Happy December! Next week, we will pull out the decorations, find the perfect tree, and hang the lights on the porch railings. I’m getting excited. There’s nothing I love more than seeing the tree lights from my chair in the den. What a difference it makes in our living room and in my mood!
I’ve now sold 9 pieces of McCoy. I went to the post office yesterday to mail 2 more boxes and thought to myself: good! – now I hope there’s a little break ahead because I’m running out of packing supplies and I’ve been to the post office 4 days in a row. Later that afternoon, I got an alert from Etsy that someone had purchased 2 pieces. So I packed them up last night and it’s off to the post office again this morning.
Remember my quick trip to Target last week for boxes and tissue paper and packing supplies? Somehow my cart veered off into the Christmas decorations section of the store. There I found what I had been looking for, some more of those Christmas sweater ornaments that I transformed into wearable sweaters for the girls. But something else was there, as well; little winter parka ornaments.
They came with attached ‘skis.’ Since they were only $3, I figured what the heck? I’ll see if I can make this into something the girls can wear, if only for a photo op.
These ornaments are glued together, so I carefully pulled the skis off and was able to remove most of the glue from the parka. Then I separated the front closing. Again, pretty easy, but the glue was harder to remove. And then, the neckline and the bottom of the parka had to be dealt with. I was hesitant to mess with the glue on the ‘zipper’ area because it was so near the edge of the fabric. But they do fit and it’s easy to style them as closed.
Here’s Mabel modeling one. Some arm positioning helps keep it closed, though on the white parka, the glue isn’t really a problem. I also bought a gold parka and a dark gray parka. These little ornaments are such fun for Blythe dolls. I think Barbie doll lovers use them, too.
I have to modify the new batch of sweaters and, hopefully, I will have enough for a holiday photo of all the girls. Fingers crossed.
Katie got to model the first attempt at adapting the parka.
Time to warm up my mug of coffee in the microwave.
Stay safe.
Happy Friday.
Don’t you just love it when things work out like that? Your girls will be ready for the holidays.
Love you,
Eileen
I do! I only wish they’d had more parkas!
Love you, Eileen.
Stay safe.
want me to look for parkas here?
kathy
If they have them at Target, yes!
i will be there probably in a half-hour.
if they have them …
how many do you want? do you have color preferences?
kathy
at target right now.
found two cream-colored sweaters, one says “joy” inside a wreath and the other is a star or snowflake. both embroidered in gold.
also:
six black-ish parkas,
three cream/white? parkas and five gold parkas.
also one more cream/white parkas with a wonky ski. if you don’t care about the skis, might get that one at a discount.
let me know which you want. thanks.
happy friday!
kathy
maybe 3 blackish parkas, one gold, one cream, and I don’t care about the skis, so if you can get one at a discount, great.
One more sweater, with Joy.
okay. i have them … three black-ish parkas, one cream/white and one gold. and the “joy” sweater.
(haven’t checked out yet … will ask for discount).
anything else?
That’s it. I’ll send you a check!
Thank you, thank you!
glad to help a friend. :)
xoxo
and you’re welcome!
kathy
xo
Don’t know if this will help with the parkas, but you can buy tiny little velcro dots that stick on. Also you can buy thin strips that could act as an inside “zipper”. Very inexpensive. You could use them to keep the parka closed for photos. Love your girls 🥰
Luanne
What a good idea, Luanne! I’ll do that.
Stay safe.
Our decorating is delayed as I am recovering from Covid. I’m feeling better and will rally as now my son has caught it from me. It’s the least I can do after spreading it to him. It’s been like a bad cold with cough and it makes you tired. But we are lucky that we’ve been vaccinated which I think has helped.
oh, no! hope you and your son feel 100% better and test negative soon. i will be praying for you both.
kathy
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been ill, Ellen. And now your son! Here’s to complete healing very soon.
Stay safe.
It is funny how the cart just magically veers off to whatever we may be unconsciously thinking about isn’t it? But…what a great find. The girls look wonderful in their new parkas.
