Restoring Hidden Treasures

Don't you just love thrift shops? I know I do, and so does my youngest son, Samuel, but for entirely different reasons. About twice a month, during one of our grocery shopping outings, we hit the local thrift shop, looking for that proverbial bargain. Sam shops for vintage t-shirts with car and truck logos (which is another blog entirely!) while I peruse the shelves searching for possible craft supplies for my etsy projects. I don't believe that Sam owns a t-shirt that was bought as new, just for him, and he wouldn't have it any other way!

Well, such was the case last week when we stopped by the store. I have been looking for a used adjustable dress form, and Sam, well, we all know what he was looking
for! No luck for me with the dress form, but I did stumbling across two interesting throw pillows and a whole bag of buttons, which are always fun! Just as we were about to leave, my eye caught a leg sticking out from under a pile of yarn and ribbon. As I moved the pile aside, I came across two dolls which, if their clothes and hair were any indication, had been laying there for quite some time.

I was suddenly reminded of a gift that I received two years ago at Christmas from my mom. She had saved my "Beautiful Crissy" doll from when I was a little girl. Some of you may remember Crissy...she was the doll with hair that would grow! You pulled her locks out of a hole in the top of her head. I remember feeling pretty special the Christmas that I found her under the tree. Two years ago, my mom took her out of hibernation, and made a wedding dress for her. This dress was a copy of the dress that my mom lovingly made for me when I was married. She even used left-over material that she had saved from the original dress. My father carved little wooden pumps to put on her feet. You can imagine that there were many tears shed that Christmas!

I decided right then and there that I would take these two dolls home, clean them up, and using some of my doll patterns, make them a new wardrobe. I even have a vintage doll pattern from my "Beautiful Crissy" days. I haven't decided just what I'll do with the dolls yet...perhaps I will save them for a future gift for some special little girl...or perhaps I will put them on etsy. Either way, I am looking forward to the project.




Isn't restoring wonderful? To take something old, worn out, discarded, unused, and turn it into something precious and new. I continue to marvel in the blessing that this is exactly what our Lord does for us...

"He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake." Psalm 23:3

"And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other." Luke 6:10

"After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly." Mark 8:25

By the way, we woke up to rain, so I thought that I would get started on this project today. But as I am writing this sentence, the sun has just poked it's head through the kitchen window...so it looks like I'm headed for the garden. Like I said before...weather in Maine...go figure!