Need a doll table? Make one like I did!

If you are like me you love tea parties! Presentation is everything, especially if you have the right sized doll table, but what if you do not have one. The AG doll tables are amazing but pricey, I have a wooden one with chairs I got at a second hand store but it is small and only room for two. When I was at the bread store the lady asked me if I wanted a recycled box for my bread I said "sure" and when she gave me this one I was thrilled. It gave me he idea for the table, then and there.

You can easily find this type of box at the grocery store in the Juice Box isle or in the pasta section, just look and ask you would be amazed at what they will give you for crafts!
I went to the dollar store, yes I think I should just move in there or at least get a job there and got some "Wood" peel and stick shelf paper for $1.25. Covering it may give the table a slightly longer life, but the card board is fine on its own, you choose.

So what to do for chairs? I used the cardboard couch I made from an upcomming post with pillows to make the doll high enough, or you can stand the dolls around the table buffet style!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a message here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Piercing Doll Ears a review by Karenmomofthree

When I was in New York I had my dolls Ears pierced.   Piercing Dolls ears at the American Girl Doll store is very affordable. For $14 I had my dolls ears peiced at American Girl Doll in New York and they gave me a package of 6 earrings with my service. I was thrilled with the result.

The experience however left me feeling awful when I saw a little girl who brought her our generation doll to the store to have her dolls ears pierced. She was so excited but when her turn came up she was refused. Now I understand why American Girl refuses to work on dolls that are not their own but little girls do not understand and my heart broke for her. I mentioned to her mom about my blog and that you can watch on line the you tube video of how to do it at home. So as promised here is the link to that video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re-j0RaacQk
I understand that not everyone has a drill or the ability and skills  to do this so I totally recommend stick on earrings from the dollar store. I have bought a ton of sticker gem earrings from the dollar store and they work great for special occasions.

I also find that Our Generation or Springfield dolls have softer heads and you may be able to do it with a sharp thumb tack and a mallet. If you are a child you need your parents permission and help to do so.
As with all my blog posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment or email me here at karenmowen@gmail.com

Doll Wheel Chair Review

For my birthday my sister Bre-Anne and her daughters bought me this set for my American Girl doll. I have had the Wheel Chair on my wish list from American Girl since Christmas when they were sold out. When we were in New York we went to Toys R US and found this set from Journey Girls quite by accident. I was shocked to see that this set that included the wheel chair and the crutches and casts etc. was only $24.99. Such a deal, so my sister purchased this for me. I am thrilled with the set and the cost of it. The quality is very compatible with that of the American Girl doll Wheel Chair. This chair is lighter in weight and doesn't say American Girl on it but it is a great find for the price.

The doll sits easily in the chair and it is so easy to push!

 

This is the one from the American Girl doll store.

I was so thrilled to find that this set included the get well essentials that the add on kit from American Girl charges for separately. 

The casts for arm and leg as well as the finger splint are so easy to use and the crutches are so cute.

I really think this set from Journey girl is totally worth the money, weather you want it for a doll lover who is recovering or a regular wheel chair user or just want to have it for imaginative play I highly recommend checking out this set from Journey Girls available at Toys R Us in the USA.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you please leave a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Visiting American Girl Doll Stores A review by Karenmomofthree

 

I recently spent an incredible weekend in 2 countries, 4 states, 5 major cities  all in 4 days. I flew from my home in Vancouver BC Canada to see my sister in Montreal Quebec, we then drove to New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.We had a great time in New York, visiting the American Girl doll store, spent several hours there. I brought my doll with me and had her ears pierced, had my photo done on the magazine cover and wandered the store with my sister and my friend Becky for hours. The store had three levels of fun. With A Cafe behind closed doors, personal shopping, hair styling (which had a huge line up) and Ear piercing.  It also had an army of staff refilling the shelves the moment anything was removed.It was so much fun and a great way to spend your birthday weather you are 6 or 36  like me. I loved being surrounded by so many enthusiastic doll lovers and their families. I met some great people in the store and hope that some of them will visit this blog and realize I am not a crazy doll lady! Thank you to my sister for coming to my defense in the store and in public! 

The next day we got in the car and drove to the American Girl store in Boston. The Boston store was so much smaller but so well laid out and I got to peer into the party rooms, such a great experience. 

