Nurse Hitty

In my local area, I have the pleasure of being part of a Hitty collectors’ group. It’s wonderful to share all of our wooden dolly friends, furniture, and accessories. Our last meeting involved a fabric challenge. A member gifted us all fabric for our Easter meeting and we were supposed to try to do something with the fabric. I received the following fabrics.

After checking out some Hitty inspiration, I encountered this super cool post about a Hitty nurse uniform. It gave me the idea to make a Red Cross nurse’s uniform. Keep in mind that I wasn’t going for an extremely accurate costume, but something that suited Hitty and felt like a recognizable garment from another era. Hitty is wearing a long blue dress with long sleeves, white apron, pocket watch, and arm band. It was tricky to find a pocket watch that was about the right scale. Her collar is a little wonky, but this was my practice piece. I made one additional outfit and it is now with a friend.

The pink floral print did get used on another Hitty dress, but I have not had a chance to take a photograph of it. I will probably be able to take a pic of it at the next meeting in mid July. The cute outfit is on a doll of a friend.

My Hitty is from a carving kit made by Gail Wilson. I highly recommend her Hitty carving kits if you are interested in getting into Hitty dolls. Her directions are thorough and her kits are very manageable. You can find them on her website here.

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Handmade Ceramic Doll: Dolores

Nearly 6 months ago, I started a new journey into ceramic work. In the early part of this journey, I had the pleasure of watching the movie Encanto with my children, many times. As I was watching the movie, I thought the Dolores character was an interesting fit for a cloth body doll. If I was going to make a doll, I wanted it to be a bit different. I wanted her to have the foundation of an antique cloth body doll, but have a modern edge. Dolores seemed like a character type that would be great inspiration for a doll. I quickly got to work and I’m glad she ended up being my first hand-sculpted ceramic doll.

Dolores stands only 8” tall. Her skirt and blouse were hand-embroidered to accomplish something similar to the dress worn in the movie. Yellow silk ribbon accents help bring the outfit to life. Ruffles and beads are perfect for the blouse. It was difficult to find a yellow lace small enough to adorn the sleeve and ruffle edges, so I opted for a blanket stitch with yellow embroidery thread.

I used a clear glaze to finish the doll, but I might need something more satin for dolls in the future. While the doll looks beautiful in person, the high gloss in the photos distracts from her loveliness. Also, I’m not an expert photographer, so attempting to get good pictures of her is an ongoing learning process.

There are more dolls in the works, but they take me quite a while to make. Stay tuned for some other awesome adventures in doll making. Every doll will be a learning process for me and I welcome growing in this fun new adventure. Check out more images of the doll on Instagram.

Please note this doll is inspired by the Disney character from Encanto, but I am not affiliated with the Disney company and this was not a paid partnership. My doll is a personal interpretation that was inspired by the character mentioned above. She is not for sale and is a part of my personal collection.

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A New Journey: Hitty Dolls

Wow, have I let my posts languish, or what? During the pandemic, it has been hard to accomplish all the things I planned on doing. However, I did discover something wonderful during this time of turmoil. My local doll friends helped reignite my dolly interest as we discussed the Newbery Medal book Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field. The book follows a little wooden doll and her adventures over the span of 100 years. The book is based on a real doll that can be viewed at the Stockbridge Library in Massachusetts.

To my surprise, I discovered there is a good-sized following of this little doll. People often make their own little Hitty dolls. There are also kits to make Hitty dolls all over the internet. I picked up a Gail Wilson jointed wooden Hitty kit and decided to make my very own precious little wooden doll. The instructions are very thorough and I found this kit a great place to start exploring carving wooden dolls.

Pictured is the first outfit I made for my Hitty doll. I personally love the felt pinafore with a blanket stitch edge and embroidery. It really makes the outfit.

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Many BJDs for Sale!

A friend of mine is interested in parting with many of her BJDs. I had the pleasure of going through the boxes and looking at all these lovely resin dolls. Interested in owning a BJD? Take a look at all these fun options.

No holds, layaway, splits, or trades. Please DM on INSTAGRAM for interest or more pics. You can also inquire on the CONTACT link on this website, but Instagram will likely get my attention quickly. Dolls sold as is, so please ask all questions before purchase. Located in USA.

Volks MSD May

VOLKS MSD MAY (SUPER DOLLFIE CUTE LINE) --$550 +shipping
Made in 2014, SDCute LE May as pictured. Faceup in good condition. Doll, eyes, and original box included in sale.

Volks SD Megu

VOLKS SD MEGU --$450 +shipping
Faceup in good condition. Doll is as old as at least 2010. First owner. No metal plate on head back. Includes, doll, eyes, pamphlet, and box.

Volks SD Coco

Volks SD Coco -- $650 +shipping
BJD comes with original box. Stringing is a tad loose. She needs a minor cleanup but is otherwise in good condition.

UNOA L-Bi

UNOA L-BI -- $350 +shipping
Includes items pictured (both bust pieces, eye slider with wires, eyes, doll, and box). Faceup has some damage, especially eyebrows.

