My Effanbee doll named Peggy Sue! (Mom's childhood doll)

This is one of my very special dolls!

I've loved her all my life. My Mom got her as a gift from her parents when she was 12, Christmas 1945. She'd spotted her in the JC Penny store in McMinnville, Oregon and begged her Mom for it. Her Mom told her she was way too old for a doll, but her Dad said, oh, let her have it!

Her parents were Adolph and Helen (Gusa) Brutke.

They lived in Amity, OR and would shop once a week in McMinnville. The store is still standing at 203 NE 3rd Street, but it's now owned by Boersma's, a lovely fabric and quilting store. The toy section was in the basement, right at the bottom of the stairs. That's where the display with the Effanbee Sweetie Pie doll was set up, and my Mom was entranced.

 My Mom named her Peggy Sue. Here she is in her original dress and hat and socks. The little suitcase is filled with her hand made clothes. Her Mom and her sister lovingly made them for her, and they are exquisite. 

 I'm so glad my Mom has let me enjoy her dear Peggy Sue all these years. She is a real treasure.

By Loretta Houben

Tea Time Tuesday!

Tea time Tuesday!

I'm doing this on Facebook, so I'll also add my photos here. I've had many Chatty Cathy teatimes in my home. I think I've covered all the types of teas one could have, and it's been a lot of fun!

Up above is my childhood Chatty Cathy doll on the right in the large blue gingham tea dress. I bought the dress on eBay, and since this was photographed I've adjusted the hemline!

Way back in 2004 I had been collecting Chatty dolls for 2 years, and met a friend in a Yahoo group.

She lived close by and would often come over for tea.

We had a lot of fun.

That's her doll on the left. This was an Easter/spring themed tea, and I had made home baked sugar cookies.

My 2nd tea time was held in the living room at the coffee table. I made ham and cheese roll ups, with a fresh mango/blueberry salad, and purchased dessert.

I always serve a black tea such as Red Rose or Tetley. I don't care for any other tea! I used my Dimity Rose tea set by Royal Albert.

Close up of the goodies.

My 3rd tea time was at Christmas.

I used my Poinsettia pattern tea set by Royal Albert. Leona gave me the teapot at Christmas 1981. I've always treasured it.

This tea was late in the afternoon and I served Christmas desserts. I had the JC Penny Christmas Chatty Cathy doll. She's really cute and says Christmas things. I made the little Chatty Cathy bags. Stay tuned for more tea time Tuesdays!

By Loretta Houben

Kit's new dress!

I'm so excited to show off Kit's new dress!

It's a 1930's pattern design from Farmcookies on Etsy, by Kathy. She had kindly sent me a free pattern last year, after I announced on my FB page that I just couldn't seem to get back to sewing for dolls.

Wasn't that sweet of her? I cut the pattern out right away, but lost my nerve.

This was due to the fact I had recently purchased a new Pfaff machine, and I was rather scared of using it. That's quite silly as I've sewn since 1972.

But there you have it.

I bought the fabric at Walmart, and I used vintage buttons, all different, from my mother-in-law's stash.

I think she would be pleased.

I used new trim from Dollarama, purchased for this dress. I think it turned out adorable!

What do you think?

The pattern was easy to sew. I began sewing on Monday, July 17 when I had a sewing bee here with my sister Leona. I finished it on Thursday, July 20.

By Loretta Houben

Mini Grace in Ham Hill, Somerset

I never did finish writing about Grace's adventures in Europe. She had a grand time! 

(when I remembered to photograph her)

Here she is with me and Robert and our new friend, John Chant who lives in Stoke sub Hamdon, and who kindly drove us there, and to Ham Hill.

I had read somewhere that the standing stones were very old. Well, they are, but they were erected in 2000 for the Millennium celebration! I was rather upset when I heard that. I still haven't been to Stonehenge or Avebury, so I'd hoped to see an ancient site.

But this place was lovely. The stones are Ham stone; very old and rare. Many of Stoke's buildings are made out of this stone. A new excavation is taking place where some more Ham stone has been found. It's very valuable.