There are some great store exclusives I bought such as the table seat and the store shirts (I will review in future blog posts). I had such a nice trip and really thank all the people who made my trip possible. From my Husband and Kids to my sister in law Janeen and in laws who helped to hold down the fort in my absence, My father who helped finance my trip! As well as my friend Becky who gave up her Sunday to take a bus ride in to New York to meet up with us. A very huge thank you to my sister Bre-Anne to whom nothing is impossible or unfathomable. I had a trip of a life time in a very short period of time and am so grateful!

Today is my birthday, I share it with my twin nieces Hannah and Cadence

Well today is my birthday and it is also my twin nieces Hannah and Cadences birthday. I flew to Montreal April 14th to do a doll themed birthday party with them and I wanted to share some of the party with you.

 Hannah and Cadence blowing out their candles the doll cupcakes are beside the girl sized cupcakes

In preparation for the doll party my sister Bre-Anne, invited 5 girls, and to make sure they all had an 18 inch doll my sister got each of the girls attending an 18 inch doll from Michaels the craft store. They were instructed to bring the dolls to the birthday party. Knowing this a few months in advance I went to work on the loot bags for the party.

I created 8 pink skirts, 8 tank tops, 8 hair bands that matched the skirts, 8 lolly pops, 8 cup cakes, 8 doll balloons and picked up 8 doll cell phones as well as made 8 beaded bracelets for each girl attendings doll. I also created 8 matching napkins and napkin rings for the dolls and picked up 3 sets of my favorite doll sized plates and cups at the dollar store so that each girl would have their own plate and cup to use at the party and leave with as well.. Such adorable place settings they made!

                                      The dolls had a great time while we crafted! LOL!
The doll craft we did for the party was the no sew throw from a previous post I did here on my blog. I saved time by picking up the blankets from the dollar store and pre-cutting them for each guest so that they could be easily tied by each girl and her helper.

Thanks to the moms and friends who stayed to help.
I had a wonderful time creating each of these items for such special girls and thanks to my Dad, my Husband Tyler and my sister and sister in law I was able to fly to Montreal for a girls get away and really enjoy myself.
This was such a great treat and a wonderful early birthday gift.

Make a Chocolate iced or dipped Doughnut for your doll

 

You may have noticed that I like to work with polymer clay. If you have never worked with it before you should not be intimidated by it. I was for the longest time. If you are thinking of trying some oven bake polymer clay food for your doll  it is best to start off with projects you are going to succeed with like some of the projects here on my blog. The Chocolate dipped or iced doughnut is really easy to make and requires very little effort and is a great starter project. To make these doughnuts I used beige and chocolate brown clay. I use craft smart from Micheals as it is the easiest to work with I find and is usually the least expensive, the colors are great and stay true to the colors I am expecting.

These doughnuts are great for making at birthday parties or sleepovers.

To make a pair of large doughnuts for your doll I would use 1/3 of a block of beige for each doughnut. Roll the clay into a long sausage and shape into a circle, smoothing the creases with your fingers. Set aside. Next use a small amount chocolate brown clay and flatten it between your fingers, you can do this to create a layered effect of the icing or you can make a ball flatten it and put your finger through it for the center of the doughnut and layer the icing on top. 

I used left over pink to create sprinkles for one of the doughnuts for added cuteness!

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Make your doll an Eclair or "Long John" doughnut for your doll

I love it when Polymer Clay goes on sale at the craft store. Here is another really easy and fun pastry to make for your doll. I also love Eclairs (AKA Long John Doughnuts) and these are about the easiest things to make with polymer clay. I used beige and chocolate brown. Make a log out of the biege as shown in the photo above. Mine is 2 inches long. Next I used a really small amount of the chocolate brown and made the icing. I flattened a very small amount of clay between my fingers and trimmed it to fit the top of the Eclair.
Bake the clay to the manufacturers instructions. These will make a great addition to your doll food collection.
**TIP To remove the thumb prints from your icing, flatten the clay between wax paper and your fingers.**

Tomorrows post will also be a polymer clay craft a chocolate dipped or iced doughnut, also a really easy and fun doll food to make!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Create a Stationary Set for your doll

Create a Stationary set for your doll with items you already have at home. I have always loved sending and receiving mail and I thought that your doll might like that too.A few months ago I got the American Girl doll book Doll play I was reminded about how much fun pen palling was and inspired to create this set. In the Doll play book they have a section of pull out supplies that includes a letter, card and photo of a doll who can be your dolls pen pal.It is such a great book! I highly recommend it.  I have expanded on this idea. Creating the pencil holder and pencils from the Doll Fun Small Stuff instructions in last years American Girl magazine May/June. As well as a stationary set for 18 inch dolls.

