Black Buttons and a Homeless Sweater…

Well, it seems that the black buttons on Nyssa’s dress were the favorite choice of most everyone. They were what I wanted to go with too. When Marilyn suggested some black sparkly buttons for the front, I thought, hmmmm…maybe that would be cute… But here’s what happened. This is my best laugh of the day!

I asked Rebecca if she had any glass black bicones in the tiniest size possible that I could use in place of a button. She said she didn’t…only clear. She said she might have red…and I said, “no, I needed black.”

Well, I could see things weren’t going in my favor, so I asked her to come look at the dress and show her what I was needing. When she came into my sewing room, she had changed and said she was going to Walmart.

I said, “Oh good, you can get some glass bicone beads for me.” Then I showed her Nyssa’s dress and how I wanted tiny black bicones to use like buttons on the white trim.

She said, “Mom, it’s just a cotton print so just use those little black buttons you have there.”

I kind of balked and said, “but everyone wanted a button with sparkle.”

She said, “But it’s just a simple cotton dress…not fancy enough for black sparkle.” Then she said, “Sparkle buttons on that dress would be like putting a rhinestone brooch on your sweater.”

Okay now here’s the part that made me laugh. I have this brown acrylic sweater that is the warmest, most comfortable sweater, and I wear it all the time when I’m just a little bit cool. It is SO ugly and pilled and has red paint on one sleeve where I painted a doll tricycle one time. Recently I left it on the end of my bed and Reuben got a hold of it and chewed off 4 of the 1″ buttons, even chewing a hole where one of the buttons was, that’s big enough for my thumb to fit through. Needless to say it’s about as ugly as anything you’ve ever seen and I actually call it my homeless sweater.(sorry) If someone comes to the door, I take it off… yes…it’s that bad. So when she said it’s like putting a rhinestone brooch on your sweater, I looked down at my sweater, and had to laugh. ( I promise I’ll get rid of it soon…)

So, in light of the dress not being “fancy enough for sparkle and just cotton” I’ll use the little black buttons.

Today I have a couple of sweet pictures from Linda… This is her Felicity in her darling nightgown. Doesn’t she look adorable getting ready for bed?

Joy received her Felicity in the mail too! She’d like some help identifying what year she might be from. I hope there are enough clues in her pictures…she wasn’t thrilled with her close up pictures, but maybe they’ll be good enough for someone to figure her out! :o)

Not much today, but we got all those gumballs raked up… well, “I” raked, my hubby carted them off…

He asked me when was the last time I’d shown you all “his” girls? For your “viewing pleasure” here they are eating a handful of popcorn he gave them…. their favorite!

See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne

22 thoughts on “Black Buttons and a Homeless Sweater…”

    1. Thank you Charlotte,
      I’m glad you enjoy visiting with me and everyone each morning!
      Blessings, Jeanne

  1. Love the picture of the beautiful chickens; so many colors. Now I understand. Linda’s Felicity is beautiful. She gives her a wonderful home. I sent pictures of mine which I described yesterday with the 2003 dress tag. It may help identify the dolls’ ages, but the dresses use tags from different years if I understand correctly.

    Congratulations on the bidding last night. Great to watch. Wish it was me. Thinking of you.

    1. Hi Susette,
      It is fun to see all the different Felicity’s, and I too, love to see everyone’s dolls set up and how they pose them.
      Your Felicity is very pretty Susette! Good job picking her!
      Thanks for the congrats on Felicity’s dress lady night. I was flabbergasted! Maybe I wasn’t alone?
      Blessings, Jeanne

  2. Love seeing the girls! Do they enjoy a special popcorn flavor? Just kidding. We pass a house on our walks that has chickens with whom we have conversations regularly. People probably think we are nuts.
    Love seeing your clean under tree area. Unfortunately, it rained yet again yesterday and last night so will be a few more days of drying out before we can tackle our gumball/leaf problem.
    Thank you for sharing my out of focus close ups. Camera needs to go in to Nikon but just haven’t done that yet. My new Felicity has the reddish eyelashes, makers mark behind her right ear, and no tag. I’ve discovered three pin curls on each side of her face. Her accompanying book is 1991. Her clothing which appears new and unused, probably a replacement, is all dated 1993. Any idea of her age anyone? After picking up some baby shampoo, I’m hoping to give her a shampoo today. Never done dolly hair before. And has anyone ever used Micro-mesh pads to remove white spots? Supposed to work wonders as long as not used on freckles/painted cheeks etc., but I’m not so sure. Thanks for any help.