Unoa Lusis

UNOA LUSIS --$400 +shipping
Older doll with small bust. Body blushing has some minor scuffing. Listing includes items pictured (doll, eyes, clothes, wig, eye-slider, pamphlet, box).

Dollmore Sara

DOLLMORE SARA-- $150 +shipping
She has full body blushing with some scuffs. Magnets in head need to be reglued. All items (doll, wig, eyes, shoes, stockings, corset, box) included. Hands are magnetic.

Sybarite Raja

SUPERDOLL FBR SYBARITE RAJA --$425 +shipping
Haute Doll exclusive It Girl Raja. She appears to have never really left her box. Lovely 16" fashion BJD with LE 200. She comes with her original box and everything pictured.

Souldoll Aveline

SOULDOLL AVELINE --$425 +shipping
Approximately SD-sized BJD. Minor staining on body that's probably easy to remove. Small chip in faceup on lower eyelid. Bonus dress included (some wear, grommet in laceup missing). Box, doll, and eyes included.

Volks Pink House Sofia - image on box of doll fully dressed.

Volks Pink House Sofia

VOLKS SD MEETS PINK HOUSE SOFIA --$1600 +shipping
Limited edition full set doll never taken out of box. I removed plastic face protector just to take photo. Beautiful doll with all original items included.

Volks One-Off SD F54 Head

VOLKS ONE-OFF SD F54 --$550 +shipping
Volks F54 head on female body. Head-cap metal plate is labeled "ONEOFFMODEL." Beautiful faceup in great condition. Minor cleanup needed on head, feet, and torso. Listing includes doll, eyes, pamphlet, and box.

Iplehouse YID Olivia

IPLEHOUSE YID OLIVIA --$550 +shipping
Large BJD, faceup in excellent condition. Missing crescent-shaped hand part on right hand. Doll, eyes, box, pamphlet, and bonus outfit (4 pieces & necklace) included.

Iplehouse SID Aria

IPLEHOUSE SID ARIA --$500 +shipping
Doll is approximately 5 years old. Faceup is damaged (particularly on the bottom lip) with forehead/hairline staining. One magnet is missing in the head, but head-cap stays on fairly well. First owner. Included is doll, box, and pamphlets.

Iplehouse EID Bichun

IPLEHOUSE EID BICHUN --$575 +shipping
Large BJD, approximate age 2013. Staining at hairline. Faceup in good condition. Doll, eyes, Iplehouse mailer box, and pamphlet included.

Iplehouse EID Oscar

IPLEHOUSE EID OSCAR --$610 +shipping
Faceup in great condition. Approximately 5-6 years old. First owner. Includes doll, eyes, pamphlets (not pictured), and box.

TwoSDoll SD Body

SD-SIZED TWOSDOLL BJD BODY --$100 +shipping
Maker unknown. Broken finger. If you're looking to experiment with BJD modifications, this would be a good option.

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Chef Supreme: Spicy Chinese Chicken Shreds

A few years ago, I ordered the cookbook “Chef Supreme” online in the hopes of exploring some of the recipes of Marty Ginsburg, spouse to Ruth Bader-Ginsburg.  Deeply saddened by the recent passing of Ruth, I decided now was the time to crack open the book and make my way to the kitchen.  I wanted to honor the Notorious RBG in every way I can, so here we go!

The first recipe I will be trying is the Spicy Chinese Chicken Shreds, mostly because I already happened to have all the ingredients in my house.  I have to say, reading through “Chef Supreme” is quite entertaining.  Marty had a sense of humor and it is all over the pages of this book.  Why plainly give you directions to a recipe when it can be done with a dose of comedy?  My favorite quote is, “…or simply put the whole mess in a screw top jar and shake like mad.”

So, let’s talk about making this recipe.  It’s quite simple – make a sauce, shred some chicken, combine, put it on your choice of food.  The recipe recommended cucumbers and I decided it would work for my purposes.  The recipe didn’t call for a slice of jalapeno and cilantro for garnish, but the internet likes pretty photos and I like jalapenos.  Win-win.

What’s wonderful about this recipe is that savory and not super sweet.  My household tends to like more food options that aren’t sugary and this hit the mark.  While the recipe calls for a specific amount of salt, I’d recommend salt to taste since we all have our own salt level preferences.  Also, the recipe is flexible in terms of spiciness.  I went light on the spicy, expecting it to be medium-hot, but it ended up being tame.  Hence, it was another reason I added the jalapenos on top.

If you are interested in a light and refreshing appetizer recipe, this is a good option.  I purchased this book on the Supreme Court’s gift shop website found here.

My focus has been on Ruth as someone I admire, but it’s good to remember that Marty was also someone to appreciate.  My impression of Marty is that he was a supportive spouse to Ruth when she decided to pursue a career in law with many hardships stacked against her as a woman and mother.  Their relationship echoes RBG’s pursuit of equality.  Well done, Chef Marty. 

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