Toy Society 2011 World Wide Christmas Drop, Toys 9 and 10

Well, I'm happy to announce that I have NOT fallen in love with these two toys and that they are going where I PLANNED them to go!! Yay! I was afraid I had somehow gotten "soft" and would love ALL the toys I make too much to give them away. Not true. SO glad!!

     Here is toy number 9; he is made of velvety fleece.  I wish I could say that he went together without a hitch, but alas there were TWO hitches: one is that I forgot his left ear, so I will need to fix that tomorrow!!  The other is that I sewed his feet on going the WRONG way!! I was ticked, as I'd sewed them on REALLY WELL. I sewed around the ankle twice as I didn't want to worry that they'd fall off. SOOO, I had to cut them off carefully and resew them. Which proves you're never too old or too smart or too skilled to make stupid mistakes!! It keeps us humble and our heads from getting big, should we be tempted to think we are better than we really are. Trust me: we aren't!!! 

Here is number  ten: She is a very simple doll, the kind mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and aunts have made for small children since Time Immemorial (however long that is--forever, I think). Her head and body are made from a black twill. Her arms are made from velvet and her legs from a discarded tee shirt. When I am at a thrift shop, my eyes are set for STRIPES and I never have to look far to find them. I love stripes of all colors and widths and I like nothing more than to have a big box with lots of them to choose from. I like her blond hair too--makes her a little contemporary and "edgy" if that's possible.

With Christmas Eve falling next Saturday, I'm not sure if the Toy Society is calling this weekend (17/18) the "weekend before Christmas" or whether that weekend is NEXT weekend. Guess I'd better check the site and see what they are saying.



Well, This IS Embarrassing!!!

I was making this little doll for the Toy Society's World Wide Christmas Toy Drop but I unwittingly fell in love with her!!! And so, I am going to give her to myself for Christmas.
     She is made from such small scraps, that most people would have thrown them out--or given them to a real ECCENTRIC like me. I don't know why I love her so much; I just do.
      Her head is one of those high-bouncing little "SuperBalls." I tried just centering the ball in the middle of a square of sweater around the ball, but didn't like the effect, so I sewed a little longer  piece of sweater to make a rather large "thumb" shaped piece.  It was just large enough for the ball to fit easily in the end, without stretching the fabric much.  Then I tied off the head part snuggly, and stuffed the rest for her body. You can pretty much tell how I made the rest of her. The orange embroidery thread hair is partly what charmed me, and the ribbon was the right touch. Just a short time ago, the ribbon shoulder straps were sitting in a Joanns in Olympia. I bought 3 spools of it.
   And so my doll collection increases by one more doll. Now I need to finish a couple more dolls for the Toy Drop, to appease my Guilty Conscience!!!

A Sad Tale of Disappointment and Dashed Hopes

My pink and white yarn was lost. I looked for it all over the house and it refused to show itself!!
So, defeated, I reordered it and paid for two day shipping. That was last Thursday. I was given a tracking number and on Friday morning my yarn was in Wyoming, which pleased me because I live in WA (state) and Wyoming is fairly close; I expected that my yarn would be delivered on Saturday morning.

However, I checked on Saturday morning and my yarn was now in LOUISVILLE, KY!!! Dismayed, I realized that I had wasted $ and hope on Two Day Delivery. It wasn't going to happen. (sigh)

I had hopes for Monday delivery, but Monday evening arrived as scheduled with no sign of my yarn. It finally arrived late Tuesday afternoon. I was glad to see it, but sorry it didn't arrive in two days and that it was forced to cross the country TWICE. Evidently Saturdays and Sundays don't count when promising two day delivery, but it still took three entire days, not counting the weekend days. I guess they could plead "Christmas Rush" but why did my yarn go from Wyoming to Kentucky?!?! I guess it got on the wrong plane.(sigh)

And, while looking for the knitting book for the garment the yarn was intended for, what should I find but the Original order of pink and white yarn!!! I don't know whether to scream, laugh, or cry. Maybe I'll do all three. (SIGH) 

Three More Sock Monkeys, plus Canine Friend

These monkeys are "standing in the wings," waiting to see if they are needed tomorrow for a big project undertaken by our DKG chapter. The canine, Grace, is not part of the deal, however she DOES like to smell them and pose when they are being photographed.

I wish I had kept track of how many of these monkeys I've made in my life. The first two were made in about 1968, for our oldest children, Connie and Steven. I also made one for Kevin and Corey, when they were grown. No telling HOW many I have made for others. It must be around 30, I'm guessing.  Usually, I enjoy making them, but I think I need a break from them now for awhile.

Toys 7 & 8

 

Moving right along: here are toys seven and eight. They will be followed by other toys wearing the same outfit, but also not necessarily looking a lot alike.

Sock Monkeys RULE!!!

This monkey may very well be the 17th monkey in our project to provide a Sock Monkey Christmas for the COPE students at Harbor High this year; our Delta Kappa Gamma group has adopted these students this Christmas and is helping their teachers with Christmas gifts for the children and their student-parents.I love to make sock monkeys, and have hopefully converted a few more sock monkey afficionados in the process!!

Two more Toy Drop Toys

These dolls are made from scraps that I'm quite sure sensible people would toss!!

Toy Society 2011 Christmas Drop, Toy # 5, Little Striped Guy

 

This is my all time favorite kind of toy to make. He is made of pieces of fabric and scraps of stuffing that 99.9% of sane people would toss into the round file. But not me! I have this overwhelming compulsion to make "stuff" out of "nothing." Thus, I save everything and throw away nothing!!! I am every neatnik husband's worse nightmare!! (Bwah ha ha ha ha!!!!)



Now She Has Arms and is Done

 

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.

Blue Sock Monkey Ballerina

I'm leaving her at Six Rivers Gallery tomorrow.

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!!

My Third Christmas with The Toy Society

This will be my third year participating in The Toy Society's World Wide Christmas Drop. I have enjoyed doing this so much! I make small toys that I can finish in a hour or two, and I leave them around our town for people to find. Last year, a little boy found a toy I left in a supermarket shopping cart, and his mom sent a picture of him with it to The Toy Sociey. It made me feel so good to know that I'd made that little kid's day!  Here are some of the toys I've dropped before:

http://thetoysociety.blogspot.com/