Why not make a a doll room?

If you are like me you never have enough space for all the toys and things you make. In fact having three boys and doll stuff everywhere is not always welcome, but for when my nieces come over here is a great doll room I created with other items I have made in previous posts here on my blog.
I made this great space saving, completely folding to flat doll room that can hide behind my couch when it is not in use. I am so excited to share this with you.

Here is how I did it. First I got a card board box that was 23 inches high and this box was 40 inches wide. You can cut a box to any size you need and I folded in the two sides at 12 inches. Next I painted the box with Pink dollar store paint, to get a fast and even coat I used a dollar store sponge. I painted two coats of paint, letting each dry about 1 hour between coats and embellishing. Next I created the window, using the window craft photo from the book Doll Play, which was an odd size. However you can get a similar look if you have a calendar from a real estate agent lying around or the Sunday real estate paper you can pick the perfect view for your window. I used white paper to create a frame and then I covered it with clear peel and stick shelf paper from the dollar store. I then sewed matching curtains and hot glued them to the frame. To add "depth" I used self adhesive velcro (and so I can change the photo if I wanted) and stuck it on the "wall" I then added a border using left over shelf paper from the dollar store, you could paint one or leave it plain. I also cut out the flowers from the shelf paper and used them as decals. To create the horse poster on the wall I used an old greeting card. I also cut out from the American Girl doll catalog doll "photo's" and the logo which I covered with clear peel and stick shelf paper and attached them to the wall. When I was happy with the room, I added the furniture I made from all my other posts. I am really happy with the way it turned out. Laura was thrilled this morning to see my "dolly room" . The best part is it can all be easily put away and folded when she is done playing with it. and if she gets bored with it we can re decorate. I am actually thinking of painting the other side to create a TV room/Kitchen/Dinning room. All in all the entire room took me about 3 hours to make start to finish. I think it would make a great spring break project for any doll lover. As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so send me an email at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave a comment here. If you do make one I would love to see a photo please email me one! I am going to be offering this craft as a spring break class for my group of doll lovers in the next few weeks. I can not wait to see what their rooms look like and yours.

Mirror Craft a review from the Americn Girl Book, Doll Play

Continuing with my review of the book Doll Play from American Girl, I made the doll sized mirror to use in the doll room I am creating for tomorrows post. This was a very easy and quick inexpensive craft to do, you need a small mirror, I got mine at the dollar store for under $2 and you need Gem self stick stickers, which I got for 0.75 cents a package at Micheal's the craft store. In under ten minutes I made this great craft. Basically it is so straightforward, you take the mirror, clean it, add gem stickers, I alternated the colors then I have used self stick Velcro to hang it up in my doll room. Which I can not wait to share with you tomorrow! . As with all my posts I would love to hear from you email me at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave a comment here, and if you are going out to the book store or are shopping on line, pick up this great book!

Another way to make A doll bedside lamp and shade

Well here is another way to create the perfect bedside table lamp for your doll. I used a recycled baby food jar, a recycled Mots apple sauce cup, two paper cup cake liners, ribbon, a small piece of recycled Styrofoam (which raises the cup from the baby food jar lid, you could also use a crumbled piece tissue paper or cardboard) I used a glue gun as I am always in a hurray to craft, but you can use white school glue.  At my favorite dollar store I got a two pack of flame-less tea lights, with batteries for $1.25.  Such a deal.  First make sure the jar and lid are clean. Next glue a 1 inch piece of Styrofoam to the lid,let dry. Place the apple sauce cup up side down so that the bottom is facing up , place glue around the outer edge. Cut the first cupcake paper, removing the round bottom so you have a strip, start to glue down the liner, stretching as you go, you will likely tear the paper as you go do not get frustrated you can cover up your rips later. This will create the bottom layer of the lampshade. Next place more glue on the now top of the lamp shade and place the other cupcake liner on top. At this point if you need to add more liner pieces to fill any gaps do so, if you need to trim around the lid you can do that too. Add a ribbon to tie into a bow. This helps to cover any small gaps or mistakes. You can use a little glue to glue it in place once you have tied a bow you are happy with. When the glue is all dry you can place your battery operated tea light inside the glass jar and put the top back on to create your lamp shade. I have put my lamp on the small All bran bedside table I made in a previous post.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to email me at karenmowen@gmail.com  or leave a comment here.

