What Santa Fred gave me for Christmas

My husband Fred really set me up this Christmas with some great gifts.  See how romantic he was when he gave me this beautiful Gotz doll with her pretty little heart dress on! [I named her Esther because Esther is one of my favorite women in the Bible, so courageous and, yet, not stuck-up despite her beauty.] My Esther is totally hard vinyl but looks like porcelain. Her box says she's for adults and collectors but the box also says not for children under three.  Her clothes are easily removed.She wears white panties. She has a pretty sheer pink camisole under her heart sundress. On top she is wearing a pretty apron.  Her shoes are adorable.  She came with her hair piled on top of her head but in such a way that I knew the owner could take it down which I did. She has rooted hair that is pretty thick. She stands well.  I haven't measured her yet but she looks to be about 18 in tall and her torso is similar in size, but probably a little smaller around the waist, to my soft body 18 in dolls.  I really Love her hands that make me believe she could be a ballerina. Her head is poseable in different positions.  She stands really well. Her fingers and toes seem longer than AG's but shoe size is the same. None of the fingers are stuck together.  Santa Fred also included a little brother for her: "Bubba" by Teeny Bellini. He comes with a little blanket too.  He sort of looks like he's a little bit of a brat! In my doll world, Esther helps her mom take care of Bubba who is a handful. More, later in my stories to come.

In this picture is a neat organizer Fred gave me for my little itsy doll stuff that I use as props.  It's actually a jewelry pocket organizer but works great for all the little things like barrettes and shoes and little foods, doll's dolls,  ribbons, socks, etc.  No more losing them. It has lots of pockets on two sides. I love finding these little things at garage sales or thrift stores but they were kind of becoming a mess. At least, for now, they're organized!
I truly thank the Lord for my thoughtful and wonderful hubby!

Photo story of the week #1: "Playing in the Snow" by Quinlyn S

Thank you, Quinlyn, for letting us see your beautiful Kirsten in her lovely coat.  Please don't miss all her pictures of her dolls in their lovely winter coats in her album called "Playing in the Snow"  And it's real snow, not like in my picture.

Snow?

Did you have a white Christmas?   Eventhough we live in Florida, my doll Hannah loves the snow.What a beautiful thing God made when he created the snow!  If you have snow, what did you do in the snow? Let us know here! Did you sled, ski, ice skate, bundle up by an open fire?

Baking Time! Gingerbread House from Scratch!

Bottom Picture: My wonderful daughter spent all day yesterday making gingerbread houses.  See how great hers turned out! She even made her little doggie "Osito" out of gingerbread. Top picture:  I named one of my dolls after Rachel. Doll Rachel even has a little Osito.  They'll be in a story after Christmas.

Family time!

Willow's dolls know what it is to be blessed with strong family ties. See her photo-story below. I pray all of my followers and viewers have such a family. But, sometimes, it's just not so. That's when it's good to remember that God is our heavenly and perfect Father and never lets us down. If your family has troubles, ask Him for help and wait expecting Him to answer. He may direct you to another adult for help.  He answers prayer many ways. Hugs to all. Now for Willow's great doll family picture below and link to her story-click here

Do you know what Kanani means? What outfits do u want 4 her?

Do you know that Kanani  means "the beautiful one?" We're all waiting for Kanani, the new Girl of the Year 2011 from American Girl.  What kind of outfits would you like to see her wear?

Photo Story of the Week #2

We still have to put up our Christmas tree so I really enjoyed this photo story from Hannah A. Her dolls had to actually go out in the deep woods to get their REAL LIVE doll sized tree.   Thanks, Hannah A for letting us see this. Please click here to see "Setting up the Christmas Tree"  Now maybe, Fred and I will get ours decorated!

Photo-story-of-the-week #1

This is our first photo story of this week. These are some fun Christmas photos  that Hanna is sharing with us from her blog which is a family effort with her sister and friend.  Click on http://agfun.thewrightfamily.name/  They've  got some great Christmas music going on too--makes you feel happy!

Photo Story of the Week!

Lena has a great story and beautiful pictures.

See her story "Decorating for Christmas" here.  Lena lives in Europe. Lovely photos! Check out her "Snow Day" story too with snow angels made by her dolls.
Would you like to have one of your stories considered for "Photo Story of the Week"?

Got a great doll photo story?

Would you like your doll photo story to be chosen for "Photo Story of the Week" ?
Send me a link.  I'm looking for stories with some Christian content. (See Hannah's and Madeline's stories on this blog.) Photo and stories should be your own. 

Why do we love the Nativity Scene?

We love Nativity Scenes, don't we?  "Isn't the baby doll cute?" "Aren't Mary and Joseph sweet?"  "I like the part about the angels. Wow, supernatural!"  "Can I arrange the animals and the figures in the stable, please, Mama?" Those are just a few of the comments we hear.

But, really, why do millions of people celebrate the birth of this particular baby called Jesus? It's not just because it's a cute scene with a sweet baby. It's WHY he was born that is the reason for the celebrating! Isaiah tells us the answer. The Bible says even as a child Jesus said he had a special purpose ("I must be about my Father's business." ) Luke 2: 49  In fact, His work started long before that--because He was "in the beginning" John 1:1  In the book of John "the Word" means Jesus and God because only God could tell and show us about Himself).  Jesus/God is the Creator.  God actually has 3 parts: the Father, the Son (Jesus),  and the Holy Spirit (our Counselor, teacher, prompter). The point is that when Jesus came to earth, he was not just a special man but God.

