Monthly Archives: November 2021

Gracie is Feeling Some “Snowflake Magic”

Ah, the magic of the first snowflakes of the season. In my opinion there is nothing quite like them. Those beautiful bits of white fluff dancing in the air and then floating to the ground. We’ve had a few instances of snow–although nothing that stuck, but the beauty of those first flakes gave me a feeling of peace and hope.

My Kaye Wiggs Gracie is loving this time of year too. She is dressed for the season in a cozy winter ensemble. Her Nordic inspired dress print features lots of delicate snowflakes on a festive red background with a crystal looking waist sash. Her pine green cardigan is knit out of merino/silk yarn. It is decorated with snowflakes and matte gold sequins and crystal beads. The buttons are matte gold Czech crystals. Her beret is made with the same type of yarn, but in its natural color. A red/green pom pom sits at the top. She wears ribbed tights to keep her legs toasty warm.

The contrast of rustic matte gold mixed with icy and sparkly decorations appealed to me when designing this ensemble. Gracie’s bracelet features a bit of gold with crystal Delica beads and a crystal snowflake charm. She is carrying a crystal snowflake ornament with matte golden bells. I wonder which tree she will add this ornament to…

I’d say that fall is slipping away here in northern Illinois. The trees are mostly bear and many days are hovering right around freezing. Today we are having fall clean up done for us which is so nice. We have so many leaves that collected in piles around our house and in the ground cover and bushes. 🍁 They are being blown out and mulched into the lawn or picked up. I am thankful for the help!

What are you up to this weekend? Shopping? Getting ready for Christmas?

Sending you all happy late fall (or spring 🌷) wishes! Enjoy! 🤗❤️

My Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Have Been Dropped Off

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Hello to you! I hope you are enjoying this late autumn, or spring, weekend. We had a pretty nice day today–some sunshine and crisp temps.

This week/weekend is the collection week for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. My daughter and I assembled them on Wednesday and then dropped them off that evening at a nearby church. So, they are done!

I started sewing the dresses for the shoeboxes in June. Some of you may remember that I have been getting my fabric from a very nice woman who bought out a friend’s quilt shop in Texas. Twice a year she has been having fabric sales at her home. This year I needed fabric if I was to continue. My doll fabric is all 1/2 yard cuts and the main dress pieces take 1 yard cuts. My post from a past visit is here.

I love sewing these dresses, but they are lots of work. I have no idea if my dresses are fitting the girls and if the dresses are even needed and liked. I mean, who knows, right? We all have different tastes. I thought I’d pray about it and see if I got some guidance. That very day I heard from Margaret telling me the date of her next fabric sale! Yep, that very day! I got the message loud and clear!

I left her house with a garbage bag so heavy that I could barely carry it… and another smaller grocery bag. She was so kind to also let me pick through her scraps and offered me many giveaways–silk ribbon, cotton threads, machine needles, mother-of-pearl buttons, etc. Also, my daughter and I visited her this fall–she said this was the last sale. She sold me fabric for $1 a yard this time! I bought enough for another two years, I think.

This year I got 20 dresses completed! Look at them all! Do you have a favorite?

As for the rest of the items for the boxes we added crayons, a pen, mechanical pencil, paper pads, coloring pages, stickers, toothbrush, washcloth, bar soap, hair clip and ponytail band in a little purse, a teddy bear, and the dress I made. Here are the teddy bears waiting to be packed away in the shoeboxes.

The dresses fold up nice and neat and sit on the top of each box. In case you are interested, I made a tutorial for these dresses years ago. I actually used my own tutorial this year as a refresher. I hadn’t made them in a couple of years… The tutorial is here, or under the tutorial tab at the top of this page.

If you have a favorite dress, I’d love to know… just for fun.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend! Hugs to you all! 🤗❤️

A Letter to Santa

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Hello! Do you have memories writing letters to Santa? I don’t really, but I’m sure I did write to him at some point. Santa was very magical to me until I was about 10 years old. I never figured it out myself–my mom had to break the heart wrenching news to me, and I really was devastated. I was assured he would still visit and leave gifts, as I had younger siblings, but that didn’t matter as much as the magic being gone. 😥

Talyssa is a believer and I will never tell her otherwise. This sweet girl wrote the nicest letter to Santa this year. Talyssa would love a puppy, and only if it is okay with her parents. (After all, they are the ones who will do most of the work, right?) Talyssa then ends her letter with a P.S. offering her help to Santa, that is if he needs it.

Talyssa has donned her Santa hat and festive attire so that she can be ready just in case she hears back from Santa asking for her help.

The dress fabric was purchased last year and is called “All the Trimmings” by Maywood Studio. Talyssa’s cardigan is my pattern and was made longer with a bit of a-line shaping. Let me know if you’d like the particulars on how to change the pattern. I hand dyed Knit Picks Preciosa to this pretty cherry red. Bare Preciosa is used for the hat’s band and pom pom.