I think of my Grandmother when I see the old, vintage Raggedy Ann. One Christmas she gave me the book of Raggedy Ann Stories at just the time when I was the age to treasure them. Even all these years later I still prefer those original Raggedy Ann stories, illustrations and dolls to the new versions.

That year my Mother sewed up a Raggedy Ann doll as a surprise for me, though she gave her grey hair and still wonders why she did that. I have kept that doll for a long time. I still pick up a baby outfit at thrift stores so I can dress her up.

I've lost the book from my Grandmother. We moved around quite a bit so it likely wandered off and didn't get packed up. Now and then I see a copy of the same book, new editions, at the stores but it just isn't the same. I wonder what happens to lost books? Maybe it found a new home with another girl. I hope so.

The vintage Raggedy Ann is still my favourite, even though I love the holiday designs for Christmas, Halloween and other holidays. You can see a lot of new styles, some pretty odd looking, if you search online. The original design was copied often and given a new identity even as it was adapted for companies like Precious Moments.

If you have ever wondered why the odd Raggedy Ann doll has that double loop of hair on top of her head.. well I don't know either. But, I do know that double loop of hair was how Johnny Gruelle originally created the doll in the illustrations of his Raggedy Ann stories.

Is there someone you would like to sew a Raggedy Ann and/ or Andy doll for this Christmas? They do look really great under the Christmas tree, or in the branches on Christmas Eve. Sew a Christmas costume for the dolls if you want to get that extra festive look.

If you do sew up a Raggedy Ann, don't forget to give her the embroidered "I love you" heart on her chest.

Rag dolls, plastic dolls, porcelain dolls... there are dolls made out of so many different materials. Then there are Barbie dolls and baby dolls and show dolls who are dressed up but never played with. Then there are dolls by brand, some doll collections are all about the company who makes the doll. Most doll collections are vintage dolls. An older doll, not so easily found has more commercial value.The easiest thing about doll collecting is to decide which dolls to collect. You just collect the dolls you want to keep. The dolls which have personal appeal to you.

Where to Find Dolls

Retail stores are not the best, or the only source, for finding the dolls you want to collect.

Look online at sites from other doll collectors. Online auctions and shops like eBay.

Garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, antique stores, doll shops and doll hospitals. Go to craft shows. Look at museums too.

Talk to friends and family, ask around.

Identifying and Valuing a Doll

The first value to put on a doll is your own personal value of the doll. It's sentimental value to you.

Beyond the personal value you can find the commercial value with guides written by doll collectors who evaluate the worth of the dolls based on their re-sale value, their rarity and the condition they are in.

Search online auctions, retail shops and sites from doll appraisers for the market value of your doll. See what people are currently paying for the same doll you have, in the same condition as your doll.

There are guide books written and updated each year which will give you a price guide based on the value doll collectors put on each doll. This is only an estimate really. The value of a doll can go up or down depending on what someone is actually willing to pay versus what the book says the doll is worth.

Also, a doll may be worth more to you, personally. Someone may offer to pay a price from the guide book or the selling price on eBay but that may not be how you feel about it yourself.

Protect, Repair and Preserve your Dolls

If you collect dolls you will need to know about doll repair, doll preservation and doll conservation. Light, dryness, humidity and storage and display of the dolls are important for maintaining them. Even if your dolls are displayed behind glass and never touched they will still need to be taken out and given a light cleaning now and then.

Avoid natural or fluorescent light. Natural light will fade the dolls clothes. Fluorescent light can change the colour of the doll hair and/ or skin.

Avoid extremes of hot and cold temperatures. Most dolls are made of materials which can degrade in the heat or begin to crack in the cold or even cooler temperatures.

It's good to keep the dolls in glass cabinets but not in air-tight plastic. Any least moisture inside the plastic will cause mould and mildew to grow.

If you use paper or cardboard to store the dolls make sure it is acid-free, just like they use for scrapbook making.

Keep pets, bugs, dust away from the dolls. Not smoking either. Those should be pretty obvious really.

Become a Fashion or Costume Designer

Wish you could be a fashion designer? Dream of being a costume designer? You can become an art doll maker and be a fashion and costume designer, in smaller sizes.

Take all those dreams of being a fashion designer, making all the clothes you dream up or see in glossy magazines and put them on a doll of your own creation. You can make art dolls like fashion models. You don't have to make something for children in order to make a doll.

If you love vintage but can't fit yourself into the clothes or spend the money on any extras for your wardrobe. Art dolls can wear whatever you make for them. Look back in history, far back and pick any historical period you like. You can become a costume designer and suit the doll you make to the dress you want to design.

Don't be afraid of the art dolls.

