Merry Christmas From Ginny Lou Who!

 

 Merry Christmas from Ginny Lou Who!  My favorite Christmas movie is How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  A few years ago I decided to combine my love for the Vogue Ginny doll with my favorite Christmas movie.  Little Ginny Lou Who is a reproduction Vogue Ginny doll.  Merry Christmas...Betty

A Visit To The Pumpkin Patch

 Growing up in NJ I always loved Fall.  The leaves on the trees would gradually turn into beautiful colors and slowly drop to the ground.  To me there was nothing more fun than jumping into a big pile of raked leaves.  Back then people were allowed to burn their leaves and that smell always said Fall to me.  Now I'm in Houston and the leaves don't turn pretty colors.  Instead they shrivel up and die.  They slowly fall from the trees over the Winter months and in February the new buds push the last remaining leaves off.  So, all winter long we drag dead leaves into the house.  I hate it!  We don't really have a traditional Fall.  Here we basically have two seasons...a long, long Summer and a little bit of Winter.  I miss Fall so much.  I joke that before I die I want to jump into a big pile of leaves one last time.

I'm so envious of my little doll family.  They got to go to the pumpkin patch to pick their very own pumpkins.  It was a beautiful Fall day with just a bit of a chill in the air and the gorgeous colored leaves were falling. 

 Little GinnyFaith seemed more interested in the free candy rather than picking out a pumpkin.

And little Joey just wanted to play in the pile of leaves.  That's my kind of boy.

The rest of the kids headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  There were so many to choose from!

Mr. Jeff kept a close eye on things.

And so did kitty...

 

Needless to say the kids had a great time!  

Happy Fall!  Betty

The Last Days of Summer...

 The kids are getting ready to head back to school soon so they went to the park one last time for a little old fashion fun.

Ginny and her friends always have a good time playing when they get together.

There's nothing like having fun building something in the sandbox.  Little JJ Watt is paying close attention so he can build something next.  (Somebody better tell the cat that this isn't a kitty litter box!)

Playing miniature golf is always challenging.

One of the cats wanted a ride!  He's waiting for Ginny to push him around.

Playing on the see-saw is always lots of fun.

It's time to get the croquet game started.

The kids always like to climb.  They better be careful!

Those lazy days of summer will soon be gone.  Betty

(The playground equipment was from a Fire Flies Convention.  The miniature golf I got at Dollar Tree many years ago.  The Little Tikes Car was found on eBay.  The Croquet Set was made by Cherie Kaiser.  She was a very talented woodworker and made some cute things for Ginny.) 

Just A Little Pokemon Fun!

 The kids are keeping busy playing Pokemon this summer.

 Everyone is getting into the act and chasing Pokemon.

I'm not crazy about them spending so much time on their mobile devices but you know how it goes nowadays.

Miss Jill is supervising the activities and getting a suntan at the same time.

Do you play Pokemon?  I used to play but lost interest somewhere along the way.  Betty

The Annual Easter Parade

 I grew up in the 50's and 60's in a suburb of New York City.  Every year I would see the New York City Easter Parade on TV.  That was back when everyone got all dressed up for Easter in new dresses, shoes, hats and gloves.  Anyone else remember?  Here's a trip down Memory Lane.  I'll never admit which one is me!

I recently wondered if New York City still had the Easter Parade and decided to google and find out.  Yes, the parade still exists but has definitely evolved over the years.  I guess when people no longer dressed in fancy outfits and wore gloves and hats the event had to change with the times.  Now it's more like a costume party with crazy outfits and elaborate home made hats.

This year my dolls decided to have a more traditional Easter Parade.  They put on their Easter outfits and lined up behind the Easter Bunny for a march down the main street of town.

My Vogue Ginny dolls, Nancy Ann Muffie, and Vogue Jill all wore seamstress made outfits that I've collected over the years.  After the parade they all had a chance to pose for photos with the Bunny or Chick and show off their outfits.

I was able to find dresses for Ginny and Jill made by different seamstresses but with the same fabric.  I bought one on Etsy and one on eBay.

A few of their friends wanted their pictures posted too!

A good time was had by all!  Betty

Easter Is Coming...

 Easter is coming and I have something new planned for Ginny and her friends this year.  In past years we've dyed Easter eggs and had Easter egg hunts.  This year I hope to have my new idea done in time.  Meanwhile I thought I'd share some photos of a past event.

This was the year we had a combination Easter egg hunt and dinner.

In the past I made Easter candy and Peeps for my dolls.  I'm glad I made the Peeps in the past when I was able to buy the Peeps in printed boxes, take the boxes apart, scan and reduce them.  Now the Peeps are sold in plain white boxes with printed cellophane.  I would not know what to do today.  In the past I just used plain cellophane on the printed boxes.  The Peeps are made out of polymer clay.  The chocolate candy is made out of the polymer clay too.

Many years ago I made some food for Easter dinner.  It was probably at least 15-20 years ago.  Today I might have done it differently but back then there wasn't a lot of information online or on You Tube videos about how to make it.

I think the "kids" had fun seeing the baby chicks that year too.

Here are a couple of close-ups of my Peeps.

And I thought I'd show you one of my doll cabinets.  I bought two of these cabinets when they were reduced at Home Depot years ago.  They were only $50 each and have nice deep shelves where my dolls live most of the time.  I'm able to shut the doors and keep them out of the light and away from dust.  The light isn't good for the vintage dolls.

Excuse the messy shelves.  Every so often I straighten them. :)  Betty

One Of My Moods

For many years I had one of my childhood Vogue Ginny dolls and most of the clothes from my childhood stuck away in the back of a closet.  I didn't realize that people collected dolls and thought others would think I was nuts if I put my Ginny on display.  While living in Oklahoma in the 80's I purchased a Vogue Jill doll, but I still wasn't really collecting.  She joined Ginny in the back of the closet for safe keeping. From time to time I'd ask acquaintances if they had ever heard of Ginny dolls and the answer was always no. Then the Internet came along and my kids introduced me to eBay.  I wondered if there could possibly be any Ginny dolls up for auction. Not really expecting to find any I did a search.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  There were lots and lots of Ginnys!  The rest is history.  Through eBay I bought from collectors and before you knew it I had Ginny doll friends.  My dolls were out of the closet! That was around 1998.

I am not a mint collector.  For example I don't care if I have an outfit from 1953 on a 1953 doll.  I just want my dolls to look cute.  I also make changes to outfits if I think something doesn't look right.  I have actually always enjoyed "playing" with my dolls and acquiring furniture and accessories for them and setting them up in little scenes more than just collecting dolls.  I've always said that there are many different kinds of collectors which I think is good for the doll collecting world.  

Unfortunately, I'm running out of new ideas for different holidays though.  I also get in moods from time to time where I find that I need to give my dolls a little break.  I've been in one of those moods lately so I thought I'd post some pictures from Valentine's Day 2020.  Fortunately, my dolls haven't grown or changed much in 2 years.

Do kids today still have Valentine's Day parties at school?  Back in the 1950's we always did so my dolls continued that tradition.

Happy Valentine's Day a little early!!!  Betty