Who did I find?

 Look who I found!

She's a 13" Tiny Tears.

She is in pretty good shape.

Just dirty.  She has these brown dirty

spots on her arms and legs.

She also had this white stuff around

her mouth.  It almost looks like

someone gave her real milk to drink.

I also recently found some thrift store doll clothes.

Baby and clothes are both getting washed!

First Baby!

She got washed all over and her

hair was shampooed twice.

I saturated her hair with the 

conditioner and left it in.

AH, much better.

The doll dresses and the dress baby 

came in are all getting washed.

Getting ready to comb through her hair.

Tiny Tears have very tight curls,

but I have improved them with 

generous conditioning.

After her hair is combed I am ready

to add some color to her face.

This is my method below:

restoring Hair and Face paint

Much Better!

The doll dresses soaked overnight.  I rinsed 

them out several times until water was clear,

then I lay them on a towel to dry.

The only dress that needed ironing

 was this stripe sundress.

Much better!

BUT, what about Tiny Tears?

Here

She

IS!!

She is borrowing a baby dress

and sunhat that fits her better.

Pretty cute!

Here she is next to Lara my 16"

Tiny Tears.    

When I copmpare them, side by side,

the 13" Tiny is much newer.

Maybe late 50s or early 60s.

But who is wearing the dress she came in?

My Ideal Cricket! 

The apron is actually too small,

but the dress fits perfectly!

I love this dress without the apron

but adding some 1970s flowers.

And what about these dresses?

Here they are!

My Madame Alexander Puddin is

wearing the crochet baby dress.

My Patsy is wearing the stripe sundress.

AND, since the green velvet

is a skating dress my

Kimberly is modeling it.

It is a little blah. and actually is too big!

I may revisit this skating dress later.

It definitely needs something!

And all together!

Before and After photos.

Very Sweet!!

The rest of the story:

SO, I found this baby in my Mom's hometown,

the week she died.  I can not keep this doll, 

so she will be put up for adoption.

Easter Egg Jumper

 
A long while ago, I saw this ADORABLE
knit jumper online.  I call it an Egg jumper 
because it has a bit of an egg shape 
and it's Easter-y!

SO SWEET!
I think this is the lady who made it:
HappydollsbyAeliza

I decided my little Patsy doll, Daisy, might like 

something like this, since she doesn't have 

much wardrobe as yet.

I crochet a little, but by my own

"crazy crochet by the seat of your pants"

 method. The link below is to my 

crochet tutorial. This shows the basics 

of how I do what I do.

Crochet Doll Sweater and Bonnet Tutorial

Here is how I made this jumper:

First I make a long chain that is loose 

enough to be a low neckline.

Then, I create a loose collar 

using double crochet. 

I keep increasing as I add each row

until I get to the arm opening.

(This is not from this project, but from my tutorial)

I keep my doll nearby for sizing as I go.

At this point I leave an opening that

fits the doll's arms. Then I continue my

double crochets. I do one more row of 

Double Crochets incorporating 

the armhole chains. 

On the next row I start crocheting 2 Double 

Crochet in one Chain, then skip one Chain

and do 2 more Double Crochet in one Chain. 

Repeat.

In the next row I double Crochet 2 in the 

opening between the Double Crochets. 

I keep increasing slightly to create an

Egg Shape to this jumper.

Here you can see how the 2 double crochets

are making an open pattern. I call

it "Double Crochet Skip".

I'm sure someone out there knows 

the proper name, but I don't, sorry.

When my Double Crochet rows are about dress length

then I begin 2 rectangular shapes that will

become the legs. These are basic 

Double Crochet, no skipping.

I decrease slighly as I go along

so the leg openings will fit snug.

I finish the legs with scallops BEFORE

closing the inseam.

Fold the sides in to the center to create leg openings.

(You can see I can't even crochet straight!)

I crochet through both sides to create

an inseam. You could also just use an 

embroidery needle and sew this part.

I closed up to the center and then down 

the second leg opening. 

I added scallops along the arm and leg 

openings and aroung the collar.

I finished with little bows!

Want to see it?

HERE

IT

IS!

Here are both jumpers together.

I think I like it.

Daisy and Sally Ann love their jumpers!

Yes, I like it.

HAPPY EASTER!!

This and That

 I found this candle holder years ago!
I loved the flowers curving up the stem.

But, I could NOT find a shade for it.  
Then I saw this doilie...hmm.

You can see the candle holder here. It was a 

quick thought, just for the room reveal, 

to drop the doilie over the holder.

The doilie looked like a flower!

I had seen this cute lampshade idea and I 

was saving several doilies to make

one for myself.

I decided to try and make this doilie into a proper shade.

I grabbed my copper wire and started tinkering.

After an attempt to create a lampshade

shape with the wire and somehow attach 

 the doilie to it, I had an "AHA!" moment.

I simply wove a circle of wire into the doilie.

This will be the underside.

Here is the new shade on the candle holder.

(It does look like a flower)

AND....

Here it is lit with an electric votive candle!

I love it!

NEXT

Shea and Crissy needed a second bed.

The girls only had one bed and a chair!

I looked through my doll stuff and found a bed.

As you can see this bed is a little small, 

but I think I can make it work. I removed

the small headboard.

I decided that a larger headboard might help

hide the size of the smaller bed.

I had no blue satin left, but I did have this lavender!

I traced the blue headboard to make a matching size.

I cut out a piece of the lavender satin.

I glued poly-fil all over the cardboard.

Starting at the middle top, I start hot-gluing the fabric

to the cardboard.  Then I glue the bottom middle.

I keep going from side to side, then corner

to corner until the fabric is tight all around.

I always cover a second piece of cardboard with

thin batting.  This covers the back and adds strength.

I finish by gluing the backer piece in place.

VOILA! Finished headboard.

I found an extra mattress and laid it on top of 

this bed.  NOW it's not looking so small. At 

some point, I will make this a whole bed.

Luckily, I already had a quilt that I made in

the past and it has some of the same fabrics!

BEFORE the new bed, There was only a chair! 

Not too comfy for sleeping.

AND....

AFTER, with the new bed in place! 

But who gets the new bed?

Looks like Shea will get the new bed!

I like it! SO Groovy!

All for now!

Hugs

Brenda