All Dolled Up

Had the pleasure of spending the day with the One Church again today at their Good Friday lunch for the homeless. Sad to say there were over double the number of people that we fed on Christmas day, indicative of the escalating problem out there. There was a young teenage girl there with a sickly baby which broke my heart. I had a box of baby stuff in the car for Sue Austen and the Kukosha baby feeding programme so was able to pull out formula, porridge, a bottle, dummy, wetwipes, vaseline etc and clothes for the baby and hopefully we can reunite this girl with her family in Bulawayo. My ziplock gift and treat bags were woefully inadequate. I had packed up 60 bags but there just not enough to go around, the only thing to do was empty all them all out again into a box so that we could hand everyone something. I had a few extra bags with a small soft toy, a ball, Easter eggs, treats and hygiene products set aside in the car for the street kids we encountered on the way home. Such a joy seeing those little faces light up and we were treated to some super cool dance moves from them. 😍 One little boy in a wheel chair we came accross, couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, his little sister 4 or 5, they were like startled little rabbits in the headlights when I hopped out the car and gave them a bag each. I hope and pray that all the children who received one of your kind and generous donations today is safe tonight and that the little Teddy bears and soft toys in their hands will bring them some comfort on the streets tonight 🙏

Some of the final gift bags that the children of Danai opened on Christmas day. I really need a new camera lol. I ❤ LOVE ❤ what I do! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your donations and support. We will be open from the 3rd of January 10.30 am - 3pm for delivery of any old toys 😉 Please do not worry about the condition of them! We'll take em dead or alive 😂 Watch out for some exciting collaborations coming up in the new year with some super cool local artists, craftsmen and street vendors. 2022 its gonna be my year! 😁 #22022022❤

We love your alphabet fridge magnets! We've used them to make these super cool gift tags with each child's name on at Danai Children's home! When the glue is dry, we'll trim them, punch holes and tie them to the gift bags. 😍

Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas is coming to Danai Children's home thanks to your unbelievable generousity and kindness! So excited to get these sneakily delivered to Agatha and Aunty Flo for the kids to find on Christmas morning! This is what makes everything worthwhile! Please don't forget about us in January! Encourage your children to help Santa and his elves this year (who are having a bit of difficulty with covid restrictions) and sort through their old toys today and tomorrow and wrap them up to put under the tree for Santa to collect on Christmas eve. That way they will be to reach as many children as possible! Label them boy/girl and age. Don't forget to hide them properly till you can deliver them to us or your nearest local children's charity in the New Year! 🙏😍😘 Many thanks to everyone, my heart is bursting with gratitude seeing all these Christmas parcels coming together! ❤❤❤

Shop opening hours from 10.30am till 3pm from now till Christmas. Lots of unique last minute Christmas pressies for under $20. 12 Lewisam Ave Chisipite. Pop in and support a worthy cause! 😊

Our very tiny little shop is open! Hope you enjoy the pics. Pop in and visit us at 12 Lewisam Avenue between 10.30 and 2.30pm and see whats going on behind the scenes with the toys! Yesterday I was blown away by a visit from young 16 year old Valentine, one of the girls who helped kick start us off with sorting and scrubbing picking and packing when the first lots of toys came in. She came with us to deliver to St Marcellins and was so inspired by the whole experience that she rallied group of her friends and they began their own charity organisation, Cornerstone. It was such a humbling and emotional moment when she came to thank me and tell me about the work they doing. Absolutely amazing! 😍

Despite setback after setback we will finally be opening our little shop this Wednesday, the 15th of December. Shop hours will be from 10.30am till 3pm or by request. All sorts of lovely 'All Dolled Up' items to choose from, from chalk painted furniture and wall art to pot plants and books. Look out for photos tomorrow (another 12 hour and counting power cut doesn't permit tonight) and pop in for a cuppa and a Christmas mince pie if you are in the area and see what we have available!

