To make "priority mail" or U. S. "air mail envelopes" fold and wrap a message on a separate piece of doll-sized stationary. Then slip this inside a white pocket folded using decorative or plain white typing paper. Print out the covers for either kind of mail and paste them onto the envelope. Fill out the address and send it away through the Dolly Post!
Priority Express Mail Envelope Covers for 18 inch doll post office supply.
Priority Express Mail Envelope Covers for 12 inch doll post office supply.
U. S. Airmail envelope tops for 18 inch doll post office play.
U. S. Airmail envelope tops for 12 inch doll post office play.
Johnny Mouse scolds the Woozgoozle for eating baby chics.
Johnny Mouse was a cute, little tiny mouse. He lived
with Gran’ma and Gran’pa Mouse in a little cigar-box
house. In the little cigar-box house there was a tiny little
kitchen where Gran’ma Mouse cooked nice things for Gran’pa
and Johnny Mouse. Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse
also ate in the kitchen at a tiny table, for the little cigar-box
house did not have a dining-room.
Then there was a bedroom and a living-room in the tiny
cigar-box house. The bedroom was where Gran’ma and
Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse slept at night. There were three
little soft white beds which Gran’pa Mouse had made out of
pasteboard boxes. One for Gran-ma, one for Gran’pa and one
for Johnny Mouse.
The living room was the largest room in the little cigar-box
house, but that was quite small. Here of evenings Gran’ma
sat and knitted while Gran’pa read the news and smoked his
little pipe, or here they sat and visited with their friends. The
little living-room contained two or three little rocking chairs,
a couch, a center table with tiny lamp upon it, and a lovely organ. No one played upon the organ tor it was only a picture which Gran’ma had clipped from a large magazine and
pasted upon the wall.
But from across the little Mouse living-room it looked like
a real organ, for it was beautifully colored.
All around the little cigar-box house was a tiny picket fence
to keep the mischievous bug boys out of Gran’pa Mouse’s
garden.
The fence was made out of burnt matches which Gran’pa
and Johnny Mouse had gathered and carried there in a little
pasteboard wheelbarrow. There was also a tiny well back of the house, near the kitchen door and the bucket was made from
an acorn.
Johnny Mouse pulled out two of Gran'ma's lovely sugared doughnuts. "There!" he said, "eat those."
Gran’pa and Johnny were working in the garden, and every
once in a while Gran'pa and Johnny Mouse wiggled their pink
noses and looked toward the kitchen.
“Did Gran’ma call us?" Johnny Mouse finally asked.
“I believe she did!’ Gran’pa Mouse laughed, as he wiggled
his nose.
“No, I did not call you!” Gran’ma said, when Johnny and
Gran’pa Mouse looked in the kitchen door. She knew they
had scented the lovely doughnuts she was cooking.
“Have you finished weeding the garden?” Gran’ma asked.
“It is all finished!” said Gran’pa Mouse.
“Then let’s have a picnic!” Gran’ma said, as she took the
last of the doughnuts out of the kettle and rolled them in sugar.
Gran’pa drew an acorn bucket full of water from the little
well and he and Johnny Mouse washed their faces and hands.
Gran’ma Mouse packed a little basket full of doughnuts and
other things and put on her pretty little bonnet. Johnny carried the little basket and ran ahead down the path through
the woods.
Soon Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse came to
Chicky Town and there they found all the Chickies crying.
“Dear me! Why do you cry?” Gran’ma and Gran'pa and
Johnny Mouse asked them.
“We are crying because this is the day the Woozgoozle is
to come and eat some of us!” said a large Rooster Chicky.
“The Woozgoozle comes once a week, carries.two or three of
us to his cave and eats us!”
“But he has no right to do that!” said Gran’ma, as she
stamped her little foot.
“Here he comes now!” cried all the Chickies, as they began
running this way and that and hurrying into their houses.
Down the path Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse
could hear the Woozgoozle coming. “Kerlumpity, kerlumpity!’ And presently he came to the first Chicky house. There
he found two fat Chickies, and putting them into a sack he
turned back up the road.
When the Woozgoozle left, all the Chickies came out of
their houses and squawked and cackled until ‘Gran’ ma and
Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse had to hold their hands over their
ears.
Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse sadly left Chicky
Town and went down the road in the very same direction the
Woozgoozle had taken.
