The girls

I told you I was excited to get started on the dolls for Craft Hope project #2... They aren't perfect (the dolly on the left needs to have her hairline fixed), but I think they're pretty sturdy and will stand up to some playing. I used dental floss to sew the bodies together thanks to a comment on the original blog entry (it's stronger than thread)... Clever, I never would've thought of that myself. The rest of them is made from felted sweaters from the thrift store and linen I had lying around from another project. I painted the eyes and mouths on with fabric paint markers. I used this as a template.

I'll probably end up making a boy or two as well - since I have a good month until they're due to head to their new home in Nicaragua.

Thrifty Saturday

One huge benefit of living in the suburbs of Chicago is that virtually every Saturday from now until the end of September there are garage sales, moving sales, rummage sales, estate sales, children's clothing/toy sales galore... We hit three church rummage sales yesterday and got some pretty cool and slightly random things. I should've taken a picture of the haul while it was all together, but it's all been separated and put away already. Kate scored the most (as usual). She got a vintage doll crib ($5!), a teeny children's wooden rocking chair ($5!), a bookcase for all vast and growing library of books ($5!), children's records, and even more children's books for her collection...

Here she is surveying her dolls in their new bed:


The pillowcase and sheet in the new doll bed were made by Kate's great-great grandmother for Kate's grandmother Eva when she was a baby.


Here's her cute, little chair:


Among the other random items we purchased:

Ouija board
Password (the same game my parent's had from the 60s)
Twister
Chinese checkers
Stack of old ladies' white gloves (which are tiny... women were sooo much smaller two generations ago)
Embroidered belt that looks vaguely Norwegian
Water cooler type thing for Jorge
70s cassettes
Elvis in Memphis record
Six rolls of really nice velvet ribbon
Set of pillow cases with embroidered blue flowers
15 cloth napkins
Plastic case full of embroidery thread

I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

Crafting for a cause

There hasn't been a lot of craft talk on this blog since the arrival of Miss Kate. There has been crafting, yes, but no blogging about that crafting. I'm not sure why. I just haven't been feeling the blog love. My entries have been fairly random anyway, and I've been toying with the idea of stopping altogether instead of just posting in fits and starts.

That doesn't mean I've stopped reading craft blogs. Oh no, I read those by the score. And today I read something that inspired me to write this entry. I've mentioned my love of projects before and sometimes I find myself with the energy to do "something" and with no specific place to direct that energy. This morning I stumbled upon the perfect project for me. The idea, in short, is to donate handmade dolls to an orphange in Nicaragua. These children literally have nothing and are often victims of abuse. If making a doll or two will bring a little joy to their lives then it's the least I can do.

If any else reading this is interested just know that they're looking for more heart than talent. You don't have to be an experienced dollmaker or seamstress. Believe me, I'm neither. Please stop by the craft hope site to sign up and to view links to doll templates.

I've never attempted a doll before. I'm excited to get started!

A new collection

I've quadrupled my collection of old LPs since that fateful day at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago. People are basically giving these away - the most I've paid for any of these is $3 and most of them go for a $1 a piece or less. The real jackpots are found at estate sales. I've scored albums in nearly perfect condition. I'm into the Frank Sinatras, Perry Comos, musical sountracks, etc... while Barak scours for more 80s music and the ever elusive pristine condition Beatles album...

And the best thing is that no one else seems to be at all interested in buying any of these, so I have my pick! I think the sellers (and fellow buyers) at these sales, who are almost always 50+, are surprised to find a young couple with their 3-month-old baby trolling old albums. Well, technically, Barak and I troll them while Kate snoozes. And no, the baby isn't for sale.... I'm putting a sign on her next time that says, "$3 or best offer" just to elicit comments slightly different from, "How much for the baby? Har har."


I also scored this restored, perfectly-working 1966 GE record player on ebay. It was only $19, and the man selling it lives in the Chicago suburbs so I could even go and pick it up and see how it works (since the last time I'd used a record player was probably when I was around 10 years old)... It really was a steal. He told me he had planned on becoming a record player technician in the 80s and then... CDs came out and his plans changed. But he still repairs old record players as a hobby. Unfortunately, he said people aren't so interested in buying them in this economy, and then I felt sort of bad for paying only $19 for mine. If any of you are interested in one, here's his ebay site. I can't recommend him enough. He knows what he's doing.


Anyway, we listen to records every day now. Kate really loves the Annie soundtrack and Doris Day. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, does it.?

Live your life forwards

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want." ~Margaret Young *

It's essentially the same philosophy behind The Mexican Fisherman story.

* I don't know where this quote came from, but I ran across it yesterday in an email I sent to myself from last October. (I do that a lot when I find something really interesting when I'm at work.)