KnotAPaperDoll - Etsy Shop of the Month

Today I'm starting something new.  Each month I am going to feature an Etsy shop on my blog.  Maggie, from Knot-A-Paperdoll graciously agreed to prepare a profile for me and she is the July store of the month.  I love Maggie's shop and I know you will too!  In addition to be an expert crafter, and a good businesswoman, Maggie also contributes parts of her profits to the Wounder Warriers Project, firefighters everywhere, and to Childhood Cancer Awareness. So here's a peek at Maggie's shop and a history of her beautiful creations:

My name is Maggie and I live in the beautiful  Pacific NorthWest. I have three sons and six grandchildren.  I have always made dolls and toys for my family and when they all grew too old I started making them for sale.

Inside of Boy's Fort

The Knot-A-Paperdoll travel toy was designed for my grandkids when their father took them camping and fishing.  They needed a toy that would entertain them but not be big and bulky. They often backpacked/hiked in.  The dollhouse whether it’s the girls  Knot-A-Paperdoll or the Boys Fort work well in cars, on trains, or airplanes.  They are also an excellent quiet book for doctors offices, dentists, etc. There is one in the Bangkok Embassy for child entertainment.    You choose house colors, doll, and two activities.  You can custom make the houses on my website handmadedollsandtoys and then you can go back to my Etsy shop shop to order them.

Boy's Fort

Outside of Dollhouse

Inside view of Dollhouse

My New Friend rag dolls are the huggable doll every child needs. When you hug a rag doll it hugs you back. My dolls can be completely undressed and redressed. The girls have a dress, pinafore, pantaloons shoes, socks, and a hat with a flower on it. I crochet a wig cap and tie the hair to it and then sew and glue it to the doll. This makes a durable doll. I fully expect my dolls to be dragged through all the fun places a child goes in a day. The doll is washable…the hair will be more limp afterwards (yarn is like that) and the doll needs to be put in a bag first so arms and legs do not get caught and torn off. The boy dolls have underwear, pants, shirt, shoes, socks, and a hat. Their hair is made the same way and they are ready for the rough and tumble.

Kancer Kids are the same doll but they are bald. They are companion dolls for the unfortunate children in the hospital undergoing treatment. Most doctors and nurses will treat the doll as well as the child and this means the child is not going through it alone. They come with underwear, a gown, three hats and slippers.  Sick children are hard to entertain…they do not feel good… the doll is for the bad days and the hats and slippers are for the better days. Each doll comes with a certificate for hair and clothing when the child is cured the doll too is cured.  Unfortunately, I have only sent out one set of hair and clothes so far… Yes, I have tears running down my face when making up the Kancer Kid package. I will crochet any animal hat you desire, I will use any theme that you think will entertain your child. The Kancer kids I show in my shop can be purchased as is or you may take some ideas from several and I will make up a doll with your choices.  Each child is an individual. Each child needs their own special favorites. All my dolls can be redressed to fit the child they are going to. I have been told by many that their rag doll was an important friend to them as a child. You can tell them anything and they will never tell anyone else. If you hide, they will hide with you. If you cry, they will absorb your tears and hug you back.

Kancer Kids

And these are my Harriet dolls.    Harriet is a stationary doll that sits on your dress and holds all your hair accessories.  She has a print dress, an apron with pockets for hair bands, two long braids for barrettes and bows, a crocheted hat for clips, two long arms for headbands and two mittens to hold ribbons.  She comes with some accessories but has saved room for you to add the ones you already have. 

Miz Pursey's Cupcake Purses are fun…I have a granddaughter who loved cupcakes and green when she was little. My cupcakes come in all colors so everyone can have their favorite. They are a small, about 8" by 8" fully lined purse with a handle and a Velcro closure. They are meant to be fun… They are meant to make you grin…  The Cupcake Purses are one of my bestsellers, along with the Rag Dolls.

Baby-to-Go is a crocheted drawstring cradle purse. When I was a child they were called church purses. Children then had to be quiet and sit through loooong sermons. We were given something to entertain us. My grandmother crocheted a cradle purse for me. Many people make them with a plastic container for the bottom and crochet them out of yarn. I choose to crochet the entire purse and use crochet thread so they are like a pretty doily. My grandmother also told me if a thing was worth doing, it was worth doing well.

 

Baby-to-Go

A lady asked me to make puppets and I did. My puppet dolls are dolls that work. They are hand puppets but are fully dresses with a stuffed head so they can be played with like dolls, too. Most of them have a theme and a lot of the come with a pet, etc. that is a felt hand puppet. The ballerinas tutus come off and if you take their shoes off they have dancing slippers on. I just made them to entertain kids.

The finger puppets I made up because a teacher said that all the finger puppets available did not look like the real animal and could I make some that do….Sorta did…and I had fun. I am proud to say that two sets of the Safari animals are on their way to Zambia to teach children. My finger puppets come eight to a set and have either a barn for the farm animals or a safari hut for the African animals.

Safari Puppets

Safari

Inside Safari

My husband is disabled and cannot be left alone so I started my shops as work I can do at home. I’m older than computers, so learning to make shops was the tough part. I knew how to make dolls and toys… I guess you would say that my work is full time. I rarely have a day that I’m not working on something.  I am an early riser so I usually spend 6-8 a.m. PST on the computer.  I work alone and try to maintain an adequate inventory.  An addition to my Etsy store and website I have a Facebook page.  

My oldest son is a fireman….he makes me proud and scared. I support the firemen everywhere and try  to help when I can. I am in charge of the costumes for the local fireman float for kids. I had two sons in the Navy when they declared war. (Desert Storm) My oldest son was on a submarine and I did not hear from him for 8 months. My second son was on the aircraft carrier “Kitty Hawk” and was in the gulf sending aircraft out. I was blessed that both sons came home whole and unhurt. I cry for all the soldiers that don’t and I believe in and support the Wounded Warrior project.

You can’t help but support Childhood Cancer Awareness. There are so many kinds and so many sick children…I have to believe that it is something that we are doing to our environment to cause the increase in cancer, autism, etc.  This is a heartbreak and we must find answers…

So, if you want a special gift for that special child, check out Maggie's shop!

Thank you Maggie!