A review of the AG Book Doll Play

My sister in law picked me up the book Doll Play from American Girl, ISBN # 978-1-59369-796-796-9 . I have to tell you that I think it is worth the $9.95. What a fun book for a person like me who is crafty. My niece Laura was over yesterday and she was talking about summer and how she wanted to go camping and have s'mores with her dolls, Soccer Dolly, Tianna and Sophia this summer, and I remembered the toasted marshmallow craft that is in the book. So we took the boys to school (on Thursdays all three boys are in school) and Laura and I collected a few twigs on our way back from school and settled in to make our smores. Having just gotten the box containing my hair styling chair from AG I had plenty of Stryofoam Peanuts on hand, with a little glue and some yellow and black markers we made or packing peanut roasted marshmallow sticks. Adding to the delight, we made the FIRE to roast the marshmallows on by gluing together three Cinnamon sticks and some triangles cut from red, orange and yellow felt (thank you Aunty Pumpy, Laura's Mom for handing me a new package of felt earlier this week) This was an easy craft to do, simply because we had the items on hand. Why not bring some summer to your spring break and make your dolls these amazing treats. If you do not have stryo foam peanuts why not try a few cotton balls or fun foam! My dolls are wearing a new set of bathing suits I have made and am selling if you are interested, The suit is called the Victoria and comes in retro Blue, retro Green or retro Yellow, email me if you are interested the suits are $8.00 US each for suit and hairband Plus $3.00 shipping to the USA. If you mention to me that you are a follower of my blog or that you read this post I will add a doll cell phone and surprise in your order! They are also available from my Etsy Shop. You can find a link to my etsy store on my main page highlighted in yellow. I would love to hear from you by email at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave a comment here.

Aunty Bre's Peanut Butter cookies

My Sister Bre-Anne, who lives 3,000 miles from me, makes the best peanut butter cookies in the world, my son Nicholas dreams of them, I try to make the same ones as her from her recipe and mine are never as good as hers she swears  it is the same recipe but hers always taste better. So when we are not together and the boys want the cookies I make them,from her recipe, mine are a close second. She swears it is the same recipe but I think the secret is she rolls hers in her hand and I scoop my cookies with a cookie scoop so try it both ways and see what you think.

Aunty Bre's Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup of margarine
1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups of flour
* 1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Combine the margarine and the peanut butter add the sugars, beat in eggs, add soda and 2 cups of flour. Mix well. If you are a chocolate peanut butter fan add chocolate chips. Roll or Scoop the cookie dough on to two cookie sheets. Flatten with a fork or your hand (my sister uses her hand I use the fork) Bake at 350 FOR ONLY 8 minutes, pull out of the oven at 8 minutes and let cool 5 more minutes on the cookie sheet before removing and placing in your mouth or on a plate.

Please note if you or someone you know has a peanut allergy my heart goes out to you. I do not let the kids take these to school and we only eat them at home. These are the best cookies I have ever had.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so send me an email or leave a comment!
Have a great day!

Dollar Store Gems

Today I thought I would post about the fabulous items you can find at your dollar store for your doll (or your child's doll) These items can easily be re- purposed for your doll and make great additions to the Loot or Treat bag of any doll enthusiast's party. One of my favorite items is the Party pack of phone books that are the perfect size to be doll school books or exercise  books. There is one from the package of 8 for $1.25 in the photo above the bowling set. Another great item is the doll sized Cell Phones, you get 6 in a package for $1.25 (here in Canada our Dollar stores are $1.25) You can get your doll to hold the cell phone like mine is by using a flesh tone elastic.  I also picked up today the bowling set, which I am so excited about and a package of mini-plastic Easter Eggs which I am sure to have fun with at our next doll party or doll Easter party. I also bought today a package of 4 art painting sets, the brushes and pallets are the perfect size for an artistic doll to have in her collection. Again these were only a $1.25, even though they were a little more expensive being that you only get 4 and not six items in the package, I really like them, I am now kicking myself for not picking up the small easel frame from the frame section with the mini canvas which would have been great with it, I guess when I go to the dollar store next week I can get one then. Other great Dollar store doll items are, elastics, hair clips and stick on earrings, baby blankets to re-purpose into the no sew throw and doll pillow from my previous post. The great thing about the dollar store is it doesn't blow the allowance and your money goes a long way.  These are some of the many things I like to pick up from the dollar store along with other craft items to make easy and inexpensive items for my nieces dolls (and let's face it mine too).
As with all my other posts I would love to hear what you think, you can email me at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave a comment here. Happy Shopping!