Our little bit of snow melted enough for Jim to find the cords to finish hooking up the outdoor Christmas lights yesterday. And I couldn’t wait….so I turned them on in November. I’ve never turned them on this early…guess I just needed that extra brightness in my life.
Enjoy your day! ;)
hej, donnamae.
i hope and am praying you get more brightness soon and in whatever form you like/need!
kathy
Thanks Kathy! The brightness is a want, not a need fortunately. Hope you have a good weekend! ;)
good, donnamae! :)
and thank you. i hope you have a nice weekend, too. early out for me tomorrow … need an oil change and they don’t take appointments for that; it’s “first come, first served” so i’ll be out by 6:30 to get first in line. :o
happy friday! stay safe in every way.
kathy
I don’t blame you, we need a little sparkle right now!
Stay safe, Donnamae.
So clever, Claudia! I love that in addition to sweaters, you can add parkas to the girls’ wardrobe! Have fun tree hunting.
Not til next Thursday or Friday, so it will be a while yet!
Stay safe, Wendy.
Those girls are the best dressed in upstate! Thanks for sharing,as they always put a smile on my face.xo
They’re far better dressed than me, Annette!
Stay safe.
I LOVE thinking outside the box! Go, Claudia!
Thank you, Elizabeth!
Stay safe.
Your little winter parkas are just so darn sweet as are the girls wearing them. Very creative, Claudia. I call this upcycling at it’s best. Enjoy your weekend and the anticpation of Christmas decorating. I can’t wait to get our tree, either. Today I’m wrapping gifts. It’s cold and rainy here for the 1st day of December. Would love to see a few snowflakes. Take care. Hugs, Elaine
Cold and rainy here as well. So I made a mug of sugar-free hot chocolate!
Stay safe, Elaine.
congratulations on more sales!
clever idea to turn those ornaments into winter gear for your girls … good job!
am sure you will enjoy putting up the lights and bringing home, then decorating the tree.
nearly all of my Christmas decorations were given to me by my parents. i’m bringing some of them over to my parents’ home today or tomorrow, including those made by my mother as well as the ceramic tree (kind with a lightbulb) made by my maternal grandmother maybe fifty years ago. :) <3
right now though i need to check on the birdseed. lots of travelers(*) and a late-night visit by a raccoon go through a lot of seeds and peanuts.
(*) after occasionally and only recently seeing one redwing blackbird on the deck, last week we saw lots of redwing blackbirds in a tree next to my parents' home. my sister quickly took a photo, zoomed in and counted thirty … incredible to see!
…
i stopped writing this to run five errands. sad to say more errands await, but happy to say nearly all Christmas shopping is done!
hope you all are having a good day and spend the weekend ahead exactly as you want. stay safe!
kathy
How neat to see 30 redwinged blackbirds!
Stay safe, Kathy,
Cute little sweaters and jackets. I got a little backpack keychain and Scout used it for her Barbie and it was the perfect size. I want a little Christmas Joy now that it is December!
See? Scout gets it, too!
You deserve some Christmas Joy, Linda.
xo
Stay safe.
OH my! Be still my heart — those parkas and sweaters are adorable. I love the “bunny fur” look on Mabel and the gold parka is really cute too. Well done, Claudia. Very clever and you did a masterful job with them.
And congratulations on your McCoy sales. That’s nice to have a little cash coming in for something you’d be letting go. Three cheers!
Especially since we thought the furnace wasn’t working and put in a service call last night only to find I’d turned it off by mistake.
I can laugh about it now, but I was really pissed at myself last night. Anyway, the money will help pay for the service call!
Stay safe, Jeanie.
So cute and clever. The first time I walked down the several aisles of $3 ornaments at Target I was a bit overwhelmed and didn’t know where to look first. More snow today all day and I’m still faffing the Christmas stuff around the house. No idea when the tree will go up but my fairy lights are all up and cheering me up immensely.
Take care,
Kay
I can’t wait to get the tree and add the lights! Good for you, Kay.
Stay safe.
Use a blow dryer on low setting to soften the glue. Good luck!
Oh yes! I did that for hours with Dove Cottage when I was removing glue.
