Monday Made

I needed to escape for awhile from the stress and concerns of this virus. I'm not running away from the reality of this situation, I just needed a wee little break. I decided to make a few small felt items to give as little gifts as I can't go out shopping. I think it's ok to just send a little something this year.
I can go shopping in my craft cottage for my supplies and yep, I had everything I needed.

I've had these patterns for years and I really enjoyed making these little ornaments. I wish I had time to make more, but I have to get these in the mail.

I also wanted to make some cards for my dolls to send out to their doll friends. I have a little group that does a dolly card exchange. I love making these tiny cards.

I made the envelopes and little cards to go inside first. It takes time but it's not hard and I enjoy making them.

I added fun little stickers on the cards. It was fun finding supplies that matched so well.

I have some very fine pens that work pretty well for addressing the tiny envelopes. Here's the finished cards. I add them to the notes and cards I am sending off to my friends.

I have also been cooking at home. It's been good to make more frugal meals and nothing goes to waste. I had some cinnamon bread that needed to be used. I found my old recipe for bread pudding! I haven't made this for years. I am watching my carbs, but I did have a piece of this. I added dried cranberries instead of raisins. Of course, Jimmy thought it was great. We share the cooking since he retired. It works for us.

This is how it came out of the oven.

Jimmy has to have his with whipped cream. He hasn't been eating desserts so he was in heaven.
Have you been making things from your past? I'd love to hear about it. 

Monday Made

Yes, it's Monday and a new week...week #3 of staying home. It's cold and wet and yucky! It's afternoon and I haven't managed to get anything done. It's one of those check in days with family and friends via the phone and internet. That's more important than housework- right?

Yesterday our daughter Angie brought over a few things and at least I got to see her! Today, my other daughter Gina came by to pick up a few things and so I got to see her too. It's hard keeping a distance, talking far apart in the garage without hugs or a cup of coffee. But, it is what it is and I am so thankful I got to see them in person. 

So, today is Monday Made on my Tasha Tudor FB page, so I am sharing what I made here on my blog too. As I posted previously, I participated in Rachel Hoffman's VDC last week. I really liked the workshop by Helen Kish, so I made the little shoe the other day. Of course, I changed a few things but that's the fun part about this. I want to make another one or two. It was just fun to do something creative for a change.

I recently found this wonderful wool felt pack that I had gotten on sale, years ago. I brought it over from my storage unit, not having a clue what I was going to use it for! I love going shopping in my craft room, especially now when we can't go shopping.

So I decided to make a pink one. I used trim, ribbon flowers and seed pearls to decorate it instead of doing embroidery work. I was anxious to finish it. I used pink and green wool felt.

You can see the work on the side with this photo. A little mouse crawled into it. A chick and a little dolly were fighting to occupy it!

This photo gives you a good look at the whole shoe. It's actually an ornament, but I didn't add a hanger onto mine. I just wanted it to sit on a shelf.

Here's the little Easter chick that took over the shoe. It was a very fun project and I think I could actually make a pair of dolly shoes now by leaving off the back and adding a strap. So fun.
Thank for visiting me. I hope this made you smile. 

The Doll's Wedding....Tasha Tudor Fun Ahead!

Save the date! This summer, my Tasha Tudor friends in Vermont, are having a doll wedding. We will be touring Tasha Tudor's home and then the Tudor family has given us permission to have a doll wedding on the property. We will be able to use the stage. This is a dream of my friend Melinda. Her doll Daisy will be the bride who has quite a Tasha connection. Atticus is the groom and he was made by Marjorie Tudor. Both belong to Melinda.

They are in love! The wedding is drawing near. There will be a reception for dolls and adults at the hotel after the home tour. As you can imagine, we are all busy working on projects for the wedding.
I decided it would be fun to record what I am doing for the wedding on my blog. This is a very special occasion for dolly friends and Tasha Tudor fans.

 In 1955, Tasha Tudor staged a doll wedding on her property in New Hampshire. Life magazine sent a photographer out and I have posted some of the photos from the article. It is so charming and what a treasure that this was recorded then. There is also a film version that has the wedding in it. It is called THE GOLDEN KEY.

Notice the little girls have wreaths that allow them to walk their dolls. I was given the task of making these wreaths for our dolls. Our colors are pink and white.

Last January, Melinda and decided on the garland and I chose grape vine wreaths. I thought I would be able to just glue the garland on, but I ended up sewing it onto the wreath. It took awhile, but it worked out better. I added a few daisies and some baby's breath. I think they turned out great.

