A _Little Women_ and Louisa May Alcott Package

The end of my January project!  After finding these Little Women book character dolls on ebay a couple years ago, I finally have them fixed-up the way I want and ready to mail.  When I started donating books to my former elementary school's library, Little Women was one of the first titles I sent copies of, but it took me awhile to find character-dolls that appealed to me.  Most I've seen online look little more like generic old-fashioned dolls than they do any specific character, and many are porcelain which is impractical for a children's library.  After a long search, I found the handmade dolls below--Beth, Meg, Jo, and Amy, from left to right--(and would I love to wear Jo's entire outfit in real life?  Yes.  Yes, I would.  Have I mentioned before how much I love almost every charming stitch designed by clothing line Ivey Abitz?  ↓  Gah!!)--

--and knew these were what I'd had in mind all along for the kids.  

Each doll is marked with the initials SL and dated 2011, 

and the detail and care put into these by their maker is impressive.  I wanted to personalize them a bit more for the students, though, so I wrote each character's name onto her dress in fabric marker and then stitched over the marker in case the ink fades in the future. 

I hot-glued-and-then-sewed-on a few iron-on patches to each doll that depicted the character's interests too.  Meg wears a watering can and home/garden gate and her twin boy-girl babies. 

Beth wears sewing needle and thread, a kitten, her beloved piano and music, and my attempt at an "I love my family" patch. 

Amy's patches are mostly art-related, with easel, crayon, paint palette, and a Paris one since she was the lucky sister who got to study abroad instead of Jo. 

And dear, bold Jo!  ♥  I added a pencil and paper to the front of her dress along with writing/reading-related patches.  (Her dress!  I'd change into it right now.  Those colors!)  It was a shame to alter the beautiful dolls, but I think they will draw more interest to the books this way.  Sometimes kids need a nudge. 

Louisa May Alcott is both a woman and writer I deeply admire, so I fixed up an Alcott doll to accompany her March sister creations.  This doll was on etsy a few years ago and had a simple enough face to be perfect as Louisa May. 

I removed the little basket of felt strawberries that had been sewn into its hands and replaced it with a miniature copy of the Little Women book--sewed it and then hot-glued it into the hands (trying to make these dolls last as long as they can with kids handling them).  :)

 This is another doll with which such care was taken.  Look at that braided hair.  So sweet.  

As I had with the character-dolls, I labeled the Alcott doll with the fabric marker, as well. 

I have already donated a couple copies of Little Women, a "Little Women at Christmas" excerpt-type book, and The Little Women Book:  Games, Recipes, Crafts, and Other Homemade Pleasures.  Now the dolls will arrive along with two copies of a Louisa May Alcott biography, a picture-book version of Little Women for younger readers, and The Louisa May Alcott Cookbook.  Ohhh, if the kids who attend this sweet school don't become interested in this book or author, it won't be for lack of trying on my part!  Here's to good books (and cozy January projects).  :)

♥

The First Ten Days of the Year

The new year is beginning with a flurry of book-buying for my former elementary school.  I will have donated about six hundred books by the end of this month so am very much on-track with my goal of donating a thousand by my fortieth birthday in May.  "Did you know that all media's now half-off on Sundays?" the thrift shop cashier asked me last week as she rang up my stack of books.  I did not, and the new prices will make my goal even easier to reach this spring.  'Fifteen like-new hardcover books last week for practically nothing--like a wink from the universe.  ♥  I also did not know that Mary Poppins dolls existed--!--and lo and behold, this one, complete with carpetbag and umbrella, will soon be flying off to the school with the related books. 

Mom's January 4th birthday proved tricky to get a package out in time for since there was no mail here January 2nd for the New Year's postal holiday and I didn't want to mail it the Saturday before and have it--with cookies inside--sit in a post office or postal truck over the three-day weekend.  With a few little wrapped gifts nestling them inside the box, gluten-free nut roll cookies ended up being Mom's birthday treat this year.  I used a bag of Bob's Red Mill-brand gluten-free pie crust mix and was completely charmed by the packaging.  This would make a darling print.  And it's pink!  ♥

My original plan had been to make rugelach, but the dough was too sticky to roll properly and I hadn't remembered to leave myself enough of the flour for that purpose, so after a messy attempt at the rugelach, I ended up making a dozen nut roll cookies for Mom instead.  Had I put a bit more thought into my Plan B, I'd have made a tidier thumbprint cookie with the nut filling so they would have looked prettier.  Next time.  These turned out, though, with the nut-mixture mixed right into and around the dough, and they tasted good.  

The nut-mixture was about 7 oz. of walnut-meal, maybe 3/4 cup whole milk, a cup or so of sugar, an egg, and most of a stick of butter--cooked until boiling, then just kind of rolled into the pie crust-cookie dough.  Next time I make these, I'll add some of the walnut-meal to the flour so there will be more nut-flavor throughout. 

