The Humble Little Doll Theater | Made of Rags

The Humble Little Doll Theater Plays: A Lee for Christmas!

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Another Christmas party. Gifts are exchanged and Edward and some of the girls sing Christmas carols in their corner

Others just listen and enjoy.

A new member of the doll theater was hired recently: The Artist Davinia, a non articulated Painter and stage designer. She´s a bit rough and straight forward , but a nice person, if you know her better.

The Miss Ghastly made their own corner as dark and gloomy as possible this year and were ready to quarrel like every Christmas- But then something unexpected happend:

They finally found a friend, with whom they can share their liking of darkness and gloomy things: Thekla the witch, who is now guest with her dragon Draco at the dusty room of Eve and Angeline. And uses some descret magic, to prevent the sisters from fighting again.

And while Angeline recites dark and sadly lyrics, the other girls have fun with excellent sweets and good wine.

Helena thinks about learning to play the trumpet.

And some other girls meet in the notorious “cozy corner”, where they can gossip on soft sheep furs…

“Have you seen Midnights gown and hat? What happened to her? She seems to have changed her style completely!”

“She has a personal style coach now! That woman did wonders on her”

“She lookes like a complete different person!”

But outside in the cold is someone….Watching the girls celebrate….

Someone lonely with yearning eyes,who wants to go in and find some friends and a new home.

But that´s not quite easy…

“There´s someone outside! I think it´s a man!”

“WHAT?” The girls are upset!

“Have you heard? They say, there´s a man outside!”

“Another one?”

“It´s true! There IS a Man!”

“I thought men were extinct…Except Edward of course!”

“I could use my witchcraft on him!”

“No! Please don´t! It could be Mortimer!”

” I hope, he´s dressed this time!”

“Oh PLEASE! Not another one! Isn´t Edward enough?

But Edward thinks a bit different about the situation and decides, to go outside and talk to the stranger.

“Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you a kind of Peeping Tom?”

“No! I swear, I´m not! My name is Lee and I´m desperately in search of a new employment…”

“According to the jacket you wear, your last employment must have been a circus!”

“I´m a fashion designer!”

“Well….that explaines everything…You should better come inside. We already have a fashion designer named Elsa. She takes care for the girls theater costumes. But maybe she needs someone to help her….”

“Girls, we have an unexpected guest. His name´s Lee and he´s a fashion designer!”

“But Elsa is our designer…We don´t need another one!”

But Lee won´t give up that easy!

“Please! Don´t throw me out! I´m lonesome and homeless!”

“I´ll freeze to death, if you send me back on the streets!”

“Now look at him! What an excellent breakdown! He seems not only to be a fashion designer, but a very good actor too!”

“But would it be wise, to have another man here?”

“He looks, as if he ran away from a traveling circus! Have you seen his jacket and hairstyle?”

“Oh, come on girls! I like all of you very much, but I feel a bit lonely among so many women! I need a male friend at my side! I know, he looks a bit strange, but that can be changed in time!”

“So what! Let´s keep him for a while…And if we don´t like him, we can throw him out later! And we shouldn´t forget: It´s Christmas!”

“You mean, I can stay?”

“For the moment. And maybe forever, but the girls will watch you closely. So be careful, what you do…

What will happen to Lee?

We don´t know the future. But for now, he´s safe and warm at the doll theater. And the girls are self-satisfied with their generosity…..

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018!

This time everyting went wrong. I had planed to provide the set a few days before Christmas, but never had the time. So I had to do in a grreat hurry within a few hours at the day before the holiday.

And I cheeted a bit about Lees arrival. Actually, he came month before Christmas, but I never made it , to set up a storyline for him.

The story also had to be very short and I needed so much time for the set´s providing, that I could only shoot after it got dark outside.

Therefore, the pictures are a bit greay. But I did my best, as always…

The Humble Little Doll Theater Plays: Edwards Arrival!

This is a SATIRE.

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People always asked me, why I don´t have any male dolls…I never knew what to say, because the answer isn´t that easy.