    1. I forgot to say congratulation to Joy on receiving her beautiful Felicity and thanks for sharing her pictures with us.

    2. Hi Joy,
      We buy the $1.00 bags of popcorn at our farm store, Rural King. It’s a nice size bag and they get about a cup of it everyday. I think popcorn and the tops of strawberries are their favorites.
      I’ve heard of Micro mesh but haven’t actually used it. Please let us know how it works.

      When you wash her hair, tie a grocery bag around her body…actually put her in the bag and toe it shut around her neck. Then I use a dry washcloth to hold over her eyes aND face to keep the water off her. I slant her head down in the sink so the water runs off rhe top of her head and not down her face.
      There are many videos on hair washing.
      Thanks Joy,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  3. Wow, what beautiful chickens! Though my city does allow chicken, my HOA does not. Love your husband’s beautiful girls. Really enjoyed the photos of Linda’s Felicity. I enjoy setting my dolls in scenes too.

    1. Hi Kathleen,
      My hubby has has some kind of birds since he was 9 years old so he loves his girls as much as I love mine.
      Thanks for joining in.
      Blessings, Jeanne

  4. Oh Jeanne, I just love the beautiful chickens! I just love chickens anyway, and have a few in my kitchen, well, ceramic ones! You can’t have a kitchen without a chicken or two!
    You yard looks wonderful now, but yes, in two weeks or so, not so much. Well, at least you don’t have to go to the gym, you get exercise right there in the fresh air! You will be so slim and trim by the time summer comes!

    Joy’s Felicity is so pretty! Her hair looks more red than mine does, but then I have a Mattel Felicity. I just bought what AG had on the website at the time, since I didn’t know any difference in the early ones, and Ebay was kind of newish at the time. I do love my Felicity and her eyes don’t seem that lazer green to me, at least not anymore. But Joy, your doll might be one of the newer “old” Felicity’s, since she doesn’t have the ribbon around her hairline. Felicity was not one of the first 3, Samantha, Molly and Kirsten. Then came Addy, if I’m thinking right, and also soon after, Felicity, in 1991. I might be wrong on that, but anyway, they took Felicity away for awhile, then reintroduced her, (which might be when your doll came out) and of course, she is now retired and coming out yet again!! I need to look at the timelines on AG Playthings for sure. Also, just because the doll’s neck in the back says, “Pleasant Company”, it doesn’t mean the doll actually was Pleasant Company, just that the mold they used had that imprinted on it. They used them until they wore out, and now all of them say “American Girl”.

    1. Hi Linda,
      Oh I hope you are right about the slim and trim part before summer! I will totally receive those words as the gospel truth!!!
      I really don’t know that much about the “in between” Felicity dolls. I’ll leave that up to some of the experts on here.
      I think everyone loves their Felicity no matter if she’s Pleasant Company, Mattel, the old new, the very newest, glass eyes,,acrylic eyes, copper eyelashes, black eyelashes, red hair, Auburn hair, etc…Felicity was just made to be loved. I’m glad we have all kinds here!
      Blessings, Jeanne

  5. Loved seeing the chicken pictures. I really like chickens, more for pets and eggs though, but they are interesting creatures with little personalities. The colors of your chicken’s feathers are just beautiful.
    Linda, it is so neat to see your pictures and settings of your dolls. I like the way you dress them and put them in little scenes.
    I recently found an article about Felicity called, (I think) “American Girl Dolls, Felicity, Then and Now” but I can’t remember the lady who wrote it. It explains a lot. Perhaps it will help Joy. I think my Felicity is maybe the newer old Felicity from what I’ve read. I’m not sure she has the real reddish colored hair. I’m very happy with my Felicity but curiosity makes me wonder which time line she falls in.

