What would you do with a wooden box?

We've been working on our doll house again - it's time for an expansion! So far we have a small kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and horse stable.  We just finished our next room and put it into place. It's ready to be transformed into a room for our dolls all we need is some paint and imagination. After a little brainstorming, and some hints from Julie, we've decided what we'd turn our room into....

 A dance studio! My girls love to go to dance lessons, and so a studio of our own seems like a great addition to our dollhouse.  We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Julie is ready for dance class. Her ballet outfit is made from an old dance outfit my girls use to wear. I cut the leotard out of the bodice of the outfit, removed the attached skirt, and created a gathered waist, and violia', Julie is set for some serious ballet lessons; perhaps if she works hard she can star in the Nutcracker this Christmas!

All that Jazz!

It's dance recital time! If your girl takes dance class, chances are, she's gearing up for her end of the year recital, and that's just what Daphne is doing. This year she took a tap class, and her class is performing a 1920's jazz piece. 

 For her costume, Daphne is wearing the American girl of today Jazz costume. It's a silver and purple costume with lots of fringe and sparkle. I love the purple feather and jazz shoes that came with the outfit.

Now all Daphne has to do is get up on stage and shine!

Old Fashioned School Days

Our Mia doll models a historical fashion sewn from Kirsten's pattern collection. The dress is made from a cotton plaid material. I love the blue color of this plaid; I can picture a girl from the 1850s wearing a dress just like this one to school or church.

There is a fancy white apron trimmed with lace that keeps her dress clean while she works at her school desk.

She wears a pair of bloomers under her dress that are trimmed in lace.

A sunbonnet ties in a pretty bow under her chin and keeps the sun out of her eyes as she walk from her farm to school or church.

I love the way the apron closes in the back.

She is certain to get lots of wear out of this cute dress!

A Traveling We Will Go

I love all of the American Girl craft books and kits. They all offer fun activities, fun and games.  One of the new books that I thought was really fun was the new traveling craft book.

This fun book has everything your doll needs for her trip.  There's a passport, map, tickets, travel posters, camera, travel bag and lots of fun activities to keep both you and your doll busy on their trip. 

The book contains lots of ideas to help you plan and create a trip for your doll.  I'm going to set up my own little resort for my dolls!

Caroline Abbott - Paper Dolls

Caroline Abbott's Play Scenes and Paper Dolls are set to be released in early September along with her six book collection, a boxed set with a board game, and her color and craft set. I always love the entire American Girl product line and wish I could purchase every single item available. I especially love the paper dolls from American Girl as the paper dolls are a great way to play with the dolls and enjoy many of the dolls' clothes and accessories. The paper dolls help me feel like I can see the dolls' entire line so that I can pick and choose my favorite items for purchase.

Soccer Star

Ava loves soccer! And if Ava loves something, Julie loves it, too! Grandma gave Ava a soccer outfit for her American Girl doll so they could play together.  Julie's outfit is from the Springfield doll line.  It's sold in two part. The soccer jersey and shorts are sold together, and the soccer shoes, socks and ball come in a separate pack.

 I love how realistic the soccer shoes are.  They look just like Ava's!

The Springfield outfit is really cute. It's priced right, with coupons, grandma was able to get the entire outfit for well under $10.  Perfect for our little soccer star!

Kirsten's Gunne Sax

Kirsten is feeling fancy in her new dress.  This dress is made from one of Kirsten's patterns.  The material is a late '70s floral design.  I added ribbon detail at the waist (two rows on the waistband and two rows above the waistband) on the sleeves (before I gathered them) and three rows at the hem.  I really like how the pink ribbon makes the colors of this dress pop out against the black background.

This dress reminds me of the dresses girls wore when I was a child in the '70s.  Gunne Sax was a popular brand of flowery dresses that girls enjoyed wearing. Most of the styles were long and flowey, usually detailed with lots of ribbon and lace.

I'm not sure if I should credit this dress to Kirsten's time period or to Julie's, but either way, Kirsten looks adorable in in new dress!

Caroline Abbott boxed set

All of the American Girl historical character books are offered as a collection as well as individually. The Caroline Abbott books by Kathleen Ernst will also be available as a collection. According to American Girl Publishing the keepsake boxed set will also contain a board game "where girls collect cards and earn points." This sounds like a great way for girls to share the wonderful adventures Caroline's stories are sure to contain.

