also have creeks and bayous overflowing their banks.

It rained again today, but hopefully that will be it for a while.

Please head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants.  Thanks for visiting...