Today Is World Down Syndrome day! See the Ability!

Today is World Down Syndrome Day and I believe it is important to share this information with all of you. We live in such amazing times and yet we still have so much more we can do to further the understanding and acceptance of others.

Today I wish to recognize and share a wonderful doll company known now as Extra Special Dolls and the link to their website so that you may share with others Hannah and her mothers story of how these dolls came to be. Click here to read my original post about these wonderful dolls from 2013.
Hannah wanted a doll that looked just like her and her mother made it happen! Though hard work, determination, trials and tribulations Extra Special Dolls finally came to fruition.

My Hannah doll shown above in my work on Doll Diaries...

I first came to know about and order my own extra special doll in 2013 and I have used my Hannah Doll in my work around the dolly world. She is one of my most treasured dolls and a delight to work with!

You can choose from More then 15 different Extra Special Girl and Boy dolls on the Extra Special Doll Website.

My Hannah Doll shown in my work on Daydream Doll Boutique.

If you are a doll collector, or friend, mother, sister, aunt or Grandmother who would like to add one of these dolls to your own family please click here to find out more. Change the world of someone you know one doll at a time!
As a Therapy tool, these dolls have a hard body and are designed to enhance your play experience through fine and gross motor play. I highly recommend these dolls and I know you will love them too!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy World Down Syndrome Day!

 

Today is World Down Syndrome Day! 

I am thrilled to share Hannah's photo, Hannah who was the inspiration behind Extra Special Dolls  is such an inspiration to so many!

 

I purchased my own Hannah doll last year and she has become a regular in my own on line writing and such a beautiful doll!

Here is more about Hannah and how these wonderful dolls came to be

 

Recently I watched and enjoyed the most wonderful video of children who have Down Syndrome sharing advice for a new mother expecting a child with Down Syndrome, it is so moving I recommend everyone watch it! See below!

For all of you today who are living with Down Syndrome or love some one with Down Syndrome thank you for enriching the lives of everyone around you and inspiring us. To Connie and To Hannah, Thank you for all you do and continue to do to improve the lives of all doll lovers with your wonderful line of Extra Special Dolls.  To learn more about World Down Syndrome Day please click here.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Bring An Extra Special Doll Home To Your Doll Family

So now many of you have seen my Extra special doll Hannah from Extra Special Dolls. I was so thrilled to support this wonderful company through their process to make a dream come true not just for their daughter but for all the families of special needs children who are looking to find themselves reflected in the doll world.

I have to tell you how much I love my Hannah doll, she is everything that I hoped she would be, well made, adorable and very photogenic! She fits very well into our doll family and she is one of my favorite dolls to use in my work here on my blog and on the other sites I work for.

Extra Special dolls are priced at $95 and shipped with in the USA for $12. There are 18 options for girl dolls and 9 options for boy dolls, each of them unique and made to love. You can take these dolls into the bath or swimming pool as well. They are designed for helping with fine and gross motor skills and you can even order your doll with a heart surgery scar.

The essence of these very beautiful children are captured in the soft and flattering features of these dolls.

Be sure to check out Extra Special Dolls Website by clicking here and if you already have one of these beautiful dolls please email me a photo so that I may share it with all of our readers.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Dolly Shoe Lace Make Over A Karen Mom of Three Rit Dye Craft Tutorial

Today I wanted to share with you a craft I have been meaning to try since my shipment of Rit Dye arrived! Today I will show you how to add some personality to your dolls shoe laces with Rit Dye!

To create your own you will need:
-Your dolls shoe laces, removed from your dolls shoes, ( I used my Springfield Doll Shoes and a pair of My London Girl Trainers.)
-Liquid Rit Dye I used Purple and Cherry Red
-Salt
-2 Cups Hot Water 
- A jar to hold your water, dye and salt
-Plastic Spoons
-Plastic Gloves
-Measure cups

Step 1-  Prepare your dye solution I had a jar of Cherry Red Liquid Dye mixture made up already from a previous project ( I keep my left over dye for fun and easy quick dye projects from paper to fabric!) and then created one for the purple dye. Into a large jar I put two cups of very hot tap water, 1/2 bottle of purple liquid Rit Dye, 1/2 cup of salt. Use a plastic spoon to stir it all up. For the Cherry Red dye I re heated the dye water mixture in the jar for 2 minutes in the Micro wave on medium heat.
Step 2- Place the laces into the jars of dye. Use your spoon to make sure they are submerged.