First of all, some of the male dolls are not my style. Others have rather simple faces…At least that´s my private opinion.

Kinsman´s are out of the question for some reasons and Iplehouse boys don´t have the right size for my 16″ girls. I would like to have some Jamieshow guys, but they are expensive and seldom to find on the secondary market in Europe.

So I gave up and went on with my bunch of girls….But one day, the “man” subject suddenly turned up again and everything changed….But look for yourself…

The stage is empty, the theater closed. But a few actors are in.

Some work on the settings, others enjoy lunch together between rehearsals. It´s a quiet and normal day….But suddenly…

“There´s a MAN!”

“Hi girls!”

“We need to build a barricade!”

“Helena, don´t get so close! Be carefull! He might bite!”

“Sorry to disturb…But is this the “Humble Little Doll Theater”?

“Yes it is…But what are YOU doing here?”

“I´m the new member of the theater company!”

“WHAT”????

“How could our director do this to us?”

“We were totally happy without any men!”

“I don´t know, what came to her mind! Men ALWAYS bring lots of trouble!”

“But he´s here now…So what are we going to do”?

Sorry to interrupt…I don´t know, how you usually welcome new members…But don´t you think, it´s a bit awkward for me to stand in front of you ladies with nothing but underpants? Shouldn´t I have some clothes?

“Be glad for the pants! Some of US came NUDE !”

“Do MEN need cloth”?

“I go and fetch some!”

“But you over there- KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!”

Soon Midnight comes back….

“Well…Thanks! But that isn´t exactly, what I was thinking about, when I asked for cloth!”

“But that´my favourite ballgown!”

“Say, aren´t you a vidious feller!”

“O, Midnight! You´re such an airhead! What he needs is MENS CLOTH!”

“Mens cl….? OH!”

“But we haven´t any!”

“Then it´s up to our director!”

“If you think, it´s necessary, to bring a man in here, shouldn´t you take the responsibility for him”?

Of course, a director should….So the cloth come in!

“Much better now! Thank you!”

“A bit unfamiliar for us girls, but it suits you! What´s your name?”

“I´m Edward….”

“Edward….Edward…Didn´t I use the name for a hero in one of my novels…If I could only remember, which one it was…”

“Oh! What a burdon, to be over 200 years old!”

“…What was that….?”

“Oh, don´t give it to much attention. That was only Law, our “Jane”-impersonator. She does it quiet often. ”

“Come with me, Edward. After your long journey, you should have some food and relaxation!”

While Helena takes care for Edward, the girls start to remove the barricades and clean up the mess.

Soon, all goes back to normal and Edward sits beside the girls…

“What did you do, before you came here, Edward?”

“Well…..I played a Vampire.”

“A Vampire! that´s usefull! Our director thinks about a Halloween-special this year…Maybe that´s, why she hired you!” You would make a brillant “prince of darkness!”

“O Yes! And we could be your brides!”

“…How many girls work here?”

“26, including our two Miss Ghastley.”

“26! That´s to much brides, even for a prince of darkness!”

“Don´t worry. Maybe we´re lucky and our director can´t manage to sew all the costumes and provide the scenes and the vampire play will be cancelled!”

“How´s our director”?

“She´s not only our director but also the theaters owner, manager, lighting technician and costume designer … She´s a bit crazy, but treats us good. We can get a lot of nice props and cloth and the work isn´t to hard. You will like it here!”

Directors voice from the off:

“I wasn´t sure, if it was a good idea to put a cat among the pidgeons. But in Edwards case, its more like I put a pidgeon among the cats….But he´s clever, he will do fine and maybe become a friend and mascot for the girls!

Cast:

The Man Edward Cullen

The sensible girl Helena (actually Sidney)

The Airhead Midnight

The whole bunch of actors :

Sidney, Law, Doku, Brenda Starr, Blue Inque, Mama Morton, Cross, Tulabelle, Velma Kelly, Esmé

Costumes by “The House of Eder” on the Humble Little Doll Theater

Wigs: Facetsbymarcia

I didn´t employ Edward for his Vampire-past. The truth is: He was availabel, affordable and I liked his face.

