Baby Kitty and Puppy Friends

Such a cute pair of babies - a boy and a girl, a blonde and a brunette, puppy and kitty ... 

 ... and yet Boo longed for another baby, a second brunette girl to be a "twin" for Kitty.

Meet Madden

Here is another of Boo's babies who has been shown on the blog but not formally introduced, a sexed boy from the 70's. Madden was won in the Childrens' Fund Auction at the 2012 Sasha festival. Boo was a bit miffed to discover that while he was all in pink, he was actually male. I offered to sell him and buy a genderless blonde baby, but she was too attached to part with him. His subtle genitals aren't visible when dressed, so she decided to view him as a girl. S/he was dubbed "Puppy" to go with Kitty. I suggested Madden, which is an Irish name meaning "little dog" - technically a male name, but sometimes used for females as well. Perfect! 

Baby Play Mat / Floor Gym

I was intrigued a while ago when Carol posted a picture on Facebook of a doll-sized play mat that she found on eBay. I did a bit of searching and found the seller -- and the fact that she also has an etsy shop, SewCute4U2 (coincidentally the shop owner's first name is also Carol). One of the joys of etsy is that you can request a custom order. The mat in Carol's picture looks to be the standard size available which is listed as sized for 7"-10" dolls. Its dimension are about 11"x11". 

photo credit Carol Bell Mitchell

Given that my Sasha babies are about 11" tall (closer to 11-1/2" to the tip of their toes), I wanted something a bit larger. I requested a custom order: we discussed it, she made a sample and showed me pictures, I picked fabric then waited for it to arrive. Easy peasy. It is here and I love it! As you can see, Madden loves it too; he's the first Sasha baby to play on it. The end result is roughly 13-1/2"x13-1/2". I like this little bit of extra room, which cost me $3 more than the standard size.

Carol posted another picture on Facebook last week, and I mentioned that I had a larger custom order in the works and would be blogging about it. She kindly allowed me to include her pictures in this post so that people can see the size comparison. She also noted that her mat fits nicely on a shelf, and that's something to consider if you have a display space that's 11" or 12" deep. I highly recommend this etsy shop and think you will be happy with either size if you choose to purchase one for yourself.

photo credit Carol Bell Mitchell

Dress Up

I brought home lots more things from the festival that I plan to take pictures of and blog about, but we've had no sunshine and/or very busy weekends lately. So ... I am interrupting festival coverage with some quickly taken pictures of Boo's dolls. She played dress up with them today, dividing them into girl-baby pairs each with a theme. She wanted to try other outfits (which she's doing as I type), so she asked if I would take pictures of them for posterity.

First up are Rose and Kelly dressed in "old fashioned" clothing.

Then Calla and Kitty in modern attire.

And finally Poppy and Madden showing their patriotic spirit.

 

I am soooooo happy that my daughter shares my love of Sashas. And I love seeing her creativity.

Getting Ready

Boo and I picked the dolls and clothing that we're bringing to the festival this morning; the doll's clothing that is, we still have to pack for us. It was hard for Boo not to choose ALL of her dolls - she's just bringing her babies, so I promised we can buy a treat for Calla and Rose so they won't feel left out. And speaking of babies, I gave Boo one of mine this morning (she accompanied us to the 2011 festival as an unnamed baby, but has otherwise not been on the blog). Here are her triplets Madden, Kelly, and Kitty sharing a high chair at dinner.

Boo asked me how I could choose just two dolls from my "hundreds" (okay, not hundreds, more like 60), but that was easy. I'm bringing two dolls I've purchased recently and think their previous owners will enjoy seeing some pictures of them. My blog has been rather neglected recently due to a new job and wonky thyroid, and these two girls need some face time.

There's still a lot to get done before we leave. Boo has been working on her Dress-A-Sasha entry, and I've been crafting away, trying to get table hostess gifts finished. So much to do, so little time ...

Play Dolls

I think one of the things that I love most about Sashas is that they are play dolls. While mine mostly stand on shelves, Boo's can be found in various places and situations around the house. While she treats they with care, she interacts with them rather than just admiring them. This was the scene in her bedroom about a month ago: Rose, Calla, and Madden resting on a makeshift pallet with a stuffed horse and monkey for company. Kitty was sleeping separately due to her "broken arm" - fortunately just imaginary, but wrapped in a handkerchief sling.

I helped Boo dress them in their new togs on her birthday and pose them in the same spot for another group picture. Many days she'd rather play video games, watch tv, ride her bike, or whittle sticks, but it's nice that she has sturdy dolls she can play with when she's in the mood. And such lovely, serene dolls too.

Birthday Girl

Boo's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. One of her gifts was matching tops for her and her Sashas from Jackapotamus/Sashapotamus. I was worried she might declare that nine was too old for dolls, but luckily that didn't happen. Not only did she wear her "pirate bear" shirt to school the next day (with leg bone leggings!), but she brought her babies in their onesies too.

Kitty and Madden traveled to and from school in a basket, then hung out in the kitchen later like the basket was a playpen.

The next week she and Kitty and Calla went to school wearing pink kittens. I custom-ordered the onesie specifically for Kitty, and Boo was thrilled with it.

They also traveled in the basket and hung out in it for several days afterward in Boo's bedroom.

I'm glad that nine still isn't too old to play with (and dress like) dolls.