Johnny Mouse ran ahead, and soon beside the path, lying
upon a stone, fast asleep, he saw the Woozgoozle. Johnny
waited quietly until Gran’ma and Gran’pa Mouse came up to
him. “He has eaten the Chickies!’ Johnny said. Sure
enough feathers were scattered all about.
Johnny Mouse climbed upon the stone and bit the Wooz-
goozle upon his heel.
“Wow! the Woozgoozle cried as he sat up and rubbed his
eves. “A bee must have stung me!’ Then seeing Johnny
Mouse standing there he asked, “Did you do that?”
“Yes!” said Johnny Mouse. “You should be ashamed,
eating the Chickies! What if some one should eat up your mother or your father or someone whom you loved? That
wouldn't be very nice, would it?”
The Woozgoozle rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hadn't
thought of that! All I thought of was how hungry | was.
I'm so hungry now I'll have to get some more Chickies !"
"Gran’ma and Gran'pa Mouse then climbed upon the rock
beside Johnny. “No, you won't!” said Gran’pa Mouse. “It
is wrong for you to take the Chickies away from one another.”
“But I must eat something!” sighed the Woozgoozle.
Johnny House reached into his basket and pulled out two of
Gran'ma’s lovely sugared doughnuts. “There!” he said, ‘eat those."
“My! Aren't they good?” cried the Woozgoozle. ‘They
are ever so much better than Chickies! Yum, yum!"
“Give him some more, Johnny!” said Gran’pa Mouse.
So the Woozgoozle was given all of the picnic lunch to eat:
sixteen doughnuts, nine cream puffs and a lemon pie.
“Tell me where you find these things to eat and I'll promise
never to eat another Chicky!” said the Woozgoozle.
“Gran’ma makes them!” said Johnny Mouse.
“Isn't that strange? I never knew any one could make anything to eat. I thought one had to catch things!”
“Wait until you taste ice-cream!” said Johnny Mouse.
“And candy! Gran’ma makes everything like that, and they
are better to eat than doughnuts and pie!"
“If that is true, I am, indeed, sorry that I ever ate any of
the Chickies,” said the Woozgoozle. ‘After this IT will never
bother them again!"
“You must come home with us,” Gran’ma Mouse said,
“and I will teach you how to make doughnuts and other nice
things to eat.”
This pleased the Woozgoozle very much.
Now, Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse were very
hungry by this time, so they decided they would return home.
When they came to Chicky Town all the Chickies began
cackling when they saw the Woozgoozle, but Gran’ma and
Gran’pa and Johnny Mouse told them the Woozgoozle had promised never to eat any of them again and so the Chickies
were very happy.
Gran’ma and Gran‘pa and Johnny Mouse and the Woozgoozle finally reached the little cigar-box house and Gran’ma
got supper while Gran'pa set the table and Johnny Mouse and
the Woozgoozle washed their faces and hands and brushed
their hair.
Then they sat down at the table. It was hard to get the
Woozgoozle to eat anything except doughnuts and pie and
cream puffs, for he liked them very much and did not know
(like a good many children) that too many sweets are apt to
give one a stomach-ache.
Then, when supper was over, and the dishes washed and
wiped, Johnny showed the Woozgoozle his scrapbook with
pretty pictures in it, until time for bed.
“Well!” said Gran’pa, as he took off his shoes and put on
his house slippers, “it turned out a delightful picnic after all.”
And Gran’ma Mouse, thinking of the kindness they had
done for Chicky Town, sighed contentedly, and replied:
“Yes, indeed, Gran’pa, and I feel that the Woozgoozle from
now on will be a very kindly creature!’ And so he proved
to be as you shall soon learn. story and pictures by Johnny Gruelle
The Woozgoozle in our story above is a pint sized "least weasel."
by Wildlife Wednesday segment here describes his true
The Town and Country metal doll house manufactured in 1974 was a modern contemporary doll house with 6 completely furnished rooms. Sturdy steel colorfully decorated inside and out. Plastic furniture was of the latest modern design. The windows and door opened and were made of plastic. The entire house was 17 12" tall and 12 inches deep. Each house had photolithography details with brilliant color printed on the steel walls.
Front and back sides of doll houses photographed in detail above and below.
