Wednesday, July 29, 2009

LITTLE WITCH SCHOOLGIRL

Long before Harry Potter went to Hogwarts, a little girl in Indiana dreamed of going to Witch School. Who? Me! Every day I donned my plaid uniform and went dutifully (if not enthusiastically) off to my Catholic grade school, but secretly I longed to study potions and incantations and magickal spells instead of arithmetic and the Baltimore Catechism. Blame my favorite books at the time: Little Witch by Anna Elizabeth Bennett, The Blue-Nosed Witch by Margaret Embry, and The Witch Family by Eleanor Estes.
So I guess my newest doll is a self-portrait in more ways than one. The freckles and red hair are mine, certainly, but so is the idea of a little girl going happily off to Witch School. She wears a white-orange-and-black pleated skirt (with witches woven into the design -- how cool is that?!) and a white ribbed turtleneck sweater (made from an upcycled sock cuff). White tights and black patent Mary-Janes and a black tam-o-shanter complete her ensemble. She carries her schoolbooks -- Magical Words and Phrases (a nod to my sister's favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon), Potions, and My First Grimoire. Clenched in her other fist is a well-loved Teddy -- if you look close, you'll see that she's been using him to practice voodoo! Ouch!

3 comments:

  1. She's brilliant - I love the little books, and yep, a Nicole Kidman thing is going on! :O)

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  2. she's so cute! i feel sorry for her poor teddy though!

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  3. Thanks Abi and Christina for your kind words about my little witch doll. Don't worry, tho -- if "Voodoo Teddy" is anything like my own childhood bear, he's indestructible. :)

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