I baked them early in the morning on January 3rd--the day before Mom's birthday, so. . .cutting it close--practically ran to the post office with the package as soon as I'd finished wrapping it all, and was told that it likely wouldn't reach her until the day after her birthday.  Bah! to postal holidays!  And no, it did not arrive in my parents' morning mail delivery on Mom's birthday, which made me sad.  (She did not care--"Getting mail tomorrow will just extend my birthday, Vally!"--but I very much did.)  We talked just a few minutes that afternoon since she and Dad were on their way out dinner and a movie.  She called me before I left for work the next night to let me know that just as they'd been leaving for dinner, a postal van had pulled up to drop off her package--an unprecedented second mail delivery in a single day for them--so she had received it on her birthday, after all.  ♥  And yes, she loved the cookies.  :)

As the temperature outside has bounced from a painful 8° one day to now-raining-and-near-40° a few days later, I have mostly been a homebody, contentedly sorting books and puttering around the apartment, save for walks to and from work, the thrift shop, and the post office.  'A peaceful and most satisfying first ten days of the year. 

♥

Three Charming Things ~ On a Day When I Needed Them

With the mailing of Miss Eloise, I have now donated 73 book characters and 400 books to my former elementary school's library.  There are about that many students in the school, so my donations are a drop in the "reading material bucket," but it's a drop that wasn't there before, after all, so I'm happy.  

I walked about thirty minutes in the rain this morning and found this double-leaf heart.  Birds circling overhead, late October trees in vivid contrast to the sooty-looking sky, and leaves like mixed candy on the ground and in the puddles:  Autumn, you are sweet.  I have been dragging through fall this year and feel so drained and discombobulated every day lately.  I cling to these beautiful things and record some of them here in pictures--and then log back off and bring out my journal and pen to record more of the words. 

And dear little Stuffed, forever and always my favorite stuffed animal.  ♥  Until the heat is turned on in our building later this fall, this fur-covered yin-yang ball can be found in a nest of pillows and afghans or with his front paws stretched out under the space-heater.  Just knowing that something this beautiful and adorable and cuddly and pure exists, does my heart good.  And that he is a part of my life:  Well!  He is one of the sweetest parts, and I am thankful. 

The Past Two (Lazy, Indoor) Weeks

Well, I highly recommend kicking off a new year by conquering one's fears and achieving something that's been on the To-Do list for ages.  It's infused the past two weeks with significantly more lightness and dance-around-the-apartment-to-my-favorite-songs JOY than I usually feel in January and February, for sure.  In the spirit of celebration last week, I treated Stuffed to a comfy new cat bed--and he's actually been curled up in it, wonder of wonders--and a catnip ball, and I gave Mike an amazon gift card.  We can all use some extra fun here in these weeks of day-after-day of forehead-freezing wind and back-wrenchingly slippery sidewalks.  I got my taxes done this week.  And filled out some student loan paperwork that had been on my to-do list too long.  And got another box of books and book characters ready to mail to the school.  And worked at my job, of course.  Otherwise, I have been lazily cuddled up with an afghan more often than not:  reading stretched out in bed, reading in my chair with my feet tucked under me, or refilling glass-after-glass of chocolate almond milk, hot chocolate, or iced tea while making my way through the episodes of "The West Wing" that I missed when it was still on TV.  In short, aside from a few must-do duties, I've spent the past two weeks vegging out, and it's been lovely.  I treated myself to the dvd of the first season of "Downton Abbey"--I've only ever seen some the first episode--and plan to relax with that sometime soon, as well.  Eleanor Roosevelt's book You Learn By Living is brilliant.  I admire her so, especially for her managing her shyness so beautifully.  I have only a few pages left in J.K. Rowling's The Silkworm, Steve Berry's The Lincoln Myth, and Steven Rigolosi's The Outsmarting of Criminals:  A Mystery Introducing Miss Felicity Prim.  I've been skipping around in Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun--one of your favorite books, Lisa, I know!--since around Thanksgiving, probably.  I'm a fast reader, but I like just reading a section or so of that book and waiting awhile to dip back into it.  It is a soothing read, with some of the most beautiful writing.  Patti Smith's Just Kids has been hauntingly beautiful too.  And "Mrs. Mimi's" teaching memoir, It's Not All Flowers and Sausages:  My Adventures in Second Grade, along with Searching for a Savior:  The Trials and Triumphs of a First-Year Teacher, because I've never been able to shake the idea of giving a teaching career a second go.  (I taught two months of middle school when I was twenty-four.)  We'll see.  For now, I'm reading and watching and thinking and daydreaming:  teaching kindergarteners how to read, solving mysteries with Cormoran Strike and other detectives who need my expertise, assisting Josh and Donna at the White House, falling asleep while an owl watches over me from my bedroom windowsill in Tuscany, discussing shyness and fear-conquering and driver's license-acquiring with Mrs. Roosevelt. . . .The rest of me continually re-wraps itself into a blanket, only getting up to pour another drink or to feed the cat, but my head--Well!  My head and I, we're GOING places, I tell you.  :)

Favorites from 2014

I hope to tell you the story of these roses next week.  They marked a happy occasion for me this past year and are one of 2014's photos and stories that didn't make the blog.  Next week, I hope.  ♥

The year ends with the wing chair re-do still in-progress.  I'm still looking for fabric for the seat cover and back. 

