Patsy Doll Clothes and Thanksgiving Mantel

Yep, I visited with my friend LaVern yesterday, and she showed me some of her latest projects.  The two dolls to the right are Patsy dolls from the 1940's.  They are made of composition, which is basically fine saw dust mixed with glue, pressed into a mold and then painted with a heavy coat of enamel paint.  LaVern collects Patsys, they come in all sizes. These two are dressed in homemade doll dresses that she found in

her husband's mother's basement.  She thinks the clothing was probably made for a Patsy doll, and she showed me some of original clothing in her Patsy book, which I think pretty much proves the point.  Kind of fun!!

Besides the dolls' clothes, she also found some old children's clothing in the basement.  This doll dress is actually made from a forties era child's dress she found.  She took the dress apart, then traced a pattern from the parts.  Next she put them on a copier and reduced them in size to fit this doll.  Next she reassembled the dress for the doll.  What a great idea!  She has promised to take a before picture for me, if she does this again.  Oh, and the sweet red rhinestone button is from the button box that her in-laws collected into at their dry cleaning establishment. 

 

This Patsy is also compo but was a bit more spendy as she has actual eyes that open and close.  LaVern made her dress from another dress she found in the basement, but this one she made over to look like a dress in the book.  And what's the white mink headband/ear muffs?

Its to match the sweet white rabbit fur coat that LaVern made to match one she found in the book.  Sonja Henie was a popular Olympic Ice Skater in the early 30's and lots of dolls were styled after her, charming, eh?

 

And just for fun, I thought I would share her mantel, with her little celluloid dolls that she dresses for each holiday.  She has at least 20 of these. 

Aren't they just too fun?

 Thanks for coming along and sharing LaVern's great collection, as well as her amazing talents!  Hope all is going well with your holiday preparations, and that you have an amazing Thanksgiving!