A huge thank you to Maggie Wallis for this awesome donation of brand new baby clothes from the UK. Perfect timing to pack into the box for Sue Austen and her amazing project Kukosha. Thanks to all your wonderful donations we are able to fill this box with baby clothes, blankets, rattles, plushies etc, If you have any good condition baby stuff please consider Kukosha, with over 200 vulnerable babies on her register, I am sure all your donations will be gratefully accepted. You can drop donations for Kukosha with Sue at Vanilla Moon, Emerald Hill or alternatively with me if you Chisi side and I will arrange to get them to her. Many Thanks! https://www.facebook.com/KukoshaTrust/

Last calls! Last calls! Any old toys, clothes, bric a brac, furniture, we are collecting it all! Christmas is almost upon us, help us to make a child's Christmas super special this year! WhatsApp or call on 0775 887 859 if you have anything at all we can use for our project, more than happy to collect if you are unable to drop off. Watch out for upcoming posts showcasing furniture 'All Dolled Up' by our amazing carpenter Mr Tendai Bizeki. 👏😍

Looking forward to giving this beautiful card made by the children of St Marcellins Village pride of place in the 'All Dolled Up' shop. What an incredible day that was! Our first party and I knew in my heart that I had finally found purpose. Norman and Sybil are the most incredible and inspirational couple that I have ever met. I learnt so much about how faith works that day listening to Norman tell their story, that it will remain with me forever. Thank you for hosting us St Marcellins. 🙏🥰

Dear Friends. What a year it has been! I can not believe we are already well into November! Sadly our wonderful project has been grounded like so many other things with covid, but I am grateful for the time it has given me to reflect and pray on the way forward. As you may know, I am not a registered charity and as such, am not in a position to, nor do I wish to, be running around with my begging bowl out to pay for the running costs which are now way beyond my means. What started out as a whim to knit an outfit for a doll and take down to a local orphanage has exploded into something far greater than I could ever have imagined possible 🙏😍. As your donations grew, the more apparent it became that my garage space, large as it is, is woefully inadequate as a clean, secure working and storage area. An easy enough thing to fix by bricking it up with some windows for ventilation (with the owners permission of course!) except for the cost! With all that in mind, I set about thinking how I could generate a second income to pay for it all. Being an avid bargain hunter and bidding wars addict, I figured if I got a carpenter in to renovate some of my furniture, maybe l could sell it to pay for the building materials 🤔 From there a little seed started growing, if we can take old toys and get them 'All Dolled Up' and we can renovate old furniture, then we can do it with anything. So I set about clearing my house room by room, furniture, ornaments, art work, down to costume jewellery. I carefully selected some of the amazing antiquities and vintage hand crafted items from your donations, bought bits and pieces from the auctions, planted succulent pots and chalk painted everything in sight! I have been too nervous to say anything for fear of jinxing it, 🙈😂 but God willing by the end of the November, 'All Dolled Up' will have it's own little second hand shop! 🙏 So watch this space! I would like give a massive shout out and thanks to Gary Hensberg and his company Billgrade Construction for the incredibly generous donation of Windows, door frame, cement etc towards my garage build. I cannot thank you enough! To everyone who has supported me on this journey, your generosity and kindness has been overwhelming and truly humbling. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. Kate 💝

Good morning beautiful people. After a lot of deliberation and advice, I have decided to auction off the battery operated toys, porcelain dolls and any other speciality items deemed unsuitable for the project to raise some much needed funds for expenses. Apart from things like petrol and cleaning materials etc, we also pack each parcel with toiletries and snack packs and the costs mount up. I am so grateful for all the donations we have received so far. Please keep them coming! Many thanks. God Bless.

Good morning good people. I realise I've been very quiet and you haven't had a update in ages. We've been very busy behind the scenes sorting, cleaning and repairing but are struggling with storage space to simplify picking and packing. I've had the builders in to quote to re-floor, paint and shelve the garage storeroom which will make my life so much easier! We are still desperate for toys! Any toys! We seem to be particularly short of boys toys, action men, dinky cars, sports equipment, anything at all that your children have outgrown, please consider dropping it off with me for a good cause! Can you imagine, some of these children will grow up without ever having owned a single toy of their own. Have a wonderful Sunday! Many Thanks. God Bless.

I am so excited to start prepping for the next All Dolled Up party, to be held at Danai Childrens Village, Harare. I only had time for a flying visit yesterday with the house Mum and children, but what a joy! Can't wait to go back for the party! Please encourage your children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren to clear out any old toys they have outgrown and pass the love on. ❤ If you are not in Zimbabwe but would like to assist, please check out their website where you will be able to make a small donation directly to the home. Many thanks. God Bless ❤

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://danaifranciscachildrensvillage.org/&ved=2ahUKEwiin5j-lpHwAhVHUMAKHadNC-sQFjAMegQIBBAC&usg=AOvVaw0woA7LZ-dOEmb0qBf8F3D7

Danai Francisca Childrens Village Harare Danai Childrens Village is a Home that was founded in 2002 by the Late Francisca Saungweme, aka Granny proving a home for your children and developing them with life skills for the future.

