Journey of the Dolls, Volume 2

I'll go ahead and say it, I've been shirking my blogging responsibilities. My list of priorities has recently gotten much longer, and the new ones have a rapidly approaching deadline. Allow me to explain (and brace yourselves, this might be a long one).

My head has been swimming for the last two months or so with preparations for the auction for Mazzy's Nursery School. A yearly event that casts a long, foggy shadow over January and February and is a major test of our "cooperativeness". Sure, the kids can get along at school, but can 75 or so parents coordinate and communicate well enough to pull off a 300+ guest event? If it all goes well, we'll pull enough money out of the guests for four teachers' salaries & benefits and maybe a little extra to help maintain the 19th century schoolhouse. Last year we raised enough for solar panels.

The economy? What? Okay, yes, it's the worst of times, but we're working on the theory that if you bring enough parents and extended families and friends together and give them enough good food and wine and show them enough cute pictures of their kids, they'll cave. You wait, they'll cave. I'll report back on that.

For now, though, I want to show you my personal contribution to all this madness. This year is the second time I've taken the reigns on Mazzy's 'class project.' Last year Jon and I made an 8-foot teepee that went for $1500. I spent so much time making it, and it turned out amazing, but I had to let it go and I never even took a picture of it. I won't make that mistake again, so here's this year's work-in-progress.

Two weeks ago, we had two 4' x 8' sheets of plywood. Jon's been slowly transforming them into a 3' x 2' dollhouse version of the co-op schoolhouse. We have nine days to get a roof on it and paint it. I'll report back on that, too.


A dollhouse is no fun without dolls, so I've been working on those. I was inspired by Amy's dollmaking, and after several failed attempts at making my own doll pattern, I went with a modified version of The Black Apple doll.

I had Amy paint their faces, and now I get to pick out their clothes and sew and stuff them.

Like this:

Again, nine days.


Wish us luck.