Category Archives: Autumn

A Happy Fall & Memories for a Special Person’s Birthday

Happy Fall to everyone! Yes, it’s here even though it still feels like summer here in northern Illinois. I wonder does it look like fall anywhere? Here it is still very lush and green due to all of the rain we’ve gotten recently. With the exception of a few leaves here and there, I cannot find any golden, reddish, or orange hued trees yet.

My Grandma was one of the most special people in my life. It would have been her 103rd birthday today. She’s been gone 8 years and I still miss her as much as ever. She was only 48 years old when I was born and we always lived close by, so we spent lots and lots of time with her and my grandpa; I have tons of wonderful memories of her.

I looked for photos of her and I together and sadly there are very few. I think it was because she was always preparing meals and taking care of everyone; she hardly ever sat down. Here’s one of her helping me eat soup. She was always making soup and to this day I love soup and make it more than anything else.

She had a little garden in the back of their two flat in a Chicago suburb where they lived in the 1960s. When I got older she would send me out to her lettuce patch to pick leaf lettuce for dinner. I still use her vinegar and oil dressing recipe for my salads. This is her recipe from so long ago. I keep it in the refrigerator and use as needed. The olive oil gets solidified in the frig, but 30 seconds in the microwave makes it pourable again.

Vinegar and Oil Salad Dressing

2 oz. apple cider vinegar

2 oz. olive oil

4 oz. water

1 t. garlic powder

1 t. salt

a sweetener, my Grandma used Sweet and Low, but I use 15 drops of Stevia.

Shake up everything in a salad dressing shaker or jar and pour on salad as desired.

Oh, I just thought of this story she told me a few years before she passed. She NEVER ever had a doll! Do you believe it? Well, I couldn’t believe it, so for her next birthday I hand painted a round wooden box to look like a cake and placed some Kelly dolls inside dressed in the types of outfits I was making at the time. She was so happy and displayed the little dolls on a shelf in her apartment. She always supported my creative passions.

Happy Birthday Grandma and I miss you SO MUCH!

Love you, Grandma! ❤ ❤ ❤

Thanks so much for reading along and sharing a few of my memories of my Grandma. Who do you have from your childhood who was extra special in your life?

Last, But Not Least

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Last, but not least is this tiny pumpkin patch dress for Amelia Thimble and Izzy. This one is knit with two shades of yarn—light pumpkin and deep orange. The light pumpkin border called for embroidery all of the way around the dress, so this last little dress has lots and lots of pumpkins growing in this pumpkin patch.

For more information on “Mini Pumpkin Patch”, please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com .

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Thanks for reading!

It’s Sugar’s Turn

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It’s been a while since Sugar has had something new and she is super happy that it is her turn.

In case you are not familiar with this doll, Sugar is a BJD from Fairyland. She is almost 4-1/2″ tall, so she is quite tiny.

Sugar isn’t much taller than teeny tiny Amelia, but she is so much easier to pose. For instance, both of them are standing in a metal wagon and since Sugar has little magnets embedded into her feet she sticks (even while wearing these Kelly doll shoes) to the wagon. Even if the wagon wasn’t metal she still poses so much easier. Sugar is less kicky than Amelia and seems to stay when she is posed. Miss Amelia LOVES to sit in my hand to model and tends to throw herself on the floor if I don’t oblige her. LOL I have never had any tantrums with Sugar.

Sugar’s dress is almost as tiny as Amelia Thimble’s dress.

My Pukipuki dress is in the middle. For more information on purchasing this dress/hat set, please visit my “Available for Sale” page at cindyricedesigns.com .