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.

Tea Time Tuesday #169....Tea in Port Gamble WA

Yes, I am a day late with my tea time post. It's just been that kind of summer. The sink backed up Monday night, so handyman Duane was back out to fix it on Tuesday. Other things came my way, so I just never got post. Actually, this post is really late, as we went up to Port Townsend and Port Gamble WA for our anniversary....August 4th. Since the car was out, Gina let us borrow her car so we could still go away! We had to cut our trip short, but we still were able to celebrate out of town.

It was really hot, even up north, and the Canadian forest fires were sending a great deal of smoke into the area. Never the less, we still had a wonderful time. Jim LOVES Port Gamble.

It's such a beautiful town. It was a mill site and they are reclaiming the area and returning the shoreline back to it's normal lovely self! Pretty exciting.

We were happy to find that there was now a tea shoppe in the little town. The darling one went out of business a few years ago. Anyway. Mrs. Muir's House was nice...nothing super wonderful. The owner was so delightful and was able to fix me a chicken salad that I was able to eat. So kind and it was yummy.

Fun Harry Potter items were part of her shoppe!

The shoppe has a great selection of British, Irish and Scottish food products. We had to take home a few goodies. I was happy to find some paper tea bags for my loose tea.

This was their garden by the fence.

These next two photos were fun items for sale at a cool shoppe. Unfortunately, they were not open.

The yarn shoppe is unreal. It makes me want to take a class in knitting to improve my skills! It's a fun store to visit, even if you an not a knitter. It is beautiful and filled with such pretty offerings.

This is one of my favorite houses in the little village.

Of course, the quilt shoppe is a MUST whenever I visit. It has such a nice selection of fabrics and patterns and books. I did buy a book with a pattern that I hope to use this fall when I go to my next quilting retreat.

And one has to find a pretty cup and saucer on the adventure! This one is so pretty...no markings. I just love the colors and the pattern. It's so old fashioned.

Oh, we had such a nice time. I can't wait to return. 

Vacation and Blog Break

Well, I stopped the mail and posted a note on my Etsy site, but I forgot about my blogging! Jimmy and I are on a little vacation so I am also taking a little break from blogging. Summer is winding down. Trying to enjoy the long days before fall arrives! Fun posts will be coming later. 

President's Day With A Focus on Abraham Lincoln

Today is President's Day in the USA. It's a day we can honor and remember all the presidents who have served our country. When I was young, we celebrated Linccoln's birthday and Washington's birthday on separate days in February.

As some of you know, I am a real Abraham and Mary Lincoln nut! My Jimmy was born in Springfield, Illinois~LAND OF LINCOLN! I suppose that's where some of my interest has come from, however, I like studying about the Civil War times. As I have read more over the years, I am more interested in the battles of the war, but it is the Lincoln family that really peaks my interest.

During the year, I collect fun things about Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln and save it all for a wonderful post on President's Day. So, I would like to share my finds and share our visit to Hildene, Vermont last summer.

We found these silhouettes of Abe and Mary in a small antique shoppe in Vermont. I think they are made of plaster of Paris and are quite heavy.

This reproduction print of Lincoln is quite interesting. It was produced by a small printing company in Portland, Oregon. I talked to the man who owns the company and his process is really interesting.
I like the detail that he was able to capture on this.

Here's a flyer he includes with his work.

I am always on the lookout for antique postcards. This one commemorates the Gettysburg Address.

I found a couple vintage pamphlets at an estate sale recently...just interesting.

One of the places on our vacation to Vermont last summer was to see Hildene. We were able to go and it was a beautiful summer day and a wonderful place to visit. I'll share more a bit later in this post.

The gift shoppe was filled with tempting Lincoln family goodies. This is a wonderful cookbook, filled with family history and recipes from volunteers at the center. It is loaded with great pictures of the home, old and new. You can spend an afternoon just enjoying this book.

As I am interested it the Lincoln family, this book is a fantastic addition to my collection. So many pictures are new to me and it follows the family to the last descendant.

A great ornament for the tree or a fun item for a Abe Lincoln celebration. Nicely made for a new item.

I rescued this little wooden book at a flea market for $1.00. It is filled with small vintage postcards from Gettysburg. I find it charming.

This is a rather odd item. It reminded me of the cabin where Lincoln lived when he was young. It's made of coal from West Virginia.

This is my beloved cup and saucer which I pull out ever year to toast the Lincolns. This is a copy of their White House China. I love it.

We drove to Manchester, Vermont on a nice day in July.  I took this from my car as we drove down the lane to the Hildene estate. You actually park your car and walk up to the house or ride the little tour trolleys.

The house is a 24 room Georgian Revival house, finished in 1905 by Robert Lincoln as a summer home.  Robert (1843-1926 ) was the Lincoln's only son to live to adulthood. The family loved the area and would spend up to 8 months a year there.

Mary Todd Lincoln had taken her two sons Tad and Robert to the Equinox Hotel in Manchester, VT for the summer in 1864. It was a nice retreat from Washington DC. They enjoyed the visit and hoped to return the following summer with the President, but we know that he wasn't living that next year.

40 years later, Robert returned to the area and purchased 500 acres and built his lovely summer home. He called it Hildene, which is an old English name meaning hill and valley with stream...the perfect name for this home perched upon the hill in the Shires of Vermont. The views are breathtaking.

This is the front of the house.

While we were waiting for our tour, we walked up to the little observatory. Robert had quite an interest in the astronomy.

This was taken at the back of the house...beautiful views and gardens.

I think Jimmy wanted to take this car for a spin! Pretty cool.

This little plot is marked off on the front lawn. It's really a great visual to appreciate the size of Lincoln's little log cabin birth place.

This is a view of the formal garden, taken from an upstairs window on our tour.

Linda and Jimmy on holiday with the Lincolns! What a wonderful time we had this day and on the entire trip.

The formal dining room...all set for dinner.

I just loved the stair and all the woodwork. The pipe organs are behind the closed in areas. The organ is on the main floor and it is amazing. Yes, they do play it for you...well, it's like a player piano. You just put the rolls in and away it goes.

The Illinois boy finds Lincoln in New England! There was a lot of Lincoln things to enjoy in the home.

One of Abe's famous hats! I got to see another one at the Lincoln museum in Illinois.

There is also a working farm on the property. There is quite a goat program and they do sell the goat cheese in the gift store.

The trolly will also take you down to see the restored Pullman car. Robert Lincoln had several careers. He was Secretary of War, Ambassador to England, a laywer and eventually, President of the Pullman Palace Car Company.

The car is beautifully restored. It was very fun to visit the area.

I thought it was really funny to find a Lincoln's Home (Springfield, Illinois) dollhouse is Bennington, VT!

I hope you enjoyed my Lincoln blog...I really enjoyed writing this one.

I am sharing this on Bernideen's Blog Party today, so pop on over and see what others have been doing. It's fun.