Kokeshi Peg Dolls

I made about 40 of these pretty little dolls as favors for the Valentine's banquet the men at church put on each year for the women.

 

The inspiration was Japanese kokeshi dolls, a traditional doll made since the 1800's in the rural areas of Japan. Husband brought me two modern kokeshi dolls when he was in Japan last year for business.

I have been enjoying making random "peg dolls," so it was a nice blending of the two things. I spent many happy hours drawing and coloring in their little eyes, hair and clothes with permanent markers.

I recommend a light coat of Modge Podge on the wooden pegs before starting. This reduces bleeding of the markers into the wood. The majority of these designs were made with permanent markers-there are so many colors available now. A few of the flower designs (mostly the dotted designs) are added on top of the markers with acrylic paint. I planned to seal them again with Modge Podge, but that caused some color smearing, so I gave them a light coat of clear acrylic spray (in the spray paint section) to finish them.

The older, larger doll, above, is a traditional, antique kokeshi doll from Japan that I found on Etsy.

I really like their little expressive faces.

Snow Fort

W. had a cool snow fort in the pushed up snow pile by the cattle yard.

This and That

 Cousins at Christmas

 Uncle Don and Aunt Shirley-62 years of sweetness

 D and Mac-snow play

 Golden Eye

 New Year's Eve group selfie for L. Hannah, Cassie, Austin

 Olive and Owen drum corps concert. Cool kids doing a great job. 

 All the girls gone for the evening selfie.

 Weather.

Snow Mobility

Son D. and MacK own two snowmobiles, and they come out here to ride sometimes. It's a lot of fun and reminds me of my childhood when we had several snowmobiles to enjoy during the winter.

Our Pheasant Flock

We've been enjoying the flock of pheasants that drift across our yard most mornings and evenings. Most mornings,they come out of the east field, scavenge in the field south of our place during the day, then head back to the east in the evening.