The Colonial version also included roof made with rugged hardboard. It came lithographed on both the interior and exterior. It's modern furnishings were perfectly scaled for each of it's six rooms as well. It's windows were made with three dimensional plastic that could be opened and shut just like the door. Every house from Woverine came packed flat but could be easily constructed with nuts and bolts.
products for children manufactured by Woverine, 1974
The Colonial Mansion doll house came with a two car garage and the decorated interior was designed and colorized after traditional Early American homes. This doll house also included a cupola with a moving weather vane. Woverine also made a service station to scale that same year modeled after Texaco Colonial service stations. This station was a fully lithographed steel building with a platform. All of the windows and doors opened and shut. There were two gas pumps, one air pump, two plastic cars and one tow truck included.
Below are 22 facts about how children lived in the American colonies.
Children under six years of age wore "puddings" around their waists and heads. Puddings were stuffed pillows shaped to fit around the waist or head. If a baby fell, the pillow would cushion that fall and hopefully prevent accidents that might permanently damage the child.
Children wore fashions that looked just like their parents clothing only in miniature, once they turned six years old.
Children's clothing was sewn by their family members or someone in their own community. Those clothes were made of wool, linen or cotton.
Little girls learned to knit and spin when they were quite young and boys learned to weave.
Girls kept their hair covered most of the time with different types of hats and scarves.
Young boys kept their hair long, just like the girls did. However, they wore wigs if they were not doing farm work or if they were living and working in town!
Native Americans taught colonists how to survive and thrive by planting and harvesting corn, maple syrup, pumpkins and squash. The colonists supplemented their diets with fish, wild game, pigs, eggs and chickens. Immigrants and ship captains brought beans and seeds for planting in America on their journeys to the colonies as well.
In colonial times, children could not always find fresh water; they did not have indoor plumbing and very often did not have wells near their homes. So they drank hard cider and beer. But these alcoholic drinks, although fermented, did not contain high percentages of alcohol; these liquids were similar to those drank in Bible times by ordinary folk. The fermentation process killed bacteria but it did not include methods of boiling/aging which give modern alcohol higher levels of fermentation. The colonists gave children beers/ciders that were consumed quickly and daily. In the Bible this drink is called "shekhar."
Children had to learn many table manners in colonial America. As a general rule if a child came to the same table the adult sat at, they were expected not to talk and to stand and to eat with their fingers!
Your dinner plate was made of wood and called a "trencher." You would have to share all of the food put on to it with your siblings. Children were not given their very own plates of food unless they were alone without brothers and sisters.
Boys and girls attended early education schools together. Their first school was called a "Dame" school. It was the place were both genders would learn to read and write from a hornbook. Their teacher was usually a woman.
After colonial children finished Dame school, the boys would continue on in more advanced classes without the girls. Girls were then taught or to run a household, sew, spin, cook and clean at home.
A wealthy family may choose to send their 16 year old daughter to a finishing school. In that kind of school girls learned how to embroider and embellish fabrics, how to play instruments (usually a harpsichord or English guitar), how to behave socially in order to marry a wealthy husband and how to administer accounts sometimes within the context of a home.
The law in most American colonies dictated that boys had to attend school. These schools were not renowned for their comforts. Most of them had one small room, a fireplace and hard wooden benches. Few were comfortable. These schools were called ''grammar'' schools.
Some boys would opt to go to sea as a cabin boy. Onboard ships they would run errands, handle the sails, do menial labor like swab the decks and carry gunpowder during battles at sea.
Boys from wealthy colonial families would go to college to learn a important trade for society. Many of them would travel to Europe to attend a private college if their parents could afford to send them. The earliest colonial colleges in America included Harvard and William & Mary.
Whenever children became sick in those days, they would be put to bed in a warm place. They would receive some kind of medicine made from herbs either by their mother or a local establishment called an "apothecary.''
If a child was out after dark they could very well be disciplined by the town's "watchman." The town watchman did more than just keep the public informed of the time. He watched over the streets at night and kept children at home safe with their parents too.
On Sundays, colonials attended either a town meetinghouse or a church to hear sermons. Children attended these activities with their parents. Sometimes children lived too far away to go to a church on Sundays. Instead, they would read and study the Bible at home with their parents.
Children did not play as much as you do today. They had less time for it because they helped their parents with chores. When they did play, the loved social games like tag and blind-man's buff. They also loved singing games using English rhymes and played with simple toys like hoops and sticks. Boys had pocket knives for whittling and sling shots for shooting rocks at targets; girls had dolls for dressing and pretending with too.
