Nun Dolls Dressed in Habits

A Nun doll collection represented the Cloistered Order Of St. Bridget from River Michigan Shrine.

        A religious habit is a distinctive set of religious clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anchoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform style.

       In the typical Roman Catholic or Anglican orders, the habit consists of a tunic covered by a scapular and cowl, with a hood for monks or friars and a veil for nuns; in other orders it may be a distinctive form of cassock for men, or a distinctive habit and veil for women. Modern habits are sometimes eschewed in favor of a simple business suit. Catholic Canon Law requires only that it be in some way identifiable so that the person may serve as a witness of Gospel values. This requires flexibility and creativity. For instance in Turkey, a Franciscan might wear street clothes.

       In many orders, the conclusion of postulancy and the beginning of the novitiate is marked by a ceremony, during which the new novice is accepted then clothed in the community's habit by the superior. In some cases the novice's habit will be somewhat different from the customary habit: for instance, in certain orders of women that use the veil, it is common for novices to wear a white veil while professed members wear black, or if the order generally wears white, the novice wears a grey veil. Among some Franciscan communities of men, novices wear a sort of overshirt over their tunic; Carthusian novices wear a black cloak over their white habit.

       In some orders, different types or levels of profession are indicated by differences in habits.

See More Examples of Nun Dolls:

• The Doll Museum at The National Shrine of the Cross in the Woods
• Nun Doll Accessories
• How to make Catholic nun, peg dolls for children
• Crochet nun's habit for peg doll by Irene Duquette
• Sew habits from Little Sisters of the Heart - Number 1011 for 18" dolls

75 nun dolls from the Archdiocese of Atlanta Archives.

Chicago magazine advertisement for "Our Little Sister" dolls from 1938. (Products
advertised in photographs here no longer exist. The ads are used for teaching
students about historical content only.)

Upper Left, "Nun Doll. 13 inches tall. Composition head; painted features. Full composition body, moving arms and legs. Dressed in black cotton regulation Nun outfit. Complete with beads. Each in box.  N. 36N136. Per dozen .....8.50."

Upper Center, "Our Little Sister Doll. This doll has a distinctive quality which endows it with universal sales appeal. Actually the vestments symbolize the real-life Sister Orders. Crucifixes, Rosary Beads, and a handsomely bound Miniature Prayer book are included with each doll. This doll will add prestige to any dealer's line and will offer continuous profit possibilities. These dolls are 13 inches high, all composition, with jointed arms and legs. They have painted eyes and beautiful facial colorings. Packed each in box. No. 36N139. Per dozen ......16.50 Each...1.50"

Upper Right, "Our Little Sister" Doll. 17 1/2 inches high. All composition, and have moving eyes with beautiful long lashes. Lips are parted showing tiny white teeth. Stately in appearance, they are realistically garbed in neatly tailored robes of the finest materials. The miniature prayer book which is included, is completely printed and beautifully bound in simulated black leather. No 36N140. Per dozen.....40.00 Each......3.50"

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Glamorous Figure Skating Attire from 1921

       "There has been a remarkable development of interest in the fine sport of figure skating in the United States and Canada. Some have called this a. revival or renaissance. To the writer it seems to be much more than a revival. The history of skating on this continent shows no time when there was any such interest in the serious study of the principles and theory of the sport as there is at this time. Never has there been a time when so many were seeking in skating not merely a pastime for outdoors but the right form and practise of that pastime. The difference between knocking a bit of wood around the ice with a stick and the modern highly developed game of hockey is not greater than the difference between "skating'' as our fathers knew it, and the recent scientific analysis of skating strokes and balances." Spalding, 1921

       The following glamorous figure skaters, in black and white photos, are dressed in: fur trims, velvet brocades, heavy stockings, and warm winter hats. Students may use them in their journals, lapbooks etc... However, the clip art on this blog is not to be redistributed on the web.

Katy Keene Western Coloring Fun

Here is an album of Katy's horses for you to color for your Katy Keene pin-up collection.

Color pictures of Stardust, Katy Keene's horse.

Color pictures of Stardust foul, Little Camp, Katy Keene's horse.

Katy Keene's friends on the farm.

Even Little Sis has a horse named "Old Paint."

Sis and Billy Matching Color Fashions

Katy has a redheaded, bespectacled younger sister. 
In the original Woggon 1950s series, Katy's sister was a 
mischievous child around seven years old and known 
only as "Sis, the Candy Kid".

Katy's sister is infatuated wit Billy, and he with her; 
so they dress in matching fashions.