The most exciting thing about Ham Hill is the monument at the top. My ancestor, Alfred George Palmer, has his name inscribed on it! He's my paternal Grandma's first cousin. He died at age 21 on May 31, 1916 in the Battle of Jutland and is buried at sea. It was so thrilling to visit this memorial but it was very windy and shortly afterwards it began to pour.

Here I am beside a standing stone.

I really loved this place.

By Loretta Houben

Thrifty Finds Thursday!

If I stick to a theme, I find I blog much more often! Do you?

I'm very scatter brained, so if I have a goal it really helps me to stay on track, as I flit from one thing to another. 

But over the past few years, writing my goals down and sticking to them as helped me achieve a lot of things and also finish projects which would otherwise not be complete.

I've turned Wednesday mornings into gym days. 

My gym isn't too far from my house, so I take the Skytrain there, and walk part way. After the gym yesterday I visited a thrift store. I love thrift stores as you just never know what you'll find! 

I found an adorable little jar/pot for Josephina, only 99 cents Cdn! It has a substance inside which is like a gel perfume, but I can scrape that out. It's very well made out of clay, and painted. I believe somewhere in my doll bins I have a mini Josephina, but I'm not sure.

One of my goals is to organize my dolls and make a list of what I actually own.

I also bought a cute set of 2 playmats for the mini dolls, which would look really cute in a school scene.

But our local children have only been on summer holiday for 3 weeks, so there's a long stretch to go before they return in September! 

Anyhow, it's a lot of fun to shop for the minis. I'm quite addicted to them this year.

By Loretta Houben

07/17/17 Pretty cool, eh?

Today is 7/17/17.

(July 17, 2017)

I love all those sevens!

My sister Leona and I finally had a sewing bee together today. She doesn't live far away, so she brought her items to sew and I had my sewing machine set up on the table.

This is my old Pfaff I bought in 1981, and which I'd replaced 2 years ago with a brand new Pfaff.

I haven't been sewing much sad to say as I'm rather frightened of the new machine.

But today was fun, sewing together at the same table.

I made the little dress for Grace up above, and Leona made 2 pillowcases, and 2 body pillow cases. She sews very rapidly. I also worked on an 18" doll dress but it's not finished yet. Still, it's a beginning and I feel encouraged.

Here I am, sewing on my new machine. My trusty old Pfaff circa 1981 is in the foreground.

By Loretta Houben

Beautiful 18" doll patterns online.

While looking online I came across the most beautiful 18" doll patterns. They are created by Magalie Dawson. If you click on her name the link will take you to the pattern in the photo above. 

One day I'd love to create doll clothes like this.

New swimsuit for Ruby!

Yesterday while my hubby was in the valley river rafting with our son and his friends, I decided to do something I haven't done yet this year; sew for the 18" dolls.

Ruby, my Asian Newberry doll, hasn't had anything new in a long time. 

I have a few Canadian pattern socks and I saw a cute idea on Pinterest, making a swimsuit out of one. So I cut off the heel and hemmed up the bottom, and sewed a seam in between for the legs, and measured a few times to get the ties at the top the right size.

Ruby is quite pleased, and I think she looks really cute. The sock is a little tight to get on and off, but not bad.

By Loretta Houben

CANADA DAY 150!

Yesterday, July 1st, we celebrated Canada Day 150.

That's how old Canada is. It's really quite young compared to other countries!

Maplelea, a Canadian 18" doll company, had the cutest outfit for the dolls so I bought two.

I love celebrations and I love to decorate.

I chose my Hawaiian doll I purchased in Honolulu in 2014 to model one of the outfits. She's on the left holding the Maplelea flag. It doesn't have anything to attach it to the doll's hand. Tenney is on the right and she's holding a flag from Build a Bear, which has an elastic sewn on to attach with. The tin is from Purdy's chocolates. 

Here is a Newberry doll wearing her red and white dress with the AG dolls, plus a pretty plate I purchased downtown in a tourist shop, and a lovely print I found at Winner's.

It was hard finding anything that had 150 on it so I was very pleased with my purchases.

This was a large flag I put in our front window. I got it at London Drugs. I only put the dolls in the window for the photo as they are too valuable to leave in sunshine!

We had a wonderful warm sunny day, and my parents and one sister with her family came over for a delicious BBQ with corn on cob and salads in the afternoon.

Happy Canada 150!

By Loretta Houben