Raggedy Accessories

When I transitioned from my Raggedy Ann and Andy bedroom, I kept a few Raggedy items. There was my music box, mentioned in the last post, and my Raggedy Ann and Andy cookie jar.

This metal bin is where I kept a lot of my doll clothes and accessories. Once upon a time it had a red plastic lid, but that broke a long time ago. Today, the bin holds extra clothing for my stuffed Belle doll (from Peanuts).

The other Raggedy item I still had was this small Knickerbocker Raggedy Andy. 

He started out as part of my bedroom lamp (like the one below - not my photo) , but the glue holding him to the block wore away eventually.

In fifth grade, I received two new Raggedy Ann items from my mother. Small metal figurines. The first one is of Raggedy Ann and Andy reading a book.

The second is of Raggedy Ann decorating a birthday cake for Raggedy Andy. These were a fun and unexpected addition to my early doll collection.

My Life with Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann was a huge part of my life when I was a young child. According to my baby book, my favorite toy was Raggedy Ann, my favorite song was Raggedy Ann, and my favorite books were the Raggedy Ann Stories by Johnny Gruelle.

My cloth Raggedy Ann doll went everywhere with me, even to the park.

According to my mother, I had my first fight with another child (besides my older brother) the day this photo was taken. Another child wanted to play with my Raggedy Ann and tried to take her from me. Tears and screams resulted. My mother has photos of the fracas, and someday I will get them to share with you.

By three years old, I was also wearing Raggedy Ann in the form of my winter nightgown and robe. 

But it was right around my fourth birthday that I hit peak Raggedy Ann. We had moved into a single family home in a new town, my younger brother was born, and I had a room of my own, sure I had to share it with the baby, but that was better than with my older brother. And best of all? My mom decorated it in Raggedy Ann!

My mom even made me Raggedy Ann throw pillows! Funny story, when I "outgrew" my Raggedy Ann room, mom recovered the pillows for the couch.

I even had a cool Raggedy Ann dress. The doll on the dress had legs that actually swung. I loved the dress, but I was a very self-conscious child and thought other kids would make fun of me for wearing a dress for babies. All I could say is that I was four.

I was heart broken when my Raggedy Ann and Andy music box broke around 2009. It was the last surviving item from my Raggedy bedroom, everything else from the bedroom pictures were long gone by then, including my Raggedy Ann doll.

Stay tuned for more Raggedy reminisces soon.

Dolls I Have Made

Today I an sharing two dolls I have made.

First up is a yarn majorette from a Milton Bradley kit. I made her when I was 9 years old, back in 1980/1981.  Sadly, over the years she has faded quite a bit from sun exposure.

Around 1985/1986, when I was 14 or 15, I made this little doll in red. She was a craft for the ladies group at church. Everyone was supplied with a painted wooden head, wooden dowel, and wooden base. We got to pick our fabric, yarn, ribbon, and hats from the supply. I chose black yarn for the hair and gave her to braids and bangs.

In 1998, I made this clown doll for a friend of mine. I had no idea what I was doing, but I think she turned out OK. The friend gave the doll back to me when she moved into an assisted living home last year.

Previously I have shown the nun, and kokeshi dolls I have made. Have you ever made dolls?

Baby Born Surprise

Baby Born has joined in on the mystery box craze with Baby Born Surprise.

The packaging promises that the owner will unwrap 10+ surprises.

A nice feature, is that after cutting the package out of its plastic shell, the pink packaging is actually a cute piece of fabric that can be reused.

Here is what was inside the package: one 4 inch long baby, a booklet, and a little bag. In the bag was a pink baby bottle.

The baby is really cute and comes with its eyes shut.

She is jointed at the neck, hips, and shoulders.

According to the directions, I wiped the eyes with a wet cloth.

And... Tadaaa! A blue eyed baby!

She is a drink and wet doll. When she wets, her diaper changes into being covered with pink hearts.

Most of the other surprises are figuring out information about the baby using the booklet.

My baby has the Baby Blue Bear swaddle,

The pink hearts color change diaper, pink bottle, and the blond hair with bow and blue eyes face.

To figure out the baby's name I matched up the eye color with the hair color - her name is Peyton.

The diaper tells us the doll's favorite food - Peyton likes strawberries.

The outfit determines their birth month - Peyton was born in September, and I picked the day - the 13th.

And then the star sign is based on the above date - Peyton is a Sagittarius.

While she doesn't come with all the stuff that some of the mystery dolls come with, what she comes with is useful and won't be just thrown away. I wrapped the plastic shell with the pink cloth and made a crib for her.

Plus, I can see actually playing with this doll, not just collecting and using them as decorations like the LOL dolls. This is probably why the Baby Born Surprise dolls are a little more expensive than LOL dolls.

A Parade of Black Dolls

The most fun, non-stressful, affordable, low-key doll event of the year in Maryland, is The Chesapeake Doll Clubs annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day luncheon. This years theme was "A Parade of Black Dolls".

The guest speaker gave an informative talk on black artist dolls. Besides a slideshow, there were also two tables of the dolls, so attendees could see them up-close and in person.

The Chesapeake Doll Club also had a display of black dolls from the 1960s until today.

I love the Rub-A-Dub Dolly holding the sign.

Lunch was sandwiches, chips, dill pickles, and potluck desserts, which, really, is more than enough food.

There were lots of doll competition categories. My Jada doll did not get a ribbon in the black child doll category, but my Caribbean doll got 3rd place in the black doll dressed in ethnic costume category.

At the end of the event, the raffle were held. I was extremely lucky. I won a Horsman Thirstee Walker,

 Some Barbie dolls,

2 Lil' Imp dolls,

And one of the three special helpers, an Adelaide's Friends doll by Goldie Wilson, a centerpiece doll from the "Circle of Friends" event at the 2016 UFDC Convention in Washington, D.C.

Wow!

The luncheon was a great way to get together with old friends, meet new friends, and learn so much about dolls.