Every Christmas, our daughters get a new American Girl Doll from Erick and I. It's a tradition we started that has snowballed into an 18"doll obsession in this house. Yes, everyone gets involved. Even Dad. I'm usually the one who does their hair, and helps organize the dollhouse. Erick enjoys helping Becca with her video "Stop-Motion" technique so she can make movies with her dolls and he also is the carpenter around here. Always fabricating something for these dolls or their house. Noahh is still in the American Girl "Bitty Baby" phase, and will stay there until she probably turns three, when we'll start moving her up to the American Girl "Twins" phase. We're all kind of obsessed. Not only do we frequent the AG Place Store in Lynnwood several times a year, but we enjoy picking up other versions of 18" doll accessories, clothing, furniture etc. from stores in our own hometown. The girls defiantly aren't picky when it comes to doll accessories.
They love everything doll.
When I started to think about this Christmas morning we would soon be having, I felt like I should make sure that all of Becca's 6 dolls would have a beautiful new Christmas dress to wear. I browsed around online, checking out stores on Amazon, Target, Toys R Us, even Etsy and of course the American Girl Store. Christmas Dresses were ranging anywhere from $25-$50 a piece and at 6 dolls, I just couldn't justify spending the cash for all 6 dolls to have a new dress. It's not that Becca doesn't take excellent care of her doll clothes, or that I'd be worried it was a waste of money. I just wanted something more personal. I wanted them to be something the girls would really "cherish" and enjoy putting on the dolls each Christmas. Something came over me and I decided to sew each doll their Christmas dress this year. Could I possibly do this? I've never sewn clothing in my life, let alone scaled down clothing. I ran to the fabric store and gathered up enough materials to make 6 gorgeous, handmade Christmas doll dresses and then some! The cost for all the materials was $186.00.
I sat down at the sewing machine and started right away. Frustrated that my sewing machine wasn't working properly I fussed over it for about 4 hours trying to get it fixed. I broke into tears when Erick called and he asked me how it was going. Frustrated I wondered why I ever thought I could take on such a task. After I hung up the phone with him, I had an odd feeling come over me. My Grandma Rogers was there with me. I'm absolutely sure of it.
Let me give you a brief history of my Grandma Rogers. I didn't know this woman very well, because we mostly just saw her on Christmas for an hour or so each year. Her and Grandpa Rogers lived on an old dairy farm in Southern Utah and because of the "farm-like" conditions of the place, mom didn't like us going there very often. The house was small, cluttered. It was dirty, and smelled like a farm.
Grandpa was always sitting in his favorite chair watching the smallest television that was black and white if I remember correctly. We'd always take him nuts. He liked cashews. When we'd arrive at their house, he'd open up the nuts we brought him and always offer me some. I remember his old and shaky hand holding out the container of nuts to me. He wore an old flannel long sleeved shirt, and pants that were similar to Dickies. Brown or grey. After offering me some, he'd place the container of nuts in the windowsill next to his chair and continue to watch his show, visit with us, and snack on those cashews. Grandma would welcome us with open arms and invite us to take a seat. There wasn't much room inside that small farmhouse, and honestly we only ever went into the livingroom. Grandma wasn't the tidiest of people. In fact, her home resembled those on the TLC's show "Hoarders", but I still loved going. Every trip to the farm meant a new doll. See Grandma Rogers was a doll collector. Thousands. I mean Thousands. When you first would walk into her home, on the left hand side was an entire wall, floor to ceiling of dolls laying on their backs or stomachs stacked on top of one another. We're talking an easy 12 feet long, by 8 feet tall, and 3 or 4 ft. deep. Dolls were stacked on top of one another. You couldn't see the floor, the walls or the ceiling where the dolls were placed. Grandma used to make her own porcelain dolls. She collected lovely dolls from catalogs and stores too. She didn't discriminate. She loved her baby dolls. I'm quite sure that for years, every time she went into a store, if she saw a cute doll, she bought it and brought it home. So going to their house was always an adventure. Grandma Rogers would always either have a doll picked out that she wanted me to have, or she'd let me pick my own. I used to look for the ones that were handmade by her. She'd inscribe the date on the bottom of their porcelain foot. To this day, her dolls are some of my greatest treasures. So this "doll obsession" that's coming out in me, is defiantly from her.
So as I sat there frustrated, tears and all, I began feeling a calmness come over me and it was like she was right there with me. Five minutes later my sewing machine was fixed after a four hour ordeal of it not working, and I was well on my way to beginning this project for my girls. I don't doubt at all that it was with Grandma Rogers help, that the sewing machine was fixed and I was able to begin my project. I'd give anything to have Grandma here today so Becca could know her and they could share their love of dolls together. Edna would really get a kick out of seeing Becca play with her dolls and her doll house. I can envision her sitting on Becca's bed sometimes combing out her dolls hair while Becca plays in front of the doll house. Having the dolls around has defiantly been a way to enjoy Grandma Rogers spirit. She would be proud!
I hope she adores them!
While Becca and the other girls were away, Julie modeled the finished Christmas dresses so I could get a picture of them. She's such a trooper! That was a lot of outfit changes!
