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.

Life gets in the way

Lately life has gotten in the way of blogging. My hubby has been home from having knee surgery since January 20th. I didn't realize how much it would change the focus of our house.

I have not stopped looking for American Girl or crafty things. I still visit the thrift store once a week. I have a stack of items I need to alter to fit my daughter's 18 inch doll. I am hoping to find a little time soon to get caught up again.

I know that over the summer I will have more time to sit and do what I want, but I hate to wait until then.

Please don't give up on me...I will be back to share very soon!!

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.

3rd Dino Party Done!

The dino party is done and it was a success.

The decorating consisted of leaves, vines and even some flowers. I hand cut most and then used my Cricut for others. The store bought decorations that I used where picked up on clearance at Target. I love to score decorations for a dollar or less.

On Pintrest I noticed all the dino eggs and could not resist making them. I am so glad my sister came to help me make the goody bag...dino eggs. Here is a little something I learned: flour paper mache takes a long time to dry. I only had a few days to make the eggs so we used Modge Podge. While this may be an expensive avenue, the drying time between coats is 20 minutes. We could not have made 20 if we where waiting hours for things to dry. We used brown and tan tissue paper as the final layer to give them a uniform finish.

Amazon was my dino headquarters. I found dino masks, bubbles, stamps, temporary tattoos, small figures and piñata. I also ordered a silicone dinosaur mold. I was really worried that the mold would not arrive in time. The mold came all the way from China. I used our favorite brand of dipping chocolate and made some candies we all loved.

Here are some pictures of the party.

The goodie bag EGGS. They where a huge hit.

Paper towel roll tree. Made two of these.

Cricut cut dinos for the cake.

Palm trees.

Looking at the room.