Pillow Perplexities

One day Missy L was at Dominic and Holly's house and she ripped the decoration off one of their throw pillows. She was in big trouble! And it was a random silly reason, not an accident.

I felt it was important to teach her about restitution, so with her mom's permission, I helped her sew a new pillow for Holly. She had to pay for the pillow form herself, out of her allowance. This pretty pillow is the end result. It's a bit Christmas-y but Holly didn't seem to mind, and it fits with the red chair and red accents she and Dominic have in their living room. I had the fabric, so we didn't have to buy more.

Missy also had to give the pillow to Holly herself, and apologize and admit what she had done. She also had to admit it to her parents. Confessing was probably the hardest part for her but she was a brave girl and told the truth. Holly accepted it graciously and the matter was closed.

I fixed the old pillow as well as I could, since it seemed to mean a lot to Holly. I think her Grandma or someone like that gave it to her. So now Holly has two pillows.

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a little girl who was in love with life, and with romance. One day she asked her mother if she could have a bride doll for Christmas. Her mother said no, because they lived out in the country, and a bride doll would be exposed to dust and dirt.  The little girl was sad, and though life went on, she never forgot the doll she dreamed of.

When the little girl was grown up, she became a bride. Her sister Sandy sewed a beautiful dress for her, and she was happily married to her Prince Charming.

About ten years after they were married, Prince Charming gave the girl a pretty porcelain doll she had admired in the store. She bought another one on a special trip with her mother and some of her sisters. As time went on, she began collecting dolls from special occasions. One is from Easter, another belonged to her mother, one was given to her by her mother-in-law, whom she loves.

One day, during a casual phone conversation, the girl and Sandy talked about her dolls, and she mentioned the bride doll she'd always wanted. That year for her birthday, Sandy gave her a very special porcelain bride doll. It had a name on the tag, and the name was Nancy, which they both loved because it was the name of another sister.

After a few years, and a few moves, the girl noticed that the doll was showing a bit of wear. The veil wouldn't stay attached, and the socks fell down.  One day she decided to spruce up the doll. She carefully hand-washed the dress and petticoat, replaced the petticoat elastic, and created a tiara out of some little pearly beads.

She made a bracelet to match the tiara.

The girl used tiny hair elastics to hold up the socks.

Now the bride is ready for her wedding. The girl was amused to notice that the doll had no bloomers, as most porcelain dolls do. That may be a project for the future, but the bride is headed for her honeymoon, right?