Happy Birthday, Molly!

Title: Happy Birthday, Molly!

Author: Valerie Tripp

Summary:  Molly learns that an English girl is going to stay we her and her family until the war is over. Molly and her friends are excited about the guest and imagine her to be a princess or fancy English girl who likes tea and sandwiches every afternoon. The girls enjoy imagining the fun tea parties they will have together. As Mrs. McIntire introduces Emily to the girls, Emily is extremely quiet. She isn’t at all what the girls had imagined. Molly wonders if she will ever be able to become friends with Emily. Emily is very quiet and different from the other children at school. At home, she likes different foods and is quiet and reserved. Molly learns that English children had been living with the war on their home front for a long time and this has shaped Emily’s personality.

Molly and her friends begin to plan her birthday party; they imagine the fancy party they would love to have, yet with the war and rations, Molly admits her cake will be a plain vanilla cake without eggs, butter or milk. Molly’s family is home discussing her upcoming birthday party when an air raid siren goes off. While the rest of the family knows it is only a drill and begins to prepare for it, Emily is frightened. Molly begins to realize how difficult life was for Emily back home in England and shares with Molly the fact that her own father is over in England, and this knowledge begins to open Emily up to Molly’s friendship. As the girls’ friendship grows, Molly offers to share her birthday with Emily; together, they decide to have an English tea party as their birthday theme.  Everything seems like it will be great, until they have some problems agreeing on the party plans. Can Molly and Emily overcome their differences? Will the party work out? More importantly, can they mend their friendship?

Book Activity Ideas: Planning a Party

Molly and Emily must work together to plan the perfect birthday party. Planning a party isn’t always easy. Pretend you are a girl living in the 1940s, what type of party would you plan? See if you can come up with some great ideas for the characters in the book.  You might want to do some research to see what type of foods, drinks, games and gifts were popular during the time period. Think about the limitations of the time period, too.  Most food was rationed, so you might not be able to make everything on a fancy menu; what is a practical solution for this problem?

Here are some things you’ll want to consider for your perfect party:

I.                   Background research: Pick your time period and budget. What items are available to a girl in this time period? What type of a budget would she have?

II.                Theme: Come up with a theme for the party. Would you have an English tea party? A cowboy party? A movie star party? What else might be a fun idea for this time period?

III.             Invitations: Who would you invite to your party? What type of invitation would you design? Does it fit both the theme and the time period?

IV.             Decorations: How would you decorate for your party? Do the decorations fit with your theme? Are the items you would use to decorate available during this time period? Would you be able to afford them? Would you make them? What materials would you need to gather?

V.                Food: What type of food and drinks would you serve at your themed party? Is this something girls would eat during the time period? Could you make it with your limited rations? Perhaps you can splurge and get one really special item, what would it be?

VI.             Entertainment: How would you entertain your party guests? What games would you play? Can you connect your games to your party theme? Perhaps you’ll want a few games that involve physical activity and a few that involve “mind” activity (thinking games). Will you give prizes? If so, what types of prizes would girls give in this time period?

VII.          Dress: How will you dress for the party? What type of outfit would you wear to fit both the time period and theme?

Once you’ve planned your party, you might decide to have your party with your friends. Let them know that you’re having a themed, historical party so they can come in period appropriate costumes (and be ready to share some ideas with them if they need help!) If you can’t have the actual party, sketch it out on paper, or create one for your dolls. This is a great activity that you could try with any of the girls from the American Girl collection.

I'm a Little Bit Vintage

I've been working on cleaning and organizing my basement. My mom saved nearly all of my toys from when I was little, so it's lots of fun to sort through my old items and find things that my girls might enjoy playing with. In my box of doll items I found lots of handmade doll clothes, most of which was made for my Tender Love doll.  Although Tender Love was a bit shorter than the American Girl dolls, most of her clothes fit the AG dolls, and I really love the vintage look. Here's a few of my favorite pieces.

Daphne is modeling a vintage capri pantsuit.  This is an outfit from the late 1960's.  This outfit was made by my "grandma" (one of many great aunts I had) for me when I was a child. The pattern and material are both from the 60's, although I didn't receive the outfit until the mid '70's. I use to put this outfit on my Tender Love doll. I believe the pants were full length on Tender Love, but I think they look super cute as capris on Daphne.  The entire outfit is lined and the trim (both the rickrack around the top of the blouse and the lace around the neckline) are hand stitched. I can tell my grandma put lots of time into this outfit.

