I have made a " tradition" for my great niece..........

who is turning 2.

 I plan to send her a baby doll and

a set of play dishes each year on her birthday.  As the 

years roll by and she grows into a young woman,

the dolls will change and the play dishes will become

real pieces of dishware.

I collect and restore vintage Horsman dolls.  Usually the rubber body ones

with the sculpted hair.  Once in a while , I run across lovely vintage 

baby dolls with soft bodies and friendly faces. 

 This is a 1972 Horsman , once loved , years ago, by some little girl. 

I wanted my niece to have a soft bodied vintage baby doll of her own

and picked this doll out of my collection to prepare for her.

I had these sweet little doll shoes that fit the doll perfectly,

so I decided to make her outfit to match the shoes.

She has such a friendly face and she looks so life- like!

I also made a little doll quilt out of fabric 

left over from when my children were small.

I bought a small set of play dishes........

and decided to also make her a zebra from a

kit I had stashed away for  years. 

They all traveled away to her in a big box.........

as you can see, the doll now has a new life,

with a new little girl, who will love her

all over again!