Comparing the Doll Hair Styling Chairs

My mother in law bought Laura the Our Generation Doll hair styling chair from Zellers here in Canada for Laura for her birthday. She paid $34.99 for it. I used my American Girl Doll Gift cards from Laura and Thea and my sister and her husband to purchase the one on line from American Girl. Mine with shipping to Canada was $85. If I had not seen the AG doll chair except from a distance in the store when I was in Dallas Texas and had fallen in love with it, I would have likely saved my AG doll money and bout the Our Generation one instead. There are some ways the American Doll chair is far superior though! I personally like the Velcro strap that holds the doll in place and the suction cup base makes it easier for me to style the dolls hair. But the back piece comes off really easy and that is frustrating. The Our Generation doll chair available at Target in the USA I am told, and is a great deal for the price, it comes with pretend doll scissors, 4 curlers, two clips, a pretend hair dryer and "spray bottle" which doesn't actually spray.The Chair is much higher and very padded. It also moves up and down and there is a foot rest but the foot rest is better on the American Girl Doll Chair.
I am hoping at my next doll Class Laura will let me borrow hers so I can show them to the girls and let them decided which is better.All in all I am glad I have access to both chairs! If I had the money I would by a few more of each and open my own doll hair styling shop, that would be so much fun.  I promise to be back with more doll crafts in the next few days! Thanks for stopping by!
As always I would love to hear from you so please feel free to send me an email or leave me a comment!

How to host a doll party

Well today I have my niece Laura and tomorrow is her birthday so we had a birthday party for her and her doll "soccer dolly" today with all 8 of her closest doll friends. I bought the book Doll Parties a few weeks ago and it is a great investment. So if you get a chance pick up American Girl Doll parties book and kit at your book store or order it on line. If you can not get to the book store or can not order on line you can still host a great doll party. Laura and I made Paper Doll hats using a package of dollar store scrap book birthday paper 6 sheets for $1.25 you can make three hats out of one sheet and save the rest of the paper to make your own party banner and birthday cards for the dolls. To make a party hat you will need to trace a side plate or small dinner plate on to a piece of scrap paper, then cut it out, fold it in half and cut it again this way you have a half circle. Trace your half circle onto the scrap book paper you should be able to fit 3 on the 12X12 paper, then roll it in to a cone shape (like a normal birthday hat) and either staple or tape it in place, then you can place it on your dolls head. The book says to secure it to your dolls hair with a barrette but we just placed them on top of the dolls head. We also made doll balloons really easily. You need tissue paper, styro foam balls, twist ties and chopsticks. You will also need a pair of scissors. We bought a a package of 8 styro form balls in a package at the Dollar store for $1.25, a package of tissue paper for $1.25 and we had left over chopsticks from our last take out order, 4 pairs.
First you cut out some tissue paper enough to cover the ball, then you place it over the styro foam and secure with the twist tie, trim and then insert the chop stick. You can get your doll to hold the balloons by using a skin tone elastic and wrapping it around the dolls hand.
With the extra scrapbook paper we also made doll sized birthday cards and you can make Loot bags for dolls as well. In ours we put stick on earrings, necklaces, doll lolly pops and bracelets that we made from previous posts I have put here on my blog. We also served doll sized cup cakes we made out of polymer clay from our Doll food post.
A good time was had by all, we hope your next doll party is as fun as ours was! Happy Birthday Laura and Happy Birthday Soccer Dolly! As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

