Meet "Egg Muffs" Series Of Dolls

The "Egg Muff's" are a fun loving group of dolls that love to sneak around and maybe, every once in awhile, drop in unexpectedly. Toni E. Hawk and her brother, Tom A. Hawk, are the most fun loving of the group. You might find them peeking around a corner, peeking over the windowsill, peeking through a keyhole in a door, or sneaking into your room. You just never know. Sometimes you might just catch a glimpse of their eyes and hair as they try to sneak a peek. If you listen carefully, you might even hear them laughing, even chuckling away. Sometimes you might even catch them doing a little jig. You just never know what they may do. They love to laugh. They love to have fun. But, most of all they love to play hide and peek! No, not hide and seek! Hide and peek!

Toni E. Hawk and Tom A. Hawk are twins. She might seem shy and well-mannered, but she is anything but. She is highly intelligent and loves a good joke. She isn't afraid of taking on her twin brother, Tom A. Hawk, or his best friend, Spike A Peek. In fact, Toni E. Hawk actually comes up with the best thought out practical jokes around which makes her just a little bit intimidating to the other member's of the Egg Muff Series. However, when everyone gets to laughing at Toni E. Hawk's latest gag everyone soon forgets how intimidated they are by her intelligence.

Tom A. Hawk is anything but shy and well-mannered. He, too, is highly intelligent and loves a good joke and isn't afraid of taking on his twin sister, Toni E. Hawk, or his best friend, Spike A Peek. Unlike his sister, however, his intelligence isn't intimidating at all. In fact, Tom A Hawk does an exceptional job of hiding his intelligence while showcasing his wit, his charm, and his good looks. The girls just can't resist a charming, good looking, bit of a devil in him type of guy with a tomahawk hairdo.

Spike A Peek is actually the most rambunctious of the Egg Muffs and, generally, the least level headed. He always lets the fun get the better of him and finds that, more often then not, he's in the "Muff House" (the Egg Muff Series version of a doghouse) being "muffed!" This is also known as a "time-out!" Spike A Peek doesn't use his "time-out" and being "muffed" wisely. He uses it as an opportunity to think up his next prank. The one he's going to play on Tom A. Hawk.

Nancy Dew Drop is actually the most well behaved of the Egg Muffs and, generally, the most level headed. Sometimes, even Nancy lets the fun get the better of her and you might just hear her giggling in the background. Just listen for a sweet "tee-hee-hee" and that will be Nancy Dew Drop.

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One Of My Favorite Floral Arrangements

I've made hundreds of silk floral arrangements over the years and have to admit that some come out better than others. Some work out some don't. Some are just stunning color wise and some end up being re-done.  Some I don't like and some I just love.

The above is one of the latter. I created this floral arrangement several years ago and it has to be one of my favorites.

The reason is because it's a combination of silk floral stems and several dried and preserved floral stems I had purchased several years ago. It has dried and preserved eucalyptus stems, glittery garland sprigs, and navy blue dried bud stems.

The combination navy blue and natural basket and blue and silver wire ribbon bows are a good compliment for the colors of the arrangement.

Most of my floral arrangements these days are made with silk floral stems. I tend to prefer the natural look of dried floral versus silk floral but found that the dried floral just don't last.

I used to make them with dried floral many of which were fresh flowers from my gardens that I dried myself. They looked great for a while but didn't last and attracted moths so I gave up using them.

However, sometimes you can find some fabulous dried and preserved floral stems like the ones pictured above.

So far, they've lasted for several years and so far no moths. Cross your fingers it remains one of my favorites for many years to come. I'll let you know.

Time For Spring and Candy Dish Containers

I just love creating silk floral arrangements in all sorts of containers. I might use a basket, a metal container, a typical floral basin, glass vases, wooden crates, etc. Just about anything. So, when someone in the family asked me if I wanted a white milk glass candy dish they were throwing away I said - sure!

So, since I had put away all my winter silk arrangements I decided to make a small, cheery silk floral arrangement for the spring and summer using the white milk glass candy dish.

The arrangement is a combination of silk floral leaves, magnolia stems, lavender stems, and various other small spring like silk floral.

I was pleased with the way the arrangement came out. It was definitely a cheery arrangement for the spring and summer.

