Working Through the Stash: AG Goody Bags

A while ago I had a post about my addiction to craft supplies. I have been in serious need of some focused clean up.

A few years ago I developed a stash of tulle. For my daughter's first birthday I made her a really cute tutu for her cake pictures. Of course, not knowing what colors I wanted, I purchased a few. Since then the rolls of tulle have been in a bin.

My daughter's birthday this year has been all about American Girl...even though we purchased her a Journey Girl. The location where we are having her party provides gender neutral goody bags. As a special treat for her friends who also have American Girl dolls, we decided on AG goody bags. Inside they have a bracelet, a ring pop, an AG hair clip, an AG duck tape purse, an AG necklace and an AG tutu.

I have been able to use some of that tulle and ribbon that was sitting around. Since the necklaces and duck tape purses where made from supplies I got from the dollar store, they where really inexpensive.

Stack of finished tutus for AG dolls

Also, as part of using my craft supplies, I have been doing some sewing. I have made my daughter 2 dressed, 4 skirts, a pair of pants and some shorts for her doll. Her doll beds got new pillows and new reversible blankets. I have a stash of material picked up at the craft or fabric store clearance bin. AND some clothing I have kept with the idea to reuse it. Hope to make a serious dent in this stash.

Update 6/13/14: I finished the duck tape purses and necklaces for the goody bags as well. I made a few styles of bags. I had so much fun with these that I made a few for my daughter. She loves her collection.

These bags have empty Capri Sun packages as the base.

The center purses are made using my tutorial.

From Toddler Dress to Two Doll Dresses

With my daughter's birthday just around the corner, I have been busy making things for her Journey Girl. I took a little trip to our local Ikea yesterday to pick up a couple of doll beds. I have been looking online at what is available for 18" dolls. Ikea has beds for $20. Make me smile. (Here is their bed listing.)

Then of course, I had to make new pillows for her bed since the ones it came with where flat...literally. I see making a foam mattress in my near future as well.

I have also been going by Goodwill and looking for little girl clothes I can alter to fit her Journey Girl. I came across a really cute 2T dress that was perfect! Here is how I made two doll dresses out of this one toddler dress. (Just FYI: Journey Girls are a little thinner than American Girls. While a 2T worked great for our JG, it may be too tight on an AG doll. I would suggest maybe 3T or 4T dress if you are looking to redo it for an AG doll. )


Here is the dress. It is not a tube, but rather has seams along each side.

I just lined up the seams and pinned down the center. I tried it on the doll to make sure it would fit.

I did not use a "seam allowance." I just put my presser foot right up against the edge of the lined up seams. (I should state hear that I am an amateur at sewing so this is really something a beginner can do.)

Where the dress was shirred, I did a back stitch over each line. Sorry for the blurry picture, I hope you can still see what I mean. I did not know if the shirring would come undone with a single stitch, so I didn't take any chances.

 I cut right next to the seam and the dress was almost done!

I put it back on the doll to check the strap placement. I just cut the straps off the dress and pinned them where I wanted them. Then you just stitch them in place and the dress is done.

For the second dress I just folded up the length. I used my flat iron to press the bottom seam. (Way faster than my iron.) I then just sewed it up.

(I will take a finished picture on the doll and upload later.)

Hope you give this a try. Let me know how it came out!!!

Thanks for stopping by.

American Girl Purse

My local dollar store (99cents only store) has a really neat selection of duck tape. I picked up a few rolls just to see what I could make. Then came the whole American Girl craze to our house. As I stated before, we purchased a Journey Girl for our daughter. Next thing I know, I am on Pintrest looking at all things AG related.

I am going to make some skirts and a tutu for her doll. This will be part of her birthday gift. I also began to see some really cute accessories for the dolls. That got me to thinking about the duck tape I picked up.

I decided to start simple and made a duck tape purse for her doll. Then, because I can't help myself, I decided to make special goody bags for her friends with AG dolls. These goody bags will each include a purse as well. So here I am making a dozen purses. I have completed 7. The only reason I haven't finished is because I got distracted. I decided to make AG necklaces, bracelets and headbands as well. I make a couple of purses and the then shift gear to something else.

Making purses is really easy. I am sharing my process. Think of this as a starting point.