And of course I had many, many issues with my new play. Edward did a good job, he stood sound on his two big feet, but to make high-heeled girls pose without a stand…Well, I whined about that many times before. And the light was another problem. Sometimes too bright, sometimes too dark, but I did my best.

Midnight surprised me this time. She´s not my favourite doll. I employed her, because of her aggressive look and the fact, that she has a “gripping hand”. I don´t have the courage to change the hands on my other sybs, so Midnight was usefull on that matter. She is also versatile. She makes a good villain, excentric and the perfect airhead. I used her with different wigs in former plays, but was astonished, how soft and beautiful she looks with this long wig in a bright shade of hazelnut. But after all, her new beauty didn´t help her- She had to play the airhead again….

To cover the table with all the food items was fun. Thanks to the French and their tradtion of “Feves”, aka “Galettes des rois”, I could get some beautiful ceramic miniature goodies.

Those “feves” (the word means “beans”) were used to bake them into the cake for the day of the three holy kings on 6. of january. The one who got the feve, was king or queen for a day. Very simple pieces of ceramic in earlier days, they are now intricate, colorful subjects of collection and available in a wide range of variations .

The Humble Little Doll Theater Plays: At the Millinery

You can enlarge the pictures, if you click on them.

This time no storyline, just a few sets I made about a milliners shop in the 1920s and another version from the 1950s…well, as good, as I could…I don´t have many items of the 50s nor do I have many matching cloth for my dolls from that period.

But it´s funny, how many 1950s hats I made…And I really enjoyed it. Seems, I like the hats from that time much more than the cloth…

I worked as a milliner myself for years and could use my skills, to make some nice hats for my little actors.

This time I had issues with the light again, so the pictures are not the very best and don´t ask about the problems, I had to prepare the set. In the middle of it, I found out, I had forgotten to sew some smocks for the milliners and the shop girl!

I hadn´t many time, so I couldn´t sew authentic smocks from the 1920s. (Smocks at that time looked more like Kasacks and were much longer with pleats.)

So I grabbed, what I could find on white fabric and made smocks, that can work in some different scenes in the future…even as blouses, if neccessary.

The next issue was to make some kind of hat-stands. With only a small amount of spare time, I took some vintage wood-spools and a few metal bars, I had left over from another project. Not perfect, but they did the job. Maybe I find the time soon, to make better stands. But for now….

Now enjoy my little scenes!

Wealthy customers gather to see the new hats…

They came to see the latest Paris-style!

Some hats for summer partys!

And some for every day occasions!

Does the hat suit me?

Show us more hats! But don´t forget, we´re very challenging!

So many lovely hats to buy!

But there is always a less glamourous side of life…In the back, milliners work hard, to make their wealthy customers fashion dreams come true!

Some new hat designs to work on!

And hats to finish fast! Customers don´t like to wait…

Time goes by, fashion is different now, but in fact, nothing has changed…

A milliners shop in the 1950s:

Wealthy customers gathered, to see the new Paris style…

Some hats for Church and garden partys!

Does the new style suit me?

I love to wear chinese coolies!

I prefer flower hats!

No, nothing has changed. There are still busy milliners in the back and work night and day on the dreams of their challenging customers.

The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: Something strange happened at the supermarket

THIS IS A SATIRE!

DIES IST EINE SATIRE!

Another ordinary day at the little supermarket on the corner.

Ein ganz normaler Tag im kleinen Supermarkt an der Ecke.

Customers come and go.

Kunden kommen und gehen.

Cash floates in like every day.

Das Geld fließt herein, wie jeden Tag.

But suddenly…

Doch plötzlich…

“Look! Have you seen THAT?”

“What do you mean?”

“BARBIES! I had no idea, they let those dwarfs in here!”

“Hast du DAS gesehen?”

“Was meinst du?”

“BARBIES! Ich hatte keine Ahnung, dass sie diese Zwerge hier reinlassen!”

But Barbies have sharp ears!

