In January I always challenge myself to try something new. I'd been thinking about doing a memory jug for awhile, and then I happened upon Laurie Zuckerman's blog where she has a memory jug cd available. In the meantime, I got a great deal on some wreath holders, and decided to make a piece with that. Eventually, the doll's head, the wreath holder and the bird cage came together, and so instead of making a memory jug I made a memory doll. Or memory cage or...well you get the idea.
The doll's upper body had a large crack that had been repaired. The glue left a long brown streak along the repair line. I decided to cover that line with some pieces of costume jewelry. This gave me the neckline for her dress. Then I found a small pink vase to serve as her torso. I cut up two necklaces, and put a pin on the back to complete her upper body.
On the skirt, I added some vintage christmas light reflectors. I covered the empty holes with some costume jewelry pearls. The peplum on her dress is made of old book hinges which I wired with pearls.
The pin on the very front of her dress says "Sweetheart" and has a relief of the capitol building on it.
Finally, one day I found the little pink bird in the thrift shop. It matched the vase, so I knew it had to go inside the cage. Getting it in there was a little tricky, but I figured it out eventually.
I am constantly collecting little bits and bobs of things, so this was a perfect project for me. I have several bins started of items that have something in common, and hope to do another one soon.
This is a photo that I took several years ago at Elkwood Crossing Gift and Garden Center in Elkwood, Virginia. Laura at Elkwood creates beautiful little vignettes to find as you're wandering through the greenhouses and gift shop. She also has a very elaborate fairy garden complete with live plants to scale with the fairies. I'll have to post pictures of it in the spring.
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