Here are the duck tape cuts you will need:

3 6" pieces (body)
1 3 1/2" piece (body) -- cut in half for 2 pieces 3 1/2"
1 4" piece (purse flap)
1 3" or so (flap hold) -- cut in half for 2 3" pieces
1 10" pieces (handles) or 7" for a shoulder bag -- cut in half for 2 pieces 10" or 7"
Some extra to tape down the handles and the flap hold.

Attach the 3 6" pieces to make a large square.

Then fold this in half and trim as needed. This is the body of the purse.

Take a 3 1/2" piece (which is half of the original piece I cut) to close up the side of the purse. You just trim off the extra.

Now the body is done for now. On to the handles.

Cut a 10" piece of duct tape and then cut it in half. Each of these long pieces gets folded onto itself to make the handle.

Tape the completed handle to the inside of the purse. Repeat for the other side.

Now take a 4" piece and fold it over leaving about an inch of exposed sticky side. This is the flap for the purse. Trim it up to make sure it fits between the handles and round the edges to give it a finished look. Just tape it onto the back of the purse.

To hold the flap down, cut a piece of tape as long as my purse and cut it in half. One of these gets folded in on itself. Trim it if needed and tape it to the front of the purse taking care to make sure the flap can slide in and out.

The purse is now done. You can add some sticky jewels or leave it as is. You will also notice that on some of the purses I used two color duct tapes to add contrast. Please let me know if you have any questions or any problems.

Also, let me know if  you would like me to post a tutorial on the AG necklace, bracelet or headband.

Thanks for stopping by!!

American Girl Madness

My daughter is about to be 6 years old. She had always been the little girl taking her baby places or a stuffed animal. Recently she has been asking about an American Girl doll. We have multiple friends who have daughters that own AG dolls. While I do not judge them, I cannot bring myself to justify buying such an expensive doll. (Especially since I can just picture my 2 year old dragging it around by the hair.)

Since an AG doll is all she has been asking for, I set out to evaluate the alternatives. (Maybe I should do a post on the comparison.) My husband and I decided to purchase a Journey Girl. This doll is available at Toys R Us.

While her birthday is still weeks away, I am making accessories for her doll. I made a really cute duck tape purse for it and decided to make some for AG goody bags for the party. I am going to do a tutorial since it was actually very easy and my daughter LOVES it. She has asked me to make her one in every color.

Now if only I could figure out how to make a bed. 

Keep an eye out for the tutorial!! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Addicted to Craft Supplies

I am sure I am not the only one out there that has a small problem with craft supplies. I have to avoid going to places like Hobby Lobby and Joann's. If I go into those kinds of stores with a few items to buy, I come out with at least a bag full if not more. What is it about the red clearance tags that makes them so hard to resist?

I have decided that I need to make a plan to USE the supplies I have accumulated. I tend to be very scattered when it comes to what I do. I have multiple projects going at once so of course nothing gets finished.

Well, NO MORE!!! (I just heard this in Scott Pilgrim's' voice.)

 I am going to go on a project binge. I got started last night organizing my supplies. I hope to have this stage finished by the end of the day. Then tomorrow the projects start!!!

I will have to add some pics of the things I get done so keep an eye out!

Oh, and if you are wondering how the "face painting" at field day went...let me just say I had a blast!!! I painted a ton of spiders on little boys arms, I did some hearts and I got to use a split cake to do rainbows.

I ordered the rainbow split cake on the pretext that I had volunteered to do face painting at the field day. I am so glad I did. There where a large number of kids that wanted rainbows and it was SUPER fast to paint the rainbow and then add some clouds. I LOVED it.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FE92APK/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Stay tuned to see how my new plan works! Thanks for reading :)

Face painting JUMP

I have been face painting for over a year now...on my own kids of course. This coming Friday is the "field day" for my 2 year old. I asked the program director is I could volunteer to do face painting for the children. She said she would be delighted to have me. I will be doing some quick little designs on the children's arms. (This is so that the kids can see it and enjoy it.)

I am really excited. The last volunteer project I did was vacation bible school this past summer. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Since then I have really been trying to find other areas I can volunteer my time without cutting into my family time.

FRIDAY...all day. The children range from baby to 5 year olds. Both of my older children attended this program. I really love the teachers and the atmosphere they provide.

So with a big smile on my face I am jumping into trying out what I already do at home...paint on little kids. I am going to provide only a few options to paint so that the kids don't get overwhelmed with choices.

I hope I can sleep on Thursday night.

Thanks for stopping by,
Yadi