DIY Dolly And Me Facinators And Hairbands For Trick Or Treaters!

Punch Place Plus has in stock the cutest little top hats to make facinators for your doll and your doll lover!
These are wonderful party crafts as well and the prices can not be beat! You get 5 in each pack which makes for a wonderful take home party craft and gift!

To get started making these for your next dolly party or doll event click here!

With Halloween so close now is the perfect time to order

doll size hair bands to hand out with your Trick or Treat Candy!

Doll lovers enjoy coming to my house this time of year!

You get 12 for just under $5 and they make a wonderful trick or treat surprise or lootbag 

item! Click here to see all the different colors and styles offered by Punch Place Plus!

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 

Get That 1950's Look For Your Dolls! With My Hair Styling Tutorial.

Pop over to Doll Diaries to see how I styled Samantha's Hair and how you can give your dolls that 1950's look. My tutorial is easy to follow and fun for all long haired dolls. Click her for the Tutorial. 
I love the new historical doll line and know we are all going to have fun with it!
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

Punch Place Plus A Great Place To Stock Up For Your Next Dolly Party!

I just placed another order with Punch Place Plus. I have been a customer for years now. If you are going to throw a Doll Party or are putting together a craft night for doll lovers you are going to want to check out Punch Place Plus. This on line store has some really great deals. The Shirts shown above are $3.50 each! They are well made and are perfect for parties. Five colors to choose from and at that price way less then the hassle of pulling out your machine. Click here to find out more.

Also tops on my list are the hair bands for 18 inch dolls these are a must have in all doll hairstyling kits and completely affordable at only  $4.40 for 12!
Punch Place Plus Ships to Canada and is very reasonably priced click here to view this amazing craft website and see for yourself! 
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Dolly Updo For St. Patrick's Day!

Don't miss my Doll Diaries Post today where I show how to give your doll the Shamrock Look for St. Patrick's day!
Click here to see how Olivia my Springfield Doll is getting ready to celebrate!
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

Let's Talk About Hair!

Today over at Doll Diaries check out how I have done Ruthie's New Updo. This easy tutorial will have you giving your dolls the Regal Look in seconds! Click here to visit Doll Diaries and Today's Tutorial.

One of the things that makes having an American Girl Doll fun is how great the wig quality is and how girls can style and restyle their hair. I have the older version of the Doll Hair Salon kit and am going to order the Updated version from The Book Depository. This book includes a 25 minute DVD with Step By Step instructions on how to give your doll that "Fresh From the Salon look"! This book and DVD set also makes a great tween birthday party or holiday gift. This set $18.19 USA ($23.22 CND) and can be ordered by clicking here.

Another great title is this book from American Girl  Publishers Hair is a 40 style hair book for girls. I think this book would be a great gift for any preteen girl!  Hair is offered on The Book Depository for $7.55($9.64CND)

Keep these titles in mind for your next order from The Book Depository.
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

Ruthie's Bad Hair Day! Saved By Heads Up! Detangler from www.twinpines.com

Ruthie has been having a bad hair day for a very long time now and I was thrilled to get some Heads Up Doll Hair care System Detangler from Twin Pines of Maine (www.twinpines.com) and I made some You Tube Video's of the First time I actually used the product!

I used my dollar store spray bottle, my new American Girl Doll Hair Brush I purchased at the American Girl Doll Store in Vancouver as well some tap watter and the Detangler.

I am very impressed with how well this worked on Ruthie's Tangled hair and how easy it is to use, not to mention the fact that the smell is not strong like the fabric softener I have used to de-tangle doll hair in the past.
I recommend Heads Up Doll Hair Care System from www. twinpinesofmaine.com. This product was great and I love how Ruthie's hair is shiny and manageable now!  I can not wait to try it on my other dolls hair!
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

Bitty Twin Fun With Buttons Galore And More Laura Kelly Buttons!

My Niece Thea is over today and she wanted to make some thing with buttons and bows for her self and for our bitty twin Cheryl. 

So I got out our ribbon and button stash. We love Buttons Galore & More Laura Kelly buttons for crafting! 

