Fun Fridays: American Girl thrift store makeover

I REALLY wish I had a before picture of this doll!  Her hair was a mess!  I found her at a thrift store (last year, actually) for $2.92!!!!  I REPEAT, $2.92!!!!!  Score!!!

She is a pre-Mattel Kirsten.  That means (for all you "normal" people who don't understand AG lingo) that she was made when American Girl was still owned by Pleasant Company and not Mattel.

Anway, that's not really significant unless you care about such things.  What IS important is that we gave her a little makeover for a friend of Ava's.

We washed that ratty hair and even her cloth body, although it was not real dirty.  Her limbs needed a good scrubbing with baking soda and a rag.

After she was dry, I snipped off about an inch of hair just so I could get a comb through it.  Then, tediously, I sectioned small pieces of hair and used a large curling iron to straighten and smooth it.  It took a little while and I had to trim more to make it even, but the results were amazing!

We added some color back to her lips and cheeks just using a peachy pink water soluble marker.  Color some onto the cheek area and immediately use your finger to rub it in.  Very nice!

We made her a Popover Dress free from Oliver + S.  So fast and easy!  I added the rick rack and pocket just to add a little something extra.  The crocs were bought from a sewing booth at the homeschool fair we attend every year.  They can be found at her online store The Sewing Basket.

A lovely doll for $3 buckaroos!  *Like*

Fun Fridays: Clothing refashion for American Girl dolls...........

So, last week I got a sewing bug and just had this great need to start and finish something quickly.  I don't usually need instant gratification, so when it comes, I tend to give in.

I hope to do a tutorial soon, but for now I have an after picture of what I made. 

Addy is modeling a sweater refashioned from an outgrown sweater of Ava's.  I used the bottom of one sleeve and part of the waistband for the doll's neckline.  Ava added some brown twill tape through some of the holes in the sweater as an accent.  Super easy!

The skirt is just the bottom ruffled tier of a skirt of Ava's.  Just one seam to make a circle, and an elastic casing for a waistband. 

The leggings are cut from one pant leg of an old pair of leggings Ava outgrew.  Again, super fast and easy!  I got the idea from this tutorial on making tights for your dolls.

The headband is just twill tape we already had in the perfect shade of purple to match the outfit!

The shoes are AG from some outfit and matched perfectly.  The ice skates are just because Ava said Addy was planning to go skating later.  :)

An entire new outfit for FREE that would cost a disgusting $32 from AG.  *Like*

Fun Fridays: Paper dolls for American Girl dolls...............

Happy Black Friday!  I love Thanksgiving and enjoyed yesterday with our family!  All the food, mmmmmmmmm..............., and just hanging out and watching the kids play.  Love it.

One time, about 8 years ago, I ventured out in the wee hours of the morning on Black Friday.  I was after a My First Leapad for our oldest, who was almost 2.  I think Walmart had it for $20?  I really can't remember that well.  I was tired.  It was COLD.  And the store was CROW.DED!  Never again.  I think I saved $10.  Totally not worth it.  Ever since, I sleep in and spend the day doing fun stuff at home.  Sometimes sewing, sometimes crafting, maybe a movie, putting up Christmas decorations.

Today I showered early (Yay!) and thought of something fun to do for my now 10 year old girly girl.  A few weeks ago I found these Thanksgiving printables at Daydream Doll Boutique and thought those were really fun.  Then, I remembered I had these adorable paper dolls I bought from Sarah Jane Studios last year!  How fun to make paper dolls for the dolls!

I already had these on my computer, but Sarah Jane has some freebies on her site you can use RIGHT NOW!  Also, take a look at her store because she has a lot of really great stuff on there!  Including more paper dolls you can purchase and a Nutcracker Theater, a Peter and the Wolf Theater, and a Nativity Theater.  SO CUTE!

Anyway, after you download some paper dolls, stick some card stock in your printer.  When you get ready to print, set your page scaling to either 50% or "Multiple pages per sheet".  I did the latter.  If it only prints on one half of the page (which is what you are aiming for), you can turn it around and print another page on the other half.  This is what I did because my paper doll files were one page per file.

