Boxing Day 2022, share any charity work!

[Bailey4]

Stacie Little Sister Pretty Ensemble

Now I really need to finish and mail a baby blanket!!!

[Bailey4]

I got a box from Tampa Doll over the weekend and it was bursting with goodies.  I had contacted her with help above her regular donations because I got dolls from Darski last year that I didn't donate because I needed to dress them.  Tampa Doll offered to help with with the Lil Cutesies and even sent me more Lil Cutesies dolls with clothes to donate along with other items.

As always I'm so grateful for all the help.  Every year I think this year is bad and am glad for the extras and sadly each year has gotten worse.  While COVID hit families bad last year sadly I think with COVID continuing and inflation I think it is going to be a tough year for lots of families so the work we do continues to help.

So a big thanks goes out to Tampa Doll for her help.

 

Darski Doll with Tampa Doll dress:

Edited to last doll's bib that isn't a visor.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by Bailey4

[Bailey4]

Continued:

Tampa Doll Donations:

 

 

[Tampa Doll]

looks like they made it just fine.  I love the Chocolate Chip doll.  I always like making her and her other lollypop friends.

Edited August 2, 2022 by Tampa Doll

[Bailey4]

There is something about the chocolate chip doll's face that just makes you want to hug her.  The pink dress on the rag doll also stood out among all the amazing doll clothes.

[bgs]

I turned in two prayer shawls yesterday.

[Tulips8]

Lovely colors. Very cheerful.

 

[Tampa Doll]

Lovely shaws.  Love the colors.

[babypoohsmom]

Pretty colors Brenda! I wish I could make so many colors look that good!

My friend at work lost her cro-jo so I took the Wizard pattern to show her. I explained what some of the folks here do and she immediately wanted to help. She walked off with the pattern, talking to herself. And two days later brought these pants in. So I loaned her my doll so she can do fittings. I’m wondering what her husband thought when she brought home the doll. So…I guess I need another doll!

[bgs]

Denise what a great way to help your friend get back to crocheting.  I struggle with color combination and am always relieved when it works.  

[Tampa Doll]

What a way to help.  I had to laugh at you needing a new doll.

Love all I have seen everyone doing.

[Bailey4]

Wow that's awesome. 

People find it odd that I have so many dolls yet so few of them are dressed and displayed.  Yet it is so hard to send off clothes if I'm not sure they fit the dolls.  I've made so many outfits and been glad I had the doll to try on the clothes because they didn't fit until I adjusted either yarn or hook.

The Our Generation Doll is lording it over all the rest as she currently is holding a place of honor on the mantel wearing a Patriots Cheerleading outfit that Mary Jo sent me so that all the dolls wouldn't be constantly naked.

[babypoohsmom]

I always thought it was odd to leave my girl without clothes even if it was only overnight. I guess we humanize things without realizing. My friend said that she was having a hard time get my doll’s boots off (My Life as a Cowgirl or something like that) so that she could get the shoes and socks on for a fitting. I told her to just pull because the doll won’t care but she insisted on doing it gently. 

[Bailey4]

My poor dolls have been so abused.  If there was a doll abuse agency I'd have regular reports.  I'm not a gentle dresser.  I'm usually in a rush to try something on to see if it fits so I can either continue on with the project or pull it out to fix it.

[Tampa Doll]

So true.  Many a times DH would look over and I was either pulling on or off cloths.  Most of the time they sat next to me naked.  Now that I think aobut it, look at the granddaughter's dolls or think about your daughter's dolls.  They were always naked.

Well off to get 2 bags ready to go out.

Have a fun day.

[Bailey4]

The baby dolls and the 18" dolls aren't so bad but I finally had to get a bag for the Barbies as I got some odd looks when I mistakenly left them out a few times from visitors.

[babypoohsmom]

My friend at work is on a roll. I hope you don’t mind having two sets of Harry and Hermione outfits to donate. 

[Bailey4]

Not in the least.  We have plenty of dolls to dress. They came out great!!!! Make sure you include her address so the kids can send her a thank you note too.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Bailey4

[babypoohsmom]

My friend ran out of black yarn for the hat and cloaks. I can’t find any in my room, but I was lucky to find some at the dollar tree today! I’m sure by Monday she will have the whole set done. 
 

[babypoohsmom]

Hi Bailey, did you find an error on the first round of the coat on the Hermione and Harry pattern? My friend and I can’t get 39 stitches out of the instructions. It seems like one set of 5 stitches is missing. Help?

[Tampa Doll]

The outfits looks great Can't wait to see the whole set.

[babypoohsmom]

She figured out the error on the cloak. Here’s the first one. 

[bgs]

So cute!

[babypoohsmom]

Hi Bailey… I was looking back at previous years of the Boxing Day CAL because I was hoping to find that excellent explanation of the Aztec program you wrote before but I can’t find it. Can you give me a brief run-down of how the program works? It doesn’t need to be long. I just want to share the story with my coworker.  Thanks! 

[Bailey4]

Happy to help.

The local trade/tech high school's business department does a local Christmas drive every year where they hook up with a local social service agency to make Christmas for local kids.

I got involved when someone referred me to them because I could find charities that wanted prepackaged toys but nobody wanted crochet doll clothes.  This group was delighted with the handmade clothes and other items like p!ay food I've included over the years.

Another thing that has kept me working with this group for so long is the double benefit. The program is done under the business department as a project that utilities their database and organizational skills. What is not covered under curriculum standards but I think is important is it helps them understand some of the practical challenges of organizing a charity project like this along with the benefits that high school kids generally get from participating in charity work.

The high school kids always are thrilled on drop off day when we tell them how many states or in a couple of years countries participated in their drive. Most kids expect parental, school, and maybe some local community involvement but to know people across the country value your project is pretty amazing for a high school kid. This isn't just someone posting a kind note on social media real work went into making sure they could deliver real gifts to kids.

It is always delightful to see them pull out all the donations. Even the older kids who have been through it before enjoy pulling out and sorting the stuff.

Obviously, we give kids who would have a hard Christmas a little joy. It is one thing to get a doll for Christmas but there is something special when the doll has clothing and accessories to add to the play fun. 

I learned to crochet because I'd been having trouble finding clothing to fit my now adult nieces smaller dolls and the American Girl doll clothing was pricey even with the knock off brands in stores. When they out grew dolls I hadn't outgrew making doll clothes. That's when I started asking around and found Aztec wishes. Aztec is the high school team for sports and clubs.

I keep a list of donors and addresses because the students will print and mail thank you notes when they return from break in January.

The needs only seem to grow. In years passed there were always requests for warm winter clothes, especially the more expensive jackets and boots. Last year they had grandparents who had to take guardianship due to the death of parents. They had several requests for basics like sheets and bedding as this was not part of their financial plan for retirement. These were met by the community but our additions meant Christmas wasn't just practical it also had joy.

I apologize for any mistakes as I wrote this on my tablet this morning.