We inturupt this blog for the start of the NASCAR season

There are many things you might not know about me and here is one of them. I love NASCAR, so many people find this hard to believe but I do, I love it. I have been to Daytona where they are racing as I write this, I have done a hot lap there, one of the best experiences of my life, totally recommend it if you get the chance, it was my 10 year anniversary present from my husband. For mothers day that year we took the boys and my sister in law Janeen and we went to Las Vegas on the way home from California, and the boys got to watch my second hot lap at the Las Vegas Motor Speed way, they each got to sit in a car when I was done, It was so great. I started to fall in love with NASCAR after watching the movie cars, and I also loved watching Monster Jam. Perhaps it is because of the fact that I am a mom of three little boys, but that is how it started. NASCAR is the only sport that has captured my attention and that I feel I totally understand, save the fact they just changed the points system but I will get it figured out. I love that last year in November I saw my first few races at Texas Motor Speedway, it was such a fun experience. I love the cars, the personality,the drivers, the announcers, the drama and the science behind NASCAR, I also love the fact that NASCAR was the first sport to give exposure to Autism Awareness, which is so close to my heart. I love that I think I can see the air, the way they say Dale Sr, could, I swear to you I can see it and I have felt it. There are somethings I dislike about NASCAR but that goes with out saying, I don't smoke and had a hard time with those that do and while I was at the races. I personally do not drink, I understand that others do, it is to the excess that bothers me. What I loved  when I was at the Texas race I saw families with their daughters and they had their American girl dolls with them, which I just love.
I also love that now more then ever women are more involved in the world of racing not as "trophy Queens" but behind the scenes and in the pits, and the cars.
Well that is my commentary anyway, Let's go racing boys and girls!

18 inch Doll Dresser from Ritz Cracker Boxes

Well this morning I have made a larger dresser for an 18 inch doll from two Ritz cracker boxes.You too can easily make this dresser all you need is two boxes that are exactly the same size, tape, a ruler, a pin, scissors, 4 brads, 4 beads that the brads can fit through to create the knobs, self adhesive shelf paper I get mine at the dollar store for $1.25 a roll,  I needed an entire roll for this project so pick up two rolls to be on the safe side.

First Measure your boxes and make a line all the way around the first box and cut it in half, you can cut only three sides if you want and bend so that the two sections are sitting on top of each other, see photo on the right hand side of my blog, next cut the second box in half, when I cut mine it was an inch to tall to fit into the Shelf I created so I trimmed it to fit. Next cover the entire outside of the dresser with the shelf paper, I used clear tape to secure the sides where the drawers will slide into so that the shelf paper doesn't tear. Then cover the drawers with the shelf paper. to make the knobs I measured two inches from the top of the drawer on the inside and two inches in from the side of the drawer and made an "X" I did this on both sides of each drawer, I made a hole with a pin and then I put the brad through the bead and pushed it through the holes on the outside of the drawer and opened the brad, repeat on the other drawers and place the drawers in the dresser. Now you can store your doll clothes and items. Enjoy!
As always I love to hear your feed back please leave a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Clever Caps Hats for your 18 inch Doll, a review

Today I made the craft from my American Girl Doll magazine January/February 2011. I love this magazine and highly recommend picking it up or giving it as a gift subscription to someone you love. In this issue on pages 38 and 39 there are directions to make 5 doll items out of things you have around the house. NO SPEND CRAFT that is easy is one of my favorite things! I made the Snow Sparkler from the magazine using a white magic stretch glove that I can not find the mate too, a piece of embroidery thread and a star button, which I attached with a needle and thread. Basically I put the glove on my dolls head, then I tied the finger part up with my piece of embroidery thread then I removed the hat trimmed the tops of the finger part of my now hat and attached a star button to the front of the hat, then I placed the hat back on my doll, EASY FUN NO SPEND CRAFT FOR YOUR DOLL in under 5 minutes. I am truly looking forward to my next magazine, and through my children's school got a subscription for the year, a discount on the magazine and a bit of money for the school, so everyone wins! I would love to hear from you so if you have a comment leave it here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Doll Robe for an 18 inch Doll from a Dollar Store Baby Blanket

Another sewing machine craft. Today I made my niece Hannah a robe for her American Girl Doll, she loves green so I used the same dollar store blanket that I used for the no sew throw (see the previous post or scroll down to see the photo on the right hand side of the blog). This blanket was from the dollar store and was $1.25 I used almost the entire blanket to create this robe.
I also used the pattern for a robe from the Simplicity Crafts pattern #5276. Price on the Envelope is $13.95 USA but I paid less from Walmart approximately $9.00.
The pattern includes several types of PJ's, underwear and shorts, as well as the robe so this pattern is a good investment.
Cutting out the pattern took about ten minutes and though I found the directions too wordy and a bit hard to follow however, I did finally figure out how to make this robe. I left off the pockets and the piping and re-purposed the finished edge of the doll blanket for the robe tie, but other then that I followed the directions pretty much to the "T". It did take me more then 30 minutes to sew only I think because it was my first time making one, I am sure when I make one for Trinity, Laura and Cadence and then some for myself I will be able to make them much quicker. As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Repurpose a childs shirt into 18 inch Doll Clothes

