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Saturday, June 26, 2010

Fancy Monkey Girl

Here is my latest sock doll, which I call Fancy Monkey Girl. She is at the gallery, for sale, and I'm sure her future owner will find a much more appropriate name for her, one suiting her unique, outgoing personality. I used up all my creativity MAKING her and so didn't have any left for naming her. Since I didn't intend to keep her, I tried not to bond with her much, thus the rather inpersonal moniker; I kept my distance.

I was lucky to find an American Girl doll at a rummage sale yesterday. Ivy Ling is her name and she is an Asian girl. The doll was very clean, and the only sign that she was ever around a mischievious child is the rather unique trim of her bangs; some little person-- not necessarily the owner-- got ahold of a pair of scissors, which is why my little grandgirls won't have an American Girl doll with hair, from me, at least, until they are older than the "getting wild with scissors" stage.

I've given our 4 year old granddaughter a Bitty Baby and soon I'll give her one year old sister one, too. They have smooth, hairless heads--the dolls, not the girls--so scissor play is not possible with these dolls.
Ivy Ling was actually the second American Girl doll I've found at a rummage/thrift sale; I found a Bitty Baby just like the one I gave to Granddaughter A a couple months ago at our local Salvation Army. Wouldn't you think, because these dolls are fairly pricey and so nicely made, that kids would want to keep them to hand down to their own kids, or to a younger cousin? I guess not, because there they are at rummage sales and thrift stores.
I guess people don't save things to hand down like they used to. I work at a local Clothing Bank, and we get wonderful handmade baby items that I know some great aunt or grandmother made for a special baby. I always wonder why those very special items weren't kept--it would seem like people would want to keep them, knowing they were made especially for their child by someone who cared enough to put in the time. My mother saved some of my baby clothes so I could put them on my big dolls and I was so happy to have them--two of the sweaters she had knit herself. To me, it was very special, to have my own big doll wearing the clothes I'd worn as a baby. It meant a lot to me, and perhaps that's part of why I value handmade things so much now.
I despise a throw-away culture. It seems wasteful and wanton to me, and it's also bad for the environment. Can you tell I'm not young (I hate to say "old" because I don't feel old; I just know that chronologically, I'm older than many people). Anyway, if you are reading this, leave me a comment so I know you are, and let me know how you feel about handmade baby items given to your baby; are you going to keep them, give them to a special friend, or toss them when you're done with them? Don't get me wrong; I give many clothing items away to the clothing bank. I just have a soft spot for baby items made by friends or relatives; those I like to keep.

3 comments:

  1. it seems like many in the younger generation are just not interest in having children, so there is no one to pass these things down to. that's what's happening in my family, and it's sad.

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  2. I agree totally. I have things from my own babyhood that will only be appreciated by moths because I have no one to hand them down to. I have my grandfather's sailor hat, dad's police badge, mom's decopages. But the young generation doesn't seem to care unless it is for sale on ebay.

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  3. I have three children but only two grandchildren and only one is a girl. I would have passed on some baby clothes but her mother was a very careless and nasty person, so I didn't give her anything. (Thank goodness my son divorced her but only after she ruined him in many ways)

    So now I save for my grandson who hopefully will have a little girl before I die. I love baby dresses and have actually collected a few from thrift stores and have decorated my bedroom with some......they are so dainty and precious.

    Two of my children are also "no clutter" folks so they put everything on their driveway and "someone" does pick up the stuff up by the next day or so. They think I am a packrat and in a way I am but everything is neatly put away. Must make a will showing where I want everything to go. My grandson says he is going to make a fortune selling all my dolls and doll stuff on eBay and that's great as he can use the money and someone who really wants the stuff will get them. Susan

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