Aber Barbies haben scharfe Ohren!

And they don´t run from trouble!

Und sie gehen keinem Streit aus dem Weg!

“WHAT did you say?”

“WAS hast du da gerade gesagt?”

“How dare you, to call me a dwarf! Can´t you see, I´m a TALL!”

“Wie kannst du es wagen, mich einen Zwerg zu nennen! Kannst du nicht sehen, dass ich eine TALL bin?”

“Yes! She´s a TALL! Can´t you see that?”

“Ja! Sie ist eine TALL! Siehst du das nicht?”

“You´re insulting us!”

“Du beleidigst uns!”

“And you will be sorry for this!”

“Und dafür wirst du büßen!”

“SECURITY!”

“SICHERHEITSDIENST!”

“It´s the one in the lilac coat! She called us DWARFS!”

“Es ist die da drüben im lila Mantel! Sie hat uns ZWERGE genannt!”

“Sorry Madam, you´re accused of Barbie doll discrimination!”

“Tut uns leid, aber Sie werden der Diskriminierung von Barbies bezichtigt!”

“You´re under arrest!”

“Sie sind verhaftet!”

“It´s time, those 16″s learn, who REALLY reigns the fashion doll world!”

“Es wird wirklich Zeit, dass diese 16″s lernen, wer WIRKLICH die Welt der Modepuppen regiert!”

And so they pay…

Also zahlen sie….

…and leave!

Und gehen!

“What are we´re going to do?”

“Go on shopping! What else?”

“Was machen wir jetzt?”

“Weiter einkaufen! Was sonst?”

“…Yes…What else….”

“Ja…Was sonst…”

All goes back to normal….But suddenly…

Alles ist wieder normal…Doch plötzlich…

“Have you seen THAT? I didn´t know, they let those…”

“Hast du DAS gesehen? Ich wusste nicht dass sie diese…..”

“NO! Don´t say it! Just shut up and run!”

“NEIN! Sag es nicht! Halt einfach den Mund und lauf!”

“Sister, have you seen those strange dolls over there? Seems, they run away from us, as if they are frightened!”

“Schwester, hast du diese merkwürdigen Puppen dort drüben gesehen? Scheint fast so, als hätten sie Angst und würden vor uns davonlaufen!”

“Well, you never know, what goes on in the mind of those 16″s!”

“Nun, man weiß nie, was in den Köpfen dieser 16″s vorgeht!”

This time, I decided to let the girls play around in a kind of “supermarket”.
Yes, I know….there are far to less items in the shelfs, but I simply couldn´t manage to get more of those little boxes, we use for childrens play shops over here.

But I had some lovely little “feves” from France in stock, that worked well in the set.

And NO, this is a simple satire, no comercial thing.

I used some older Sybs like Cross and Tick. They are beautiful, but don´t pose well. So I had to use stands again, even if they don´t work the way I want them to….I don´t know, how often the dolls fell of the stands and finally one of the Syb-stands broke….But no harm done to the precious dolls and that is all, that counts!

Cast:

Davincia- The woman in the lilac coat

Cross + Tick- Lilac´s friends

Esmé + Louise Devereaux- The securitys

Doku, Brenda Starr and Mrs. Brenda SaintJohn- Customers

Evi + Angeline Ghastly- Another customers

The Barbies play themselves

Costumes: The House of Eder by Made of Rags

Wigs +Shoes: Facets by Marcia

The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: A day at the museum!

THIS IS A SATIRE!

My dolls love museums. That´s why they wanted a set on that subject. First I had planed to work with 10-12 dolls, but over the time, they all found a way to be included in this new play!

It took more than two month to provide the set. I needed new winter-cloth for all 20. That meant a lot of sewing and crocheting. Some of the pullovers and crochet dresses seem to be oversized. That´s purpose. I like the oversized 1980s style and my poor dolls have to suffer from that!

Curtain´s open! Now here´s the play:

On a cold day at the end of winter, some visitors come to see the museums new exhibition!

They walk around from section to section and enjoy the rare artefacts under the observant eyes of the museums watchers.