Sometimes
teachers may avoid reading books with villainous characters in them because
they are afraid of offending parents or choosing an inappropriate topic for a
particular age group. These are important considerations when one's audience is
a bit young. But, when a child reaches a more mature age, it is a mistake
to avoid the portrayal of villains in their literature selections. Students
need to feel a sense of self empowerment when fighting an enemy. They need to
be taught that with outside help from their family and community leaders, they
can fight injustice and should not be afraid to do so.
Children
should also be made aware of their own tendencies to act a villainous part
towards others, so that they may learn what is proper conduct and what
behaviors are unacceptable. They must be taught the difference between correct
conduct and incorrect conduct. Villains inside of story books provide for the
"safe" observation of normally "unsafe" circumstances.
Books with villains afford parents and teachers the opportunity to teach right
from wrong without putting children in actual realistic danger. Religious
leaders, the government, community educators, police officers etc... are candid
about who we are, where we come from and how we should behave. Below I've
listed a collection of books that I've used with my own children to teach them
"how" to discern evil from good and also to teach them to laugh at
villains so that they can choose not to be afraid of what can be changed.
"Sukey and the Mermaid" by Robert D. San Souci, Illustrated by Brian
Pinkney - Within the context of a fairy tale, a little girl finds courage to
defeat an abusive home environment. She also discovers that she has friends who
will help her defeat the villains in her environment.
"The Little Old Lady Who
Was Not Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams, illustrated by Megan Lloyd - a
wonderful book to read at Halloween time to very small children. This story
teaches children to manipulate "scary things" (not evil, but scary)
for a productive purpose on a very simplistic level.
"Piggie Pie!" by Margie Palatini, illustrated by Howard Fine - One of
my favorite books ever to read aloud. This story is about just "how"
creative pigs can get when threatened by a silly, old witch.
"Judy and the Volcano" by Wayne Harris - A story
about how an enemy can be transformed. Judy wants to be everyone's hero, but,
first she must learn how to be a friend to the girl she envies, Madeleine
Corsy.
"The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas and Helen
Oxenbury - Consider what you may look like to your enemies.
"A Flower for Ambrose" by Anna and Edward Standon -
When I was small, my father brought this book back to me after taking a short
trip to Chicago. It is about an elephant named Ambrose who struggles to
preserve a beautiful flower but he fails. (death is the villain of this story)
Ambrose's many tears serve to water a dying plant and not long afterward the
entire desert blooms because Ambrose has watered it with his very own tears. Little
did I know as a child that this would be a story I would relive over and over
throughout my entire life. But, my earthly and heavenly fathers knew it very
well. The book is probably out of print. You will need to contact a book dealer
to find it. (Delacorte Press, New York, 1964)
This miniature sampler of a "penny" rug provides young sewers opportunity to practice their embroidery skills.
Supply List:
4 felt squares from a hobby shop or scrap woolens (4 colors minimum)
penny "templates" (below)
contrasting embroidery floss, three colors
embroidery needle
scissors
pins
black permanent ink marker
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Print and cut out the penny template provided below.
Draw around the circle templates with a permanent ink pen after placing these on top of your felt or woolen scrapes.
Cut out your penny design and pin it down onto a rectangular felt or woolen shape according to your own tastes.
Use a blanket stitch to assemble the sample penny rug.
Use all wool or all felt scraps for your project. Once you have mastered the technique, design a larger version to cover a tabletop or bedroom dresser.
Types of Puppets – Puppetry by
its nature is a flexible and inventive medium, and many puppet companies work
with combinations of puppet forms, and incorporate real objects into their
performances. They might, for example, incorporate “performing objects” such as
torn paper for snow, or a sign board with words as narrative devices within a
production. The following are, alphabetically, the basic and conventional forms
of puppet:
Black
light puppet – A form of puppetry where the puppets are operated on a stage
lit only with ultraviolet lighting, which both hides the puppeteer and
accentuates the colours of the puppet. The puppeteers perform dressed in black
against a black background, with the background and costume normally made of
black velvet. The puppeteers manipulate the puppets under the light, while they
position themselves unseen against the black unlit background. Controlling what
the audience sees is a major responsibility of any puppeteer, and blacklight
lighting provides a new way of accomplishing this. Puppets of all sizes and
types are able to be used, and glow in a powerful and magical way. The original
concept of this form of puppetry can be traced to Bunraku puppetry.
