Saturday, July 2, 2011

I’m More Like My Mother Than I Thought…

At least With Dolls!
I grew up in what today would be considered a large family.
Back then it was not. There were five of us. Both my
parents worked but my mom was expected to still take
care of the home. (Side bar-you know I couldn’t have
made it back then because wouldn’t have had all of that
men don’t do house work crap!) So with working inside
and outside of the home, this meant my mom was a
very busy woman!

I was the fourth of five children. My younger sister was
2 ½ years younger than me. I was never sure if it was
because my mom was so busy it was easier, or that she
thought it was cute or because it was the cheapest way
to do it but mom always dressed my sister and me alike.
Some time there was a difference in color, I was in red
and my sister was in pink, but most of the time it was
the exact same outfit. I absolutely hated it! Now mind
you my sister was an almond complexion and I was
more of a dark walnut but people would always ask
“are they twins?” Insult to injury! I always complained
about it. My mother would say “when you buy your
own clothes, you can wear something different than
your sister.” Well, I was never one to back down from
what I thought was a challenge and I started doing odd
jobs at a young age and learned to restyle things too. I
can’t tell you that it solved the problem but that more
for another post.

So I had a second edition Julian doll on my dollpage
that had not sold so, I decided that he would be a brother
to my other second edition Julian. He would not be a
twin brother but be a little brother. I also had a Swan
Lake Tommy. His hair style was too much for a toddler
but not for a child a bit older. So I swapped the head
from a Tommy doll, to make a little brother for the
Julian. Tommy’s head went on Julian’s body. So now
I have two dolls with a Julian face. I haven’t given them
names or a family yet but I hope to do so soon. And
yes… it was a little easier to put them both in the same
outfit.

The brothers! So here they are!
The two will the Julian face...


Tommy is a little chubbier than Julian is around
the middle.


...and the Swan Lake Tommy on the new body with his
brother. He and his bother are called Xavier and Xanti.
I have a family in mind for them.



Tommy’s body was a little darker but not too much. To me,
siblings at this age always look a lot alike!


Xavier always looks after his brother!

Here are the boys at Smith Playground! They love it there!

You have to do the sliding board.


Girls on the seesaw.


Xavier tell Xanit how to be safe before they start to play!



Enjoying the day!


Some play ball...

but one is noticing the boy on the sliding board.






Loving the swing!

11 comments:

limbe dolls said...

Very cute playground scene. I like the Julian brothers.

Dollz4Moi said...

Love the kids. I like the rebodied Julian & Tommy

Vanessa said...

I LOVE the whole twin, head swapping, big brother/little brother concept. Apparently your mother secretly wanted twins! Poor thing. I think we all heard that "when you buy your own clothes _____". Fill in the blank. My mom used to make my clothes. Some of them were really cute, but at the time I couldn't really appreciate OOAK custom clothes, like I can now.

Georgia Girl said...

Ms Leo, I think a lot of families dressed their kids that way back then and some still do. My brothers who are 6 years apart dressed alike or in similar colors for certain events...pictures, Easter. My sister who is 5 years older than I, was on the chunky side and I was super skinny (back then -lol) and for some reason she never dressed us alike. I do recall my older brother hating it. I find myself dressing my dolls in similar colors especially my twins.

I love your pics of the children. They seem to be having lots of fun! Happy Sunday to you!!

Paumar said...

Awww.... I love the brothers with afro :) They're so cute.

Ms. Leo said...

Thanks Paumar! Normally Kelly size males have an open smile. I like this face on the boys!

Ms. Leo said...

Thanks Dollz4Moi. I really like the way they came out. I had it in my head for a while. I'm glad I did it.

Ms. Leo said...

Thanks limbe dolls. I had the playground items up for sale but no buyers. I thought it would be nice to use them in this post.

Ms. Leo said...

Thanks Georgia Girl. The dolls do look like they are having fun! That is how I remember the summer as a child...days of play in the sun! I don't think I knew how good I had it.

About that whole dress alike thing, I guess children are dolls you can't control.:)

Ms. Leo said...

Vanessa, there must be a school somewhere that they send parents to learn those lines. OK, repeat after me. When you buy your own clothes you can wear what you want.
As long as you live under my roof you will do what I say. Because I said so. My all time favorite because I'm the parent and your the child. I sure there are a few more but that is most of them.:)

My mother didn't do much sewing. My Nana did and boy could she sew! You could just show her the picture in a magazine and she would cut it out freehand and sew it! You couldn't tell it was not store bought! I only seem to be able to channel her energy when I'm baking. I wish I had more time with her. She died when I was six.

kristl tyler said...

It seems like a lot of people are figuring out the SIS/Chelsea and Kelly/Friends head swap at the same time. It's great. It opens up a whole world of possibilities. I hadn't thought of switching down (SIS head to Kelly body) I had only thought of switchinng up (Kelly Friends heads to Chelsea bodies). I had done that bc I don't keep any blonde dolls in our collection at all (okay my exception is the Heart Family). I like Latinos, Asians and Gingers way too much! thanks for helping me realize an easy way to get another level of age diversity from my dolls. This is such a fabulous opportunity.