Profile For DorrieBelle - Dorrie and the Doll/Sewing Lab
Hi !
I'm Dorrie, and I've had so much fun lurking, I decided to join ! Maybe I can help, or find the answer to something I've forgotten to ask while I'm here.
I'm 42, and a stay-at-home mom due to some complications with my Dearest Son's birth. He's now 8, and healthy as anything ! He has a very mild case of Asperger's Syndrome, but he's improving every year. Beloved Hubby takes care of us both, and our crazy household is rounded off by brother kittens who beg for cuddles and wreck our house equally.
I'm learning to sew - mostly doll clothes and crafts - since 2002, and maybe one day, I'll try to make clothes. I enjoy time in my Lab - what the family calls my sewing and doll studio. Yes, I play with my dolls, I'm not a collector. My 'collection' is probably worth $25. total on the open market. I also love second-hand shopping and volunteering at our son's school. Was a huge fan of animation and anime, but I seem to have parted ways with the current schools of both. Oh, well.
I'm looking forward to meeting more of you ! See ya !
(happy grin) I'm glad this gave our collective thinking caps a nudge ! Thanks, everyone - I really thought this was too stupid to submit, but your words make me glad I did !
About the inhaler 'boots' - well, Babs & Ken and other small dolls can wear those when they break their legs skiing ! Kind of like a 'soft cast'. You can wrap it up in gauze or toilet paper if you don't like the various colors of inhaler ! They already have a chair to rest on...
Or they can be the final touch to a kickin' doll-size Transformer costume ! Naaaah, I 'm kinda reachin' for that one ! ... View related article.
Last year, around March, the Dollar General stores were ditching their winter knit hats - they weren't expensive to begin with, but at 25c each, instead of $1., I stocked up. They've really come in handy this year, and I was planning on doing the same this year, since Hubby and Son have lost more than half of 'em.
But, as part of a craft project, I made a simple fleece hat. It took maybe 20 minutes, tops, and even the cheeeep fleece I used ($2.84/yd, not on sale) was warm and snuggly. Thanks to the stretch of the fleece, it fit better, and seemed warmer. I can make maybe five or six hats from a yard of the cheap stuff, which isn't much more than the sale knit hats - and I don't have to wait for markdown sales and take bizarre colors. I can choose our very own bizarre colors - or reuse fleece blankets that we rarely use anymore.
A quick search of 'free fleece hat pattern' should net you dozens on line. Each one just a bit different, from dirt simple to arty ornate. I know I get a kick when we go out in matching hats I made ! ... View related article.
I'm so sorry - I was still hoping and praying... my condolences to her family and friends who are surely missing a wonderful, unique woman right now. You are in my thoughts and prayers now.
When I see 'em - normally looking for other dolls ! - they're usually referred to as 'mask face' dolls. There's usually hair (often yarn hair) or a scarf covering the edge of the plastic 'mask', and the whole rest of the body is usually soft stuffed cotton.
Never seen one with wiggle/googly eyes before, though. This isn't much help, but may help you narrow the search ! ... View related article.
Don't ya sometimes hate those 'early birds' ? I try to never be one m'self, but it's kind of nice that they think so much of your sale, they want first swoop at the goodies !
Like most folks, we wash any new-to-us clothes before anyone wears 'em, throw what can safely be washed via dishwasher in there, and use Lysol wipes (bought on $1./container markdown !) and antibacterial dish soap on clean rags on almost everything else. And we haven't gotten sick (that I know of !) from our abundance of second-hand stuff.
But then again, can any of us really track with any certanty what made us sick when it hits ? If you have kids in school or work in a public place, or even handled a few books in a library or DVDs in a rental shop, you've probably been exposed to the current nasties floating around in your neighborhood already.
Personally, I'd pay attention to my 'squick' factor - if it makes me shudder, or instinct is screaming at me 'stay away !', I'll pay attention, don't go near it, and fer sure not buy it ! - and clean everything that didn't bug ya once you're home.
I don't really worry about it, because I figure my immune system needs some challenges now and again ! And I can't resist the lure of the yard sale and thrift shop... ... View related article.
While I always return my cart to the corral, and try to snag a loose one while going inside to shop, I don't cart-clean the parking lot anymore. I used to, then Beloved Hubby reminded me that I was doing someone else's job - and that person might have a hard time finding other work if the store didn't need him or her anymore. It's kinda why we don't use the self-checkouts, either - we'd rather have people working than computers ! Or maybe I'm bitter since most radio stations are automated now, which put me on unemployment more than once !
Origami Christmas ornaments ! Borrow a book from the Library and get some nice paper, and go wild ! You can even make small ones and attach them to jewelry findings like french-hook earring posts.
Cover an old lampshade frame with a map or pretty paper.
With cold/flu season approaching, who can't use boxes of the good tissues?
Print and assemble custom bridge score pads for your group.
An inexpensively framed print is nice. You could probably easily find one of (wait for it) a bridge!
Personally, I love nice stationery - it makes me feel elegant to use 'the good stuff' for a note to my son's teacher! Add a nice pen for that really extravagant mood! ... View related article.
