My London Guy Pj's! Great Pj's For Boy Dolls!

My wonderful friend Deena was recently in London and visited my friends at the My London Girl Store. I asked her to pick up My London Guy Doll Ollie a pair of these wonderful Pj's!
I was so excited when we finally got to meet up at the American Girl Store in Vancouver recently and she brought me my Pj's!

Doesn't Ollie look so cute!

 

Another reason I love these Pj's is well....I love Dr Who and I love David Tennent, in the first David Tennent Episode he is wearing the Pj's shown in the photo above and well I think these My London Guy Pj's they look just as good on Ollie as they did on the Dr.....

If you are a Dr Who fan as well pop over here and print your own Mini Tardis! Click here for the PDF Pattern.

But back to these My London Guy Pj's.... I was very impressed with how well made these light weight pj's are. The button front is real buttons and they are secured really well. I am thrilled with these pj's and thing that Ollie will have to get a Tardis Blue robe next......

If you are lucky enough to visit London check out the My London Girl store at the Westfield London Shopping Centre  or by clicking here to visit them on line. Did I mention that they now ship to North America? They do!

A Huge Thank you to Deena of Deena and Beena for picking up the Pj's for me!
As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment her or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Today I am so very thankful for each and everyone of you.

So recently I have been thinking about when I started this blog and how much has changed since I began writing about the dolls and crafts I was work on. Looking back on the past few years I am more then surprised and shocked at how much has happened in my personal life and professional life as a Mommy Blogger. Today I wanted to take a moment to reflect and thank you all for stopping by.

There have been so many amazing moments over the last few years that make me so very proud of how far this blog has come and how many people it reaches. I have to tell you when my blog hit 100 views I was amazed, when I look at the number today, well it blows my mind!

Thank you Springfield Collection!

I want to take this moment to thank each and everyone of you who has taken the time to read my blog, left a comment and to those of you who routinely visit. I have a very special place in my heart for those of you who have taken the time to write an email to me sharing your lives, experiences and thoughts about my blog. It is for those of you that I sit at this computer day after day writing and publishing dolly world news.  I would also like to thank our many sponsors, doll companies, craft companies, designers and Etsy shop owners who have contributed to our give away contests, behind the scenes tours and with whom I have a wonderful working relationship.

For those of you who maybe new to my blog you may not realize just how much I have come to love this Online Doll Community that each one of you has helped create and contribute to. Thank you to my amazing team, To Madelon, who keeps my in box full of wonderful ideas, crafts and fun finds, Jessica for her amazing links and pattern finds, Brandy for sharing her wonderful crafts and ideas with us. A special thanks to  Lauren for designing my logo last December and for fitting me in to her very busy schedule!

  A huge thank you to Char at Doll Diaries for believing in me and giving me a weekly place to share my crafts with an even larger and ever growing audience, to Daydream Doll Boutique for giving me another wonderful home to share more doll play fun. To Laura Kelly thank you for inspiring me and the wonderful surprise packages! To my family who put up with my over flowing dolly area and craft supplies all over the house, thank you for tolerating the creative chaos even though you are all boys. Lastly Thank you all who have stopped by, commented and shared I really, really appreciate it. Please know that when you send me an email I will do my very best to personally respond to each and every one, hearing from you makes my day!

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

Dress Me Up Neck Attire A Review Of Doll Tag Clothing's Fantastic Pattern

Part of my New Years Resolution was to sew more and do more posts including my boy dolls. "Ethan" (My Harmony Club Doll) Ruthie (My American Girl Doll) and Oliver (My London Guy Doll, now shipping to North America!) are modeling my finished products from the Dress Me Up Neck Attire Pattern from Doll Tag Clothing.

I have had this pattern for quite sometime and  when I pulled out my Valentine Fabric Scrap fabric I knew I wanted to make the boys some Valentines themed Accessories!

 

These little bows and ties are such fun to make and they are fantastic for using up your stash of fabric scraps.

 This pattern earns the  Karen Mom of Three Stamp Of Approval! You can purchase and print your own Dress Me Up Neck Attire Pattern from Pixiefaire's Website by clicking here.

