Hitty Fern by Gail Wilson

I hope all of you enjoyed your Independence Day.   We have had a nice week, as hubby is on vacation.  It made our holiday even better.

I am still working on introducing my dolls.   This is Hitty Fern by Gail Wilson.  I have wanted one of these dolls for a very long time.   Earlier this year, I finally got one.  I have been enjoying her so much.  I have some other Hitty dolls that are very precious to me as well.  I got her for a great price and she came wearing my favorite "tea dress" and pink coral bead necklace.  She is signed and dated by Gail on the back of her neck.  She is one of her older ones, which makes her more dear to me.

She inspired me to do something I have always wanted to do.  I actually love primitive things and have always wanted to paint a mural in my house.  But it's a scary thing to paint something so big, so I never did it.  But Hitty Fern could have one. 

I searched for a wooden box to turn into a room for her but never found what I wanted.  So hubby said I should just make it myself.  So I did!  I think I even surprised him by actually doing it.  I went to Home Depot and bought a 12 foot by 12 inch by 1 inch board and had them cut the pieces to size for me.  I sanded them that same evening and the next day, stained the outside of the pieces.  Then I painted a mural on the back wall.   I'm not an artist by any means but it turned out just like I wanted.  Then I put it together.

 A couple of weeks ago, I covered the plain pine board floor with real miniature hardwood.  It was so fun to do and turned out pretty good.  I even added baseboards with the leftover pieces.  It definitely gives the room a more finished look.

Then I decided I wanted to make some of the kits Gail Wilson makes for her Hitty dolls.  I'm not really a builder of things, but I figured if I could make and paint the room, I could do a few of the kits.  The first one I made was the peg rack shelf.  I already had the dress form and a friend sold me some of her GW Hitty stuff that she was no longer using.  The sewing kit items are on top of the peg rack shelf.

I had a few other things that I made from GW's kits.  I made the little peg doll, her pouting chair and rope bed.  It came with a tiny quilt kit, but I put it away and have not found it again!  LOL!   The rug under the table was also from my friend as well as the splay leg chair by the wall.   The table and chairs were made by me.  I enjoyed making them for the most part, but I admit the chairs were hard.  I am so glad I didn't give up.

Every little girl needs a table for having tea parties.  The tiny tea set and candle stick with candle are very tiny miniatures made by Blue Moon Pottery. The teapot is the size of a penny!  I was so surprised that they were so tiny when I got them.  And they are actually made of real pottery.  I have no idea how they did this, but they are precious little things.  The table topper was in the kit with the table.  I decided to make it before I misplaced it like I did the little quilt.

The table and chairs come in handy when Hitty Fern wants to play with her  Hitty paper doll.  Those tiny scissors are from the sewing set and they really work!

Of course a desk is also needed for homework, letter writing,  journal entries and Bible reading.  The little chair from my friend is the perfect desk chair.  The lid lifts up on the desk for storage.  This was a fun piece to build.  The desk kit did not come with the ledge at the bottom of the lift up lid, so I made one and attached it myself.  It keeps things from sliding off.

Every girl also needs a comfy bed and a place to put her lamp and favorite books.   The bed and small bookcase are not by GW.  I found them online, as well as the bedside rug.  I already had the little lantern.  The quilt above the bed is part of the sewing set.  The ABC print is another online find, as well as the clock and Home Sweet Home sign.  The tiny printed cat is from GW.  It is so darling!  The tiny train was gift from the friend I bought the other items from.  

On the other side of the room is a hutch for storing other things.  I have had this piece for several years.  On top, she displays her sweet Hitty paper doll and box of dresses and an abacus to help her with her arithmetic lessons.  You can see the little peg doll sitting in her pouting chair and her little rope bed.  The rug hanging above the desk is another online find.  

So now you can see her entire room.  I have her dresses stored in a box just for her.  I may decide to display them later on.  I am trying not to over crowd the room.  The clock caught the flash and I didn't realize it until later.   Sorry about that.  

I'm very happy about this dolly project.  I have this sitting on the top of my desk, so I can enjoy it every day.  I hope you all have enjoyed seeing it.  I can't help but smile and sometimes I wish I was small enough to go in there and play too!

Blessings!

Winnie

I got busy and missed a week posting the next doll.  Sorry about that.  The next doll on the list of newcomers is Winnie.

Winnie is a Schoenhut model 14/105.  She is fourteen inches tall and jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles.  She is made of wood and has metal springs in her joints to make her posable.  She is a carved haired doll.  She is an early model likely made between 1911-1912.  That makes her around 108 years old.

She was in bad shape when I got her.  I decided to try to fix her up a little instead of fully restoring her.  I wanted most of her genuine age to show.   It was a fun project, but work too.  I'm happy with the  results and I think Winnie is too. 

She has a happy look instead of pensive or sad.  I really like this about her.  I named her Winnie as soon as she arrived here.  Not sure why, other than liking the name and it seemed to fit.

A few weeks later, I remembered that I had this tiny artist made Winnie the Pooh bear.  I took him from the cabinet and gave him to Winnie.  Are they not perfect together?  I have been in love with Winnie the Pooh since I was big enough to watch tv.   

Winnie is very special to me and I am having fun spoiling her.  She deserves it.  

I will try to make time to keep posting at least once a week.  I have a few more dolls to introduce and some projects to show.

I hope everyone is happy and well these days.   

Blessings!  

Hannah ~ A Ludgwig Greiner Classic American Papier Mache Reproduction Doll

I love antique dolls, especially papier mache head dolls.  I'm not alone in this.  Finding a nice one is not easy, and the competition for them is tough.   One day I was browsing ebay and saw one of the reproduction Greiner Papier Mache Head dolls made by the United States Post Office.  I looked at them years ago, but at that time they were on the expensive side.

So when I found one for a good price on ebay, I decided to get it and see if I liked it in person.  She arrived and honestly, I think she is pretty nice.  One thing that was a disappointment is what looked like a reflection of light in one of her eyes was actually a scratch.  So I took a few minutes to get out my paints and mixed up a color as close to the eye color as possible and repainted that eye.  I think I did okay with it.

The second photo shows the scratched eye and the third photo shows the eye after I repainted it.  I really like this doll, even thought she is quite large.   Her complexion was borderline pasty white, so while I had my paints out, I did a faux aging technique to her face.  It seemed to make her more realistic.  I was very pleased with the results.  Her eyelash area had some slight denting, so she looks as if she has been played with long ago.  The aging technique enhances this.  It may be hard to tell much difference in the photos because of the flash, but in person, you can see the difference very well.

The photos above show some of the details about these dolls.  The papier mache head was made from the same papier mache recipe Ludwig Greiner used many years ago.  The head and body are both marked well, showing that she is a reproduction.  She is all cloth, other than the papier mache head.  She has a beautiful outfit but the shoes are a little cheap looking.  So I took a pair of well-worn genuine antique baby shoes and a pair of black socks and put them on her.  They are just a smidge too big, but look perfect on her.

I named her Hannah and put her in an adult size antique chair in my living room.

Did I mention that she is 30 inches tall?  I never buy big dolls because of the lack of space, but I made an exception for Hannah.  The chair she sits in has been a place for various teddy bears to sit in over the years.  Since bears can sit in lots of places and fit in smaller chairs, this one belongs to Hannah now.  

I smile every time I walk into our living room.  I hope you enjoyed seeing her and hearing about her.

Have a great week and be blessed!