Bunraku
puppet
– Bunraku puppets are a tyrepe of wood-carved puppet originally made to stand
out through torch illumination. Developed in Japan over a thousand years ago
and formalised and combined with shamisen music at the end of the 16th century,
the puppeteers dress to remain neutral against a black background, although
their presence as kind of ‘shadow’ figures adds a mysterious power to the
puppet. Bunraku traditionally uses three puppeteers to operate a puppet that is
2/3 life size.
Carnival
or body puppet – usually designed to be part of a large spectacle. These
are often used in parades (such as the May day parade in Minneapolis, USA) and
demonstrations, and are at least the size of a human and often much larger. One
or more performers are required to move the body and limbs. In parades, the
appearance and personality of the person inside is not relevant to the
spectator. These puppets are particularly associated with large scale
entertainment, such as the nightly parades at various Disney complexes around
the world. Similar puppets were designed by Julie Taymor for The Lion King.
Finger
puppet -
An extremely simple puppet variant which fits onto a single finger. Finger
puppets normally have no moving parts, and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder
shape to cover the finger. This form of puppet has limited application, and is
used mainly in pre-schools or kindergartens for storytelling with young
children.
Sock
Puppet
– A puppet formed from a sock and operated by inserting ones hand inside the
sock. One then moves his hand up and down to give the impression of speaking.
Sometimes eyes and other factors are added to the sock in order to make the
puppet more realistic. Sock Puppets are also popular in many puppet
performances, as they are simple to make and easy to use. They are mostly used
in satirical or childish works, as they are not very professional.
Hand
or glove puppet – These are puppets controlled by one hand which occupies
the interior of the puppet. Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of
hand puppets. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer’s hand in
just the puppet’s head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet’s body
then hangs over the entire arm. Other parts of the puppet (mainly arms, but
special variants exist with eyelids which can be manipulated; the mouth may
also open and close) are usually not much larger than the hand itself. A sock
puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock.
Human-arm
puppet
– Also called a “two-man puppet” or a “Live-hand puppet”; it is similar to a
hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers. One puppeteer places a
hand inside the puppet’s head and operates its head and mouth, while the other
puppeteer wears gloves and special sleeves attached to the puppet in order to
become the puppet’s arms, so that the puppet can perform arbitrary hand
gestures. This is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry.
Light
Curtain puppet presentations use specifically focused light to highlight
small areas of a performance, allowing the puppet to be seen while the
manipulators remain invisible. The puppets stand on a stage divided into an
unlit background and a well-lit foreground, meeting to form a “curtain” of
light. The puppeteer dresses in black and remains hidden in the unlit
background of the stage while the puppet is held across the light curtain in
the lit foreground of the stage. “Light curtain puppet” is an umbrella term,
and any puppet which is extended into a well-lit area where its handler remains
separated from the puppet by a division of light may be called a light curtain
puppet.
Marionette
or “string puppet” – These puppets are suspended and controlled by a number of
strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above
by the puppeteer. The control bar can be either a horizontal or vertical one.
Basic strings for operation are usually attached to the head, back, hands (to control
the arms) and just above the knee (to control the legs). This form of puppetry
is complex and sophisticated to operate, requiring greater manipulative control
than a finger, glove or rod puppet. The puppet play performed by the Von Trapp
children with Maria in The Sound of Music is a marionette show.
Marotte
-
A simplified rod puppet that is just a head and/or body on a stick. In a marotte à main prenante, the puppeteer’s
other arm emerges from the body (which is just a cloth drape) to act as the
puppet’s arm. Some marottes have a small string running through the stick
attached to a handle at the bottom. When the handle is squeezed, the mouth
opens.
Pull
String Puppet – a puppet consisting of a cloth body where in the
puppeteer puts his/her arm into a slot in the back and pulls rings on strings
that do certain tasks such as waving or moving the mouth.
Push
puppet
– A push puppet consists of a segmented character on a base which is kept under
tension until the button on the bottom is pressed. The puppet wiggles, slumps
and then collapses, and is usually used as a novelty toy.
Push-in
or Paper puppet, or Toy Theatre – A puppet cut out of paper and stuck
onto card. It is fixed at its base to a stick and operated by pushing it in
from the side of the puppet theatre. Sheets were produced for puppets and
scenery from the 19th century for children’s use.
