When I was little, I thought all mothers were artists. And musicians. And seamstresses. Like my mother.
Because she had so much creative talent, my mom enriched my childhood with constant doses of it. She whipped up numerous dresses for me on her old 1940s Singer sewing machine. I was always in style at church or school. And so were my baby dolls. Chatty Cathy & I often wore matching frocks, thanks to Mother’s genius. In fact, until I took this picture, I never realized that little Muffy’s dress wasn’t just like mine.
Muffy & Me – Twins!
The turquoise-blue, dotted-Swiss number I wore for my portrait (about four years of age), was a rare store-bought dress. But Mother found similar material for Muffy’s look, added some fancy lace, & I thought we were twins.
For my birthday, Mother sometimes drew beautiful ladies on white cardboard, the stiff backing saved from packages of nylons. She sketched enough so each invited guest could take away her own, original paper doll. Each doll wore a unique hairstyle & bathing suit. And each had a large sheet of art paper filled with tabbed clothes. During the party, we could fill in the outfits using new sets of colored pencils. Scissors were provided so each girl could cut out clothing for her doll to model. We lay on the living room tiles, industrious, creating our own masterpieces.
Probably the only time we were quiet all day.
Though I no longer have the paper dolls, I have a lot of my mother’s drawings that are reminiscent.
When I think of how much time & love Mother put into such projects on my behalf, I feel rich. Now that she is in Heaven, these memories are great treasures.
I hope I remembered to thank her adequately.
Crafting Mysteries & Suspense 
Cathy, What beautiful memories of your mother. I smiled while reading this! And what a cutie pie you were! Glad you shared. 😊
Thanks, Barbara. Funny, one doesn’t realize one is living a charmed life at the time. But looking back, so precious to me.
This story of how much creativity your mother had giving you and your friends time to play and unlock hidden talents that will be used later in your lives is what’s missing in most children today. Seems like there is a lot of “electronics”taking away precious parenting time.
Those are very good points, Joseph. While I was being pampered, I was learning much, exploring much, and tucking away ideas for my own mother journey. It is a difficult time to raise kids without all the electronic influence, but I’ve seen it done, now and then. Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
Lovely post of special memories ! Fun to read about your paper doll birthday party. I bet your mother’s dolls were beautiful. I gave my daughter a paper doll party for her eighth birthday (and recently included it in one of my blog posts). Thanks for sharing your mom’s creativity.
Thank you, Marcia. How kind you are. And you are right, Mother’s paper dolls were so pretty! All the girls oooed & ahhed. I’ll have to pop over & read your blog post about your own paper doll experience. Sounds fun! And thanks for dropping by….
That’s beautiful, Cathy. Your memories instill long forgotten memories of my own Mom’s talents, which, of course, were taken for granted. She could sketch beautifully, sewed all my clothes well into high school, and I got my green thumb from her. You’re so lucky to have some of your Mom’s sketches. She was a great lady; I remember us antiquing with her enjoying the adventure as much as we did.
love,
d
Thanks, Donna. So glad this made you remember your own mom’s creative talents. Though she left far too soon. I know I was blessed to have mine for so long. And I do remember us antiquing together! My mom was an easy “guest.” She loved to tag along. I appreciate the kind words, my friend. Muchas smoochas!