Here's a vintage jacket from the late 60's.  Again, this outfit was designed for a baby doll, but looks great on Daphne.  The jacket snaps closed in the front and is fully lined. 

This jumper is another item from my Tender Love collection.  This one piece short suit snaps closed in the back and is trimmed with red rickrack.  I bet Julie would look really groovy in this outfit!

Caroline Abbott by Kathleen Ernst

I'm so excited for any information on the new historical character from American Girl; I can't wait until September! I've been scouring the internet looking for the latest information, as I'm sure many of you have as well. In my search for news on Caroline Abbott, I ran across this mock book jacket:

It's clearly the same silhouette as on the craft/art book.  I'm hoping American Girl will give us some additional clues soon!

Caroline Abbott

American Girl has posted on their Facebook site the name of the new historical character scheduled for release in September 2012: Caroline Abbott. 

Although they haven’t yet released a time period or photo, they have released a cover “sketch” for her art/activity book.  It’s not clear what she might look like or what time period she might be from, but I’m still hoping for a post revolution red-head.

I did find titles for her books which are scheduled for a September release. They are: Meet Caroline, Caroline’s Secret Message, A surprise for Caroline, Caroline Takes a Chance, Caroline’s Battle, and Changes for Caroline. It looks like they will follow the old American Girl format with a story for each of the seasons, Christmas, school, birthday, etc.

Mini Adventures

"Hello there friend!" Samantha called out from her bedroom window. "I'm so glad to see you."

Samantha is really excited to share the news with all of her friends. She has a new house and will be sharing her adventures with all of you!

Stay tuned to read about Samantha's adventures in her new link - Mini Adventures!

Molly

Here's a peek at Molly's collection at the American Girl store in Chicago.

I love Molly's beautiful braids. I've noticed that the dolls that come with braided hair (Molly, Kirsten before she retired, and Kaya) have the best hair. The braids stays in place even when played with and their hair tends to frizz less than other dolls. I hope the new historical doll comes with braids!

Here's Emily.

Aren't Molly's pajamas adorable? Her hair looks super cute when you take the braids out. I love her waves.

Matching girl sized PJ's.

Looking around the store it was clear that lots of the Molly and Emily items have been retired. I've heard rumors that Molly and Emily will be the next dolls to retire, so if either doll is on your wish list, you should pick her up while she's still available.

A peek into the past. I love the bright kitchen colors. Molly's kitchen is so cheery and fun!

Meet McKenna

We had lots of fun looking at all of the new items first hand at the American Girl Store in Chicago. One of the dolls we spent some time looking over was McKenna the doll of the year for 2012!

McKenna is everywhere at the American Girl store.  We ran into her and her accessories on the first floor. She's near all three entrance areas and in the middle vestibule. There's also a larger section of McKenna dolls and supplies on the second floor of the store.

Here's a closer look at McKenna's accessories. I really like these a lot; they look so realistic, just like a budding gymnast would use.

McKenna has a cute little furry friend. Her dog is a goldendoddle, too cute!

American Girls love to match their dolls, so there's a matching outfit for girls, too.

I liked McKenna's rainy day boots, but I thought her umbrella didn't look like it would hold up with my little ones.

Here's a peek at McKenna's PJ's.

Of course there's a matching set for girls as well.

McKenna spends lots of time in her jammies when she injures her foot at gymnastics. I love the pink crutches, cast and get well panda!

Here's the item my youngest daughter really wants - McKenna's bunk bed!  I love this bed; it's full of lots of fun gidgets and gadgets.

There's a cute little chair and desk under the bed for when McKenna is ready to study.

I love this little reading nook complete with books and a hamster cage.

Of course everywhere you look there are little gymnastic touches - trophies, posters, ribbons, etc.

Here's McKenna's fancy outfit. I love the beautiful rich color of this dress. It looks great with McKenna's hair and eye coloring.

My daughter loved the fun McKenna Display.



My daughter loved this life-sized 3D cut out of McKenna.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but McKenna is swinging on the bar and her toes point out over the girl standing below.

We loved the giant sized illustrations all around the display area. It certain was lots of fun to browse through this section.  We can't wait for summer and the McKenna movie release!