For this craft post you will need a sewing machine.(I have posted photos of the outfit to the right of this post.) For a swap I am doing I agreed to make a Hello Kitty outfit for an American Girl Doll, only where I live I can not find Hello Kitty Fabric anywhere. So I set out today to find something so I would not disappoint my partner. Here is what I did. I went to my local thrift stores to find a Hello Kitty something and was thrilled when I found this shirt for $2.99 from H&M it had not even been worn! I loved the ruffle at the bottom of the shirt that had the embroidery of the name Hello Kitty I thought immediately that this would make a great skirt for a doll, then when I could not figure out what to do with the shirt, it dawned on me to use the TAG on the inside of the shirt to sew on the front of a white shirt. Then a quick trip to walmart for new shoes for my oldest son, I saw a three pack of Hello Kitty socks for $3.00 in the perfect color so I picked them up and now will have several pairs of hello kitty socks for my nieces doll as well as this swap. I also made a head band with matching flower and a bracelet that I made with some dollar store beads and a Hello kitty bead someone sent me in a swap. Now the outfit is complete and I thought I would share with you this idea should you have ten to twenty minutes of time and a favorite out grown shirt to make an out fit for your daughters or friends or your own doll. I would love to hear from you any questions or comments so feel free to email me or leave a comment here.

Doll Lamps

I was given these adorable jars by a friend who suggested I should somehow make a lamp for a doll, I do not know much about lighting but I did find these battery operated candles from the dollar store and when I put them in the jars they looked so cute so I thought I would share this idea. I am not sure where she found the jars but there are so many great candle holders now that look like lamps and shades perhaps this will inspire you to make your own. As always I would love to hear your comments, you can leave a comment below or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Reuseable Calendar

I have made a reusable Calendar for my youngest son to "practice" circle time, but this craft could be easily done on a smaller scale for dolls and for girls who love to teach. So I used google images for the calendar blank, word to type out the numbers, months and weather. I used a paper punch 1 1/2 by marvy, and scrap book paper, I covered each number and word with clear peel and stick shelf paper from the dollar store. Then I placed sticky back velcro on all the  backs of the now laminated items. and the now laminated calendar. I put the rough side of the velcro on the calendar part and then the soft on the back of all the words and numbers. I used a piece of card board that I folded to make a triangle and taped it in to it's shape. I then added strips of the rough velcro on the back of the cardboard so I could store the non used numbers and words.
Simple easy, inexpensive, reusable and fun. Let me know if you have any questions by email or comments.

Birthday Hat for 18 inch doll

Well it is Sunday and soon I will be off to teach my doll food making class but before I go I wanted to share with you this Birthday Hat I created for My niece Laura's doll for her birthday, I think she will make me make two more for her other dolls but here is the one I just made. You can easily make these for your doll (or your daughters/niece/granddaughters) doll or Webkinz by simply visiting your kitchen and getting a side plate from your cupboard as the pattern. Here is what I did.
I took the side plate and traced it on to a piece of white felt (you can use any color and if you do not sew use scrap book paper same effect) then I cut it out and folded it in half and cut it, you will have two party hats this way. I made a ruffle out of ribbon I had on hand but you can make these with out the ribbon ruffle. I then attached the ruffle to the bottom of the felt hat by simply stitching it across the bottom edge of the hat. Then I folded the half circle to form a triangle and stitched up the back of the hat. I then took some very thin elastic and stitched it in side the hat on both sides. If you are doing paper hats you can staple yours. With all the great scrapbook paper available at the dollar store you can make some really great hats. I was going to make this hat out of patterned felt but my dollar store was sold out. With a little bit of imagination and not allot of time you too can make this fun party accessory for your doll. I would love to hear from you on this or any of the crafts I post you can leave a comment or email me at karemowen@gmail.com

Cupcake Toppers a great birthday party craft

Well tonight I decided to make cup cake toppers in American Girl Theme and thought I would share with you.
All you need to make these adorable cup cake toppers is paper, tooth picks, scissors and glue.
To make mine I chose and American Girl doll theme but you can choose any birthday theme and make your own. (In the Twilight Brownie post I did you can see the Twilight themed ones I have made)
Here is what I used to create these toppers
Scrapbook Paper in various colors
Images (I used Google Images)
A Glue Stick
Scissors
Tooth picks
and I used a 1 1/2 inch Marvy Paper Punch
What I did first is choose my Google images to cut out, if you do not have a printer you can use magazines, catalogs or stickers. Then I cut out the backs of the toppers by punching out 12 paper backs, then I did 12 fronts, I punched out the images I wanted to use. I then placed glue on the back piece and added the toothpick. Next I put glue on the back side of the front and sandwiched the toothpick between the front and the back pressing it together all the way around and repeated those steps to create 12 cup cake toppers. Simple Easy fun and cost effective party craft! As always I would love to hear from you so leave a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Heart Balloons For 18 inch Dolls for Valentines Day

