Christmas Party!

To the Mothers, Grandmothers, and Doll Collectors who read my blog, I hope you enjoy this fun "from a Doll's Perspective" story.  I've been sewing a lot of 18" doll Christmas dresses lately and thought I'd take a little break and write a fun post to go along with the dresses.  I know Christmas time can get busy, so I hope this gives you a moment to take a deep breath, and just enjoy a story!  

"Mom, it's finally here!" Emily yelled as she ran in the house from getting the mail!  "It's from Paula.  It must be the invitation!"

Emily had been watching the mailbox everyday since her best friend Paula had told her that her parents were allowing her to have a Christmas Party at their house.   But this wasn't just any Christmas Party, it was going to be a "formal" party.   All the guests were to dress up in fancy formal dresses!  They would eat dinner at the dinning room table using the "good" dishes and silverware and even have cloth napkins.  It was going to be very fancy!   And Paula was sending each of her friends an invitation through the mail to invite them the party!

Finally.  The invitation had arrived!  In reality her best friend Paula had just told her about the party 3 days ago.  But Emily was so excited that she'd started watching the mailbox that same day.  She wanted to see the invitation and get the details about the party as soon as possible!  

Even though Emily was in a hurry to open the invitation, so also didn't want to tear the invitation and envelope, so she made herself slow down to carefully open the envelope.  She got it open and gently pulled out the invitation.  The outside of the card was beautiful!  There was a picture of a girl standing outside next to a pine tree with fluffy white snow gently swirling around her!  The "snow" was made from glitter, so the card sparkled.   Emily stood for a moment just looking at the invitation card.

Inside she read:
Emily Thomson is cordially invited to Paula Anderson's formal Christmas Party on Saturday December 16, 2023 at 4pm.  Meal will be served at 4:30pm.  Come dressed in Christmas formal attire.

It then went on to give Paula's address.

Emily's mom was smiling as she watched her daughter open and read the invitation.  Now, Emily looked up at her mom and said: "Can I get a new Christmas dress, Mom?"

"We can go shopping on Friday." Emily's mom replied.  "It will be your dress for church for the Christmas Eve service, too."

At that, Emily ran to her room to call Paula and let her know that she'd gotten the invitation!  They talked nonstop for almost an hour, until their mom's told them they needed to get off the phone; it was time for supper.

Now she had to wait until Friday, to shop for her dress.  But Friday finally came and Emily's mom picked her up from school and they went shopping for a Christmas dress.  The first store they went to didn't have anything that Emily liked, so they went to another clothing store.   There were a few dresses that Emily liked and tried on there, but they still weren't quite what she had in mind.  They were about to leave that store, but some fabric sticking out from a rack caught her attention and she walked over to see what it was.  As soon as she saw it, she gasped!  The dress was beautiful!

The fabric that had caught her eye was a sheer fabric with sparkly silver dots, red and white candy canes and peppermints and sparkly silver ribbon trimmed at the hem.

As she pulled the dress out, she discovered that underneath the sheer fabric was a solid red fabric that was also used for the bodice of the dress.  The sleeves were made from the same sparkly sheer fabric!  Emily couldn't take her eyes off this dress.   Emily's mom encouraged her to go tried it on.

A few minutes later Emily stepped out of the dressing room so her mom could see the dress on her.  Emily's eyes sparked with excitement!  She loved this dress!  Emily swirled around so her mom could see the whole dress!  

Emily's mom paid for the dress and Emily clutched the bag tightly as they walked out to the car.  Now she really couldn't wait for the party. 

Emily decided not to tell anyone what the dress looked like, so that it would be a surprise for the party.  It was very hard to wait, though.  She had to bite her tongue a few times as she almost told Paula this or that about the dress. 

Finally Dec. 16th came!  Emily got dressed up in her new Christmas dress and her mom drove her over to Paula's house.

Everyone was dressed up and it was so much fun to see what everyone's dresses looked like.  They all ooh'ed and ahh'ed over each other's dresses.  

Paula's mom had decorated the dinning room table with a cloth table cloth, cloth napkins folded to look like Christmas trees, pretty dishes with gold color on the edges, real glass drinking dresses with pink lemonade in each glass, and a small mini Christmas tree in the center of the table.  

The food was good.  Paula's mom had cooked a ham and made mashed potatoes and green beans.  There was also a salad and for desert there was cherry pie!