All is peacefull…But not for long! Trouble comes straight through the front door!

“What´s THIS here? That´s no shopping mall!”

“Of course not! It´s a museum!”

“Why on earth should I go to a museum? I thought, we´d go shopping and have fun, like we always do in our spare time!”

“But visiting a museum IS fun! Look at all the people, admiring this beautiful examples of rare ancient art!”

“All I can see, ist a bunch of morons, staring at some rotten old junk!”

“And this two gloomy penguins over there observe me all the time!”

“That women are museums clerks. It´s their job to monitor! And it´s obvisious, why they stare at you!”

“You mean, it´s my new Sergio Lumpo Ensemble, they´re looking at?”

“Isn´t it AMAZING? I bought it just yesterday!”

“Not everyone has such a good taste like me!”

“My dear, sometimes I ask myself, how WE became friends!”

“Who´s that girl? Look, what a fuss she makes!”

“I don´t know, from where she got THAT clothes!”

Meanwhile, across the room in the “gloomy penguins” corner….

“Have you seen that parrot over there?”

“Yes! That woman must be color-blind!”

“I know that type: Wants everything, knows nothing, but has an opinion on every subject! Typical airhead!”

“But the little redhead with the specs seems to care about her….”

“Life isn´t fair! She has a good friend, who likes her and she don´t deserve it! And I have no one!”

“That´s not right! I care for you! We´re colleagues for so many years now and don´t you think, that´s a bond?”

“I hope, we can always be friends- And colleagues!”

“But now we have to look after the airhead! I hope, she won´t stumble over one of our artefacts while searching for the ladys room!”

“Can´t we drag her out of here?”

“Maybe, if we could start the fire alarm!”

While our penguins laugh, Tulabelle and Elsa, two sisters who share the same mother, but different fathers, enjoy the Asian section of the exhibition.

“Oh sister! Look at all this beautiful things! I really wish, I could have one of those lacquer-vases for my flat! Sometimes you can find such items in antique-shops, but they´re much to expensive for me!”

“I would have bought you one for your birthday in June, but the stock market crashed down last week. I´m just glad, I didn´t loose my job at the bourse!”

“And I´m just another young designer with great ambitions, lots of creativity and no money at all!”

“But one day, you will be someone! And I will soon get back to success again!”

Walking around can be exhausting. So many visitors use the bench-area for a short rest and exchange of views…

“It´s the best exhibition, they had in years! I´m really glad, we came here! Have you seen the Egyptian fresco?”

“Yes! It´s fantastic! It remained for so long and is still so beautiful!”

“I find so many Inspiration for my own art here!”

“And I look forward to your vernissage next month!”

But not everyone enjoys the exhibition that much…

“Oh please! Can´t we get out of here and go shopping? This place is so boring and cheerless! And it gives me the creepes, to see all this dusty old thrash!”

A woman nearby turns around, looks at the airhead and says:

“That´s no “thrash”, Girl! The flyer says, the big amphora over there is around 100 BC!”

“Gosh! That ugly old pot is more rotten, than I thought!”

“Just be brave!”

“If you´re a good girl and let me have the museum, I take you to your favourite restaurant, after we´re finished here!”

“Who pays?”

“I do!”

“Deal!”

Helena made her friend quiet…Now she can walk around having pleasure without someone constantly wailing behind her back…But maybe, they should have skipped the Egyptian section!

“Look at these! Have you seen this amazing dress? Well, THAT´S something interesting! Do you think, a gown like that suits me?

“Please don´t touch, Madam!”

“The mummy! It´s alive!”

“She´s unconscious!”

“So sorry! We did´n´t want this to happen!”

“Something´s wrong over there…We better go and have a look!”

“I´m not sure, if it was a good idea of our management, to hire actresses for a “more lifelike experience” at the exhibition!”

“I think, it was good! At least we can get rid of the airhead and go back to normal!”

“Let´s carry her out, als soon as possible!”

“Have you seen that? Poor girl!”

“Oh yes! Sometimes the beautiful craftmanship of ancient artefacts can really be overwhelming!”