I had to make 11 of them. After the wedding, they will be used as table decorations. I am shipping them back east this week. We will have to attach the ribbons in July to get the right lengths figures out with the dolls and the group.

This is the bride's wreath. It is fuller and has more flowers than the other's.

Stay tuned for more wedding adventures! My next project is going to be the dress for my doll the bride's maid. So much fun.

Monday Made....Valentine Hanky Dolls

The Gathering on Saturday went well! We had so much fun. I will post more about it this week and share more pictures but today is Monday Made on my Take Peace Tasha Tudor group. I wanted to share this Valentine dolly that I made for the gals in my group, using vintage hankies.

I found the craft with instructions on Pinterest. It was floating around and I checked it out. I did pin it on my Pinterest board. For directions and the pattern go to www.vintageimagecraft.com/hankie-doll.html

I thought they would be so fun to make, so I started collecting vintage hankies. I did buy a few Valentine hankies as this was a Valentine party.

The blog gave me a print out for the two ladies, the heart and a back piece to hold up the hanky. I did adjust the heart as I thought the original pattern was too large. I added the paper heart dollies.

I used scrapbook papers and matched up the colors the best I could. The instructions will give you directions for ironing the hankies.

You glue the pieces together and slip the hanky top under the waist band to make finish off her dress.

I wanted them to hang, so I glued on little ribbons on the back under a little square tag to hide the ends of the ribbon.

I was very pleased with the finished product and the ladies really liked them. It was a fun project and it feels good to be crafting again.

Happy 150th Birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder! Tea Time Tuesday # 140

My Tasha Tudor friend Linnie encouraged us to celebrate Laura Ingalls Wilder's 150th birthday today! As it is Tea with Tasha on Tuesdays, it was the perfect day to have some fun and brighten up this long winter. I don't need much encouragement to have a tea party! Thanks Linnie, this was really fun.

Happy Birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder! Thank you for all the wonderful books about your life's journey.

I decided to follow Laura's Ma's advise...."Ma liked everything on her table to be pretty". So this is a tribute to Laura today and a chance to use some of my pretty things.

I don't have a Laura doll, so this little miss with her bonnet and red and white outfit has to do! She was pretty happy joining in the fun. I made little cut out brown paper heart garland as Laura did in one of her stories.

I ordered this DVD about Laura's life and Jimmy and I are planning to watch it tonight. So many of us read the books and watched the TV series, but I would like to learn more about her life.

A few goodies to grace the table. The pressed glass lantern was our first anniversary gift to each other 40 plus years ago!

With my health issues, I have been doing  a lot of cooking from scratch. I wanted to make something from the Little House Cookbook. It's quite fun to read and study the recipes. I actually decided to make a gingerbread recipe that is not in the book but I found it on the internet.

Here's a copy of the recipe in Laura's handwriting. It's pretty much the one that I used. I did use butter instead of shortening and I used whole wheat pastry flour.

I have never made gingerbread from scratch, so it was a new adventure for me.

It was totally a different sequence of combining the ingredients. Adding baking soda to a cup of boiling water was an experience! If you make this recipe, use a Pyrex bowl with the baking soda. I actually had a bowl break on me.

Here it is ready for the oven...yummy. I did increase the spices from 1 t. to 1 1/2 t. after I read some of the reviews. Oh, it did smell so good when it was baking.

Here's the finished gingerbread. It was delicious and baked well. I did have one little piece...not diet food, but had to have a treat today.

Jimmy is such a good sport to join me for tea and he always supports my tea time adventures.

Of course, I had to have the paper doll book! I haven't cut out the dolls or clothes yet and I'm not sure I can use my scissors! I may just have to enjoy the book.

I had to add a few Valentine crafts to honor Laura and her life. The quilt in the photo above was made by Laura and her daughter. I'm sharing a few red and white crafts that are favorites of mine.

This is one of the hearts I made from the cutter quilt that I shared a few weeks ago.

I adore little pin keeps. This is a vintage bonnet pin keep that I have had for some time. It even has a little thimble inside.

I found the directions and pattern for making one. You can find it on Tipnut if you are interested.

I have never read the complete set of Little House on the Prairie, but I would like to go back and read them all.

I had a fun time with all of this today. I'd like to leave you with this quote. Have some fun and pick up the books again.