 

We first chose a ribbon that Thea liked and created our bows we tied three matching bows. Next we selected two of the dolly hair bands we got from our dollar store and  Thea wanted hers on a bobby pin so we selected the one she liked best from my stash, it's a sparkle one.

We used our Aleene's Tacky Glue from I love to Create and selected light blue and red buttons from our multi pack we glued them together and thought they needed some sparkle so we added some small gem stones. We let them dry and then glued the ribbon to our dolly hair bands and slid the bobby pin arm through the button back and added more tacky glue. After they dried Thea let me put them in Cheryl's Hair and her bobby pin into her pony tail!

This was a fun and easy craft to do with my niece Thea who turns 4 next week!

You can find Laura Kelly Buttons Galore & More buttons by clicking here.

Off to lunch now and Tea with Thea!

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

How To Make A Lady Gaga Bow For Your Dolls Hair

My niece Beth has been staying with us over Spring Break and she had so much fun styling all my dolls hair.

Today She shares with us how to make a Lady Gaga Style Bow for your dolls hair.

Thank Beth for all your help this week! I hope you enjoyed Beth's first video!
As with all our posts we would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Aunty Karen's Dolly Spa Day

 

My nieces and their Dolls are visiting from Montreal, Today Trinity and I have had a Aunty, Niece and Dolly Spa day. We thought we would share the photos with you!

This is "Horsella" in the left photo and "Rebbeca" in the right photo before their Spa Treatment

Horsella, had knotted dry hair when she came to Aunty Karen's Doll Spa and to fix it we gave her a downy dunk.  Then we rinsed out the downy and we combed out her knots. Then we put her hair in a Ponytail with a bow.

 

Trinity loved the Springfield Collection Cheer leading outfit so we put Horsella in this wonderful outfit.

Springfield Close are easy to find at your local craft stores and are so reasonably priced. They make great gifts and wonderful additions to doll play collections

Rebecca got the same treatment as Horsella and she even kept her curls! We love her American Girl Tshirt so we decided not to change her outfit but gave her a pretty bow instead.

It is easy to have a Dolly Spa day, just remember to not get your dolls eyes wet and to use a wire wig brush!

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

How to get the Doll Salon look for your doll at home

If you have not been lucky enough to have made it into an American Girl Doll Store for a salon experience for your doll, today's post is just for you!

While I would highly recommend the American Girl Store Salon as an experience for every girl I know that for many of you this is not an easy to access service. So here is how to give your doll a similar experience.

I do highly recommend the book or the kit

I do have the kit which comes with a great video, though dated the video does help a novice "hair stylist".

 

Any of these would make great gifts for aspiring stylists this gift giving season.

 

If you do not have a wire wig brush for your doll you may be able to find a wire wig brush at a salon or pet store near you. The wire wig brushes do not split your dolls hair and regular brushes or combs will.
To add the salon look to your dolls hair you can add some craft store ribbon comes in a variety of colors and for under $1 can really dress up your dolls look.

I have the American Girl doll Salon Chair and while I love how it looks, it is not always the best way for styling a dolls hair. I find it is easier to put your doll in front of you and hold her. I also have the sweet treat chair which is also a great way to style your dolls hair as both this chair and the salon chair keep your doll still while you are styling her hair. I also love the other versions on the market of a Hair Styling Chair. They are taller and available at Walmart and Target Stores. To read a review I did on these chairs click here

 My friends over at Doll Diaries have a great new doll hair video you can watch by clicking here 
For more Doll Diaries fun check out Doll Diaries you tube  movies as well.
For cleaning your dolls non cloth body, baking soda and  a baby wash cloth can help remove surface dirt . Never put your dolls in  water.

 

Another wonderful site I recommend is http://www.americangirlfan.com

Check out the fantastic things happening there!

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

Stocking Stuffer ideas Day #5 Hair Elastics that will not snagg your dolls hair!

I found this very helpful Etsy shop that sells the perfect doll elastics at extremely reasonable prices. Continuing with my "Stocking Stuffer" theme I bring you BetsyStyle 's etsy shop.

 

Betsy's Elastics are made of 

plastic polyvinyl that won't snag the hair. Betsy's Shop offers many choices for colored or clear elastics here shop prices are so reasonable, $1.50 for 100!

Betsy Shared some of her own doll hair styling photos with me today so I could share them with you, Just seeing her work makes me want to go in and re style all my dolls hair!

It is very important to remember when you are working with your dolls hair you should always use a wire wig brush, a spray bottle of water (careful not to get this in their eyes!) and work from the bottom of the hair to the top!

Betsy's Elastics also are perfect for other dolls hair. Shown here with her Monster High Dolls.

Having items such as these elastics on hand, paired with a small travel sized spray bottle of water can provide hours of quality doll play time.At the price of $1.50 per 100 bands it makes a very affordable Stocking stuffer or party favor addition. Doll Hair Styling would  make for a great doll birthday party theme and Betsy's Elastics would also make great loot bag items or party favors.

Betsy shared with me her reason for offering these bands for our dolls at such reasonable prices. You can tell she truly cares about dolls and quality doll play items!
"I stock these bands because they are so hard to find in this size let alone in different color combinations. I bought a hair care pack at the AG store for something like $6 or $8 last year, but there were only a few of these poly bands in the pack, and I wanted to be able to style more than one or two dolls with them. I don't like using rubber bands in doll hair as they tend to snag the hair and turn brittle and can stick to or stain the hair is left in for longer periods of time. When I found these bands in bulk, I was elated! I had spoken with other people in forums about the frustrations they have had over finding these poly bands in a smaller size for doll hair. We all felt the same way, so when I finally found these I wanted to be able to sell them at a reasonable price for everyone who wanted to play with an style their doll's beautiful locks!"
Betsy's has also recently added these adorable brush and clip sets!

A great deal for $7

The sets come with 15 pieces: clips, pony tail holders, barrettes, and a wire bristle brush (the kind recommended for synthetic hair like American Girl wigs) in a neat little organza bag. She has  6 colors available in the clip sets and two colors in the brushes.

I hope you will get a chance to visit Betsy's Etsy Shop and pick up a few packages to add to your doll play collection. You can also visit Betsy's Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Betsy-Style/114958495191370

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 your own doll hairstyling cape and hair care kit

I love making things for the dolls that I see in the American Girl doll catalog and putting my own spin on them. I made this hairstyling cape for a birthday gift and put it together with some great dollar store Gems to create my own Hair Care kit for dolls at a fraction of the cost of the one in the AG catalog.
To make the cape I used a scrap of fabric made of acetate which is what the one in the catalog is made out of, you can use any on hand fabric. I also used a package of bias tape to finish the look. I made mine out of a 13X13 inch square cut on the fold  I recommend 10X10 if you are going to make one as mine is a bit long. If you follow the directions bellow you can easily make these for your doll. I used a zig zag stitch for the bias tape.

To finish the neck, I left 12 inches of bias tape on either side to be later used as the ties.

Next I paired it with some great dollar store gems like curlers, a ready made makeup bag and spray bottle for styling (ONLY USE WATER and mist the dolls hair lightly when styling) I tied a matching ribbon on the zipper as the zipper pull and added the cape for a really fun and inexpensive personally made gift. You can add your own wire dollar store brush like the ones I created for the birthday party in a past post to finish this great birthday gift.

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

Personalized Doll Hair Brushes

I made these fantastic personalized doll hair brushes for a recent doll party loot bag gift. I use wire pet brushes that I found at my dollar store and used the Letter Bubble Stickers from American Girl Doll Crafts I got from my sister who picked them up in the USA at Micheals the craft store. As well I used coordinated ribbon and flower stickers also from Micheals to create these easy crafts. These hair brushes for dolls can be made as a party activity or like I did them as a part of the loot bag.

* I have bought three doll hair brushes from American Girl and the brushes have all come apart with in two weeks. These pet brushed are also wire and hold together so much better for longer and at a fraction of the cost. as with the AG hair brush, when using it to style dolls hair lightly mist the hair and start at the bottom to ensure you do not snag or break the dolls hair.
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so feel free to email me at karenmowen@gmail.com or leave me a comment here.