Tuesday 3 June 2008

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Then be glad.

Shark, Squirrel and Tiger really have no need of a plastic Playmobil Roman amphitheatre at all. Right now they are playing with the dollies they made last year. These are mostly hand sewn dollies. That's hand sewn by Shark, Squirrel and Tiger. I'd like to say they are good.

Here's a couple of them, snuggled up in bed together and, I am told, eating breakfast. Where my kids get that idea from, I do not know, because in all their lives Mummy Grit has not once managed breakfast in bed. A flask of coffee, a bottle of brandy and a Lindt chocolate bar is my lot. Anyway, here are two of the dollies.


Would you like to wake up in bed next to one of those? That one on the left has a false nose. Squirrel cut a hole in her face by accident and we had the idea of sewing a nose over the hole so her stuffing wouldn't fall out. The one on the right, well, what can I say? She looks like the hideously ugly sister of the Bride of Frankenstein. But look on the bright side. Now her hair is sewn on instead of skewered on with pins. Here they are close up. If you ask nicely, one of them might pucker up for a nite-nite kiss.


I'm not sure where the third dolly has gone, otherwise I'd show you the full set. I saw her yesterday and she was on a zip wire in the garden. We haven't got a zip wire in the garden. Though I suspect we now have some string tied onto the tree with a dolly swinging from it.

And I can take a pride in all of this, as good home educators have to, because otherwise it is all hopeless. This is design and technology. And independent learning. Well it gets even better because today all the little girls have been very happily making some new outfits for their home-sewn dollies. Such as this one. I'll await the call from Galliano while you admire the couture of this little number.


There you go. And this is how home education can swell your heart with pride and render you in despair, all at the same time.

8 comments:

family affairs said...

So cute! A little scary....but cute nevertheless!! Lx

OvaGirl said...

I nearly dropped my porridge at that first picture Grit. Look...I hear your despair but I think there is a lot to recommend in these creations. By the way I have noted in all the groovy and fashionable boutiques (I was just trying to get out of the rain)that the "ugly" doll is in. All manner of misshapen oddities at great big prices. Not that I'm saying these dolls are misshapen or ugly...

Brad said...

Clearly Tiger is just auditioning them for her next epic.

Grit said...

hi family affairs! they are indeed scary. I don't know why the lips of one go straight up her face. i think squirrel had in mind she would sew up the hole in her head but ran out of thread before she got there.

ovagirl, i am so glad ugly is the new beautiful. i knew my time would come.

that would be a great idea brad. we could turn 'cinderella' into 'night of the living dead' at a stroke.

Kitty said...

Well I think they're brilliant! :-D As you know, I'm a big fan of all crafty stuff, and those are fantastic. I hope you'll keep the pictures and show the girls when they're older - alternatively you could pin the pictures to the door to deter unwanted callers :-D x

Grit said...

kitty! that is an excellent idea! i can see the sign right now. BEWARE OF THE DOLL.

sharon said...

Perhaps Tiger has already started casting for 'The Bride of Frankenstein' her next epic masterpiece. No, that's cruel. Actually the dolls are lovely and should be kept forever. Re an earlier comment - if you keep all 'stuff' in boxes it reduces the amount of dusting needed.

Grit said...

sharon, i probably will keep these monstrosities forever. and when i am old, i will rub them fondly and sprinkle them with tears.