To create the pencils I colored toothpicks yellow and one tip black, then trimmed the top of the other pointed end of the tooth pick and colored the top in pink for the "eraser". To make the pencil holder I used the lid of a pump spray bottle. I also added the pink gingham scrapbook paper to line the cup so that it matched all the other items I made.

Next I made the Folder. I took a piece of scrap book paper and folded it like a book, so that it had a "spine" then I folded the bottom up to create the folder pocket, adding a line of glue ( I used a glue stick) To create the paper I used regular lined paper and cut it so it fit inside the folder pocket. To create the envelopes I folded some paper scraps into an envelope shape and trimmed the part to fold over into a triangle. I also glued the envelope sides down.

I am really happy with how this project turned out. I hope you will be too!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com.

Passion Tea Lemonade for you, your daughter and your doll

I love Starbucks passion tea lemonade. But if you are like me and you have more cravings then cash you can make your own Passion Tea Lemonade for pennies a glass. You can actually buy TAZO brand passion tea at Starbucks or your local grocery store. It is less expensive at your grocery store and you get more tea bags. You do get a really nice metal tin if you buy it at Starbucks and the bags are pretty but you do pay more. The tea is the same regardless so the choice is yours. To make Passion tea lemonade Starbucks uses brewed Passion tea that they steep and chill, lemonade and vanilla syrup. When I make it at home I use the same tea, steep and chill it the same way but I use Country time lemonade. I love Country time lemonade. You can use any kind you want but it is sweet enough that you do not need a vanilla or sugar syrup. So in my fridge you will find a jug of country time lemonade and a jug of passion tea. When I am ready for a glass I simply add ice to my glass and add equal amounts of tea and lemonade. I add a straw and stir. You can do the same, you may want to play with the amounts you add if you like your lemonade sweeter. So that is how to make it and serve it at home, at brunch or at a sophisticated lemonade stand.
But how about for my doll...

Well I do go to Starbucks more then I should and have found that the very nice people that work there will part with one of their sample Starbucks shot cups if you ask nicely. I recently was there and when I got my drink order I asked the cashier if I could please have one sample cup for my nieces doll for our "tea party" and they very happily agreed. Now you can use your imagination and fill the cup with just that or you can add colored dark pink tissue paper and a trim a straw to fit, taping it to the side and covering it with the tissue paper. Or you can add something more permanent like a resin, though I have not yet tried.  So at your next lunch,brunch or afternoon tea serve this wonderful beverage and remember to set a special place for your doll with her own Starbucks Passion tea lemonade.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

More Dollar Store Gems, doll sized Easter Bags!

 

More Dollar Store Gems. I found these great Easter Bags at my local Dollar store and they are the perfect size for 18 inch dolls. Even empty they are so adorable. If you are making items from my blog and looking for great ways to wrap them for your daughter, doll or friend I complete recommend these. These favor bags are perfect for doll sized gifts. The best part is they are reusable and I got 6 of these bags for $1.25. I understand they sell these boxes year round in different patterns I did find plain white ones as well they would also make great loot bags for any doll party. You can decorate the plain ones anyway you would like to match your party theme.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment here or email me at  karenmowen@gmail.com

Congrats to the Emma Fairfield of North Vancouver, Winner of the Photo Contest

Today I would like to announce the winner of my first photo contest, miss Emma Fairfield of North Vancouver.  Emma wins a wrap dress from hand made by me as well as her photo will be made into a post cards and used in advertising for my blog and shared with other doll lovers all over the world. I truly enjoyed all the entries I have received. Keep up the great photography ladies! Watch for my new  Summer Photo contest coming in June!
Thank you to all who entered!

 

 Also a Honorable mention to Victoria Jackson for her entries also!

 

Party Store Gem! Mini Tiaras perfect for your 18 inch doll!

