In 1974...

 

In 1974 I was in the 3rd grade.

That's me with the ponytails and the knobby knees.

All I wanted that Christmas was...

A Growing Hair Crissy Doll!!

I got a Crissy like this one that Christmas.

Then I got a Baby Crissy, which was

a REALLY large doll, for my birthday.  

Baby Crissy's are 24" tall.

Lastly, the following Christmas,

I got a Cricket doll which I loved!!

SO, a couple weeks ago when I saw this Velvet

doll, in a thrift store, I was transported back to

1974!

In my last post I shared all about this 

thrift store Velvet doll.

Thrift Velvet Doll

Velvet is the younger cousin of Crissy.

I would love to find these two original dresses!

I did this makeover on my Velvet's corduroy pants

and made this matching top.

BUT

She really needed some original shoes.

So I went online to find some shoes.

No big deal, RIGHT?

Instead of shoes I found this 

African American Velvet!

I started this dress while I was waiting 

for my new Velvet to arrive.

Teal looks so good on her.

The girls are already besties!

I also made this little A-line mini.

Very pretty!!

Here is the dress Velvet the 2nd came in.

This dress was inspired by the Gunne Sax dresses

that were wildly popular in the late 70s and early 80s.

I wore a Gunne Sax dress like this for my 

7th grade graduation.

Gunne Sax dresses were inspired by...

Holly Hobbie 

Which was inspired by...

The "Little House on the Prairie"

books

by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Our dress is an Ideal Crissy dress from 1982.

She is a "Velvet" doll but with auburn hair.

Our dress needed new elastic in the sleeves.

I opened the sleeve and removed the old elastic.

Then I stretch and stitch the new elastic.

Here is the dress with new elastic.

If you didn't grow up in the 70s and 

your wondering why I chose yarn ties

for her hair. This is why...

All us girls wore these yarn hair ties!

Since I can't keep calling both these

girls "Velvet", please welcome...

Shawna and Cheryl.

Just one more thing...

I found a Holly Hobbie doll!

Thrift store doll - 1969 Ideal Velvet

I recently found this 1969 Ideal

Velvet doll while thrifting.

Crissy dolls and Velvet dolls were

the big thing when I was a

little girl!

BOY! Do I wish I could get 5 outfits

for $5.00 today!

This velvet's hair was in really good condition.

It was still silky and pretty full.

When I took out the braids, her

hair looked really pretty.

I also found this little jewelry dresser

at the same thrift store.

Guess what it was full of?

Beads!

Next I started thinking about a backdrop

for her photos. I took an old project board

and stripped the paper off of it.

I want to make this a 1960s room. I'm

using the little thrift dresser for my colors.

I started by painting the backdrop blue.

I chose some fabrics based on a search of

girls bedroom styles from the late 60s.

I saw a lot of gingham fabric!

               

I started by creating a bed and headboard

using cardboard, batting and fabric.

Using hot glue, I covered the headboard.  

I then attached the headboard to the bed frame 

and covered the lower section with matching fabric.

I use old, washed, egg crate for my doll furniture.

I covered one of these in a white fabric.

The blue gingham is my base fabric. 

The flowered print makes a nice accent fabric.

Then I added the yellow gingham as accent pillows.

I gathered items from around the doll room,

 but the room needs art work!

I found images online and printed them out.

Using glue stick I glued my images to card stock.

Gros-grain ribbon makes easy frames.

For the ribbon frames I used tacky glue.

The rattan settee' and a little Kelli doll I also

found thrifting!

The dresser and the bed.

Another view.

And a bookcase, of course!

And here is Velvet in her room.

This dress I found in my doll dresser.

I did a makeover on this corduroy

outfit.

I decided to try adding this groovy fabric

into the front of the pants.

I created this little wrap top and crocheted

a fringe bag. Her necklace came from

the beads I found in the dresser!

This little handkerchief wrap dress

suits Velvet.

And, here is Velvet in her finished room.

GROOVY!!