Ten Christmas Toy Society Drops, 2011, on a road trip to Bellingham (dropped a little late, on Dec 31)

Left in Mount Vernon, WA.

At Skagit Valley Hospital, Mount Vernon, WA.

South Evertte, WA.

At West Oly McDonalds, last drop of the trip.

At rest stop in Federal Way, WA.

At Samaritan's Counseling Center, at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, Mount Vernon, WA.

At Bow Hill rest top, near Bellingham, WA. This is the only drop where I actually saw a lady approach the drop and look at it. Then she left without taking it. Then another woman approached it, but we were just leaving the area, so I didn't see if she took it or not. Sometimes adults are observed finding a toy but not taking it. I think they want to leave it for a child to find, but they are welcomed to take it for themselves. Many toy drops are found by adults who are as excited as kids when they find a toy. Some of them are so taken with the concept that they go on to become Toy Society members themselves.

At Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church, Mount Vernon, WA.

At Silver Lake rest stop, near Lynnwood, WA.

Another drop at Skagit Valley Hospital, Mount Vernon, WA.

As always, I hope that those who find my toys are kind to them--one member saw her toy tossed into the street by a couple of teenaged girls. I hope that this doesn't happen often, as all of us hope our toy brings a little bit of joy to someone who needs it. I also hope that some of them report their find to the Toy Society as the note inside asks. It's so exciting to go to the Toy Society site and see that someone has found your toy. This has only happened twice for me, but it meant a lot! Last Christmas, a mom posted a pic of her little boy who found one of my toys in a grocery cart at a local supermarket. She said he was SO excited to find it! This is why we do what we do.

Happy 2012 to everyone. Keep an eye out for my toys!!

Toy Society 2011 Christmas Drop, Toy # 4

This is my unfinished fourth toy for the Toy Society's 2011 World Wide Christmas Drop. She is made  mostly from scraps, with a little of my hand-dyed fabric for her body/shirt. Her dress is made from a cut-up baby dress from a thrift shop. I look at thrift store clothing with a different eye than most: I see them as raw materials for my toys (I am partial to stripes and polka dots), whether it be a wool cat or a small doll, or doll clothes. I really don't like sewing doll clothes, so if I can shorten the process by making the clothes from other clothing, with ruffles already sewn, that appeals to me. All she needs now is arms.

She is a "keeping doll" as the pocket from the baby dress forms the front of her dress. It can hold all sorts of things: baby teeth, rings, coins, pictures, notes, etc.

This Year's Christmas Drop Toys, one, two, and three

Here are my first three toys for the 2011 Toy Society World Wide Christmas Toy Drop:

 I thought a baby might like this silky kitty toy.

 

This chubby softy was made from little scraps of fleece someone gave me to stuff dog beds with, and some of it WILL go there, but some of  it was meant for a higher purpose, I thought.

This funny girl was made out of repurposed materials, too. Her hair is made of fleece "strings" also meant for dog bed stuffing, but hey, it made great hair for her!!

I don't spend more than a couple hours on each toy, but making something out of nothing is a habit of mine, and I find it endlessly entertaining and challenging, too. What can I say?! I'm easily entertained!!

I guess I was wrong! and My Dogs

Toys are still being dropped! Perhaps until New Year's Eve? Here are the latest places: Seattle, WA, USA; Winslow, Maine USA; Stockton, Ca, USA; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Our dog Grace is in the hospital today for teeth cleaning, hernia repair, microchip, and toenail trimming. As long as she's "out," might as well get everything possible done!! I hate leaving my babies at the vet, but sometimes it has to be done.(sigh)
In a few weeks, our dachshund population will grow to three; we are adopting another female mini who was hit by a car and had her two hind legs broken. She is still recuperating in foster care and will have another surgery to remove the external metal brace from one leg, and to be spayed. I will ask them to put a microchip in at the same time, too. Her name is Poki, short for Pokahantas, and both Wiener and Grace liked her when we took them for a visit last week. I'd like to visit her again this week, but with Grace having surgery today, and DH having surgery tomorrow (and having to return for Xrays on Wednesday), the only day we could visit would be Thursday, New Year's Eve, and I think Poki is visiting foster mom's relatives with her that day. So it looks as if we'll have to wait until next week.

Done with World Wide Christmas 09 Toy Drop...........

...........but not with this year's toy drops, of course. There is another six days of 2009, so I'll do at least one more, before the curtain drops on this year, 2009. The "aught decade" is leaving us, friends, and the teens are coming--well, the PREteens, I guess---have to have three years of preteens before we reach the teens. I hope the preteens are better than our last three aughts!! Can we just toss those last three aughts away??!! No, guess not: people have been born (our Ellie), married, graduated, etc. these last three years, so we HAVE to keep them, even though they have been very unkind to us (the years have, that is, NOT the people!).
I am having to postpone celebrating my mom's 93 birthday with her next Wednesday, as DH is having a medical procedure on Tuesday, and Grace, our doxie, is having surgery on Monday. Not a good week for us to leave town! I'm hoping we can go see Mom the following week, and that I can do a few toy drops at her senior apartment building--I will get Mom to help me--I think she'll enjoy that.
It is cold here in the NW this Christmas Day; cold enough that any wind at all makes it pretty uncomfortable outside. I'm sure it is a lot colder where lots of folks are and many have snow to deal with, too, which we don't. So I'm not REALLY complaining, just "whining a little." That's a family joke: when my husband got off the bus after his first day of kindergarten, his mother asked him if he'd cried. "No, but I whined a little," he replied. He was only four and had ridden the bus to school all by himself, because his mom had no car and a toddler, and new baby to take care of.

Yet More Toy Society Christmas 09 Drop Locations

Queensland Australia; Viewbank, Vic, Australia; Santa Monica, California, USA; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Des Moines, IA, USA; New Richmond, WI USA; Plzen, Czech Republic; Kennesaw, Georgia, USA

A couple of finders have reported in, but none for my toys yet.

Places where Toy Society Members Dropped Toys this Weekend

It's our World Wide Christmas 09 Toy Drop, and here are the places toys have been dropped, in no particular order. You can see pictures at The Toy Society site: http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/
Kessel, Belgium: Ocean Shores, WA, USA: Hoquiam, WA, USA: Aberdeen, WA, USA; Santa Barbara, California.USA; Lisboa, Portugal; Nowra, NSW, Australia; Nowra., Australia; Brunswick East, Victoria, Australia; edmonton, alberta Canada; Werribee, Victoria, Australia; Canberra, ACT Australia; San Francisco, CA, USA; Glenroy, Victoria, Australia; Silverton, Oregon USA; Altona Vic Australia; Portland, OR, USA; Mount Vernon, Washington, USA; Peterborough, UK; West St Paul, MN, USA; Dulwich Hill. NSW, Australia; Maracaibo (Venezuela); Fort Wayne IN USA; Iowa City, Iowa (USA); Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Leeds, UK; Superior, Arizona, USA; Sydney, Australia; Clearfield, Utah, USA; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Leiden, The Netherlands; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Nottingham, England; Viewbank, Australia.; Mitchell Hwy, NSW, Australia; Bathurst, NSW, Australia; Millthorpe, NSW, Australia; Elmshorn Weihnachtsmarkt, Schleswig Holstein, Germany; Centerville, Utah, USA; NJ, USA; Kingsville, Maryland USA.

Shown is one of my drops in Ocean Shores, WA yesterday. Hope he didn't have to stay outside all night!!!