    That is funny about your sweater!! I have an old pink shirt I wear because it’s comfortable. I did some painting in it and got paint on the back. I’ve washed it and worn it with the paint on it as this shirt is so comfortable. Never in public though!
    And Rebecca’s thought about you wearing a rhinestone brooch on your comfy sweater…you should wear a brooch or two. My sister has beautiful vintage costume jewelry. When she gardens, she wears some of her beautiful costume jewelry and hats with and over her garden clothes. Part of it is my sister’s humor but she has so much jewelry (like I have dolls) that she feels compelled to wear it for most occasions!!

    1. Hi Paula,
      I’ll have to tell my hubby about what everyone said about his chickens. He’ll be thrilled that everyone liked them all gtown up!
      I’m not an expert on Felicity dolls…I just know I love mine, whether she’s one of the first editions or not. It took 3 Felicity’s for me to finally get the one I wanted…and now I’m totally happy. Hope you are too.
      Thanks for your comments about my homeless sweater…maybe everyone has one…
      Blessings, Jeanne

  6. My version of your sweater is blue. I realized nearly immediately that it was warm and that it would pill as if that were what it was made to do, so it stays inside with me on days like this, when it appears to be snowing and raining together, and it never leaves home.
    The chickens are wonderful — the mixed colors were an excellent idea.
    Do you have a doctor’s appointment today with George? May all the news be good.

    1. Hi Marilyn,
      I am so glad I’m not alone wearing my “homeless” swester…so you have a blue one, huh?
      Well, we went to get “chemo but my hubby’s platelet’s were too low. They were supposed to be somewhere between 150 and 450 and his were 46. They said he couldn’t get chemo. They want him to come back next wek and see if he can get one more treatment in before we go to St Louis next Wednesday. He goes tomorrow morning for a test on his kidneys…
      Thanks Marilyn,
      Blessings, Jeanne

  7. Nyssa’s dress is looking very pretty. It’s nice and little girlish.
    Linda, your Felicity looks very pretty and sweet all dressed up for bed. I love seeing your little scenes.Felicity’s nightgown and lappet cap are the only nightwear I have. I just loved the cap.
    Jeanne, your chickens are all so pretty. I love all the different colored feathers.
    Time for another PC/AG doll lesson, ladies. * all in your seats now*LOL I’ll just post in response to what I read.
    The first three dolls, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly were introduced in 1986 at Christmas. Felicity debuted in 1991 followed by Addy in 1993. Josefina would come out in 1997 and Pleasant would sell PC to Mattel in 1998. Linda is absolutely right about dolls being marked PC and are not PC. My daughter’s first edition Kit from 2000 and my first edition Nellie is from 2004 and are neckstamped PC. They obviously are Mattel since Mattel bought the company in 1997.
    Felicity would go to semi- archive and be online only and then would be archived and yes, is coming back again! Felicity hair was originally coppery red as in my PC West German girl. Her hair would become more auburn as time went on. I do agree that Felicity regardless of the edition you personally have Felicity is a beautiful doll. I can’t wait to see the newest edition. I think there is a particular version of each doll that calls out to us. I saw a WB Samantha once and she didn’t look like Samantha is the way my PC 1991 German one does. Others love Mattel’s version as still others think the BF is perfect. Some have them all!!
    Joy, your Felicity is more than likely a 1993 version. She looks almost identical to my daughter in hair, facial coloring and neckstamp. By any chance does she have a body tag? The 1993’s were an odd lot. The PC girls don’t have body tags, but 1993 Feiicty sometimes have a Made in Germany body tag dated 1986. It’s a puzzle. The earliest Felicitys (mine) have slightly more facial coloring than the 1993 but not as bright as the Mattel dolls. The 1993 dolls were the last ones that could have be made in Germany ( without the hangtag I can’t be 100% positive). The body stitching is more prominent on the German dolls which leads me to lean that way. Some were made in the U.S and the first dolls were being made in China as all Mattel dolls are today. My daughter’s PC Felicity was bought direct from PC and Had a Made in Germany hangtag, but came in a 1993 tagged Made in China gown. Incidentally, the PC accessories were made all over, some were made in China while some are made specific places. My daughter has Kirsten’s birthday dishes which were made in the U.S by Rowe pottery. We both have Samantha’s lemonade set which was made here by Mosser glass. Both of these would later be made in China. There are easy ways to tell the manufacturing location apart even if the box is missing. If anyone has Kirsten’s original robe and sockor (slippers), the slippers were made by a lady in Sweden for years. *class dismissed, please help yourselves to queen cakes and petit fours*