Sets of Katy Keene Paper Dolls and Coloring Pages

"Hold that pose, Katy, this is going to be the biggest an'
best Pin-Up Parade yet!"

       Katy Keene, a character created by Bill Woggon, has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions".

• Visit Archie Comics Website
• Humble Man Versus Diva - about Bill Woggon

       Readers were encouraged to submit original drawings of outfits and accessories for her and her friends to wear, as well as designs for automobiles, homes, interiors, rocket ships, trailers and boats. These designs were used in the comics with credit given to published submissions. Many issues featured paper dolls of Katy in various costumes.
       Katy has a redheaded, bespectacled younger sister. In the original Woggon 1950s series, Katy's sister was a mischievous child around seven years old and known only as "Sis, the Candy Kid". In the 1980s, she was drawn as a tween or a young teen and received the name Melissa, but was still almost always called "Sis". In the short-lived 2000s series, her given name was Mackenzie. No explanation for the name change was given, although it may be due to the obscurity of the 1980s name. Regardless, her real name is almost never mentioned and to both readers and characters, she is always called "Sis".
       Originally, the 1950s Katy was 21 years old and Sis was about seven years old. In subsequent series, Katy is roughly the same age, but Sis was reimagined as being around 15 and has been so ever since. By this point, Katy had already been discovered in college. After going to work as an aspiring Broadway star, she became very successful in her modeling and acting career, so she became her sister's legal guardian.
       Katy has had many recurring boyfriends over the years, the most famous of which are the redheaded and muscular boxer K.O. Kelly and his rich blond rival Randy Van Ronson. They were not often seen regularly in the 1980s when Katy dated the Latino airline pilot and talented dancer Ramon Ramirez and the Arnold Schwarzenegger parody Arnold Horsenlegger. However, K.O. and Randy became her main love interests again in the 2000s.
       Katy's rival in her career and love life is the wealthy and snobby blonde Gloria Grandbilt and her best friend is the superstitious redhead Lucki Lorelei. Both Gloria and Lucki are also successful models, with the levelheaded brunette Katy rounding out the trio. Wikipedia

Katy Keene Paper Dolls by Bill Woggon Restored for Kids:

1. Katy and K. O. Fashionable Paper Dolls
2. Sis and Billy matching color fashions
3. Katy Keene Western coloring fun!
4. Katy Keene's Fishy Fashions 
5. Errol Swoon Paper Cut-Outs
   
6. Miss Santa Claus and Poem about Katy Keene
7. Katy Keene's Butterfly Fashions
   
8. Katy Keene On Ice!

Fellow Travelers

Fellow Travelers

by Pauline Frances Camp

I traveled on the train one day;

Across the way there sat

A dainty little dwarf

With a pretty, fluffy hat.

Her cheeks were plump and rosy,

And her eyes were very blue,

And as for her behavior,

It was good enough for two.

In fact, you'll be surprised to hear,

As I was, then, to see

How far superior a child

Can to her elders be.

''The lady" who was with her

In whining tones was heard--

But I did not hear Miss Dwarf

Speak a single fretful word.

"The lady" wanted cookies; then

She had to have a drink.

She didn't give the passengers

A minute's time to think.

While little Rosy Cheeks just sat

And smiled at us,

"The lady" squirmed and wriggled round,

And made a constant fuss.

So next time I go traveling,

As happen soon I may,

I hope that only one of them

Will be abroad that day!

And if a fairy asks me which,

I'll tell the little elf,

I much prefer Louise's doll--

To Miss Louise herself!

Waiting for The Train.

DIY A Shabby Chic Bakery Display for Dolls

See the left, front and side views of our doll's Shabby Chic, bakery display cupboard.
A framed menu would look nice on the upper shelf.

       I refinished an ordinary doll cupboard into a Shabby Chic dream for our American Girl doll bakery. 

       In the future, I will display handmade chocolates, cakes and doll sweets on it's pink patina shelves. 

       Perhaps even more mouth, watering, sensations wrapped up in holiday ribbons and tissue could tumble from it's open drawer or be stacked inside charming baskets surrounding the perimeter of the turned wooden legs of our fashionably French, pink pâtisserie display!

Left is the cupboard before it was painted, decoupaged and sanded down to create a weathered,
 antique, looking patina.

       I first painted the surface of the cabinet using three coats of paint in three colors: white, red and then pink.       

       After the paint dried thoroughly, I scrapped down the surface with a sharp tool and also sanded areas to give the surface of the doll cupboard a "weathered" or "antiqued" look.

