Happy Girls Day everyone! I managed to finish the kokeshi doll pins for Buddy's teachers last night, albeit with very little sleep, but here they are. The one on the left is supposed to have a "bobbed" hairstyle to match one of Buddy's teacher's hair, but I don't think it came out bob-ish enough.
It's a terrible photograph I know, but all we've been having lately is dark, stormy and dreary weather, so no natural light for any of the photos today. Here's the trio on top of the chi chi mochi my mom made and packed in sakura bento containers.
And look what my mother-in-law dropped off yesterday at the house for me, girls day cookies!
She always adds the sweetest hina matsuri tags every year to her girls day gifts. And last but not least, a pic of my favorite part of girls day, the mochi. Chi chi mochi is a soft sweet mochi that is different than the mochi eaten at New Years and to make ozoni soup. It's hard to see in the pic, but each mochi piece has a white layer and a pink layer and the white powder is katakuriko (potato starch) which keeps the mochi from sticking together.
We're having our official girls day celebration tomorrow at my mom's with more mochi, kimono wearing and lots of picture taking. Have a great weekend!
Girls day is new to me so I've enjoyed reading about it and see what you & your family have done so far. The doll pins are very cute, the one of the right with the little piggy tails is my favorite. You really did a great job!
Have a good weekend.
Posted by: Gina L | March 03, 2006 at 10:18 AM
The doll pins are so cute. The mochi is making me hungry. It reminds me of my trip to Japan last year and all those delicious mochis I ate.
Posted by: Oiyi | March 03, 2006 at 11:09 AM
Your pins are superb! And the mochi looks very yummy.
Posted by: Robin | March 03, 2006 at 11:48 AM
OH! I am so enchanted by the little Kokeshi pins. I subbed today and brought up Girl's Day to my students. I wanted to read Little OH to them by Laura Krauss Melmed, but we ran out of time (I made a little paper girl to help tell the story). I did read The Three Pigs and the Fox by William Hooks which has a strong girl character. I think I will make myself a little kokeshi pin for Children's Day May 5th.
I wish I had a blog up and running so you could see the kokeshi earrings I make. I LOVE YOUR ART!!
Posted by: Magpie | March 03, 2006 at 12:00 PM
I've not commented before, I don't think, but had to come out of lurking to say I love those dolls. They must have been very well received.
Posted by: Elaine | March 03, 2006 at 12:39 PM
Oh fun fun fun! What lucky teachers and the girls day gifts look so tasty.
Posted by: abbyjane | March 03, 2006 at 01:41 PM
Kokeshi dolls are sooooo cute!
I totally forgot about Hina-matsuri until I saw your post!
Oh wow... chi chi mochi makes me hungry.
I've never heard of it, but I'm sure I've had the same kind of mochi before!
I wish I knew how to make it. :)
Posted by: Chie | March 03, 2006 at 01:42 PM
everything looks so cute and yummy! i had my chichi dango today that a friend made and i bought (at liliha bakery) some cookies for my dd at home....happy girls' day!
Posted by: debbie | March 03, 2006 at 04:45 PM
too cute! such lovely kimono they all have--buddy's teachers are super lucky! good thing there are only three of them :)
i'm so impressed at how much celebrating your family does, that's so awesome!
Posted by: susanne | March 03, 2006 at 08:38 PM
Waaaaaah oishisou! I've never eaten chichi mochi before.
The dolls are so so cute! I bet the teachers will be over the moon!
Posted by: Niina | March 04, 2006 at 02:09 AM
I'm a lurker coming out of hiding too. I love those pins, they are so cute. Our office tries to pick fun holidays to celebrate together, and Id love to do a girls day next year. Do you know where I could get decorations/tags like the ones in your 3rd photo in the US? :) Wonderful site by the way!
Posted by: pghjezebel | March 04, 2006 at 04:59 AM
The kokeshi pins are adorable! I'm sure the teachers were delighted.
The mochi is making my mouth water....
Posted by: June | March 04, 2006 at 05:21 AM
The pins are wonderful! Lucky teachers!
Posted by: mimi k | March 04, 2006 at 05:28 AM
yay! happy girls day :) those little kokeshi pins are adorable!
Posted by: hillary | March 04, 2006 at 07:28 AM
Oh my gosh, these pins are absolutely delightful.
Posted by: roz | March 04, 2006 at 08:01 AM
Those little pins are SO sweet!
(Hope you're ok there with the rain/floods?)
Posted by: Jan | March 04, 2006 at 08:13 AM
Happy Belated Girl's Day!! Your kokeshi pins turned out SO adorable!!! I love how each of them has different hairstyles. I especially love the one with the parted and pig-tailed hair! The chichi mochi looks so delicious, too! I ate way more mochi yesterday than I'd like to admit. ;-) The gift from your MIL is so sweet, too- the card and tag are so cute! Have fun at your mom's house today and eat a little extra mochi for me! ;-) Take care and have a great weekend, Myra! :-)
Posted by: chris | March 04, 2006 at 09:25 AM
Love love love the kokeshi pins. Pleeeease may we have a tutorial (or just broad hints would do). You'll laugh (in England we say "You'll wet your pants" and we don't mean trousers!!) but I had no idea what mochi was. I thought it was the name of your cat!! I'm off for a lie down!! rofl
Posted by: Kate | March 05, 2006 at 11:57 AM
I'd never heard of girls day before, but I'm glad to be learning about it! The doll pins are beautiful and adorable! Thank you for sharing pictures with us!
Posted by: Passions & Distractions | March 05, 2006 at 03:32 PM
the pins turned out great and the mochi looks so good!
Posted by: joyce | March 06, 2006 at 05:07 AM
these are gorgeous! i love your sense of design and color... and mochi is delicious too!
have a great week,
m
Posted by: michal | March 06, 2006 at 12:35 PM
oh my goodness - those are absolutely darling! I had to laugh because the one with the dark blue kimono looks like me - from the length of the hair, to the part, to the pigails (which I wear when I'm out hiking/exercising) to the blue color (my favorite!) well done :D
Posted by: Stephanie | March 06, 2006 at 01:24 PM
Your dools are fabulous! I love them. Have a great girls day.xx
Posted by: nichola | March 07, 2006 at 01:32 AM
Dools? What are dools? i meant dolls, hehe.
Posted by: nichola | March 07, 2006 at 01:33 AM
The dolls are adorable. What a nice gift to give!
Posted by: Tabitha | March 07, 2006 at 06:49 AM