After the dinner the girls talked for awhile about school, their plans for Christmas break and their dresses.  Then they watched a Christmas movie!

It was a wonderful Christmas Party, and Emily and all the girls had so much fun!

You Know you're addicted to Fabric when.......

BEEP...BEEP.....BEEP.... I forced my eyes to open just enough to look at what was making that loud annoying beeping noise this morning.  The green glow from the clock read 4:45am.  Saturday.  Hmmm... temping to turn it off, turn over, and go back to sleep.  But even more tempting...... drum roll please..... a special Only Once A Year Pajama Party Sale at a fabric boutique 45 minutes from my home!

What are the sale rules you ask?  Simple, it's only from 6am-9am, and you must be wearing your pajamas to get the sale price.  So, yes, I did the only thing logical for a fabricaholic!  I got up, washed my face, told my eyes they didn't have a choice in staying open, stopped at my mom's house to pick her up, and off we went in our pajamas!  It had snowed the night before and was still snowing, so the drive took longer than normal to get there, but we made it!  I mean, it's fabric afterall!

Is this sale only for the fabric store?  Actually, no, it's not just the Fabric boutique that is offering this sale but practically the entire town of Shipshewana Indiana!  

Where is Shipshewana?  Shipshewana is located in Northern Indiana in LaGrange County.

What is Shipshewana Indiana like?  This quaint town of Shipshewana is home to a large Amish community and is a great tourist destination.   The town hosts many events throughout the year, including an Ice Festival, Trading Places of America flea market, concerts with well known performers and so many small business shops from both Amish craftsmen and non-Amish crafts/makers!  There is always something to explore in Shipshewana.

Is there any other interesting facts about this quaint town of Shipshewana?  Yes, it was featured in "Best Life's" list of towns that feel like you're in a Hallmark movie!  (I updated this post in 2024 to add this point, because I enjoy Hallmark movies, especially the Christmas movies, and it's so true!  Shipshewana Indiana is a true town that really does look and feel like you're part of a Hallmark movie!)

Back to the Pajama Sale; Tell me more! The Pajama Party Sale is only ONCE a year and it is so much fun!  You don't want to miss it!

It's an adventure!  Many ladies make a whole adventure out of it by getting their friends together for a "Girl's getaway!".  There are a few hotels that people can stay at if they're coming from a distance and just want to turn their "girl's getaway" into a whole weekend event.  

Where would you recommend staying?  I would recommend Farmstead Inn.   I've stayed there multiple times over the years for family events and always enjoyed it.  The rooms are beautiful!  They have a pool area with not only a pool, but also a hot tub and a kiddie pool.  The kiddie pool has a cute white picket fence around it,  which is nice so that you don't have to worry about bigger kids running through and bumping into the bigger kids. 

What should I wear for the Pajama Party?  Ladies wear their warm and comfy pajamas (of course) but some also wear robes, instead of coats, to keep warm while still staying in theme with this event!

Are the sale prices all the same? No.  While most, if not all, stores and restaurants participate, the amounts of the discounts do vary, but as long as you're wearing your pajamas, you get a discount at participating stores and restaurants!     You can check the website for the town of Shipshewana as many retailers post what their sales will be ahead of time so you can plan of where you want to go first.  If I remember correctly, as few of the stores have different house, too.  Some continue the sale a little later than other stores.  So you may want to plan ouy where to go when, so you don't miss any of the discounts!

Was there any specific fabrics you were going for this year?  Yes, this year I was really interested in the Minky Cuddle Fabrics.  They're pretty expensive, so I'm really excited about getting them on sale!

Were you able to get the colors and prints you wanted?  Yes, I got there early, as I didn't want them to be sold out.  I was able to get lots of new colors and prints of  Minky Cuddle Fabric!!!  I'm really excited!  Some of the prints included cute monkeys!

What are you planning on making with this fabric?  My plan is to make cute and colorful hoodies so that the 18 inch dolls can be fashionable while staying warm this winter.

I can hardly wait to start cutting & sewing! The 18" American Girl dolls and their other 18" doll friends will be dressed in style with these wonderfully soft, warm, and fashionable hoodies!  Coming soon (just as soon as I can get them sewn up)!  

And so, even though I'm not a morning person, I found myself getting on early on this cold, snowy, winter February morning.