A Doll is Born

The first item on my 5 y/o daughter's Christmas list (started sometime in July) is a doll. Since I did not know what type of doll she was referring to we sat down at the computer and looked at several different types like the baby doll (the ones that pee and poop and cry a lot), the American Girl Type doll (with that look that always reminds me of the horror movie Chucky) and some soft Waldorf type dolls so I could gage what she was really hoping for. In the back of my mind I was pulling for the Waldorf doll since as a crafter they are my personal favorite. Well Waldorf it was as she insists a soft doll is what she wants. I started looking around for dolls and suddenly realized a larger 16-18 inch doll is around $100. In my head I understand the cost because of the handwork that goes into making one but I also could not bring my self to pay that much for a doll for a 5 year old whose toy choices change from minute to minute. So what is my solution ???? Well it is to make one myself of course.
I know that the time and effort put into this is probably worth the $100 to buy one but the more I thought about it the more I felt that making the doll for her is the right thing to do.....I am hoping she will love it even more since it was made with her mommy's own hands (and most likely blood, sweat and tears). That being said I went to the Weir Doll website and ordered my supplies. So I am going to blog the process over the next few weeks as I make the doll in the midst of all of my other crafting for my shop and holiday bazaars.....Wish me luck.
The supplies I ordered were a pattern, stockingette (sp?) for the head, tan knit for the skin, brunette mohair and a brunette mohair/wool blend for the hair (couldn't make up my mind and I might use both), doll making needles, ball needles for my sewing machine, wool stuffing and tan cotton thread. I am going to use some of my fabric stash for the clothing and I have lots of embroidery thread for the eyes and mouth.
I am going with tan skin as my daughter is a little darker because of her Filipino father and she wanted a doll with long dark hair just like hers.

New in the shop.....Princess Capes

I frequently go to estate sales and thrift stores looking for "stuff" and I frequently run across pillowcases( vintage embroidered ones, flowery ones etc ) and I also find lots of trim (lace, ribbon, etc) so in an effort to up cycle some of these things in a fresh new way I talked to my 5 year old and we came up with princess capes without all the commercialism. When using the embroidered ones I just cut them up and sew, using the decorated side for the cape and the other side for the ties. On the other ones I have bee adding some of the vintage lace and trim I find. I think they are a really cool way to up cycle something that is often not used. I know personally I don't want to sleep on someone elses pillowcase but once washed and cleaned it is a fun thing for my daughter and her friends to dress up in. They can also be folded down a couple of times and worn as an apron. You get two for one and I am sure that little girls could find many more uses for these than those two.

$10 Food Challenge at CITYMAMA

I read alot of blogs on a regular basis and one of those is City Mama. I love her food posts. She recently put up a challenge to make a dinner for 4 four under $10 and her is my contribution.

We don't eat much meat so this is a typical meal for our family. We have only 3 in the family but there was enough left over to feed another kid if one happened to live with us. I got the pasta recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food and made up the other stuff.
Menu-- Lemon Broccoli Pasta
Feta Tomato Pizza Bread

1/2 package of Penne Pasta .50
Bunch of Fresh Broccoli 2.00
1 Lemon .50
3 cloves garlic .25
2 tablespoons of olive oil .20
3 6 in Greek bread rounds 1.00
1 small tomato .75
1/4 cup Parmesan grated 1.00
2 tbspns feta crumbled 1.00
salt and pepper free

cook pasta till almost al dente add broccoli cook 5 minutes drain and return to pot. Add juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbspn olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic crushed, 1/4 cup of Parmesan and stir to mix. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately

For bread brush with 1 tbspn olive oil, top with thinly sliced tomato, 1 clove crush garlic, sprinkle with feta, add salt and pepper. Broil until cheese starts to melt and heated through. Serve cut into wedges .

Total cost.. $ 7.20

Mama got a new Bag

You would think as someone who sews many things I would just make a new bag but I had to have this one. I love Japanese cutesy kawaii type stuff and this angry girl bag was just shouting my name and the handles are long enough to go over my shoulder (a definite plus). Plus at only 20 bucks who could resist............Angry Little Girls.

Paper Mache

After begging me for weeks I finally took on the task of making a paper mache bowl with my daughter. IT was much messier than I anticipated yet also turned out much cooler than I anticipated so I guess that was the payoff. We decided to go the glue route so I watered down a couple of bottles of Elmer's, covered a large bowl with saran wrap and put down some newspaper. We did about 5 layers of different colored tissue paper. The bowl took about three days in the hot sun to completely dry. After the first day I was able to take it off the mold though so the inside would dry. Pretty cool don't you think.