Dolls

My mother said I was never a doll lover as a child. Somehow my doll genes kicked in when I was a young adult. The large Raggedy Ann on the left was my first doll as an adult---a friend of my mom's made it. I loved it and then went on to add other cloth body dolls to the collection (most from garage sales)
With three daughters, there were only so many Barbies I wanted to invest in, so I started doll collections for them which mirrored my interests of books and character dolls. We even put together a display of books and dolls at their school library.
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My mother had a good friend, Sharon Bishop, who made the most wonderful dolls. These were all purchased by my mother for her collection and mine. The two in the center are topsy-turvy dolls. The white teddy bear on the left was made from one of mother's bedspreads.
The two smaller dolls both have "Beauty is only Skin-deep" on their aprons and they have freckles on their noses. If you know me, you'll know why I like dolls with freckles.
These are what remains of my Holly Hobbie collection. I like patchwork quilts, Little House on the Prairie---so I enjoy collecting these dolls, too. I even went so far as to purchase one in porcelain. I like the "rag", cloth body dolls because children can play with them and I don't have to worry that something will happen to one of my dolls. Although my daughters think some of my male dolls are a little freaky, their kids don't seem to mind. And, with 4 grandsons, I'm glad I had the foresight to collect some boy dolls.