New Doll Finds

Just a quick post today. I hope to have my sewing machine up this week and get some of my "to do" done soon.

I went to a teacher store today. I start in the fall as a teacher at my son's mother's day out program. I have never been in a teacher store and recommend that you go without your kids. (I will be in there again.)

I did find a few things for my daughter's dolls there.

How cute is the little globe? It is actually a pencil sharpener. The little treats are erasers. At just 99 cents, I will be picking up more erasers. They are too cute! The dolls are ready for a tea party now!!

Doll Finds...at Target

I have been avoiding Target lately. I find when I go in, I come out at least $100 less in the bank account and not a lot to show for it.

Yesterday I had to go to Target for a birthday present. Of course, I stopped at the bins by the front door. WOW. Right now they are stocked with lots of items for school teachers and lots of fun minion stuff.

Here are a couple of things I found that are perfect for my daughter's dolls:

little notebook

These are tiny.

A little dog with carrier on clearance.

Look at that cute face!!

Here she is with her new pet.

Ready for school!!

 

 

Little Backpack...PERFECT size.

$3 for this little cutie.

I LOVE finding fun, inexpensive doll things!!!!

Doll Pet... Just a Little Bird

Getting a pet for an 18" doll is not too hard. You can find lots of dogs that are the perfect size for them. Beanie baby dogs and cats are a great fit.

Recently at Michael's I found a really cute bird cage. They had them at the baskets by the check out. I am pretty sure they where $3.00. I knew they where the perfect size for my daughter's dolls.

I had a couple of little black birds from Hobby Lobby that I was going to paint and use for something else. They have been sitting on my desk, patiently waiting. Change of plans.

I used a craft stick (popsicle stick will work) to make the bird ledge. I simply placed the stick in the cage, marked where the wire was and used an exacto knife to cut a slot. While this sounds confusing, it really only took a couple of minutes.

I wrapped the bird's wire around the stick, put it in place and I was done. Look at the cuteness!!!

The doll showing off her pet.

You can see the slots I cut out.

You just slide the stick down and it stays.

Pretty bird!

Time To Sew

It is time to get my sewing machine out!

I have been going to my local thrift stores once a week since dance class started for my kids. We are almost at recital so I have a good stash of items I have purchased.

Preemie clothes and newborn are really close to American Girl size. These sizes can be harder to find in items that look like they could be little girl items since AG dolls are not babies. I stay away from onesies. Nothing will make that folded over collar look grown up. I look for skirts or dresses that I can make doll size quickly.

Some items from my stash.

I have a bunch of patterns thanks to Pixie Faire. If you are interested in making doll clothes, sign up for the Pixie Faire newsletter. They send you an awesome and free pattern every Friday!! They also have some free patterns on their site.

I can't wait to finish up with my stash. I will upload pics when I can.

Here is my Pintrest board that has some great free patterns and ideas for accessories.

More American Girl Accessories

Ran to the craft store yesterday and found a few more American Girl sized goodies. The cutest clipboards I had seen where only $1.50 so I picked up three. I liked how one had just ruled paper and the other had a checklist. There are magnets on the back which come right up.

Most of us have seen the mini tape dispensers. I grabbed the Valentine's day set which was on sale. Three dispensers for only $1.79.

I liked the little chalkboard easel. I will leave it to my sweet girl to decide what to use it for. Also at $1.50 I could see getting another one.

Lastly I picked up some small keys. I didn't want to get tiny keys since that is not realistic. I grew up with a spare key and it was not miniature. The keys where $1.99. Put them on a spare key chain and dolly is set.

I always keep my eyes open for inexpensive items the doll can use. I will share what I find.

I couldn't resist buying more than one.

This magnet just peels right off. Take it off slow to prevent too much tearing.

The kinds of little tape available blows me away.

Ready to use.

American Girl Accessories

My last stop at the dollar store resulted in a few  doll finds. The party goodie bag section is great for miniature or doll sized stuff.

Here are the few things I found:

Reminds me of the recorders we played in elementary school.

Cute Tiaras.

What doll wouldn't live a tiara.

These make great belts!!!

Real American Girl

Tuesday I was at a local thrift store spending an hour before it was time to pick up my child from dance. I always look at their 18 inch dolls. If they are not too bad, I usually will buy them. The prices range from $4 to $8. My daughter's Journey Girl has a couple of Madame Alexander sisters.
Back to my story, Tuesday I found an American Girl doll for $3.98. Her hair looked a mess but seeing how this was the real deal, I bought her.
I have done the "Downy Dunk" on a couple of other dolls and it worked ok. I went online to see what other advice I could find for genuine AG dolls.
The first thing I noticed was the attention to the brush. I read you should not use plastic bristle brushes since they make the hair frizz. So I went to my local Sally thinking they might have a wig brush (metal bristle brush). Well, they used to carry one but it discontinued. I did pick up some leave-in conditioner for wig hair.
An AG brush can be ordered from their site or even on amazon, but I did not want to wait. I had an "aha" moment last night. Dog brushes have metal bristles. I ran to Wal-Mart and picked one up for $3.
I got home and went to work on her hair. It looks a thousand times better.
What do you think? Sorry I didn't take a better before. It didn't dawn on me to share until after I got started.

Her hair was a frizzy mess.

The only part not tangled was the tips.