I am so happy to have found these mini tiaras at Party City, in the USA. Such a great deal 12 for under $5. They fit perfectly on 18 inch dolls and make great party favors. I am happy to share this with you just in time for the up coming wedding of Prince William and the future Queen of England Kate Friday April 29th! I love Royal Weddings, I remember being in Montreal when I was 7 and watching William's mothers wedding. I have gotten up in the middle of the night to watch each of his Uncles get married and I am looking forward to watching his wedding. Perhaps I will dig out my own Tiara which I wore on my wedding day and wear it while I have some tea and watch the wedding of the century from the comfort of my couch.

Even if you are not into princess parties or even the Royal family these little Tiaras are adorable and a great addition to any dolls wardrobe, perhaps they can be brought out for Halloween!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy Birthday to my sister Pumpy!

  

Today is my sister Pumpy's birthday, okay so her real name is not Pumpy but that is what I have always called her, she is my youngest sister and nieces Laura and Thea's mom. I feel bad as today I am out of town. But on my way back from visiting my other sister and nieces in Montreal. I really hope my sister has a great birthday, In honor of her birthday I am sharing with you one of my favorite recipes (and my sisters favorite recipes) I have included the link to the blog I got if from, she has fantastic photos of her cake there. This is a great recipe to have on hand if you have some one pop by suddenly they will be amazed at your craftiness! Serve with fresh berries or some chocolate sauce and you are an instant gourmet in under 5 minutes start to finish!

Chocolate Cake In 5 Minutes!

recipe from the link below:

http://www.dizzy-dee.com/dizzy-dee/chocolate-cake-in-5-minutes

June 26th, 2008 | Dizzy Dee, Food, Quick Chocolate Cake, Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons cake flour
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1 Egg
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 3 Tablespoons oil
• 1 Mug

Instructions:

• Mix flour, sugar and cocoa:
• Spoon in 1 egg
• Pour in milk and oil, and mix well
• Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt)
• Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug
• Tip contents out of mug onto saucer and enjoy!

As with all my blog posts I would love to hear from you so leave a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Make your doll a "Chocolate Bunny" and other treats out of polymer clay

This is another post using polymer clay. I got a really good deal at the craft store the clay was on for $1.19 a brick so I picked up some great colors and some "chocolate" colored clay. The Chocolate colored clay is perfect for use in moulds. I picked up this vintage bunny chocolate mould at a second hand store for 25 cents. You can use newer ones or the plastic ones you get at the craft store in the chocolate making/baking section. If you are using it for clay you should only use it for clay and not for food. I understand that you should keep all tools for baking and working with clay separate from ones you use for food. If you are using a non flexible mould I line the mould with plastic wrap so that I can remove it easily.
** Tip ** If you do not have any moulds a great time to get them is after the holidays when they go on sale.

I also thought it would be fun to have lolly pops in the baskets as well as eggs. These should not be given or made for anyone under 3 as they can be a choking hazard.
To make the lolly pops I rolled colored clay into thin sausage or snake shapes and rolled or coiled them up and stuck a tooth pick in them. I trim the toothpicks sharp end after baking.
To make the eggs I used left over colors and rolled them together to get a marbled effect. With all polymer clay work you should work over wax paper and wash your hand between colors as some of the color will come off on your hands and your work space. Always bake the clay to the manufactures recomendations.
These are great for not only Easter but would make a great addition to any doll food collection. They are also great as party activities or loot bag treats.

As with all my posts I would love to hear what you think so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Make A Paper Easter Basket For Your Doll

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/easter/paper-basket.shtml

The basket above can be made from directions at the link above.

This is a great craft that can be easily made for an 18 inch doll. I used a 6X6 Square of Scrap book paper to create my baskets as well as two brads to attach the handle.If you follow the directions at the above link from all free crafts you can easily make these.Once you make one you will want to make them fore all your dolls and everyone you know! You can use tape if you do not have brads.

I filled my baskets with Easter grass from the dollar store a small rubber duck and some eggs. I also found the paper and brads in the craft section of the dollar store. I cut one 12X12 paper into four.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Make an Easter Bonnet for your doll

 

One of the most famous Easter songs starts with "Put on your Easter Bonnet with all the frills upon it..." Oh how I love Easter time! Not that Bonnets are commonly worn where I am but I thought it would be fun to decorate a ready made straw hat for 18 inch dolls. You can often find these straw hats at the craft or dollar store for less then $3 and decorate them with items you have around the house. I started with my glue gun and decorating hats like these when I was about 15 years old.