Well it is raining again and I have a really busy weekend ahead so I thought I would post this craft now so that if you were looking for easy rainy day virtually mess free Valentine Doll crafts you may consider this low cost craft. Today I made a trip to another dollar store today this one near my doctor who I thankfully do not visit often, however I may make the short trip to this dollar store again. This one is called Dollar Land Plus in Westview Center here in North Vancouver. I was pleased to find 4 inch foam hearts they were in a package 2 for $1.25 . I have been looking for 4 inch egg shaped foam but was thrilled to find these. The craft I am doing is adapted from the wonderful Doll Parties book from American Girl Doll I got mine from Boarders when my sister in law Janeen went to Seattle for the weekend and kindly picked it up for me as I have not seen it in Canada yet. IF YOU CAN ORDER THIS BOOK I TOTALLY RECOMMEND IT! ISBN 078-1-59369-647-4 Well worth the money. It comes with a wonderful assortment of activities and great doll party ideas. So here is my version of a party balloon for American Girl Dolls in time for Valentine's Day.
You need :
2, 4 inch foam hearts
1 pair of Chopsticks
red or pink tissue paper
a twist tie, best if it matches the color of the tissue, I did not have it and used black
scissors
and a tan or skin toned Elastic to get the doll to hold the Balloon.
First I separated the  chop sticks and inserted one in each foam heart. Next I unfolded the tissue paper and cut a strip of tissue along the fold out lines of the tissue, aprox. 9 inches in length and about 4 inches in width I used two layers for the balloons. Next I fit the tissue over the foam and molded it over the heart, gathering the tissue at the bottom of the heart and tie it off with the twist tie. I found that the heat from my hands helped to mold the tissue around the heart so that the shape of the heart balloon came through. This was a great quick and fun craft that cost under $2 to do and will make a great addition to any doll party weather it is Valentines Day or not.  Again I totally recommend picking up a copy of Doll Parties by American Girl if you happen to be in the USA or ordering it, it makes a great birthday gift for a Doll lover and it is under $20.
Have a great weekend! As always I look forward to hearing from you any comments or questions are appreciated you can leave a comment here or email me with questions at karenmowen@gmail.com

More Doll Food Polymer Clay Food for Dolls

As I am teaching a Doll food class this weekend, I got out the polymer clay and let my imagination run, here are some of the new items I made to fill the reusable grocery bag I made yesterday, it took under an hour including baking and I used the colors from a Sculpey Multi Pack Oven Bake Clay kit I bought just before Christmas. The kit was $16.99 but I had a 50% off coupon so it was a great deal. You got 12 oz or 12-1 oz bars in various colors. Just remember the colors do darken while baking!
Today I have tried making Banana's and watermelon, a head of lettuce, candy canes, a carrot, and a variety of lolly pops. Directions for Tiny Treats can be found on www.familyfun.com but you really just need a bit of imagination and clay.The oven bake clay often goes on sale at Micheals 2 bricks for $4, and the sale starts again tomorrow for the week at Micheal's the craft store here in Vancouver, Canada. I hope you like the photos and if you have any questions as always leave me a comment or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Reuseable grocery bag for 18 inch dolls

Getting back to more easy and fun crafts for 18 inch dolls. This is a reuseable grocery bag made to look like the ones from our local grocery store. These are easy and fun to make and as they are made out of felt from the dollar store I got three pieces of felt for $1.25  I used 3/4 of one piece of felt to make this bag.