Rod
Puppet
– A puppet constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A large glove
covers the rod and is attached to the neck of the puppet. A rod puppet is controlled
by the puppeteer moving the metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet and
by turning the central rod secured to the head.
Shadow
puppet
– A cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen.
Shadow puppets can form solid silhouettes or be decorated with various amounts
of cut-out details. Colour can be introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide
a different dimension and different effects can be achieved by moving the
puppet (or light source) out of focus. Javanese shadow puppets (Wayang Kulit)
are the classic example of this.
Supermarionation – A method
invented by Gerry Anderson which assisted in his television series Thunderbirds
in electronically moving the mouths of marionettes to allow for
lip-synchronised speech. The marionettes were still controlled by human
manipulators with strings.
Ticklebug – A ticklebug
is a type of hand puppet created from a human hand to have four legs, where the
puppet features are drawn on the hand itself. The middle finger is lifted as a
head, and the thumb and forefinger serve as a first set of two legs on one
side, while the ring finger and little finger serve as a second set of two legs
on the opposite side.
Table
Top Puppets
– A puppet usually operated by rod or direct contact from behind, on a surface
similar to a table top (hence the name). Shares many characteristics with
Bunraku.
Ventriloquist
dummy
– A puppet operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus the audience’s
attention from the performer’s activities and heighten the illusions. They are
called dummies because they do not speak on their own. The ventriloquist dummy
is controlled by the one hand of the ventriloquist. Such acts aren’t always
performed with a traditional dummy, occasionally using other forms of puppetry.
Water Puppet – a
Vietnamese puppet form, the “Múa rối nước”. Múa rối nước literally means
“puppets that dance on water”, an ancient tradition that dates back to the
tenth century. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in
a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used
by the puppeteers to control them. The appearance is of the puppets moving over
the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each
other using this puppet form.
Sweet gum balls are easily found in many people's yards and parks during the fall. Because of their abundance, this craft will cost young ones little pocket money to craft with.
Where we live, in the midwest, some city and suburban areas are beginning to outlaw Sweet Gum trees because of the trouble folks have cleaning up after them. However, Sweet Gum are not only very beautiful in the fall, these trees produce excellent pods for both restoring and maintaining soil erosion, so they are well worth any discomfort they may cause when stepped upon! So plant those Sweet Gum trees in the corner of your lawn or an out-of-they-way place...
And . . . if you have a dollhouse to decorate, why not make a few snowy friends to display on a mantle, tabletop, dresser, or counter this winter?
Snowmen made from pods off of a Sweet Gum tree.
Supply List:
seed pods from sweet gum trees
white, black and orange craft paint
red or green ribbon
oven-bake clay
hot glue and hot glue gun
scrap cardboard
tacky white glue
a couple of cotton balls
Step-by-Step Instructions:
After collecting seed pods from a Sweet Gum tree, brush them clean.
Cut little 'bean' shapes from the scrap cardboard for the seed pods to be hot glued to. Ask an older person to help with this part of the craft.
Carefully stack the seed pods on top of each other between using hot glue to keep them in place.
Use white paint to brush on enough color to cover the surfaces of these seed pods.
Layer on unraveled cotton balls to represent 'snow.' Use the tacky white glue to apply this, not the hot glue. Let the cotton batting covered surfaces dry before continuing.
Shape the oven-bake clay into small balls to represent 'coal' and pointed cones to represent 'carrots.'
Bake the clay in the oven according to directions on the package.
Shape cotton batting into tiny faux knit caps for the seed pod snowmen and glue these on using tacky white glue
Cut and tie on ribbon for faux scarf details.
Glue on the baked coal eyes and carrot noses last. Paint them black and orange.
Now your dolls will have cute little snow people to decorate the dollhouse with during the holidays and winter as well.
The children patted his cheeks and rubbed his arms, but they could not get him warm.
"Would you like to wear my cap? asked Don.
"Yes," said the snowman.
"Would you like to wear my scarf?" asked Nancy.
"Yes, " said the snowman.
"Now you ought to be warm enough," said Don, and he and Nancy went in to lunch.