       Then I decoupaged a few random areas with some clippings of printed wood grain, and the inside wall with a decorative napkin. After that, I sealed all of the altered surfaces with an acrylic varnish.

Because the original cupboard was intended to hand on a wall, I had to add a pair of turned
wooden legs to help the cupboard stand upright on a flat surface. I also glued on an additional
back wall to give the structure balance.

More close up photos of the cupboard's surface paint and decoupage.

The drawer will come in handy for both storage and display of attractively wrapped cookies and
candies for the dolls. Left is what the drawer looked like prior to it's shabby chic transformation.
Right, I decoupaged the interior of the drawer with a decorative red and pink plaid paper.

Left, the original cabinet had two very charming glass-paneled wood-framed doors. I removed these for
our purposes and saved them for a future project. Right, then I decoupaged the back wall of our bakery
hutch with the perfect pink tissue napkins featuring the Eiffel tower using Mod Podge. The graphic fits
in perfectly with the bakery's theme.

More Altered Bakery Cases and Shabby Chic Furniture Ideas for Your Dolls:

• DIY Lighted Bakery Case for Dolls
• DIY Miniature Dollhouse Shabby Chic Bistro Chairs Table Set
• Shabby chic miniature living room
• Altered shabby chic goodies box + fabric French dolls

Collecting Furniture for Grace's French Bakery: Faux Wrought Iron

Tour Grace's Bakery with a Senior Product Designer

at American Girl, Mattel.

Left, a set of wooden shelves set into a faux cast iron display unit, perfect for stacking fresh baked, artisan
loaves of French bread and buns. Center, a faux wrought iron, hanging shelf made originally for displaying
keys will now be used to hang cooking utensils, pots and pans, aprons etc... Right, this pencil caddy
 will be painted black and filled up with plated sweets inside of our French bakery.

One of our 18inch dolls stands next to a jewelry display modeled
reminiscent of the Eiffel tower. Pieces similar to this one are often sold in 
resale shops in my area. Here you can see how tall the tower is compared 
with the doll standing next to it. I will use this piece to display shopping
 bags and more merchandise inside of my version of Grace's Bakery.

       Some of my favorite design features inside of the original French bakery are: the faux cast iron bracket, shop sign and the painted Eiffel tower with shelf. 

       It was easy to find items that reminded me of these features at resale and they will certainly be fun to fill with all kinds of baked goods and baking accessories inside of our version of Grace's French bakery.

       I've photographed these faux items along side one of our 18inch dolls so that you can imagine how the bent wire furnishings will look once we incorporate them into our doll bakery.

       If you would like to collect and craft along with me to make your own eighteen inch doll sized bakery, I will be posting all of my craft ideas and fun bakery finds, prior to the upcoming holidays. 

       You may also wish to acquire a large plastic storage bin to collect all of the items included in your doll bakery. This will help keep things neat and tidy around the house when little ones are not playing with their dolls. Storage bins also insure minimal damage to furniture and minimal loss of tiny accessories. Pack a similar version to ours, wrap it with a large bow and give it to a very happy grandchild this Christmas; you will be the most popular grandparent/parent in the universe for certain!

I think this display unit was originally made to display jewelry on top of a dresser, however, I will use it to display
 merchandise inside of a doll shop of some kind, not necessarily Grace's bakery. I've included here so that
readers can get more ideas about the sorts of things that they might collect for doll displays.

More About the Eiffel Tower:

• History of the Eiffel Tower and Tour the Eiffel Tower
• How to clean the Eiffel Tower
• The Eiffel Tower by Night

Santa and His Favorite Reindeer

The original by Dan Rudolph,
 restored for coloring by Kathy Grimm.

Description of Coloring Page: text "Santa and his favorite Reindeer" presents, fur trimmed coat, mittens, reindeer, toys, Christmas paper dolls. This is a mechanical paper doll and requires tiny brass fasteners, brads or paper fasteners for it's assembly.

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

A Doll's Wedding

A DOLL'S WEDDING 

by Lucy Larcom

Says Ivanhoe to Mimi: 

"It's our wedding-day;
And will you promise, dearest,
Your husband to obey?"

And this is Mimi's answer: 

"With all my heart, my dear;
If you will never cause me
To drop a single tear;

"If you will ask me nothing
But what I want to do
I'll be a sweet, obedient,
Delightful wife to you."

Says Mr. Fenwick, giving
His brown mustache a twist: 

"I shall command you, madam,
To do whate'er I list!"

Miss Mimi answers, frowning,
His very soul to freeze: 

"Then, sir, I shall obey you
Only just when I please!"