Step 3- Use your plastic spoons to give a stir to your laces every few hours. I left mine in the jars for 6 hours, the longer you leave your laces the darker the colors will be.

Step 4- After you have left them for a few hours remove them from the jars. I used coffee filters to "dry the laces" when I removed them from the jar, this way I can use the coffee filters in another craft later. Let the laces dry, to speed up the time you may wish to place them in the dryer or heat set them with a hair dryer. I am thrilled with how mine turned out. Once dry re lace your shoes and put them on your dolls!

Today I used my Doll Hannah who is an Extra Special Doll (formally Dolls for Downs) shown in the photo on the left hand side and her best friend Jillian My American Girl Doll ( A just like you doll)
Hannah is wearing the shoes from one of My London Girl dolls. Jillian is wearing shoes from Springfield Doll Collection.
I hope you enjoyed today's craft tutorial and that you will be inspired to try dye crafts in your doll craft time!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Please Welcome My Newest Doll Hannah a Dolls For Downs 18 inch Doll!

After a long and worthwhile wait we welcome Hannah, a Dolls for Down's 18 inch doll , now called Extra Special Dolls to our doll family. Last spring I pre ordered Hannah from the Dolls for Down's Start Up program with funds I earned writing this blog.

Hannah is beautifully made and her photos do not do her justice! I love the personality she shows, she signs I love you and there is so much to love about this doll.

I know so many of you would like to know how Hannah compares to other 18 inch dolls so I am photographing her beside my American Girl Doll so you can see for yourself. What I have observed is that Hannah has less bulk around her bottom so if you are sewing her pants you will need to adjust but elastic will fit perfectly.

The dolls can share clothes easily as you can see in the photo above. Hannah would not be able to fit clothing by Maplelea in the arms as her hand is set in the I love you position which makes for tighter sleeves a no go but she would fit the bottoms really well. Springfield Collection Fashions will also fit Hannah and dolls for downs dolls really well.

Hannah was designed for children with Down Syndrome, as not just a doll that looks like them but a therapy tool as well, she was designed with  fine motor skill enhancing features and clothing. This is part of the reason why  Hannah and Extra Special Dolls/Dolls For Downs dolls are all vinyl. This way they can experience water play. I promise you you will want to hug this doll, despite her not being fiber filled you are sure to fall in love.

I would like to point out that Hannah is a doll I purchased. She was not sent to me to review. I instantly fell in love with this doll and I know you will too. Hannah will now join my working dolly family and be loved and shared with all here on my blog and around the dolly world. I hope you will spread the word about these wonderful dolls so that the joy doll play brings to girls is shared and so beautifully represented. To find out more about Extra Special Dolls /Dolls for Downs please click here. Both Girl and Boy dolls are available.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Your Chance To Pre Order Dolls For Downs, I Ordered Mine Thanks To All Of You!

Today I am so very excited to share with you about some new 18 inch dolls that are in pre production. These very special and beautiful dolls are made even more special due to the fact they are the first truly beautiful dolls that represent children with Down Syndrome. These breathtaking dolls are in pre production and offered on line through Dolls For Downs. Org.

 

I had a chance to interview the driving force behind this new doll line, Connie, who was inspired to create beautiful dolls who truly represented her daughter Hannah. 

This two minute video shares some of her story and below I share with you her answers to some of my questions.

Q: What size will the dolls be?

A:The dolls are just under 18 inches because kids with DS are shorter than their peers.  We would have made them 17 inches but we really wanted the clothing lines to be close.

Q:Do you know yet the cost involved in ordering and weather you will ship outside of the USA

A:During the pre-order phase, now until March 22, I will mail anywhere in the world for $12.50.  That is because these are basically the production funds and it's my way of saying thank you for believing not only in the dolls, but in me, a total stranger who is asking for money up front.  The response has been so positive.  Every day when I check my email, there are the most wonderful letters of support from people who didn't have to take time out of their days but they DID!!