When they came out after lunch, they saw what looked like tears rolling down the snowman's cheeks. His head was bent over. "What is the matter?" asked Nancy. "Aren't you warm enough?" "That is the trouble," said the snowman. "I did what would have been right enough for you, but it was wrong for me. A man must know his own needs." "Never mind," said Nancy, "you will be all right in a minute." She took off the scarf and cap, and Don straightened the snowman's poor, wobbly head. Then the children brought more snow and patted it onto his head and neck where they had melted away. by Marion LeBron
Just facing the turn-stile through which one passes into the first hall of the South Kensington Museum, in London, stands a large doll-house, about eight feet high by six wide, an object of great interest to all little girls and most mammas who visit there. The baby mansion, with its doll master and mistress, children and servants, was given originally to a daughter of the Archbishop of York.
Queen Anne's Doll House, called "baby house" was one of the original English dollhouses recorded in history from that period. It was passed down from Princess Anne to her goddaughter, Ann Sharp. The house is said to date from 1691. Unlike Queen Mary's dollhouse, it was made for play and filled with handmade play items. It is referred to as the "Heydon Hall Doll House." and here again. The Last Stuart Monarch Part 1.
The donor was Queen Anne, generally known as "good Queen Anne," probably because the chief desire and aim of her life seemed to be the making others happy. Queen Anne was the last of the unfortunate line of Stuarts, who occupied the English throne, and was, like the present good queen, queen regnant, a term which means one who reigns in her own right. Her husband was Prince George of Denmark, they lived together in perfect happiness for twenty years.
She was the mother of seventeen dear babes, of whom sixteen died in infancy, only one, the Duke of Gloucester, living to the age of eleven. There is a portrait of him at Hampton Court, which represents a bright and handsome boy, dressed in blue velvet and diamonds. There are many stories told of this young prince, such as his telling King William (his uncle) that he possessed two dead horses and one live one (his Shetland pony and two little wooden horses), and the king's saying that he had better bury the dead ones out of sight, and his consequently insisting on burying his playthings with funeral honors and composing their epitaph.
His tutor one day asked Him, "How can you, being a prince, keep yourself from the pomps and vanities of this world?" To this the child gravely responded: "I will keep God's commandments, and do all I can to walk in his ways."
When only ten years, he was so forward in his studies that he was able to pass an examination four times a year on subjects which included jurisprudence, the Gothic law, and the feudal system! But on his eleventh birthday the little duke was taken ill, and five days after (July 30th, 1700), died at Windsor Castle, in the arms of his grief-stricken mother, who had loved him as only a mother can love who has seen her treasures taken from her, one by one.
We can all fancy how sad her life must have been, though she lived in a palace, and had wealth and splendor at her command, and how sorely she missed the baby voices and baby fingers which mothers always hear and feel, no matter how great the din of life about them. Perhaps this very loneliness and longing made her more thoughtful for other little ones, and caused her to have this house prepared for the tiny maid, whose home was away off in bleak Yorkshire. I can see the little girl now in my "mind's eye," on that Christmas morning nearly two hundred years ago, when she received the royal gift. There she stands, in the great hall of the archiepiscopal palace, the huge logs snapping in the open fireplace, the carved oak chimney-piece surmounted by stag's antlers, the walls in their holiday dress of ivy and holly, and a thick bunch of mistletoe berries over the door (do you know what for?) -- there she stands, this bright-eyed maid in her scarlet merino frock, her yellow hair tied back with colorful ribbons, looking not unlike the robin redbreasts which twittered and chirped then, as now, in the Cathedral Close, picking up the crumbs scattered over the crisp snow for their daily feast.
What fun she and her little friends had over their doll families when lessons were ended, what fasts and feasts, what weddings and funerals, mimicking all the events of this mortal life. And doubtless, when she grew up and put aside her childish toys, the house, grown somewhat shabby with age and use, still found favor in her eyes, not only for the sake of her who gave it, but because of the fair memories which the sight of it conjures up, of the days when:
"She had life like flowers and bees In betwixt the country trees; And the sun the pleasures taught her Which he teacheth everything."
Two sizes in doormat printables here. One is for 18 inch dollhouses and the other for 11 1/2 inch dolls like Barbies. Print them out on your home computer and then decoupage these to a thick piece of matboard or cardboard to display at the front or back door of your doll's dollhouse.
Remember to wipe your feet before entering another doll's house!
Top, "Wipe Your Feet" and Bottom, "Welcome" texts for printable dollhouse doormats.
A few sample digital papers from very old comic books. I've left a bit of age on each for those of you who like a vintage/retro look. Click on the images to download the largest file sizes and make something creative!
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