Last weekend Henry had an "Annie" themed birthday party to attend. It was a fifth birthday party for one of his classmates, one whom he particularly loves to share time with. Of course, all of the kids in his class were so sweet and fun to be around, and he just loves people so much that he was happy spending time with any of the kids in his class...
Anyhow, shortly after we got the invitation he and I discussed that it might be fun to make the birthday girl an Annie doll as her gift!
He clapped and eagerly agreed! But then, his birthday party planning, prep and clean up took up much of my free time...And before we knew it we found ourselves at last Friday, the day before the birthday party, without a gift...and without any yarn or stuffing.
(Amazingly this 10lb box of polyfil had already been used up between Stylo and some new pillows...)
So we zoomed off to Joann, with blinders on, to grab some polyfil and "hair". I had really hoped to find something similar to this doll's hair in the right color for the ease and speed of it all, but no such luck...So, off to the yarn section we went. And, after much deliberating Henry and I found the perfect color! I just needed to find the time to make it in less than a day!
I used my Wee Woderfuls book once again using the "Storybook Doll" as my starting point. I added little details to the dress, like a felt peter pan collar, a white ribbon sash...
and little knit and lace bobby socks...
While we were at Joann I found these sweet little iron on doll faces that I thought I'd try for the sake of time saving.
While I do love the way it looks, I'm a little bit worried that the face is going to "rub off", which makes me sad and somewhat regretful. That being said, I doubt I would have finished the doll in time without using the pre-made face.
The hair?
The hair! Oh, I was worried at first how I was going to turn a skein of orange yarn into just the right "Annie" hair in an evening/morning. If you've ever made a doll before with yarn as hair you know that it is very timing consuming. In fact, the woman behind us at Joann (an older woman), said to me "It sounds like you are making a Raggedy Ann doll." When I explained to her Annie actually and for a birthday party the next morning...She looked at me with a knowing grin and said, "Sounds like you'll be up all night!" And that is what I was worried about!
But, as it turns out Hillary, has another doll in the Wee Woderfuls book that has a big poof of hair atop her head made by making bunches of loop de loops and tying them all together, perfect! This method of "hair making" was actually so much fun! And, not too time consuming. Plus, it really did turn out perfectly. And, it's so much fun to touch!
I'm so pleased with the way this little Annie doll turned out. Henry was too! Violet and Henry actually really enjoyed monitoring my progress throughout the afternoon and the next morning. They were amazed at Annie's hair too.
We were all a little bit sad to wrap her up and send her off for the birthday girl. But, we hope she loves it! And, maybe we will just have to make another one to keep someday!
