Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Today is the birthday of the very sweet Rebecca of A Re-Purposed Life.  She is having a birthday party and the deal is that we are to share something we have made for someone special as a gift and why we made it.  I am sharing something that I've shared before (a couple of times), or at least the box.  This time, I'll show you what was in the box.  On Our Cottage Garden, I have had fun dressing up and selling little antique bisque dolls.  My friend Denise owns that website (where I sell in addition to Etsy) and she has been such a good friend and mentor to me over the years.  We met through eBay when I discovered her wonderful treasures and began buying things here and there from her.  In 2006, we met in person when my husband and I took a trip to Florida.  We spent most of a day together and really hit it off.  Since then, she has been a dear friend to me.  She asked me to sell on her gorgeous website which I have been doing since 2007, if memory serves.  She makes me laugh,  is incredibly supportive of what I do, and has been amazingly generous and kind to me.  And she loves my little boys, so I think she has managed to cement herself into my heart as my "twin sister separated at birth".  Last year, I wanted to do a little something for her because she works so hard all through the year.  She always seemed to love my little dolls, so I picked out a very sweet faced little girl and dressed her in a very pretty blue dress with pink rose trim since Denise loves blue and pink. This is the result.

Denise's doll

I love to make up pretty packages for my friends, so I dressed up the box with an old French book page, vintage wallpaper, a bit of tulle, vintage millinery, and a little dove that I coffee-dyed and glittered.  Then I did up a tag with more wallpaper and vintage ledger paper.  It turned out really nice I think and Denise was very happy when she opened her package which I mailed.  However, she never mentioned the doll, only the beautiful box.  A week or so later, I did ask her if she had opened the pretty box.  SHE HADN'T.  So, she got two surprises that year.  I loved that she appreciated not only the gift inside, but the pretty wrapping.  It made me very happy to give her a little something from my heart because I wanted her to know that she was (and still is) very cherished in my life.  I'll bet you guys have some special friends like this as well.  There is nothing more wonderful than making someone feel cared for.  I forget that sometimes and need to remind myself that it really doesn't take that much effort to really brighten someone's day and I need to do it more often.  I think it usually brightens my day even more than the recipient.  The little girl and the box occasionally make an appearance as props in Denise's eBay listings.  I think they really "doll" up this little cabinet! 

Anyway, Miss D, if you are stalking me  reading this, I love ya girl!  Are your ears burning?  That's what my mom used to say happened when someone was talking about you.  And if you don't know Denise, I'm just kidding about the stalking part, she's not that way! 

Well, I'm going to go work at my "real job" now, but when I get a chance, I am going to stop over at Rebecca's birthday party and check out some of the other links as well as wish Rebecca a happy birthday.  Give some love to someone special today.  You'll be so glad you did!

Until next time,