    One more thing, joy, you can use Mr. Clean magic eraser to remove some stains, just avoid freckles, lips and cheeks or you’ll remove the facial coloring. Now that you have obtained your own lovely Felicity I am more than happy to “help” you out in suggesting collection pieces for her. I only have PC collection for Felicity and Samantha as they were my favorites with a few scattered other pieces. Wish I had started collecting earlier as I love Addy’s as well. I’ve contented myself with her meet boots and stockings, meet bonnet, striped dress, stilts and satchel and supplies.

    1. WOW, WOW, WOW is all I can say, Laura!
      American Girl needs to hire you as their spokesperson! You really know your stuff and it would be a fun meeting to sit with you and discuss dolls…other things too, but dolls especially! Thank you so much for all your information. What a blessing to have someone like you in our group, who can answer questions we might have. Please stick around for a long time?
      Thanks so very much, “Teacher!”
      Blessings, Student Jeanne

    2. Hi Laura,
      After reading a lot of stuff today, yours also, I am of the opinion that my Felicity is probably 1993. Or so I think.
      Here’s what she came with:
      Hair care hang tag that says doll made in Germany for the American Girls Collection.
      1st Ed Felicity Book 1991
      Clothes:
      White cap/pinkish ribbon looks brand new/unused. Tag says Made in China for Pleasant Company (No date)
      Meet dress, pink/blue/brown on beige. Tag says Made in China for Pleasant Company, 1993 Pleasant Company Inc.
      White underwear/shift. Tag says Made in China for Pleasant Company. 1993 Pleasant Company Inc.
      In a box with sleeve that says The American Girls Collection and shows 6 dolls were the following:
      Bit Coin on a card that says 1991
      Purse that matches dress. Tag says made in China for Pleasant Company, 1997 Pleasant Company Inc.
      White hankie edged in lace. Tagged Made in China for Pleasant Company, 1996 Pleasant Company Inc.
      Felicity Merriman booklet, back says Copyright 1991 by Pleasant Company
      Pair of garters for socks, unmarked
      Pair of black buckle shoes, no AG markings.
      She came with her socks. One fine, one needs back run mended.
      I figure since the box shows 6 dolls, perhaps the purse/hankie etc. were ordered later and added to what she had. Owner said it was her daughters but gave no details.
      So, still think 1993? Whatever the date, I think she is lovely. And of course, now I want some accessories! “More dolly stuff” as my husband says.
      Can’t thank you enough for your help. This information should be stored somewhere for future reference.
      Thank you

  8. Told you I’m slow! Just finished reading this and HAD to leave a comment. I laughed so hard about your homeless sweater. If you could see what I wear on a daily basis, you’d be buying the most beautiful rhinestone broach you could find to pin to your sweater. I really should send you one of my favorite shirts. I wear them until they are literally more holes than fabric and when the front gets too bad, I wear them backwards. Just letting you know that I don’t think there’s any way your sweater could look worse 🙂

    1. HI Bobi,
      I was too embarrassed to post a picture of my sweater…it’s really bad… but it’s nice to know I’m not alone in my comfy sweater. I had other ladies say they have one too…or a blouse they just can’t give up. I guess we all like our “comfies” more than anyone will ever know.
      I’m glad you enjoyed the post…
      Thanks so much Bobi,
      Blessings, Jeanne

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