My first exposure to art dolls was from a friend who showed me the art dolls she was making. They were not what I expected. For one thing they were not symmetrical, they were not soft and cuddly or pretty and well dressed. They were ugly. Seriously ugly. I didn't know what to say when she asked me what I thought. She thought they were great and of course, she wanted to hear the same back from me.

Art dolls are not the old fashioned, standard Raggedy Ann dolls. Not every art doll is meant to be cuddled, they aren't all made from rags and given hand-me-down clothes and yarn for hair. If you make an art doll the focus is on the art. Turning a doll into something more than a child's toy.

Of course, you can make any kind of doll. There isn't an unofficial rule that every art doll must be ugly to the eye of the beholder or uncuddly with pointy edges. An art doll can be as snuggly as the art doll maker wants to create. It's all up to the person making the doll.

I'm a long time fan of the Russian Matryoshka nesting doll. The Russian doll sets appeal to me as something feminine, historical and cultural. They're pretty too. I've found all sorts of doll sets in various themes and mediums - not just the standard wooden doll any more.

I bought my first Matryoshka doll at the Canadian National Exhibition. I had wanted one for years, since the first time I noticed them at the CNE (or The Ex, as we also called it).

I didn't know anything about the Russian dolls then, not even the right name for them. A lot of people don't know them by anything more than "that Russian doll set". The proper name is Matryoshka (other spellings - Matroishka and Matreshka). They are also called nesting dolls or stacking dolls.

I had seen them here and there and thought they were pretty, but more than that, I saw the history and the legacy to them. I have always been a history fan. Those Russian dolls were far too well known and wide spread to be something without a great history to them.

The First Russian Nesting Doll

The first doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin (a folk crafts painter). The doll set was painted by Malyutin, eight dolls staring with a girl in a traditional dress holding a rooster. The inner dolls were girls and a boy, the smallest was a baby.

Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin were inspired by a Japanese made doll. In turn, I read the Japanese say this doll was inspired by a Russian monk originally.

Traditional Matryoshka dolls have the theme with women and girls in traditional Russian dress. However, new dolls can have any random theme under the sun. Try looking up nesting dolls and anything other theme or idea and see what you find. Chances are there will be something in any theme for anyone who wants them.

I'm more of a traditional type. I like the history and prettiness of the doll in her Russian dress/ costume. Especially those with flowers painted on the skirts. But, I do have a weakness for the winter set too. All blue and white colours with snowflakes instead of flowers.

The first Matryoshka doll set are displayed in the Museum of Toys in Russia.

I like retro, vintage, old things. Choosing to preserve or repurpose is her dilemma - can't change your mind once started.

Shopping or Buying One is Limiting - Why Not Design and Make Your Own?

Did Your Grandmother Have Dolls in her Bathroom?

I remember these from my Grandmother's house, in the bathroom. She knitted her own from patterns that have disappeared along with most of her stuff after her death years ago. I don't know how to knit (I learned to crochet on my own) but it would have been nice to have some of her old knitting patterns. Sometimes I see interesting or unusual patterns in the thrift store but I don't buy them. I don't knit after all.

The History of the Toilet Roll Dolly

There isn't a lot of history to the dolls. In the 1960's they began appearing in North America and likely various Common Wealth and European locations too. I can only vouch for those I saw in Canada, mainly Ontario.

I expect the idea came along when there was extra yarn, some time for a new project, maybe a broken doll and the idea was born. Pretty up your bathroom. In the 1960's there were other home made fashions in the bathroom. I can think of toilet seat covers, something I haven't seen a big return on with all the vintage and retro ideas. You could co-ordinate your doll's dress with your pretty toilet seat cover, the bathroom floor rug and anything else already decorating the bathroom. Maybe that was how she really got started. Not only could you add more home made crafts, more colour and keep that broken doll around for a reason but you could ... make it all shades of pink matching.

There was likely some idea about modestly hiding that unsightly naked toilet roll too.

Specifications for Making Your Own Toilet Roll Doll Cosie

I have yet to see a vintage pattern for those old toilet roll cover dolls. That's how I started writing about them today. I'm seeing what I can turn up online.

I can find an endless supply of the little dolls at thrift stores. They are abandoned by children everywhere, so it would be a good way to recycle/ repurpose some of them. You can pick and choose from weird blue hair colour to a weird blue skin colour and the standard human shades of brown colours too.

The only thing that matters about the doll is her height and width. She can't stand too tall and tip over inside the toilet roll. She also needs to be the right width to fit through the centre of the cardboard roll from about the waist down. Mainly her legs need to be inside the roll as the skirt of her dress covers the toilet paper roll - that leaves her above the roll from the waist up.

What do you Call your Toilet Roll Doll?

I guess you could properly call them toilet roll cosies, or toilet roll toppers too. I never found out what my Grandmother actually called hers. I always enjoyed seeing them though. She never made one for me, that I can remember. Maybe she just thought they weren't really anything special. But, they were.