Thanks, Sharon,
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia! Those parkas are perfect! If you want to mix them up, you could embroider some simple “snowflakes” * like this asterisk. A good way to cover those glue spots. Nice to have a friend helping you get more of them. Paint a pair of those ski and strap them across one of your sheep! Ok, now I’m getting annoying. It’s fun!!
They’re too big for the very fragile sheep!
Thanks, Verna!
Stay safe.
Hi Claudia,
We also had a service call for our furnace that was mostly unnecessary. My friend had what she thought would be a small service to her furnace and her bill was outrageous. Life…
I don’t understand how these little sweaters are sold as Christmas ornaments – I’ve never seen anything like that here. We had a nice target store, but it left to be absorbed by the US again. My aunt in Florida loves Target. I wonder if I can look around here somewhere for sweaters for my
girls. Your girls look so adorable. I’ve ordered a few new things for my Blythes. I tried to prop them up with wooden skewers and it didn’t work for me. It’s getting colder and their little outfits need coats and such.
I’m worried about my husband who had to have blood work taken because the doctor wants to look at his platelets. Mike’s got these patches of awful looking areas like blood on the surface of his skin, growing quite rapidly. My daughter and I are on speaking terms and I really hope (we both do) hope to remain friendly and loving. Next year might be very good for us. I’m so hopeful. We had such a nice walk together at Thanksgiving, and now a phone call too.
I too want to put up our tree soon. It’s not a big tree, but in a small house it’s all about rearranging furniture to try to ‘fit’ it in. The lights are pretty in the mornings and at night it looks cozy. We don’t have lights outside the house, nor decorations, I’m very plain that way. But Mike and I always have an evening of driving through town to look at all the pretty lights.
That is so nice
How sweet of Kathy to buy those little coats for your dollies.
Take care, it’s dark already and only 5 p.m. and I need to walk this doggie of mine.
– Irene
hej, irene.
i sent you a reply, but put it in the wrong place. scroll down among the comments to see it, if you like.
kathy
I see that Kathy has offered to help you, but you can also order online. That’s how I got my sweaters last year because I found out about them after store stock had disappeared. FYI.
I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s health problems. I hope he recovers very quickly, Irene.
Stay safe.
hej, irene.
i am praying for you, your husband and your daughter, that you all enjoy good health and happy times together.
also, i am happy to look for and send to you parkas and/or sweaters like claudia first found at a target store! just let me know, please and thanks.
have fun walking your pup and decorating!
sending hugs (if okay),
kathy
Oh, Kathy that would be so nice of you! Claudia’s dolls look so warm and cozy. Where do I send my address, to a personal box or is this it?
to irene and claudia …
if you don’t or can’t shop online, how about telling me what you’d like for parkas (colors,amount of each) and/or sweaters (“joy” or “star/snowflake” embroidery, amount) and *if* i find them, maybe you could send your address to claudia and she could then please let me know it …? that way it’s not posted in a bigger way.
would that be okay?
thanks, claudia.
kathy
Sure. I can pass it along to you.
thanks, claudia!
kathy
xo
I guess that Target is all out of these jackets and animals and such. Thanks so much Kathy and Claudia for your help. What I’ll do is try to find them on line.
– Irene
I’ll comment on the current page as well in case you don’t look back
hej, irene. looking back here just in case you saw what claudia and i wrote to you.
i think i can get to the store tomorrow afternoon, probably about 5 pm iowa time/cst. if you can tell me what you’d like (sweaters and/or parkas, colors, how many, etc.) by then, i will see what they might still have and get them for you if available.
good luck if you go online, too.
kathy
Kathy wrote to you a few days ago in response, Irene. Check back for her message.
I don’t know whether I love the sweaters or the parkas more…so very cute.
And now I know why I can never find those sweaters, I’m a slow shopper who gets there long after they’ve all been bought.
Make merry!
Boy! At least in the case of Target, things are picked over just after Thanksgiving. I would have missed them normally. It’s only because I had to go there for packing supplies that I got anything!
Stay safe, Roxie.