Candy might look be better in a candy dish and certainly be tastier - but this looked great. I was pleased with it and hope you like it too.

Sometimes Saving A Few Items Is Worth It

I'm sure I'm not the only crafter that gets asked a lot if I want something before a family member or friend of a family member throws anything out that could be used for my crafts or is a craft supply.

Many years ago I was given a large glass candle cover that someone in the family was throwing away and thought I might like to keep for my floral crafts. So, of course, I took it and stored it away for that one day when I was looking for something just like it.

To understand collecting such things you have to understand that nothing irks a crafter more than to throw something away and then turn around shortly thereafter and need such an item. As a result we tend to save a lot more than we should.

Several years ago I was also sent a Christmas greenery arrangement that had a long flat basin to it. After the greenery turned brown and I had to throw it away I decided to store the basin as I thought I might just have a use for it at some point in time.

Well, a couple of years ago I decided to put that large glass candle cover and basin to good use and created a winter floral arrangement that had a white rose with silver silk twigs inside surrounded on the outside by artificial garlands, white silk poinsettias, small pine cones, and silver wire ribbon bows.

I was pleased with the way the floral arrangement turned out and every winter now this arrangement is proudly displayed.

It just goes to show you that sometimes saving a few items is well worth it.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Time To Put The Winter Floral Arrangements Away

Yippee! It's time to put the winter floral decorations away and break out the spring floral decorations.

I'm thrilled that the winter is over with but have to confess that I do like some of the winter floral decorations. They're pretty to look at but it's time for them to go.

Onward to spring. Yippee!

How I Made My Dimensions Needle Felted Snowman Kit

When my sister came to visit last year one of our objectives was to learn as much as we could about needle felting and working with roving.

I had bought two mini roving kits from Dimensions. One Dimensions Needlecrafts Needle Felted Character Kit, Snowman for making a snowman (shown above) and Dimensions Needlecrafts Needle Felted Character Kit, Penguin for making a penguin (also shown above) that I thought would be a good introduction into working with the fiber so we started there.

We just wanted to get the feel of the fiber and how easy or hard it would be to work with before we embarked on our free style hand creations and working with the molds we had bought. I took the snowman and my sister took the penguin.

The snowman was a no felting mold necessary kit that came with the wool roving (white, black, orange, and blue), felting needle, felting mat, embroidery needle, thread and step-by-step instructions.  It called for twigs for arms which were not included.

The instructions were easy to follow and warned that the single felting needle was sharp, which it certainly was as evidenced by the two photo's below where it actually drew blood on my finger.  This is definitely not a kit or craft for small children.  The needles are just to sharp and when you prick yourself it really hurts.

Basically, the idea was to form three felted balls for the snowman and felt the three balls together.  To felt the balls you rolled the white roving into a small ball using the guide they provided for their size and kept inserting the single felting needle into the ball until it was firm, round and the size required.  This is accomplished by holding the roving in your fingers and inserting the single felting needle into the roving while trying not to prick yourself or inserting the roving into the felting while rolling the ball on the enclosed foam board.  Again, the objective is to not prick your fingers which is easier said than done.

To felt the balls together you keep inserting the single felting needle through the top ball into the ball below it until the roving is felted together and will not pull apart. It's quite amazing how strong the roving gets and how well weaved it is when you've done this.

The next step was to form the orange carrot nose using the roving provided and trying not to prick yourself. I ended up creating several noses before I got one small enough to fit my snowman's head. Then you position the nose on the face and using the single felting needle gently felt the nose into the white roving of the head.

After this they wanted you to thread the needle and embroidery floss to create the snowman's eyes and mouth. I opted instead to roll tiny balls of the black roving and then gently needle felt them into the head for his eyes and mouth. I thought this would look better than the thread.

Next they wanted you to roll the black felt between your fingers to create two tiny buttons for his chest and then needle felt them into the middle ball. I created three black balls for this and needle felted two into the middle ball for his chest and one in the center of the bottom ball.

The blue ear muffs came next. Again, you rolled the blue roving into a small ball the size shown on the snowman pattern and needle felted them until they were firm. I pricked my fingers several times doing this.

Once they were firm the instructions were to needle felt them into the sides of the head for the ear muffs.