Says Ivanhoe to Mimi: 

"Let us to this agree-
I will not speak one word to you,
If you'll not speak to me;

"Then we shall never quarrel,
But through our dolly life
I ll be a model husband,
And you a model wife!"

And now all men and women
Who make them wedding-calls,
Look on and almost envy
The bliss of these two dolls.

They seem so very smiling-

So graceful, kind, and bright!
And gaze upon each other
Quite speechless with delight.

Never one cross word saying,
They stand up side by side,
Patterns of good behavior
To every groom and bride.

Sweethearts, it is far better-

This truth they plainly teach-
The solid gold of silence,
Than the small change of speech!

An enchanting Bride doll dressed for
her special day!

• Visit Our family vintage bride blog - just a bit of fashion history for brides

What Do Modern Doll Scrubs Look Like?

A white coat, also known as a laboratory coat, is a knee-length overcoat/smock worn by professionals
 in the medical field or by those involved in laboratory work. The coat protects their street clothes
 and also serves as a simple uniform. The garment is made from white or light-colored cotton,
linen, or cotton polyester blend, allowing it to be washed at high temperature and making it easy
 to see if it is clean. The modern white coat was introduced to medicine in the late 1800s as a symbol
of cleanliness. Our doll above is wearing the traditional lab coat, full body scrubs and surgical mask.

American hospital staff wearing scrubs in the United States.

       Scrubs are the sanitary clothing worn by surgeons, nurses, physicians and other workers involved in patient care in hospitals. Originally designed for use by surgeons and other operating room personnel, who would put them on when sterilizing themselves, or "scrubbing in", before surgery, they are now worn by many hospital personnel. Their use has been extended outside hospitals as well, to work environments where clothing may come into contact with infectious agents (veterinarians, midwives, etc.). Scrubs are designed to be simple (with minimal places for contaminants to hide), easy to launder, and cheap to replace if damaged or stained irreparably. In the United Kingdom, scrubs are sometimes known as Theatre Blues. 

       Nearly all patient care personnel at hospitals in the United States wear some form of scrubs while on duty, as do some staffers in doctor, dental, and veterinary offices. Doctors in the United States may wear their own clothes with a white coat except for surgery. Support staff such as custodians and unit clerks also wear scrubs in some facilities. When the physician is not performing surgery, the scrub is often worn under a white coat.  

       White coats are sometimes seen as the distinctive dress of both physicians and surgeons, who have worn them for over 100 years. In the nineteenth century, respect for the certainty of science was in stark contrast to the quackery and mysticism of nineteenth century medicine. To emphasize the transition to the more scientific approach of modern medicine, physicians began to represent themselves as scientists, donning the most recognizable symbol of the scientist, the white laboratory coat.

• Back to First-Aid With Help From Mary Frances

A Doll Art Supply Cabinet With Drawers

Left, is the contents of my doll sized art cabinet in the top drawer. I cut out pictures of art supplies
from a free flier that was stuffed inside my mailbox. I glued additional layers of cardboard together,
 the same size as each photo of: pencils, crayons, markers, Prismacolors and pastels. Then I layered
 Mod Podge on top of the tiny art supplies to keep them in durable condition. The sizes are
perfect for our American Girl Dolls to take to school.

        Last week, I made a trip to my local family dollar store and found the cutest set of stackable, plastic drawers. These came in green, blue and red. I suppose these drawers are perfect for storing small office items like paper clips, staples and tacks.

I love the fact that these drawers are transparent so you can see what is being stored inside of them.
On the far right I've included doll sized construction papers and doll size template for
drafting perfect oval shapes.

        However, I think that these small drawers are perfect for storing doll sized crafts or art supplies. If you wanted to use them for a Barbie classroom they would approximate the size ratio of a normal sized office file cabinet, I think. (four stacked together)

Above you can see that I have included some common craft supplies found in a real art classroom:
 tiles, beads, wooden craft sticks and cotton batting. I packed these into tiny 2"x1" plastic bags.

        I decided to use them in an American Girl Doll classroom, so the four drawers stacked together look like an authentic short stack, filing cabinet. I can either set it on the floor of our doll's classroom or on top of a table.

Left, is the bottom drawer of our doll art supply cabinet, open for you to see what is stored inside.
 Center is a doll sized roll of Scotch brand tape that was made in the same way as our boxes of
markers and crayons above. Right, you can see a doll sized roll of masking tape and a that the
drawing pad opens up to include a real pad of individual pages for our doll artists to draw on.

More Doll Art Supplies:

• DIY American Girl Doll Art Supplies!
• DIY Miniature Puff Paints 
• How to make a doll art room