My Beautiful Family Heirloom

Is she not beautiful or what! Handmade by my very own Nana. The one I inherited my craftiness from;0)

There is a story behind this special gem. My Nana went through a short period of her life when she made porcelain dolls. She was quite obsessed with them at the time focusing on all the details like costume and the like. My Nana has 3 daughters and she made a doll for each of them.

In fact my Aunty's ones she made wigs using their very own hair which she kept from when they were young. Unfortunately my mother didn't have her own hair because Nana liked to keep her hair short. My mother had Shirley Temple curls when she was little.

Any how this doll was meant for my mother but she died before my Nana. So my Nana could not give it to her. So it was kept for me. I stayed at my Nana's a lot and this doll was kept in the spare room. I always admired her and she really does remind me of a piece of home. If there was a fire I would save her before any other possessions. She's that special.

So when my Nana died she was gifted to me. My mum was the oldest and in turn I am the oldest daughter so when I die I will give it to my oldest daughter and so the tradition will begin always going to the oldest .



My Nana was the most amazing craftswoman. Her workmanship was of an outstanding quality. Though she could always find fault and doubted her ability. Throughout this blog I would like to showcase some of her work. I have already shown this one.

Up until now I hadn't taken off her jacket so it was nice to see what was hiding underneath. The Jacket is a bit of a dust collector so it needs a gentle wash and her hair needs tidying but we don't want to rush these things.

But the story still goes on... Since for such a long time I have always like to do what she did and make dolls for my children using their own hair. I am just about ready to cut Emma's hair short so I can save her hair for a wig. I am really lucky cause both her and Holly's hair grows really quick and they have lots of it. Amelia on the other hand, her hair grows a lot slower, is starting to curl up and is also so fine. It is going to take forever to get a wig from her hair.

But don't think I am going to start this adventure anytime soon. Oh no I have images of doing this when I am in retirement.

Another huge inspiration for me at the moment concerning porcelain dolls is this woman, 'Black Eyed Suzie' My god when I first saw these dolls I thought I had died and gone to heaven. They are absolutely exquisite and to die for. My goal in life is to own one of these beauties. She gives a exact time when she will sell them on her Etsy store and poof they are gone before you know it. You literally have to sit and watch the clock.

So one day, maybe...