So Jesus as a part of our three-in-one God, was all set up in Heaven; but He came to earth to be born in a dirty stable and later to be crucified on a cross.  Why would He do that? The book of Matthew says that Jesus Christ came to be your Savior. Matthew 1:21 That was His plan. The Bible says He came to seek and save those who are lost.  He created all of us so why would He want us to be lost?  I remember once I lost my little girl in a grocery store, I was frantic and did everything I could  to find her so surely our Creator would do the same for us.

"Hold on!" somebody might say, "I'm not lost!" Let's see. How do you answer this question? Have you asked Christ Jesus to come live in your heart?  The Bible says that if you haven't, you are lost. Luke 19:10
So what? Those without Christ are really lost. They are confused like wanderers in the dark! They are lost because without  Jesus to forgive and clean them from their sins, they are separated from God.There is no light to guide them.Jesus said He is the Light of the world. John 8:12 To live with God, we have to be clean and we can't do it ourselves. We are cleaned through the Grace of God, Jesus's work of dying for our sins, taking our punishment and conquering death and sin on our behalf. He calls us while we are sinners. We can't try to be really good and then feel like we're good enough to be saved. Jesus says He calls the sinners, not the righteous (Matthew 9:13)  We can't even forgive ourselves to get close God.  Jesus, because he is perfect as man and God, had to take the punishment for us to pay for our sins.  So we have to ask Him to forgive us.  That's why He was born!
We don't have to be in the darkness separated from God.  It's lonely and awful there.  He wants you to be with Him.  That is His desire. John 3:16-17  He loved you before you knew about him. He loves you even when you're sinning and didn't even want forgiveness. Romans 5:8  If you don't ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart, you'll miss the whole point of Christmas. When you do ask Him in, you will have great joy even in tough times.  What a Christmas present! That's one reason why we sing "Joy to the World".

Hannah's Bailey Got the Flu--Great Photo story!

Hannah has a great photo story of her doll Bailey and the help she got from her friends when she had the flu.  I hope no one gets sick during the holidays, but if someone we know is sick, I hope we will be kind to them like the dolls in this story. (There are 2 parts so two links:Part 1 http://picasaweb.google.com/hanniedolluver/DisasterPart1#  and Part 2 http://picasaweb.google.com/hanniedolluver/FeelingBetterPart2#  Thanks, Hannah!

Photos of a doll Christmas

We're starting to get ready for Christmas! I made the above outfit. It's not to late to purchase it. Shipped first class. See http://www.etsy.com/listing/53292405/happy-birthday-jesus-t-shirt-outfit-to
I also like Willow's photo from her album "An AG Christmas"
Anybody else have some doll Christmas pictures, you'd like me to link to?

Hannah and Nellie are practicing for the Christmas Concert at Church. Mrs. Sylvia just finished their choir robes. Lots to do. There will be a Children's choir. Nicole, Ryan and Hannah will participate. Hannah has a solo. There will be a live Nativity Scene featuring some of the other dolls. Everyone is excited! More pictures to come. I am preparing my heart for Christmas. How about you? Let's get ready!

I'm thankful for Fall

My new boy doll from My PAL-My Sibling Dolls

I was so happy this week to get an early birthday present:  a handsome My Pal doll! This is an 18 in boy doll close in size to American Girl Dolls but manufactured in China by Lotus and sold under the brand My Pal-My Siblings dolls, which is a trademark by a company, LorettaRose, LLC of New Jersey, promoting awareness of Autism and Down's Syndrome as well as other causes children would like such as the environment, School, heroes in our military,etc. The company provides work opportunities for teens and adults with disabilities as they pack the dolls and other products and also actively promotes awareness of the needs of young people with autism and Downs Syndrome.  Even the needs of the siblings of these children are addressed through their line of My Sibling dolls.

Welcome to my very first blogger!

Welcome to my very first blogger, Karen, of http://www.etsy.com/shop/facetsjewelry !  Karen is a member of our Christian Artists Promoting Shops team on etsy.  She makes beautiful jewelry. We will try to persuade her to make some doll jewelry!

Make a doll bed and serve up some doll size cookies that you can eat!

A Quick Portable Doll Bed.  Does your new doll need a bed, a nice comfy place to rest?  Make her a quickie bed.   Make a pillow mattress long enough for her (about 20 in when done). Sew two rectangles (about  24 in X 11 in) right sides together. You can hand stitch the 2 long sides and one short side then turn the bag right side out and stuff with something soft like old pillow stuffings or polyfil or old panty hose. You can make some really cute co-ordinating little pillows the same way and Voila! your doll has a great bed which is portable. Make some "blankets" using a scrap of old fleece or some sheets using a scrap of an old sheet--just hem the edges by turning up to the wrong side and stitching. Any other ideas? Have you made a bed, post a comment with link to your photo.  Join this blog.
Yummy doll size cookies and bread that you can eat!  I am getting ready to do a photo shoot for Christmas and Thanksgiving with my dolls. I found a little bag of tiny Lorna Doone cookies that are just the right size for my dolls and good enough for me to eat too. I got them at the checkout counter in my grocery store.  I noticed there are little tiny loaves of bread for parties that would make great little edible sandwiches too.. Invite your dolls and friends! Do you have any ideas about tiny edible food?  Post it here!