We went to Budirro today to visit with Baby Blessing. Blessing was born a twin, her mum died in childbirth and her twin brother passed away a month later. She is being raised by her Aunty, who is still grieving the loss of her sister as well as the loss of her husband. She makes her living as a street vendor so money is far too tight for toys. We were delighted to put this awesome parcel together for them and hope it helps and brings a little joy. At 14 months old, these were the first toys Baby Blessing has ever had.

Did you have a favourite doll or teddy bear when you were growing up? Mine was an oversized pink teddy bear given to me by my uncle Arthur. I named him Arpa because I couldn't pronounce Arthur. What was your favourite toy and why?
Please don't forget to clear out any old toys you have lying around and drop them off or message me for collection. Many thanks. God Bless. ❤

Did you know that there are 2 days of the year dedicated to dolls? On the second Saturday of June is 'World Doll Day' established in 1986 by Mildred Seely who's idea was to gift children who don't have a single doll. A lady after my own heart. The second one falls on the 1 August this year. 'Doll Day' was created to celebrate the enormous contributions dolls have made to the development of children the world over as well as humanity as whole.
https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/doll-day/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/happydays365.org/doll-day/world-doll-day-june/amp/
Please bear our initiative in mind next time you are having a clear out and encourage your children sort through their toys and pass on what they have outgrown. They will be giving far more than 'just a toy' and will gain so much more in return. Many thanks. God Bless. ❤

Doll Day They look like miniature people. They have names, personalities, families, houses, cars, whole life stories. They provided hours upon hours of entertainment for years on end. They let us express our own feelings long before we ever really understood them. They helped us learn important lessons about...

This special lady deserves a standing ovation. She is the machinery behind this operation. She has spent hours stoically sorting, scrubbing and sterilising; sewing on limbs and stitching up seams. I cannot wait to take her along to her first 'All Dolled Up' party so she can bear witness to the fruits of her labour. Makorokoto Mama! What a job you have done! 👏 African Queen, Heavy Machine! 😁 We love and thank you Svodai Dondo. ❤🏆🥇

So grateful for all your donations to have been able to deliver these beautiful Barbie dolls and soft toys to the children of St Mary's in Chitungwiza yesterday. Sadly there was error in the information received and I was heartbroken that one little girl had been mistakenly aged way over our 12 year old remit, so we made a special return visit today with an extra special Barbie for her. Lesson for the day no matter what, always take extras! 🙈 All is well that ends well thankfully. A happy little girl today and we had the opportunity to take a stroll around the stone sculpture park at the Chitungwiza Art Centre where I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting a sculptor I follow on FB ❤ Isaac Choloka

I am not sure if I am a bear or Caspar the friendly ghost🤔 but I am very soft and fluffy and a tad surprised by my new eyes😳 🙈😂❤

A little bit of TLC goes a long way. This very old beloved little teddy, has been 'All Dolled Up' and will live on to be loved by another child ❤ Please spare a thought for our 1.4 million Zimbabwean orphans and clear out any old toys or anything at all that can be used for our project. Anything not toy related, we will gladly deliver as is to the next orphanage we visit. Many thanks. God Bless. ❤

Yesterday I was thrilled to be visited by the super stunning founder of Precious Souls Foundation in Kwekwe, Medinah Ramjee. This amazing woman is near completion of her orphanage which will be home to 24 children. There are 4 siblings already homed on the property that were uplifted from absolutely dire conditions. She showed me photos of 2 of the little girls fighting over an old doll, so I was over the moon to be able to gift all of them with a beautiful doll of their own. Thank you Medinah for your visit, the heap of teddy bears and soft toys you donated to be 'All Dolled Up' and for the blessing of a new friendship. We cannot wait to attend your opening and gift all of your Precious Souls. Please see the links below, if anyone is able to help Medinah in anyway at all please get in touch with her! She is going to need all the love and support she can get. https://www.facebook.com/Precious-Souls-Foundation-101067181819941/

Today's earth angel is Helen Tselentis-Diaskouris. Cannot thank you enough for all the gift bags and bows and all the extra toys and you bought for our project! 😍 No more wrapping! 🙏

Our first month