Cast:

Midnight: The Airhead

Helena (actually Tyler): Airheads good friend

Esmé: Miss White, a museums clerk

Tyler: Miss Black, another museums clerk

Elsa Lin + Tulabelle: The two half-sisters

Sabina + Inque: Two girls on a bench

Louise Devereaux: The woman with the red pullover

Antoinette: Cleopatra

Doku: The mummy

Grace, Reneé Devereaux, Velma, Phryne (actually another Velma), Brenda Starr, Mrs. SaintJohn (another Brenda), Magic, Law & Davincia: Museums Visitors

Wigs and shoes: facetsbymarcia

costumes: The house of eder by madeofrags

Behind the scenes:

My sets for Christmas and New year were hard work. Such big sets with so many dolls need weeks, sometimes month of preparation. And the providing of the set, the shooting and editing of the pictures takes another two days. But most of the things went well on both sets.

But this time, the set was a horror.

Often enough, there is a lack of light. But this time, I had much too much. I had to shoot some of the scenes from different angles and the sun-spots more than once ruined the pictures.

And some of the dolls didn´t work the way, I was accustomed.

Usually I can depend on Elsa Lin and Tulabelle. But this time, it was almost impossible to make them stand and hold the poses, the way I wanted. Finally I had to change the complete scene and place the dolls on a bench. Maybe, they didn´t like their parts in the play? Who knows!

It was the same with Sabina and Inque. Both are third-hand dolls and don´t pose very good anymore. So I use them for scenes where they can lie down or sit somewhere. Good background girls, but never the leading ladys…

For Helena and Midnight, I had to use stands. They act in front of all the others and so I had no choice this time, but to fix them, while posing.

In this situation, I found out, that all the rumours about useless doll stands are RIGHT! None of the stands really worked. No matter, what kind of stand I used, the dolls kept on swinging und I don´t know, how often they dropped on the table and caused a domino-effect on everything in their surroundings. The reason is, some of the stands are not solid and others don´t allow the doll to reach the stands base with their feet. They “float”.

Another issue was Midnights wig. (She´s a real Diva!) Whatever I did, the wig constantly fell of her head. And that´s though I used a silicon-cap. It was the same with the little facinator, she wore, even if I fixed that thing with a needle….hopeless case! And that´s the reason, why this headpiece changes positon on some of the pictures.

In the last scene with her, when the museums clerks carry her out on a stretcher, she lost her wig finally…And I didn´t notice, until the shooting was done. I can´t recreate the set , so it´s the way it is! Fortunatelly, the mistake isn´t that striking.

For the stretcher-scene, I had to cheat. No 16″ doll on earth, not even a solid old Tonner, could carry a stretcher with a heavy-weight Sybarite on it. And the older Tonners hands are not made to hold anything. So I scoobed a stool under the stretcher (actually a tray) and covered it all up with the heads of the dolls in front of the scene.

The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: Antheas Visit

This is a rather weird little scene from ancient Greece…I made the costumes (like always!) from recycled and vintage fabrics and for the style, I used a costume book. It´s not really genuine, but good enough for me.

I wrote the letter in real ancient Greek. But don´t ask me, what it says- Its something about philosophy, a text I found at the web….

The story is simple: Two sisters life in a small village near Athens, where they share a house.

One day, bad news arrives: Anthea, a professional dancer and relative of the sisters, announces her visit in a letter…and the trouble begins!

On a hot summers day in a small village, somewhere in ancient Greece, bad news arrives.

A neighbor comes in a hurry: “It´s all over the village! Is it true, what the rumour says? ANTHEA is coming for a visit?

“Yes. Unfortunatelly, it´s true! This is her letter….She arrives today!

“That´s horrible news! I really don´t like her! She is vain, selfish and talks about nothing but dancing!”

“Nobody likes her! But what do we expect? She is a professional dancer and that is all, she cares about- Exept of her own beauty! That woman is a horror!

