Whimsical Marie Antoinette inspired doll

This is my latest creation - a Marie Antoinette inspired doll. Her fancy hat is made up of snowflakes, feathers, glittery leaves a birds nest and two white love birds.

Fun with mosaics!

I just made this on my new favorite site: picnik.com

Fun*Fun!

Happy Duck!

I made this duck a few weeks ago, just to see if I could do it. It's just been sitting around on my desk and everytime I look at it, I feel happy! So, I'm sharing this picture in hopes that it will make you feel happy too.

Have a great day!XOXOtk...happygirl

Whimsical Evening Bag Doll Creation

This is the 2ND evening bag doll that I created; the bag belonged to my grandma Cookie. I found the high-heeled shoes in the Christmas ornament department. Her hat is an animal print powder puff. This is one of the few dolls that I used doll hair on; it isn't very easy to work with. Anyway, I like the way she holds her hand up to her mouth, like she's flirting and laughing. I used my Cookie's black beaded hair scrunchy for the doll's collar and she has a little champagne glass next to her hand that has letter beads that say "Capture some magic". xoxoxotoni kelly*happy girl

Create something fabulous with a treasured object

After my grandma Cookie passed away, I ended up with her evening bag collection. There is this one bag that I thought was so interesting because it's red and in the shape of a star. This was the last bag I remember seeing her carry. I made a "Cookie" doll out of it. This was a few years ago, so when I look at it now, of course I would have done some things differently. My little girl's let me have one of their toy crowns, I attached her rhinestone anklet to it - it says "Cookie" on the front of it. The metal in the middle belonged to her husband, he had gotten it from serving in a war. I found that old looking phone in her Christmas ornaments. She had been a Southern Bell phone operator for much of her life, so I thought it would be fitting to have that sit next to her. Red was her signature color and she always wore heels, luckily - I found some really cute doll shoes at the dollar store, so cute!

happyhappy girlie...toni kelly

Mammogram reminder boxes

After I had shouted from the roof tops for every girl I know to get a mammogram and after I had attached a pink ribbon to everything I was making and everything that I had already made, I knew it wasn't going to be enough. I thought that it would be such a great idea for me to sell them at the upcoming Breast Cancer Walk that would be taking place downtown a few weeks from that time, so I made an appointment to see the person that is in charge of that event. I showed her my pink ribbon creations and told her my story and how I would love the opportunity to sell them and donate half of the proceeds to the event. She loved what I had made, but that vendor's at that event have to pay a minimum of $1,000.00 - so, sorry... we won't be able to accommodate you and your pitiful little 50% donation - we only take BIG money. Ok, she didn't say that last part, but that it what it sounded like to me. Oh, and by the way, she asked if she could have one of them. Of course, I smiled quite politely and said that of course she could have one. It just doesn't make sense to me that they could be raising more money if they wanted to - it made me feel like my donation wouldn't have been good enough, like it would be too small to make a difference.

I left there that day feeling frustrated. I went to my friend's house to tell her what had happened and she said that I could just pass the pink ribbon fairey dolls out to my friends as a mammogram reminder. I thought that sounded great. So, I gathered up some boxes, include my story and a journal for them to sign, if they want to, and I made up a poem...
Here's a little message from the mammogram reminder fairey:

I'm here to deliver some cheer, it's true - but, mostly I'm here as a reminder to you. It's crucial that you don't delay! "Get a mammogram" is what I say. Please don't become too attached to me, I have a very important job, you see. I must keep moving or my work will never get done. I'll keep on going 'til the war on cancer is won! So, please pass me on, I hope you won't wait. Joining this life saving crusade, will make you feel great!

So, I give a friend a box, it hopefully reminds them to get a mammogram, they sign the journal and pass it to a friend, then so on until the journal gets filled up. Then I'm supposed to get the journal back and I would send out a new journal so that the fairey can continue her journey.

Have you had a mammogram recently???
xoxo *Toni Kelly*happy happy girl

Sugar Cookie Dolls gets a new focus

By 2005, My little cottage industry was going pretty good. I felt so happy to have finally found something I loved to do and I could actually make a little money doing it. I was selling at a few craft shows, sold to a few stores and I had finally gotten a website. An article on my business was featured in THE STATE newspaper, then, in a local magazine, then my business was featured on an "In your town" on WACH Fox57 news. People just seem to like the story behind my business.

In the summer of 2005, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Was I shocked?...not really. I had mentally prepared myself as a safety precaution, just in case. My main concern, at that point, was making sure that my little girls wouldn't worry about it - I knew I would have to keep everything as normal as possible. It was especially bad timing because I had just had to explain to them the week before my diagnoses, that my aunt (that we were close to) was going to die - because she had cancer.

From the moment I found out, I wanted to tell everyone I know to get a mammogram. I started making pink ribbom fairies and attaching pink ribbons to dolls that I had already made. That experience gave my creations a new focus. I knew I couldn't remind everyone to get a mammogram, but having a pink ribbon on something I made just made me feel like I was at least helping a little bit. I donate $5.00 to the Susan G. Komen for the cure organization when someone purchases a pink ribbon item from my website.

Get a mammogram... it will save your life!
Have a great day! *Toni Kelly*happy girl!!!

The story behind Sugar Cookie Dolls

It all started in 2002. I was a busy stay at home mom with two little girl's, just desperately needing some "me-time". So, I struck up a friendship with a glue gun and * Bah-dah- boom...Bah-dah Bing!... A Fairey Was Born!





Sadly, my grandmother passed away right around this time. As I was helping my mom clean out my grandmother's closet, I had an "Ah-Ha!' moment. You see, my grandma was anything but typical, she was foxy! She always had her hair beauty shop perfect, make-up flawlessly applied, wearing something fancy and due to a height complex - she ALWAYS wore heels. Of course, she would have on all the right accessories and would be carrying the perfect handbag. So, when I was standing there, looking into her closet at all of her belongings all together like that, I started to think about how she would treat everyday as if she were expecting something wonderful would happen. I'm definitely a positive thinker, but - I just don't think I could fathom that level of optimism. It is hard to explain it exactly, but I left my grandmother's house that day feeling somehow inspired.



I ended up inheriting a vast collection of costume jewelry, handbags, high-heeled shoes, craft supplies, etc... She apparently NEVER threw anything away in her 70 years of life. It definitely had something to do with her generation. Anyway, with my new found inspiration, I began incorporating those new items into my glue gun creations. I was able to make such beautiful things, beyond anything I would have ever imagined. It was like the levy broke and an endless flow of creativity just poured out of me and hasn't stopped.



The reaction that I recieved from my family and friends was just the encouragement that I needed to start my own business that I named Sugar Cookie Dolls. I named it that in honor of my lovely grandma: Margaret Cooke Milam aka: Cookie - you can see what she looked like in the picture above.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
* Toni Kelly *