Q: How many styles of dolls will we see?

A: We are hoping to launch with 9 girls although right now, we are only pre-ordering for 5.  If we get enough money for all 9, an email will go out to all pre-ordering customers giving them an opportunity to swap out, if they want to.

Q:Are you going to create a boy doll?

A: We already have 5 boy dolls, Matty, Robby, Ian, Sammy and Andre!  We hope to have a few more.  The response to the boys has been as popular as the girls.  I love that!

Q:Do your dolls eyes open and close or are they fixed?

A: Right now the eyes are going to be fixed.  I love the way that they look and I am not sure that having them open and close would add much to her over all look.

Q:Have you decided on the type of clothing the dolls will wear and if so why did you choose this type?

A:We have designed (by "we" I mean my OT consultants and myself) an outfit that has pants that zip on the sides to make them easier to get on and off, snaps on the pockets and an attached belt, a shirt with big buttons, a super cute jacket and hiking boots with laces.  Our dolls, unlike some others, will have underwear, too.  No one needs a socially inappropriate doll running around all willy nilly.   We have a bunch of different skill specific, cute garments and accessories coming down the pike.  We also have AFOs, glasses, hearing aids, g-tubes and hopefully trachea tubes, too.

Q:As a mother of children with Special Needs can you tell me a bit about your thoughts on the importance of doll play as well as how important having a doll that your child looks like is?

A:It started because Hannah saw no dolls that looked like her and she actually noticed.  That told me there was a need.  However, as the project grew, I came to understand that it is much more than that.  Putting a doll with special needs into the mainstream population takes away some of the fear, stigma and questions.  My daughter is 1 of 6 children.  They ALL have special needs... she just has a diagnosis... ha ha ha.  All kids need the same things.  I didn't give birth to a "syndrome" I gave birth to a child.  She eats, sleeps, cries, feels mischievous, plays practical jokes on her sister, she is more alike than different.

When a child plays with a doll, they combine worlds.  They take the world they live in and they manipulate it, create in it and I think in a lot of ways, they make it better.  Maybe a child who has exposure to a doll that is different, won't approach a person that is different in the same way.  Change a child, change the world 

I know that children love dolls that look like them because those dolls might be able to do things that they can not do aright now; be an astronaut, be a princess, something, anything;  dolls are possibilities limited by imagination only.  All kids have that in common.

Q:I love the photo of the dolls hands can you share a bit about your sculpting journey?

A:For a year I worked with a factory sculptor.   We couldn't get over the language gap.  When I was referred to Karen Scott, the entire world opened up to me.  We viewed, edited, scrutinized, hundreds of photos.  We picked about facial features, we compared sizes, shapes, colors, everything you can imagine.  We started working together almost a year ago and we are finally in the mold phase.  

The hands were the first sculpt that I saw and when I opened that file attachment, I actually cried.  I knew that Karen "got it."  She fundamentally understood what I was looking for, not on an artistic level- on a heart level.  There were days when we'd trade the same picture back and forth saying, "something isn't right but WHAT IS IT??  The hand of one of those things.  Then I'd took some pictures of Hannah's hands and we compared and said, "ah... one finger is too long." 

I'd say that the sculpting journey has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever been a part of.  Watching that child emerge from clay, take shape and then have personality was like unwrapping the best surprise!

Q: Anything you would like to share with my readers?

A:I just wanted people to see Down Syndrome the way I do.  I see a beautiful child full of possibility.  I hope they do, too.

I could not agree more. I strongly endorse this beautiful line of dolls, not just as a doll lover but as a Mother! *I would like to thank each and every one of you who has viewed my blog and visited any of the sponsors on my blog I used the funds raised from these advertisements I received in the last year to order Hannah from Dolls For Downs.Org To pre order your own doll and support this wonderful doll line please click here . Delivery is expected to begin in May!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com
* Google Adds between my posts in the last year that were clicked added up to enough to pay for this doll and her shipping. When you click these adds Google keeps track and then once the total reaches a certain amount they kindly send me a cheque.