Cambodian child "Maly"
For some dolls I like to look up faces on google images and make a general outline. Using the drawing as a stencil I poke small holes around the outlines and then put a little talcum powder on the top until it “bleeds” through to the fabric. Then I start painting.
Maly
I love dolls with button eyes! Here are a few of my favorites. If you have any ideas I can share please send them to me!
Miriam likes her doll
(June 2004. Ndola, Zambia)
Our friends Marci and Bill took us around Ndola, Zambia and we met some of their friends. We had the pleasure of meeting this young girl Miriam. Her and her aunt invited us into their home and we presented her with a gift. She loved her new doll! Rachel, from Morrison, Colorado, decorated this doll and wrote a nice letter to go along with her.
Dolls need underwear!
Coordinating the outfits.
(February 2004. Lakewood, Colorado)
The One doll project got started on a whim. I wanted to take something with me to Zambia, something for the kids in the orphanage we’re going to visit and I heard a voice say loud and clear “make dolls, brown dolls”. I really didn’t know how to make dolls but I went to the fabric store and found some soft brown flannel and beautiful soft, curly black yarn. Once got home I started drawing and cutting (What pattern? That would be too easy!). The first 10 dolls looked like gingerbread men with reaaalllyy large heads. I knew I needed help so my sister and some friends came over to help decorate them. With love and lots of imagination the first “Worldly Girls” were born! After writing messages of hope and love on their bellies and they were ready for their journey!
(October 2009. La Paz, Bolivia)
I wanted to scream in pain but I was having too much fun. Besides, I was sure if I cried the twins would quit hanging on me.
This moment was what made the past 5 years worth it.
Three separate doll making parties had turned out some beautiful dolls for our trip to Bolivia. My friends, the decorators, had painted, beaded, coiffed and loved the dolls into perfect works of art. Two of the dolls ended up looking so much alike that I was ecstatic when I found out the first children to receive the dolls were 6-year-old twins!
When we reached their neighborhood Maria greeted us at the gate and walked us through the compound. I’ve become accustom to seeing stark poverty and the simple home without running water and electricity barely registered as I saw Salena for the first time. The girls were identical! I had to look at their shoes to tell them apart. Pink Ugg boots tend to stand out in a setting like that! The girls’ grandfather came into the yard to meet us and they all listened quietly as their counselor told them that we had come from the U.S. to bring them each a present so they would know they are loved. When I pulled the twin dolls out of the bag and handed them to the girls they went berserk! They shrieked and laughed and grabbed me. Which made my knees buckle and then the pain started and then I cried… but out of joy.
These dolls were decorated by the McClay family in Canada. We delivered them to children living in Bolivia.
(April 2009. Shiraz, Iran)
They spoke only Farsi but wanted to sing my husband Ed and I a song…in English. The kindergarten class, wearing their pretty pink uniforms and white hijab were enjoying a field day in Shiraz, Iran when their teachers overheard us talking. They asked us where we were from. “America” we said. “America?! Welcome to Iran!” Then they asked if the girls could sing for us. Who doesn’t love Barney and his tolerance promoting song…I love you…you love me… so we said yes.
When the singing was over I asked the teacher if it was ok to present the class with a gift, a token of love from the U.S.A., a couple of little ambassadors for peace, two of our dolls. (Ok, I didn’t say all that but I would have if I’d thought of it sooner!) The grins and wide eyes said it all. They immediately stroked the doll’s hair, ohhhhed and ahhhhed and fell in love with the dolls.
And I fell in love with them.
