When I was 6, I got a dollhouse for Christmas. I remember the afternoon my grandmother sat down with me and made me four dolls - the Boxcar Children. She used scraps of fabric and twist ties from the bread bags. I chose to use Waldorf education as the foundation of my homeschooling, in part I think, because of the hours at my grandmother's making stuff, gardening and sewing. I can't make my little dolls without remembering my grandmother. I found Violet, the only remaining doll, in the attic of my dollhouse last year. She is a little worse for the years that have passed, but she now resides in the box with all my other fairies. I think she startles my sewing students when we take out the box to look at the fairies. She has no skirt. Her shoes have fallen off and now you can see her humble twisty ties. Her face is rather garish. I used marker to give her eyes and a smile. Her yarn hair stands on end. But she was the beginning of it all. The first time I made my little flower fairies, it was with scraps of needlepoint wool and artificial flowers my neighbor was throwing out. I made dozens of them for Christmas gifts that year. The ones I kept live in a box of handmade toys with fly sandwiches, turtles, frogs and palm trees. The gingerbread man, wolf, sheep and ugly duckling set are all thrown in there too. Some people collect my dolls and put them on a shelf. I've done that too. My little monkeys can be so wild. But in my heart, they are meant for play. My little boys spent several days playing with Princess Susan, but mostly they wad them into balls or stuff them in pockets. The handmade toy box has my older children's attempts at making the little dolls. A boy's take on the dolls is quite interesting. My 2nd child made a headless horseman and Batman. Some of you may have seen them in my shop. Unfortunately, they fell apart. My grandmothers and my mom had or have beautiful gardens. Whenever I try to grow something, it looks beautiful, until the rains of summer drown them and then the dry season sneaks up and bakes them to a brittle brown. So this, my little shop, my dolls, the flower bags and skirts on my http://www.tracysgarden.etsy.com site are my little garden. I hope that my efforts bring you joy. Tracy
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