Following this the instructions called for using the enclosed embroidery floss to create the ear muffs band.  I opted instead to roll and needle felt the blue roving until I got a flat band that was long enough for the band. Then I gently needle felted the ends of the band into the top sides of the ear muffs that I had already felted onto his head.

The pattern suggested using twigs for the arms and gluing them to the sides for arms. I opted to use small cinnamon sticks for my snowman's arms and glued them into the sides for arms.

I was pleased with how my needle felted snowman came out.  It didn't look exactly like the Dimensions picture, but it looked good none the less and I was happy with it.

Both my sister and I felt that the two Dimensions kits were a good introduction into needle felting, getting used to using the needle, and working with roving. Everything came with the kit so there was no need to buy anything else just to give needle felting a try.

As mentioned, my sister needle felted the penguin from the Dimensions Needlecrafts Needle Felted Character Kit, Penguin (also shown above) so she'll have to blog about her experience with that.

If you get a chance please check out my sister's Rock Garden Alpacas Etsy Shop where she sells her alpaca fiber and handmade alpaca fiber products.

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Written By Linda Walsh.. Linda is a doll maker and doll pattern designer.

The Story Behind Our Celia - Art Doll

Early last year my sister-in-law's beloved mother, Celia passed away. Celia was a wonderful, extremely optimistic, loving, and beautiful soul who had a wicked sense of humor and love of life. I would describe her as pure joy and just loved her. When Celia was around the room was filled with gaiety and laughter.

Over the past ten years I have written about Celia and two dolls I made for her. The first doll I wrote about on August 24, 2005 in a Linda's Blog post entitled Celia's Doll. The 2nd doll I wrote about on May 18, 2006 in a Linda's Blog post entitled The Story Behind My "Celia's Wedding Dress" Doll. You may also recall that I have written about Celia's husband, Elmer as a doll he had given me inspired my Elmer's Little Boy doll.  His post is here.

Celia was a member of the Red Hat Society and loved dressing up for their different events so when my sister-in-law asked me to make a doll for her using some of the Red Hat Society hats, gloves, jewelry, pocketbooks, etc. that she and her mother had made or used for her various outfits I was happy to oblige.

I decided that my "Celia's Art Doll" would be a fully wired cloth art doll with an embroidered face and would be seated on a chair.

The hat in the picture above was completely covered with purple tulle with a large strip of purple boa around the hat band.  I wanted to utilize both so I decided to make my doll's dress out of purple print with it's sleeves and skirt covered with the purple tulle as an overlay.  I would use the purple boa as a shawl.

My "Celia's Art Doll" is a 19" art doll with a cloth body, embroidered face with wire glasses, fully wired and bendable cloth body, and white curly hair. She is wearing red print bloomers gathered at the waist and ankles. Her black felt boots are criss-crossed with DMC embroidery floss for laces.

Her purple print dress is gathered at the waist, shoulders, wrists and neck and has the purple tulle as overlay on the skirt and sleeves. Lace trim adorns the neck and runs down the center of her dress bodice. Purple hearts created from Celia's earrings add adornment to her lace bodice. Wide red ribbon is wrapped around her waist and tied in a large bow tied in the front. A strip of the purple feather boa's from Celia's red hat shown in the picture above is added as a shawl around the doll's shoulders.

The thumbs from Celia's light lilac gloves serve as gloves for the dolls hands and one of Celia's rings is used for a bracelet on the doll's right wrist. The doll's miniature pocketbook is made from the red velvet print pocketbook shown in the picture above and the pearl strap handle is from a pearl necklace Celia used for one of her costumes.

Celia also had a red hat pincushion with embellishments that I used to create the doll's red hat.

With the fully bendable body my "Celia's Art Doll" sits beautifully on her pink metal chair.

My sister-in-law loved her doll.  She now resides in a glass dome next to a picture of Celia.

For Celia

Memories are like leaves of gold

They never tarnish or grow old

Locked in our hearts

You will always be

Loved and remembered

For all eternity

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May the winds of love blow softly

And whisper for you to hear

That we'll always love and miss you

And wish that you were here

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They say there is a reason

They say that time will heal

But neither time nor reason

Will change the way we feel

For no-one knows the heartache

That lies behind our smiles

No-one knows how many times

We have broken down and cried

We want to tell you something

So there won't be any doubt

You're so wonderful to think of

But so hard to be without

Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh