Madelon's Fantastic Friday Finds! Something Cool For Dancing Dolls like Gabby!

Today Madelon has found us some great storage ideas that double as wonderful doll play items for  Gabby and the best part they are NOT PLASTIC!

"Look what I saw at CVS for $10.75 each-these boxes are well made and would be great for a dancing doll like Gabby!"

Madelon kindly shared this image of Gabriela's Performance Case as her inspiration! 
Thank you Madelon for today's Great idea! 
We would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Adorable Etsy Finds- Dolly Picnic's

Today's adorable Etsy finds are inspired by the  Easy Picnic Quilt Tea Time Fabric Panel. I love how easy these kits are to sew together and how sweet the print is on this pattern.

Click here for the link in the Tea Time Fabric Panel Etsy Shop. 

You will be amazed at how easy they are to put together and how rewarding it is to see the finished projects on your dolls and the dolls of the doll lovers in your lives.

Nothing says picnic like Gingham print and I love this blue set from CLD Miniatures Etsy Shop. This set includes four napkins and the table cloth! Click here for shop and listing.

4 U Cherished Treasures Etsy shop has a lovely dolly lunch prepared for you this set includes the turkey sub, pear and cookies. Click here for shop and listing.

With the holiday picnics upcoming this week I loved this holiday listing from Cupcakes dragonflies Etsy Shop click here for shop and listing.

Thank you for joining us today for our Adorable Etsy Finds for Picnics! Don't forget to take doll play outdoors this summer!
We would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Get Your Craft On With Brandy- Make Doll Sized Glue Guns!

I am always in awe of Brandy's talent and this past week she did something so cool and created a tutorial for girls and dolls who love to create with this fun tutorial on how to make a doll sized Glue Gun!

I think this is about the coolest doll craft accessory for a crafter like me ( Own about 6 of these glue guns and feel most comfortable when I have one near me!)
Brandy hit it out of the park getting her craft on this week. Check out her tutorial and her wonderful website  Brandy's Happy Home by clicking here.

Thank you for joining us here today we would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Hitting the books with Karen

This week I have found a book I think you will love! Pearlie and The Big Doll! 

Wendy Harmer has a book that takes a few of my favorite things and makes a great story out of them! Pearlie the Fairy has discovered a very large and sad dolly, she has to do her best to help the Doll find her girl!  In Pearlie and the Big Doll a great adventure and glittering time had by all! Check it out on The Book Depository now by clicking here.
This book is recommended for doll lovers aged 9-12 but I think some of our younger doll lovers would love to have it read to them by the adult doll lover in their lives!
Thank you for joining us here today for our Tuesday Hitting the books with Karen. I can not wait to share more with you about doll themed books next week!
We would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Mommy Monday Moment with Jenny

What am I doing?  Is what you think when you find yourself, and your double baby stroller, pacing back and forth in the plumbing isle, at your local home improvement chain.  There I am trying to piece different plumbing connections together to "construct" a 18" doll toilet.  While searching, I am also consistently bending over and picking up bottles of milk, Transformers, pinecones, shoes, and Miss Moose (the baby toy no one likes, but I am persistent) and about every five minutes I am rolling over a "crunchy" AKA receiving blanket, which are the girls favorite blankies. 

 Then as soon as I roll over it and it has been exposed to the store floor it gets two more plays, basically three strikes and it's out.  I toss another random piece that looks like a tank into my beach bag, (that I hook on the back of the stroller, because I have a store cart phobia with children) as it is becoming filled with miscellaneous PVC plumbing connections.  At this point I am close to what I think could work, with a lot of tweaking, sawing, sanding, and caulking.  Then it happens, here comes the professional plumbing man, asking me if I need help.  I mean, at this point, it appears that I clearly do.

  I have parts and connections falling, babies crying, and crunchies that just hit three strikes.  So I told him, "I am building a toilet," as Logee sucked on Miss Moose's antlers.  He looked at me with this confused stare and pointed me in the direction of the toilets.  I then explained I am designing a toilet for an 18" doll. 

 He stared at me, even more confused than the first time.  I kindly said, "I don't think you will be able to help me with this one."  I got everyone loaded up, grabbed the little one some Tim Bits, I figured I could throw some fruit with the little donut holes and call it a lunch.  Stay tuned for the toilet reveal.

Thank you Jenny for sharing your Mommy Moment with us! You can see more of Jenny's work at the Rita Pita Boutique by clicking here. 

Join Jenny here Monday's for more Mommy Monday Moments. 

Thank you for joining us here today we would love to hear from yous so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Sunday Yarn Craft Spectacular Suggested Dolly Fun!

Today for our first Sunday Yarn Craft Spectacular Suggestion, I wanted to share with you a website and blog a friend of mine named Orchid brought to my attention. It is called Crochet Buddies.Com

You are going to want to have your hooks at the ready for so this starfish craft. Click here for her tutorial on how you can make this for yourself and your own dolls! 

She is also selling her work like this sleeping bag/carrybag for her mini like this Mini Doll Crochet Carry Case

How about a crochet t-shirt for your mini dolls?
Click here for more information on how you can purchase this handmade top for your mini dolls.

I hope you will stop by and check out Orchid's Site and let her know we sent you!
As with all our posts we would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Jessica T's Saturday Sewing Suggestions! Week one Skirts!

Today Jessica T has the first of her summer series to share with us! 

"I love to sew and design doll clothes for all the dolls in the family, but I often find myself very constrained by time!  That's why I love to use simple patterns that go together quickly and can be used again and again to create unique looks!  There are so many great free or inexpensive patterns available that it's possible to experiment with sewing without spending a ton of money!"

Basic Skirt Pattern

This is the tutorial from my website.  I think it's great because fat quarters come in so many variations and can be found almost anywhere!  If you don't have a fat quarter yardage or even an old child's skirt or shirt would work.  This pattern goes together so quickly!

Click here for Jessica T's Tutorial and here for the simple instructions.

Thank you Jessica T! We would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Madelon's Fantastic Friday Finds!

Today's Madelon's Fantastic Friday Find is the My Life As Shopping Basket and it is her favorite My LIfe Accessory yet!

Perfectly sized and ready to play! Check out what is inside!

All this for under $8!

This is a great value playset for sure!
Thank you Madelon for sharing your fun find with us here today!

We would love to hear form you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com 

Adorable Etsy Finds- "Cherry Inspired"

Today is the first of our Adorable Etsy Finds for summer and today I have three "Cherry Inspired" looks for you to enjoy.

The inspiration for today's post comes from this sweet kit called Cherry Time, this fabric panel comes with everything you need to make your doll this sweet dress and purse! These kits are ones I love to share and write about because they are easy, they are fun and they have that "wow" you made that factor! Click here to learn more about this Fabric Panel in the Tea Time Fabric Panel Etsy Shop. 

How adorable are these? I love the different patterns and all the colors in KitschnWhimsy's Etsy shop!  Your choice of apron and hat can be found by clicking here.

If Dolls Could Dream Etsy Shop has this sweet two piece set for the Wellie Wishers! These dolls are so sweet and they can have adorable Cherry items as well! Click here to see this listing on Etsy. 
Thank you for joining us today we would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Get Your Craft On With Brandy!

Brandy has been with the team for almost as long as the blog has run. She was a team member of mine over at Doll Diaries and she now has her own wonderful blog called Brandy's Happy Home!

She has kindly agreed to lend us her expertise this summer and share some of her more popular crafts! Brandy's Happy Home is a website that is about more than just doll play! Check it out by clicking here.

For today's craft tutorial spotlight Brandy invites you to "Get Your Craft On" with her Patriotic Party For Your Dolls!

 

Using some of our good friend Laura Kelly's wonderful artwork  Brandy added some doll sized fun to her table and you can too! Click here to see Brandy's tutorial and be inspired to "Get Your Craft On"  today! 

Thank you for joining us here today we would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Hitting the books with Karen- This week's featured book is The Doll People!

It can not be summer without sharing one of the best Doll books ever written, best series for that matter. The Doll People by  Ann Mathews Martin and Laura Godwin is one of the best books you will ever read. I don't care if you are 6-100 this book is one you will be thrilled you read. Best part is there are 5 books in the series and each one is filled with Dolly adventure, mystery and so much more.  I have personally read this book to my nieces and my nieces have re read them on their own. They are well worth the price, however if you can you may want to borrow and binge read them from your local library. If you are like me and books like this, books that stay with you you, you will want to own a copy to hold in your very own hands!  This way you never have to end your adventure with these lovely dolls!
You can find your copy of The Doll People from The Book Depository With FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING by clicking here. 

You can view the series on The Book Depository by clicking here. 
Thank you for joining me for this weeks Hitting the books suggestions. I would love to hear from you so please leave us a comment here or email us at karenmowen@gmail.com

Mommy Monday Moment with Jenny

A quick review of the projects from last week.  I was able to complete both of my thrift shop/ barn sale finds.  I absolutely love how the sewing table turned out, just adorable.  Ha! and it still has the barn smell in the small little front drawer.  that is me, everything needed to be done yesterday!  

The desk, I did in a similar finish, as it is in the same room.  My husband caught our six year old son, Nathan, running his hand across the top of it last night and said, "This is gorgeous!"  You can certainly tell he lives in a house with five ladies.  I was also able to successfully sew Lea's hair back into the mesh, so she has been officially cleared and checked out.

This week was filled with softball, girl scout ceremonies, zoo field trip, pitching machines, a lot ice cream (loving me some brownie cyclone), and summer well visits at the doctors.  As I've said before, doll play is important.  Play - in general is a child's WORK.  Now throwing a variety of toys on the floor and tossing them in the center doesn't allow for that critical piece of connecting and bonding with your child.  

Parents NEED to make time to play with their child.  In today's world it is hard to always find the time to lay on the floor and just play.  This brings me to my key point for today.  YOU are your child's first teacher.  Much of their learning happens through play, that doesn't include electronics.  It develops through that "old fashion" play, you know the kind with toys that you can physically touch and manipulate.  Natty had her well visit this week, she needed shots. 

 Now my husband says I am bad at frontloading our kids, but I believe they should know what's going on, they are little people that need honesty and explaining.  I thought, what could I do to help Natalie understand what would happen at the doctors?  I snagged her doctors kit from Nathan's room, and the book, Corduroy  Goes to the Doctors, and scooped up Emmy.  We read through the story together in our little ball pit and matched up the doctor's instruments with the pictures in the story.  We decided Emmy needed to go to the doctors for a shot.  I tried to explain, in my best two year old explanation, that shots keep of from getting sick, seems backwards I am sure.  The whole trip to the doctors she gave Emmy shots, "Emmy sick, Emmy sick." Did she completely understand? No, not exactly.  Did she cry? Sure, of course, that is also her job.  But I was honest, she played, she learned, and when she peeled the sticker of the backing, the tears subsided, and the sticker was stuck to her knee.  Connect, bond, play.  Play is important, with you, alone, parallel, siblings, and friends.  This is for all ages.  Remember I am five kids deep here, try to take individual time each day, for each child - remember they chose you, help them learn through play.

Thank you Jenny! Visit her Etsy Shop Rita Pita Boutique by clicking here. We would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com