“Oh sister, can´t we pretend, we´re out? Or left the country in a hurry? ”

“You know, we can´t! She´ll find us everywhere! So we must try to be good hosts on all costs!”

Not even the philosphers have a good advice for the poor sisters!

“Yes, we must be good hosts! That´s the morals! But she´ll make us all dance again, until we´re totally exhausted! Think at her last visit! We needed three weeks after she left, to get back on our feet and recover! I´m still limping a bit”

“Anyway! She´ll need some fresh water, if she arrives.”

“I go and get some….Maybe from the polluted well!”

There´s no way to hide…Soon before noon Anthea arrives in her travel-clothing.

“Welcome Anthea….How….good….to see you again!”

“Oh girls! I had SO MUCH FUN!”

“I danced at the palace of Ithaka!”

“And I danced before Helena of Troy! You can´t imagine, how beautiful she is! But not as beautiful as I am, of course!”

“How….very interesting, Anthea….After your long journey , don´t you wan´t some fresh water from the poll….I mean from the well nearby?”

“I don´t want water! Haven´t you some wine? Oh, come along! don´t be so boring and sit around all day Let´s dance! I´ll teach you a new style, I learned in Korinth”!

“No Anthea! Please DON´T!”

“Dancing is an ART!”

“More expression! None of you has discipline!”

“Oh mighty gods, please help us! I´can´t go on dancing!”

What will happen next? A sudden flash from the Olymp, to end Antheas promising career? Or will her victims strike back for once? Or maybe Anthea get´s bored with her hosts and hurrys to the next dancing-event to have another triumph?

That depends on your own fantasy!

The last scene, with the poor girl broke down, is actually my recreation of a scene on a vintage photograph from the 1920s, where the real dancers copy the style of Isadora Duncan.

That dancing-scene gave me some trouble…Have you ever tried zu make a Syb pose vertically without a stand? I don´t know, how often the dolls dropped down, before I managed them to pose in the right way. (Well, at least a little bit in the right way…)

And how to place the big vase or amphora on the syb´s head without having an accident? Don´t ask!

And there is another problem, I couldn´t fix: None of the girls wears shoes! It´s impossible, to find matching antique-style sandals for fashion dolls with high heel feet. But going barefoot was not uncommon in the ancient world, so I decided to skip that problem.

For the doodads and pieces in the background: Some of them are Roman or Etruscan replicas. The rest is modern tourist-stuff from fleemarkets or charity shops.

For the wigs- thank´s to Marcia again. They are not really ancient greek style, but look a bit in that way.

Jane- Waiting for Mr. Right?

One of my older sets. But also one of my favorites. Even if there is no happy end in a way, we all would expect…

This time, Miss Jane waits for Mr. Right…

Miss Jane all alone…Waiting for the man of her dreams.

Another day waiting for Mr. Right

Still waiting for Mr. Right! But he won´t appear!

If I wait long enough,

eventually he will appear!

Waiting for Mr. Right is so exhausting!

She even rings the bell for him…But nothing happens!

Janes sister Cassandra convices her, to stop that senseless waiting.

“Just invite a friend over and let us have some fun together!”

The girls have some music!

They enjoy the latest fashions!

And share gossips in the little parlour.

And talk about politics and war: “Don´t forget our navy!”

“Our troops are here and Bonapartes over there at the moment….”

Jane shares a new letter from a friend.

But finally she realizes, she can´t go on like before.

“Dear Mr. Right…Where ever you may be now…”

“I can´t wait any longer for you!

I go out with the girls and have fun!

You know, where to find me!

“Stop writing Jane!

We are to late for Mrs. Goodbodys ball at the Crossed Feathers!”

And so they left the house!

But late at night, when Cassandra gets back to her own room, she sits there by the fire and secretly waits for Mr. Right….

The Humble Little Doll Theater Plays: Happy New Year 2018!

This time, the girls meet for the big New Years party!

Some girls dance and others chat!

Groovin´in the parlor

Law´s dancing

Davincia tells a story

Fun is everywhere!

Magic dances, until she´s exhausted!

And now she needs to rest in a cosy corner.

