C'mon, Doll....pick one....you might get it

*Or.......the

"I helped some friends, now You help me and you might win something" giveaway post!!

A few months ago, one of my students and his wife told me they were cleaning out some rooms in their house and had some Japanese dolls they wanted to get rid of and asked if I wanted them to give to my friends?

(Actually, I think my friends were going to throw them away, which I thought was just wrong!!)

The dolls are old....they belonged to their kids...and their kids are my age....Not that I'm saying WE are old or anything mind you, but as far as dolls go....they are not new.

Originally, dolls like these are given to girls to celebrate the Girls' Festival which is in March. Usually, parents or grandparents will present these dolls to a girl, especially to celebrate her first Girls' Festival.

Anyway.....I now have about 8 of these dolls in my room...in boxes, stacked neatly against a wall just waiting for something to be done with them.
I would someday like to have ALL of them on their way to somewhere else , whether it's the US, or Canada or London or even another city in Japan (I do have lurkers here, don't I? Hi Kelsey!!)....I don't really care where they go, just as long as they go.
After moving them from another place in my room, AGAIN, in hopes of straightening up said room, I have come up with a plan....one that will help me out and possibly make one of my readers very happy.

Here's the plan:
I would like to be able to offer the dolls to people but, since they were given to me, I don't feel very comfortable selling them (I know! Who would have imagined I'd be thinking like that?!?!), so......I would like to offer them to people for the cost of shipping.

Here's where you (oh yeah, I'm talking to you, sweeties!) come in:
I need to find out how the shipping thing is going to work out.....Will the box make it there in one piece? Will it cost and arm and a leg to send? Will it take weeks or months to reach it's final destination? and once the doll gets there, what kind of shape will it be in?

So....I am going to offer one lucky person....

a doll.....

for free, ya'll....

to help me find the answers to those questions.

All you have to do, if you are interested in getting one of these really pretty dolls is....leave me a comment....tell me which doll you prefer.
You will have until Monday morning, the 21st (that would be Sunday night, the 20th for most of you NOT in this part of the world!!).....leave me a comment and tell me which doll you'd like and I'll put your name in the pot/hat/bowl/whatever I have handy at the moment.

The dolls are each about 10 inches tall (give or take), one is a bit shorter than the others...the beautiful traditional clothes are all hand-sewn from Japanese kimono material. The faces are made of a really good quality plastic....that doesn't look like plastic, when you first look at them.

Originally, the dolls came in glass boxes, but....yeah......nooooo....I really don't think I want to mail a glass box overseas!! Not enough bubble-wrap in the country that would make THAT idea a good one!!

So....look at the dolls....pick the one you'd like and if you're lucky, you will get one!! Good luck...and thanks...you know...for helping me out!!

And so now...I give you (if you're the lucky one!).....

Doll #1

(She is actually still in the glass case, hence the little bit of reflection.)

Doll #2

(This one is a geisha with a bird in a small cage and a little boy, who probably would have been her servant.)

Doll #3

(This one is the smaller one. She has a small bunch of flowers in her hand. Koji and I like her feet...very cute!)

Doll #4

(This one has a beautiful kimono and is carrying a branch with "flowers".)


So....there you go.
Which one do YOU like best?
Which one would you like to have?
Come on....pick one!!

Thanks so much.