You will need to have

One sheet of felt
scissors
sewing machine and thread (or you can hand sew it with a needle and thread)
ruler
To begin with make a pattern. I measured 3 1/2 inch square, then cut 7 of these peices. Next sew one edge of a felt square to the next one to create a long rectangle (see the photos) and repeat so you have 4 pieces connected in a rectangle. Next sew the first square open side to the 4th square open side.Next attach the Bottom of the bag by sewing the sides to the bottom. Once your Bag looks like a Box you will do the handles. Fold one of the rectangles in half and cut out a small rectangle so it looks like a Handle. then sew the Handle to the bag on one side, you will then repeat on the other side. You can Finish the bag by sewing one straight line around the bag top, it is just for show.Next fill the bag with food you have made or doll sized food from the Dollar store. I have in the photo a Boston Pizza box that we got when the kids ordered a kids meal at the restaurant  at the end of their meal, it is the perfect doll sized personal pizza box.
Let me know if you have any questions, I love to hear from you if you can not leave a comment feel free to email me!

Stumbled in to Steam Punk

Well I have made my first Steam Punk broach/hair clip for a partner on swap-bot. As a coordinator of this swap my partners request fell heavy on me, as this was a pick six send three swap, where you list 6 items and your partner must send you 3 of the items. Well our limit was $10 for all three items, my partners wish list had items I was not really familiar with so with the help of the internet and my sister in law Janeen (who is transforming the most amazing furniture at the moment and I am so jealous! SHE SHOULD HAVE A BLOG just for the before and after photos!) I created my first Steam Punk Broach/hair clip.
Wikipedia says "
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s.^[1] Specifically, steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy..." check there for more info.
 So when that did not really make sense, I went on Etsy and google images and looked at samples of jewelery and came up with what I hope is a broach my partner will love.  I had a great time making it and am sad to send it away. Let me know what you think. Photo posted beside.
Here is how I made it,
1)I bought a ready made hair clip/broach at Ardene in the 5 for 10 section
2)Parts of a broken clock I was going to get rid of anyway, I used the hands and the disks from inside near the battery pack
3)a button from my button jar
4)two charms a skelton key (my swap partner loves skelton keys and a heart that says made with love)
5)a brad that says Love in script
6) a matching grey bead
7) a black organza bow.
Place the items on the flower ready made hair clip/broach, once decided sew and hot glue the items into place
ready in under 5 minutes.
Let me know what you think!

Special Occasion Cookies

I used to love making sugar cookie cut outs and decorating them for the holidays but really who has the time, it is easier to buy them, but every now and then you want to make some but you do not want all the mess, with the rolling and cutting and repeat...so here is what I started doing. Making my sugar cookie recipe, scooping out balls and placing them on a cookie sheet, then with a small bowl of sugar and a glass I flatten the cookies, bake and ice. They may not look as great as the cut outs but the home made taste is there and I still decorated them but not with the detail I used too...
Here is the recipe I use but really any good sugar cookie recipe will do.

1 cup of sugar ( you will need 1/8th of a cup more for the flattening of the cookies)
3/4 cup of margarine
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix the sugar, margarine, egg and milk together add vanilla and baking powder then the flour. Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Spray the bottom of a drinking glass with PAM cooking spray and dip it in the sugar flatten the first cookie, then dip the glass into more sugar and repeat until you have flattened all the cookies bake at 400 F for 6-8 minutes cool and ice and decorate as you would like. They are not bad plain actually.

Enjoy.

No sew throw, a blanket for your 18 inch doll total cost $1.25

In keeping with not only my doll theme posts but also great dollar store finds I thought I would post this easy and fun no sew throw, you can make one adult or kid sized using the same method but this one is just for the dolls.
All you need is a fleece baby blanket from the dollar store, mine was $1.25 and it measured 28 inches by 28 inches (71.1 cm X 71.1cm) a pair of scissors and a ruler, (in the photo I have my paper slicer ruler because my ruler is missing in action) If you can use scissors and know how to tie a knot this is a great and easy under 20 minute craft.
Method
First fold the blanket in half, then use the ruler and measure up 6 inches and cut a strait line across save this piece to do another craft with on another day, try to make the hand sew skirt with it or make a small pillow to go with the blanket .
Next on each corner measure 2 inches up and across you will be cutting out a 2inch by 2 inch square repeat on all four corners (see the photo if you are confused) once that is complete measure and cut 2 inch by 1 inch strips and make snips in the fabric all the way around the blanket (again see photo if confused) once you have cut all the way around the blanket start knotting the strips, take one strip and tie it to the one underneath it and repeat all the way around the blanket and you are done, simple easy and fun. I picked a blanket that was less "baby" then the other patterns but there are some really cute patterns at the dollar store in the baby section.If you have any questions just let me know leave a comment or email me! karenmowen@gmail.com