I mentioned in February that my older brother's "fortieth birthday fudge" arrived broken into pieces and that I was disappointed but was not going to beat myself up about it, but alas, I couldn't resist making a new batch for him later that month.  I left it at my parents' house for him during a visit home along with another gift and a hand-painted deer ornament.  Forty is a big deal; it was worth a second batch of Grandma's fudge.  ♥

My new camera brought immeasurable joy to my days this year.  The Neil Gaiman quote I opened a January post with--"I hope that in the year to come, you make mistakes.  Because if you are making mistakes, you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world"--has come to mind so many times this year, the quote itself has felt like a gift.  I remember my grandfather telling me that, "People who don't make mistakes don't make anything" at a time when I needed to hear exactly that, and to hear this echo of his words in the Gaiman quote has been a blessing to me.  That I now have a real camera to take with me on my walks is just wonderfully fun for me.  The Mourning Dove below was perched on a fence-post as I returned from a walk this summer--

--and I never could have taken a picture with detail like that with the camera on my old flip-phone.  You understand my joy.  :)

I mentioned at the end of 2013 that one of my goals for 2014 was to be more organized and thoughtful with my gift-wrapping like my dear aunt Laurie always is.  I put more thought into my gift-wrapping, but I didn't end the year any more organized with it.  Mom had predicted that it would be harder for us to be as  organized as Aunt Laurie is with these types of things since Aunt Laurie's entire attic serves as her space for craft supplies and gift wrap supplies and gifts-yet-to-be-given.  In a one-bedroom apartment, I don't have the same set-up, and after multiple organizational attempts this year, I've come to accept that I'll just have to do the best I can with what I have when it comes to this.  Maybe someday, I too will have a space I can devote to all things gift-giving-related.  Aunt Laurie didn't have her attic until she was in her forties, after all, so I still have time.  Dare to dream.  ;) 

Our Easter table this year was sweet--turquoise and peach with rabbits--but I never got a post up about it.  One of the local grocery stores had these adorable bunny truffles in its store-made candy department, so I bought two for our place-settings.  If I'm remembering right, the ears were nuts--probably almond slices.  Anyway, I want to make these sometime--maybe for Easter 2015.  They "made" the table. 

 The girl-holding-her-cat figurine above was my favorite birthday gift this year.  This was how it looked after I painted it to resemble me and Stuffed.  I'm not a kick-knack person, but this little figure's so special to me. 

One of the highlights of this past year--that also somehow didn't make it onto the blog--was a Color Run 5k race my friend Marylou and I ran/walked/laughed our way through this summer.  I told Marylou if she'd come up from West Virginia for it and drive us to the race city, I'd pay for the motel stay and race fees.  We made it work, and especially since it was the first time we'd seen each other since 2008, we had a blast.  

That I was still finding purple and green powder from the run in my hair two showers later was a small price to pay.  It was my first race of any length since 2011.  So fun!  ♥

In June, I got home in time to see my favorite rose, Louise Odier, in-bloom. 

I also got to see all three of my mom's sisters.  The above picture of Mom and Aunt Laurie is my all-time favorite of them together.  This is the one I framed as part of Aunt Laurie's birthday gift last week.  ♥ 

During that June visit home, my aunt Heidi showed me this old picture of me and my mom, and it has become one of my most-treasured possessions.  I'd never seen it before.  Love, love, love.  ♥

I took photos I loved too. 

And wrote at least one post this year that made me proud.  I'd wanted to write about Papa and Grandma's crayon can for years, and I finally found the words.  

A double rainbow appeared behind our apartment this summer.  ♥

 Stuffed was as dear as ever.  ♥  Each year--each day--with this sweet soul is a gift.  

I walked many miles in 2014. 

And lost pounds that I have regained and lost and regained since then, the story of my life, it seems, but the glory is in the attempt, etc. 

In 2014, I began donating books and book character toys/dolls to my former elementary school's library.  The new year's first donations will be delivered when the kids return to school after holiday break next week.  :)

Home continues to be cozy and colorful.  

Mr. V wrote back!  A long letter arrived in the mail just a few days after I'd mailed out his in October.  ♥  He is now in-touch with my younger brother via Facebook, which also delights me.  I got in touch with my kindergarten teacher and second grade teacher this year too, and they and I have emailed back and forth a few times, as well.  My heart glows just thinking about it. 

More walks.  A glorious autumn, the most colorful one I remember ever seeing. 

And a year that ends with memories of more gifts happily created and given--Emmet!  ♥--

--and happily received. 

2014 was challenging and beautiful and colorful and full of love.  May 2015 shine just as brightly, and may I be a better and braver person by its end.    I'm working on it, and the work continues.   Ah!  Happy new year to you all!  ♥