Hand them to your daughter and tell her to have fun!

Since they are small, I recommended to her not to cut out between the legs and to leave white space around things with tiny detail.  I also used an exacto knife to cut out face holes in hoods and jackets for her.  You can also use tiny pieces of double sided tape or folded tape to stick the paper dolls to your dollie's hands.

The dolls are having a great time!

Ava really wants to make a small Nativity Theater for her dolls, so I'll try to post when we get to that.  We are actually going on a small road trip tomorrow to a Homestead Fair, so this might make a good activity for her to work on in the van.

Whatever you are doing this Black Friday, I hope you are having fun!

The Dolls are dressed better than I am..................

A while back my sweet little girl became interested in American Girl books and dolls. She may or may not have been directly influenced by her mother. Ahem.

Anyhoo, I began sewing for her in order to build her a lovely dolly wardrobe that didn't cost $87,943.98. Also, I like to sew. It has satisfied both of us.

Now, I am usually a quilter. Quilting is my thing. I don't sew clothes. I mean, I have sewn clothes, just badly. It's just not my niche. I like to practice it once in a while, so hopefully, I'll improve.

Here are some of the things I've made for my daughter's dollies. (BTW, can I just say how glad I am to have a daughter so I can also play with dollies?!)

I used the Pleasant Company patterns found at American Girl Playthings. This is a great site with a forum for dolly lovers!

Here is Kirsten Larson in her "Meet" Dress:

And here she is with her bonnet and apron. I'm still looking for an amber heart charm to make a necklace with.

Here is Kirsten in her school dress:

Kirsten's Birthday dress and apron:

Her "Summer Striper":

It's hard to tell in the photo, but the fabric is white with baby blue stripes and a fine, brown pinstripe next to the blue stripe. I like this fabric much better than the AG version.


My version of Kirsten' "Work Dress". The original dress by AG has long sleeves, but, who wants to wear long sleeves while working???

Ok, so that does it for Kirsten. Thank you, Mia, for modelling along with Kirsten. She was having a fit trying to change quickly in between dress shots.



Here are som PJ's I made up. Nellie is wearing a pink camisol that originally came with a Nicki outfit (sorry for those of you who don't know all the doll's by name!). So, I just made the bottoms to match it.

I added tiny pink rick rack to the bottom hems.

And here is Samantha, showing off her purple PJ's. I made these from a camisol of Ava's that had gotten a hole in it. I couldn't bear to throw away the cute embroidery!

Okie dokie, now for something different. Ava just loves listening to Anne of Green Gables on audio (we have the dramatized version put out by Focus on the Family--it's great! You can find it at CBD ).

So, it was only fittin' to make outfits for Anne and Dianna! Ava chose all the fabrics herself :) All the patterns are Kirsten's School Dress except for the sage green dress. It is a Vogue pattern and was much too big. I cut off several inches from the hemline. It still doesn't fit close in the bodice, though. No matter, it's still pretty!

Found that cute little copper kettle at Cracker Barrel. It was a Christmas ornament! I also got a cute little copper bowl with double handles.


With an apron (borrowed from Kirsten).

Anne's kindred spirit, Dianna:

Of course one in pink........

And, a fabric I could not resist!

And, lastly, my attempt at "puffed sleeves".

Thanks to Nellie and Samantha for standing in for Anne and Dianna. Anne is usually played by Mia with pigtail braids. Samantha plays Dianna since she is the only doll we have with dark brown hair other than Kaya. They both enjoy acting.

We are in the process of making many skirts, camisas, and rebozo's from Josefina's patterns so the dollies can put on a play. I will post pics of those hopefully within the next century!

Most of the fabric for Kirsten was found at Fat Quarter Shop. If you would like to know the name of one those fabrics, I can try to look it up, however, I bought it all three years ago and they may not carry it anymore. But, if you ask, I will try. Anne and Dianna's fabrics were found at our local JoAnn's.