Beating Boredom...Creatively

Do you find yourself bored without the money for trips or excursions like you once had? What about just being thrifty and not spending? Is BEING ON A BUDGET getting old?

I experience this quite a bit and on our budget; it's a challenge to stay on track!  Recently I was bored, but so was my mother who is with us for a time....

She's a doll maker, so naturally our efforts centered about this craft.

I had purchased over two years ago three doll kits from a thrift store. They have set around my house for eons, and honestly WHEN was I going to do it? AND I have been bored lately so I decided to tackle them~with my mother with us, I had the perfect opportunity, right?

After looking at the kits, mother said that they were from a famous doll maker, she THOUGHT, Tasha Tudor. If you don't know about Tasha Tudor, she is a woman who lived 1915-2008 from Vermont who lived her life as if she were in the 1830s.  She lived a simple back to the basics kind of life with no electricity, growing her own food and making all the textiles for her clothing! Wow~a living historian of sorts who loved dolls.  Tasha Tudor and Family will share most about her, and I have THREE of her doll kits! (I have received an email from Nataly who works for Tasha Tudor and Family who says they have no current knowledge of these dolls and can't find them in old catalogs. I have no idea who made them if not at least marketed by Tasha Tudor in some way. I will say that I did find Nell "Tudor" on the website, Cellar Door Books which I have yet to gain additional information. As you can see, Nell is exactly like the doll attributed at Cellar Door Books. Hmmm....  Thanks Natalie for trying to find info for me ;-))  Sooooooo it's off to make these "girls" up!

I don't want to get into the HOW of making these dolls UNLESS you personal message me or leave a comment asking, but I am having some huge fun...

...and btw~I am also crocheting some too...I am making DISH TOWELS of all things! I know we can buy them for a buck at the dollar tree, but let me tell you that quality, and I mean TRUE quality will outlive any dollar dish towel with these 100% VERY absorbent dish towels...Soooooo my thrifty tip is to BEAT BOREDOM with whatever you've got (I had these doll kits) and DO IT! What joyful satisfaction I've gotten, AND...saved money because I used what I have as well as ridden myself of some clutter~Anddd oh when was I EVER going to make these dolls? Maybe NEVER if I hadn't started on them~so go look and see what you've got...AFTER of course, you see what all I've been doing! (BTW~teaching both kids these skills too.  This is homeschooling at its best!)
Thriving with No Green$,
SisterTipster

Meet Sally Tudor. She's all done and I completely hand sewed her body, dress our quilt. Also I crocheted her trims and shawl.

 

This is Meg Tudor who is still in kit form. This way you can see what is done (sorta) to make a doll. Each one is completely hand sewn. I did not make the head, hands and feet, although  I could have given the proper stuff as I have done it in the past.  

Me making the quilt for Sally Tudor. It's a pre-printed quilt meaning I didn't piece it, but used a printed fabric and quilted the top's motif. It has quilt batting between two 100% cotton layers.

Meet Nell (she's like the ike the one shown on Cellar Door Books site link above) in her birthday suit. LOL! But you are able to see her body which is muslin and totally hand sewn by me.  The quilt my Mother did~

The very BEST part of all of this crafting is that I owned it all before I got started...NOW..go find something to occupy your hands creatively! It's sooo much fun! Give me a hollar and share your creations and let me know if you want to make a doll too!   Hugs! ;-))