~I doubt if I ever left it in the first place~

My good husband always tells me that I need a hobby, especially one that will begin to carry me through the days ahead in the future when I really do decide to retire.  I kept telling him not to worry, that I 'd think of something.  But to be right honest with you, I had absolutely no idea of where I could start or what I could end up doing until last week when a random purchase began to change my mind.

And it was a package of paper dolls.

When I was a little girl, paper dolls were a form of entertainment for me, child number 6 of 7 growing up in a Kansas farm family.  I don't recall ever owning but a couple of sets of real paper dolls, the kind you would see at the store.  One of the sets was from my grandmother and it was always kept at her house in order that we'd have something to play with when we visited her.  The other set was at home in my bedroom but unfortunately the ravages of time and little girls playing with them led to their early demise.  The only other paper dolls that I had came from the most magical of places.

~the Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogues~

Thankfully I grew up in a time when catalogues such as those came delivered to the rural route mailbox for free.  All my little sister and I had to do was wait until the spring and summer season turned into the fall and winter one.  Then our mother would hand them off to us with a pair of scissors to cut out all the things that we wanted in order to have our own paper doll village.  

And so we did.

Hours and hours of fun could be had as we assembled families of paper dolls plus all of the accessories that could be imagined for them.  Back in those days, catalogues carried every kind of thing you could desire to buy and we didn't leave any of those out.  Once I remember we went to the baby section and proceeded to cut out 3 pictures of the sweetest little infants you could want to see.  We called them our triplets and gave them the names "Marilyn", "Carolyn", and "Cheryl Lynn".  (ok, weird side note here~That was 55 years ago and so tell me why I remember their names when I lose my keys/cellphone/or purse on a semi-weekly basis.)

So last week when I saw those paper dolls for sale, it brought back some very happy memories for this nearly 62-year old little girl.  I now have two granddaughters of my own and I wondered if paper dolls would some day mean as much to them as they do to me.  I bought the package which came along with dolls all ready assembled plus an extra kit that allowed you to design your very own ones as well.  With crayons, stencils, and stickers in hand, I began to make some special ones.  I guess you could call them "designs by Grandma Peggy" or something like that.  Three of my favorite ones so far are pictured below.  They are not perfect but they are definitely made with love and a smile on my face.

As I began to work on them, I realized how important it is to share remembrances with those we love.  As a grandmother, one of my hobbies in the days, weeks, months, and hopefully years ahead is going to be the creation of family history and traditions.  Not exactly sure how that will look as a finished product but I figure it's a work in progress and this set of paper dolls is the first step. They didn't take much money to purchase.  They only take a little time and  deep love for the hands that will receive them.

Perhaps I have officially entered my second childhood but come to think of it, I doubt that I ever left in the first place.  Perhaps the same could be said of any of us.