This was when I decided to share. I had already done the bottom layer.

All conditioned and brushed.

I pulled her hair back.

My tools: dog brush and wig spray.

Her hair still looks a little frizzy, but you can run a brush through it now.

Doll Drinks

Getting ready for Christmas means making doll food. I learned that the scale for America Girl dolls is 1:3.

I found some really cute small, red party cups. They are about that scale, but look too big for the dolls. While searching online, I learned about communion cups. They are the perfect size for doll drinks. After another search, I found an online Christian store that has the best price. (I will add the link here.)

Now I have a ton...like 1,000... cups to play with. I grabbed some puffy fabric paint and started to play. I also have used my diamond glaze to fill drinks.

I am still learning a few tricks to making my drinks look good, but so far I am loving it.

Let me know if you would like my tips.

Christmas gifts

I am working on a couple of items for my daughter's Christmas. I have painted the "fridge" for my daughter's doll. My next step is to make food to fill it. I found a really good site with food printables. Paper Minis has pritables for doll house size and 18" doll size. The scale for AG dolls is 1:3.  

I have a Muffy pie cabinet I found at goodwill which will make a good pantry. 

I am trying to be as frugal as I can and looking everywhere for ideas. So, look what I found today at Tom Thumb:

 I found the same brand of appetizer forks alone. I had them in my cart and then I came across the whole set. I recently purchased square plates for our household. I just LOVE these little ones. I can't wait to give these to my daughter for her dolls. Oh, and it was about $5.00 so my wallet is happy too.

I have been so busy, but I do have more I want to share. The dino party was a huge sucess, keep an eye out for that update.

Thanks for coming by.

Yadi

Hand Made Christmas

I have never been very confident in my ability to do anything well enough to have a hand made Christmas. I am a beginner at sewing, amateur jewelry maker and amateur crafter.

Since my daughter is American Girl obsessed, as I have said in previous posts, I am going to make some of her gifts. I found a little cabinet at goodwill which I think will make a perfect little fridge. I will be crafting items to go inside of it. I am also thinking of adding images to the insides of the doors that reflect the inside of a fridge. I am not sure where I will find the images, but I will have to look around.

I also found a little pantry at goodwill; it already contained two pies. I am going to paint this as well since I think it would look weird to leave it white when I am painting the little "fridge" black.

My local Tuesday Morning happened to have some 18 inch dolls. They also had a cute table and chairs set for $20. I was so excited. I know she is going to love these. I am making some little seat cushions and a table cloth.

My 8 year old son is into video games and I really can't think of ANYTHING to get him or make him. I really limit how much he can play video games during the week.


I guess I will be looking around on Pintrest for any ideas for my boys. If you see anything...let me know!!

The "fridge" I found. Needs some paint.

Needs some paint on the inside too and maybe some "fridge" images.

Doll Carrier

I found a canvas laundry bag on sale at Walmart the other day. The bag is 22 inches by 60 inches (or something close).

While I have no need for a laundry bag, I did think it would be perfect as a base for a doll carrier. My daughter loves her new Liberty Girl (American Girl knock off) and likes to take her places. I try to limit this since I could see her leaving the doll somewhere and then it getting lost.

I have seen a few doll carriers, all priced more than I would like to spend. Since the laundry bag was less than $5.00, well, I see it being converted into a carrier.

Now here is my dilemma:
Do I make the carrier a simple one to just carry the doll?
Do I make the carrier as a bag with the doll that hangs on the side?

Not sure what I mean... Here are some examples of bags/doll kind:
http://www.dolly-outfitters.com/doll-carriers/backpack-doll-carrier/
http://nonni-and-b.blogspot.com/2011/01/draw-string-backpack-with-attached.html
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002N80S7C/?tag=meissa-20
OR just for the doll:
http://nestfullofeggs.blogspot.com/2014/03/doll-carrier.html
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006J64SCU/?colid=3M22L0BDX5Y91&_encoding=UTF8&coliid=I1P55OQY65PV4Y&ref=gl_it_dp_o_S_ttl

I may have to sit my daughter down and go through the different choices to see what she would be excited about. She has 3 dolls so I think I need to take that into consideration too.
Maybe she would want something like this which allows her to carry two:
http://store.americangirl.com/agshop/html/item/id/226408/ctc/XSCOORD

Decisions, decisions.

Fabric stash

Oh my. Recently I have begun to sew for my daughter's 18 inch doll. In doing so I have realized I have a large stash of fabric. 

When did this happen?

I have cotton fabric, heavy fabric, flannel, tulle...

I think when my daughter was born I got the idea that I would make clothes for her. Yeah, didn't happen. Now she is 6 and I find myself sewing for her dolls.

Our home now has 3 18 inch dolls. We have a Journey Girl (birthday gift), a Be My Girl (picked up at Tuesday Morning for $7), and an Our Generation (picked up at thrift store for under $4). 

Pintrest has given me many free patterns to try and I have made a few skirts, but need to work on my shirt skills. Let me just say that 1/4 inch seam allowances are really a challenge for me.

Simple skirt with trim as detail.

Reversible skirt, side 1.

Reversible skirt, side 2.

Pillowcase dress.

Two dresses from an old toddler dress.

Tutu with lots of layers.

One skirt from a jean leg, another from a toddler skirt.

If you find a cute, easy pattern let me know.