You can use white glue just remember it will take longer to dry. These are easy to make and fun to decorate. Ribbons bows and my favorite dollar store artificial flowers are some of my favorite ways to decorate straw hats. You can add mini eggs, or the little fuzzy yellow chicks also available at the craft or dollar store. For mine I am going with flowers and ribbons. 

My niece Laura calls this the Dolly's garden hat so even if Easter is not a holiday you celebrate you can always decorate a hat as a Garden Hat in the same way.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Wonderful Easter Baskets for your 18 inch dolls

A wonderful Etsy shop is offering these baskets (below) in their etsy shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ABeeLine?ref=pr_shop_more

I found out about this shop on the Liberty Jane Facebook page. I think they have done a great job. What a wonderful time of year spring is! Great for creativity!

If you are celebrating Easter and would like to add some eggs for your doll to find with doll inspired Easter treats inside you can find some great items both on Etsy and at your local dollar or craft store.
 For the doll lovers Easter basket or her doll's easter basket start with the plastic eggs. The really small ones are great for putting hand made bracelets and necklaces in. You can make your doll a bracelet from my directions here on the blog, or order some ready or custom made ones on Etsy for a reasonable price.
Also some great loot bag treats that will fit in the larger eggs are the cell phones, cameras and stick on earings.
  I also recommend the small hair clips and Bobbi pins in the dollarstore hair accessory department. Not to be over looked would be the craft and floral section where you can find small baskets and pails. Don't forget the dollar stores and Etsy.com also have a great selection of doll tea sets and pretend food that might just be perfect for your doll.
Small Easter themed Erasers would also be a great addition to the inside of any 18 inch doll collectors Easter basket.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Make this NO SEW TUTU for your doll!

I found this great you tube video that shows how to make a child size tutu with out sewing and I have used it to create a doll sized version .
I recommend watching  this video for the method as it is the same for the dolls Tutu. If you can use scissors and can tie a knot or a bow you can make these tutus!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7aSPMEn7S0 The lady in the video's name is Julie and she has a great website 
wowzzydotcom

To make the dolls tutu I measured the dolls waist and tripled it to create the tutu. Then I used approximately 1/2 meter of tulle to create a really full tutu and less to create a less full one. I folded the tulle and cut it the so that the pieces I tied to the ribbon or the elastic were 6 to 8 inches long. You can add or subtract what you need depending on the desired fullness. You can also trim as you go if you find the skirt is to long.
I also created a tutu with out the ribbon  by using a 12 inch piece of  elastic which you  tie into a circle. Then follow the same directions as above. The skirt took about 25 minutes start to finish and was really fun to make. This would make a great gift for any doll and ballet lover and an easy sleep over craft, one of the best parts is that the entire project can be completed for under $5. In the photo with the green tutu the top my doll is wearing is the Liberty Jane pattern for a tank top, in the free pattern section. Which I recommend!
http://www.libertyjanepatterns.com/search/label/FREE%20SAMPLE%20GUIDEBOOK

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Create your own doll sized napkins, napkin rings and place mats

 

Presentation is everything! So why not make these for your next tea party! I had so much fun making these napkins, napkin rings and place mats for this post. I think you will too. 

To make the napkins I used a cocktail sized napkin and cut it into two pieces. 

This makes two napkins perfect for doll sized napkin rings. 

You can use any napkin you have on hand and is great to make from party left overs! 

Just open the napkin as you would a book and cut it down the center then fold the square into a smaller square.

To make the Napkin rings you  need a needle and thread a bead and a very small doll sized hair elastics, I got a package of 300 at the dollar store for $1.25.

Next thread the needle and attach the bead to the elastic. Then place over your napkin. A very easy and quick craft.

To make the place mats I used fun foam, I got 4 sheets from the dollar store and cut 4 inch by 2 1/2 inch rectangles out of the fun foam. If you have larger doll plates cut a larger rectangle.

I love this set of dishes I got from the dollar store a set of 4 for $1.25. If you can not find this set and would like one contact me and I will happily pick it up and ship one to you from my Etsy account. At cost plus shipping. Just send me an email and we can set something up.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Why not make a bunch for your next sleep over or birthday party. So easy and fun!