Davincia has some other problems…

“I ruined my hairdo!”

“That shoes kill my feet!”

It´s getting dark outside and the party still goes on!

Time to rest and share some hot gossips!

But there is always someone, who can´t enjoy the party!

Someone, who feels lost and lonely and looks at the future with fear and sorrow.

That someone needs care and attention.

Don´t give up! Things will work much better in 2018!

And Elsa? She has enough! She runs from the spotlight and finds a soft cushion!

The others don´t care! It´s close to midnight and the party is at the climax!

Tulabelle doesn´t like the radiostation, Elsa Lin has chosen. “Another transmitter, please!”

What are your good intensions for 2018?

And then it´s time! 12.00 o´clock. Welcome 2018!

And a Happy New Year to all of you!

The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: Merry Christmas 2017!

This time, I wanted all my 21 girls to play. It took almost two days, to dress the dolls, build the set, shoot and prepare the pictures afterwards. And I had also some issues with the light and my old camera. But finally I made it and it was worth the hard work (and exhausting!) I don´t know, how I manged to sew all the evening gowns. For the wigs and shoes and other little items- thanks to Marcia- could be taken care long before the shooting.

Some of the Jazz Divas gowns are genuine late 1920s or early 30s fabric and items. I had to sew very careful and use only the simplest patterns to show up the beauty of the old tissue without damage or diversion.

My other girls wear OOAK gowns from vintage or recycled fabrics.

I made the Christmas trees from french beading. A technique, almost unknown here in Germany, but widespread in the USA.

And this is, how the little story goes:

The Tonner-Girls enjoy singing old carols in front of their traditional Christmas tree.

The Sybarites and Tulabelle refuse to sing. They have…different needs…And a different style of Christmas decoration.

The Jazz Age girls next door don´t care about carols. They want their Christmas to be “Jazzy”. And invited their friends Inque and Sabina to share the wild party.

Meanwhile, Elsa Lin and Law sit on the roof and enjoy the new books they got for Christmas.

The two Miss Ghastly were wailing, because they couldn´t get a dusty attic, but agreed to use a dark corner with gloomy decoration. And Redhead Evi promised, not to bully her sister Angeline today….But we shouldn´t trust her innocent eyes to much…

Not quite unexpected, in the middle of the party happened a moment of chaos, when the Jazz Divas took their gramophones and went over to stop the caroling by “Jazzing all up”! They disturbed not only the singers, but the Sybarites in their little world of consumption and the Ghastlys in their dark corner. Event he readers on the roof stopped for a moment and asked themselfes, what the riot means down there.

Evi uses the confusion to steal her sisters gift. But this time, Ravenhead Angeline fights back and Evi not only loose her prey, but ends on the edge of the seat in a huffy mood.

But soon, the chaos stopps and the party goes on. The singers form up again and everyone has to listen- Even the Sybarites and the Jazz Babes. To their own astonishment, the Jazz Ladys find out, that they like other kinds of music- Even if it´s no Jazz!

When the evening falls, it´s time for the Tonners to stop singing and relax. They meet with the other girls to chat and get their deserved gifts.

The Miss Ghastlys finally make peace and the readers come down from the roof to score the others.

The Sybarites show themselfes the luxurious shoes and jewelry they got and Midnight decides to start the new gift-list for next Christmas tomorrow…

Late at night, after most of the guests gone home, fife girls meet in the Jazz corner to chill out after the party and say good night and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Humble Little Doll Theater plays: Jane!

I confess, I´m a Janeite…And always will be!

So there is no wonder, why I tried to make a set with this subject…This time I was better prepared! I had some items in my collection, that suited the set fine. They´re all around 1880-1910, but who cares! They fit in, that´s all!

The shawl my “Jane” wears is made from modern silk and a rare (but rather mothy and fragile) hand embroidered piece of a shawl around 1850-90. It´s a still beautiful and unbelievable fine embroidered work of art and now it comes to live again!

All my world….In Private

Miss Jane alone

Respect my Privacy!

Time of Romance and War