Seven Sasha Dolls Bring Christmas Scenes to a Library Display

Two Christmas scenes, seven Sasha dolls

Seven Sasha dolls fill a library cabinet with two festive scenes: a lively round of Christmas tree decorating and a tableau inspired by the carol “Once in Royal David’s City.” Set up at the end of November, the display revisits the cabinet used for an earlier Sasha exhibition during a local literary festival in January and February. Its starting point is two “Dress a Sasha” entries from the 2022 Christmas in July Sasha Festival in Syracuse, New York State.

The cabinet usually holds trophies and certificates belonging to Stony in Bloom, the local horticultural group. Its members kindly moved those items to the bottom shelf to make room for the dolls on the two upper shelves. The display acknowledges the group’s achievements with golden baubles, bows and miniature bunting bearing the Stony in Bloom logo. That detail ties the seasonal scenes to the cabinet’s usual occupants.

Tree decorating with handmade touches

The upper scene brings together Timothy, Louisa, baby Nina, baby Davy and Melanie around a pop-up Christmas tree. Timothy wears a Rudolf sweater; Louisa has a Christmas sundress, and Nina wears red and green. Davy is dressed in a commercially made reindeer outfit, while Melanie wears a blue and gold Christmas dress made by DollMum years ago. The setup extends the original 2022 “Dress a Sasha” entry, which had to fit within a limit of three dolls and 18 inches square of floor space. Two additional dolls joined the activity for the library version.

Some of the clothing also reflects the wider Sasha collecting community. Other collectors made Timothy’s and Nina’s outfits, while DollMum made the festive dresses worn by Louisa and Melanie. To create the group’s logo bunting, DollMum printed the logos as triangles on thin card, stitched ribbons to the card, then cut out the individual shapes. The fabric Christmas bunting behind the dolls had been made years earlier by someone local.

Decorating the Christmas tree activity - display in the library

A carol, choir memories and Advent

The lower shelf turns to “Once in Royal David’s City,” DollMum’s favourite Christmas carol, traditionally heard at the beginning of the Nine Lessons and Carols service on Christmas Eve. Laura and Edmund reprise roles from the 2022 festival scene: Laura represents a young woman singing as a choral scholar at York Minster, while Edmund represents a young boy chorister at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Both wear robes made by DollMum.

The figures carry personal meaning. Edmund represents DollMum’s late brother Russell, a red-haired boy who sang the first solo verse at St George’s Cathedral in the 1970s. Background photographs show the cathedral and a 2018 Stony Stratford Advent Calendar window made in his memory. Laura represents DollMum’s elder daughter, who grew up in Stony Stratford and sang alto as a choral scholar at York Minster in 2021, alongside the tenors, basses and counter-tenors. Her outfit includes an orange, salmon and blue graduation hood. Photographs of York Minster and a 2020 Stony Stratford Advent Calendar window featuring the Heart of Yorkshire window there complete the setting.

Miranda joins the scene in a white dress knitted years earlier. She is positioned to light an Advent wreath with five candles: one for each of the four Sundays in Advent and one for Christmas Day. The accompanying description names the Sundays’ themes as the Patriarchs, the Prophets, John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary, followed by the Christ on Christmas Day. A small wooden Nativity scene, a childhood keepsake given by a friend in Cape Town many years ago, adds another layer of personal history. Miranda’s knitted dress and the clothing worn by Laura and Edmund were all made by DollMum.

My favourite Christmas Carol and Advent candles - display in the library

A quick setup behind the glass

The display had to be assembled in about 90 minutes before the cabinet was locked, leaving time for only two quick phone photos beforehand. Later pictures were taken through the glass, where reflections affected the view. The library staff had arranged to repair the cabinet lights, which had not worked at the start of the year. Their restored glow helps the unlit tree stand out.

There are small imperfections DollMum would have adjusted with more time: the spiral of the pop-up tree has an awkward gap, and Edmund leans forward on his doll stand when seen from the side. Still, the two shelves bring together festival entries, handmade costumes, community recognition and family memories. The details make the display feel less like a static holiday arrangement and more like a set of stories gathered around a library cabinet.

The two Christmas scenes on display in the library

With the tree decorating group above and the carol and Advent scene below, the cabinet offers two different ways into the season. Its smallest pieces—the stitched logo bunting, the knitted dress, the choir robes and the wooden Nativity—carry the strongest personal connections. Merry Christmas.