How to make a doll chair for an 18 inch doll

Well it is not raining today but still I am crafting, though I should be cleaning. Last night I went on to www.americangirl.com and wanted to order the fold out doll chair, but I could not find it on the site and understand that it is sold out, and no longer available I am told, so I made my own instead. Mine does not fold out but I  made an ottoman (foot stool) out of the other sock so it will almost be the same.
Here is what you need
One pair of supper stretchy fuzzy socks I got mine at the Dollar Store
One Package of 8 household sponges mine were rainbow colored also from the Dollar Store
*One piece of scrap card board the thicker the better an 8.5X11 piece of card board folded in half length wise is great.
4 Sponges (you can make two chairs out of one pair of socks and one bag of sponges)
Glue or a needle and thread to close the opening.
Start by folding you card board and inserting it in the sock, then add the first two sponges, I put mine in so that the widest part of the sponge is across the toes of the sock and repeat with the second sponge. Then add the remaining two sponges, forming the Chair with your hands as you go., close the opening with glue or sew it shut or leave it open and your chair is ready.
*the thicker the cardboard you use will help the chair keep its shape and the doll sitting up right.
Enjoy two chairs for a total of $2.50 plus tax ready in under 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

How to make a Doll Bed for an 18 inch doll

Well as you may know I have 6 nieces, 1 of whom Laura I look after a couple of days a week. Today she wanted me to make her lots of things, which I did everything from the new doll clothes she requested, 3 doll necklaces, a valentine doll cake and a dolly bed, here is how I made the bed
Materials:
1box as long as your doll or slightly larger
1 piece of cardboard or smaller box to make the headboard
double sided tape
scissors
*Optional bedding which I made out of scrap material and cotton balls to stuff the pillow, I used a sewing machine but it can be done by hand as well.I used an empty box from the Frozen chicken I buy from The M&M meat shop here in Canada, as well as the bottom box of the 12 pack of vegetable soup I bought at the grocery store as the headboard. You can use any box to be a headboard or any cardboard this is just what I had on hand. I also used my favorite peel and stick shelf paper to cover the entire "bed" so it looks good even when it doesn't have blankets on it. So for $1.25 I made a doll bed that now matches the side table and shoe shelf I made earlier in the week.
Once you cover the headboard with the shelf paper cover the other box with the paper as well. Then use double sided tape to attach the headboard to the bed. Then you are done, easy 20 minute craft. If you have a hard time working with the sticky shelf paper in large sections you can cut it into smaller pieces and just layer as you go, which is what I did and you really can not tell.

I have posted photos of how to do it and the end result I hope you like it! I am sure when Laura wakes up from her nap she will also be thrilled!

All Bran Bar 18 inch Doll dresser or side table craft

Making the doll shoe shelf got me to thinking, I love little boxes have for ever (ask my parents I used to okay maybe still do hoard boxes). But this is not only adorable, it is functional and easy to make out of recycled materials and peel and stick shelf paper from the dollar store.

Here is what  I used and what you need
2 All bran boxes(or poptart or tea boxes, just make sure they are the same size)
tape
scissors
a ruler
a pencil
a hole punch
2 brads
2 beads (optional but make great looking drawer pulls)
and some peel and stick shelf paper I bought mine at the Dollar Giant Dollar store in Capilano mall $1.25

I began by measuring the All bran boxes making a mark all the way around the box with the pencil and the ruler, then cut out three sides and folded the box on top of it's self and taped it down creating the shelf. At this point you can cover the shelf with the peel and stick shelf paper out side and inside if you would like to just have a small shelf. If you are adding the second box as drawers then you only need to cover the out side of the box. Next measure the second box the same way and cut out all four sides creating a drawer. Make sure it slides in to the space you have created for the drawer. If it is too tall then trim it slightly and cover it all the way around the sides of the drawer, Then measure where you want the drawer knobs or pulls to be and  make a pencil mark where you want yours, then use the hole punch to create the hole for the brad to go through. I used a flat plastic bead with a wide center and put the brad through the bead then the box and opened the brad on the inside of the box creating the drawer pull. Then insert the drawer and repeat on the second one if you want, you can always make it with just one drawer and keep the  bottom as a shelf.
Store doll accessories inside or display on the shelf.
Enjoy this fun and easy doll craft, ready in less then one hour.