I can not wait to make more neck ties and bow ties for my boy dolls with all the fabric scraps in my stash. I would love to see your finished ties and bow ties as well so if you have this pattern or purchase it please email me a finished photo of your work!

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

Dolly Shoe Lace Make Over A Karen Mom of Three Rit Dye Craft Tutorial

Today I wanted to share with you a craft I have been meaning to try since my shipment of Rit Dye arrived! Today I will show you how to add some personality to your dolls shoe laces with Rit Dye!

To create your own you will need:
-Your dolls shoe laces, removed from your dolls shoes, ( I used my Springfield Doll Shoes and a pair of My London Girl Trainers.)
-Liquid Rit Dye I used Purple and Cherry Red
-Salt
-2 Cups Hot Water 
- A jar to hold your water, dye and salt
-Plastic Spoons
-Plastic Gloves
-Measure cups

Step 1-  Prepare your dye solution I had a jar of Cherry Red Liquid Dye mixture made up already from a previous project ( I keep my left over dye for fun and easy quick dye projects from paper to fabric!) and then created one for the purple dye. Into a large jar I put two cups of very hot tap water, 1/2 bottle of purple liquid Rit Dye, 1/2 cup of salt. Use a plastic spoon to stir it all up. For the Cherry Red dye I re heated the dye water mixture in the jar for 2 minutes in the Micro wave on medium heat.
Step 2- Place the laces into the jars of dye. Use your spoon to make sure they are submerged.

Step 3- Use your plastic spoons to give a stir to your laces every few hours. I left mine in the jars for 6 hours, the longer you leave your laces the darker the colors will be.

Step 4- After you have left them for a few hours remove them from the jars. I used coffee filters to "dry the laces" when I removed them from the jar, this way I can use the coffee filters in another craft later. Let the laces dry, to speed up the time you may wish to place them in the dryer or heat set them with a hair dryer. I am thrilled with how mine turned out. Once dry re lace your shoes and put them on your dolls!

Today I used my Doll Hannah who is an Extra Special Doll (formally Dolls for Downs) shown in the photo on the left hand side and her best friend Jillian My American Girl Doll ( A just like you doll)
Hannah is wearing the shoes from one of My London Girl dolls. Jillian is wearing shoes from Springfield Doll Collection.
I hope you enjoyed today's craft tutorial and that you will be inspired to try dye crafts in your doll craft time!
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

My London Girl and Guy Dolls Now Shipping To North America

 I am so excited to share with you today that My London Girl Dolls are now shipping to North America! I am even more excited to share that along with the entire My London Girl Line, Ollie the My London Guy doll is also shipping to North America! My Ollie shown above is a wonderful addition to my collection.

He is such a wonderful doll! I love his hair, eyes and face! As well I have a son named Oliver so this doll is even more precious to me!

My London Girl and Guy dolls are 18 inches high and they fit both American Girl and Springfield doll clothing really well. I love the meet outfits that My London Girl and Guy Dolls come in and these wonderful dolls have names and stories as well. I am thrilled that My London Girl is shipping to North America and that they came out with such a handsome boy doll!

Check out the Ollile the Queen's Guard Special Addition Doll. I am so in love with this costume! Click here to visit My London Girl's Website and the listing for Ollie as the Queen's Guard! 

My London Girl has wonderful accessories, furniture and clothing for girls. Be sure to check them out on line by clicking any of the highlighted words in this post. I look forward to sharing more photos of Ollie in my work here and around the dolly world in many posts to come.
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

Dolly suggestions for the holidays...

There are so many more wonderful choices world wide for Best Friend Dolls today. I am one of the luckiest people to have so many of these wonderful dolls. I thought I would share with you some of my top picks this holiday season.

Here in Canada we have a few choices for our Best Friend Dolls. Maplelea offers Canadian Girls 18 best friend dolls. Personally I have Saila and one of the New Friends Dolls, who I call Stacy.
I highly recommend these dolls for their play potential and their heirloom quality. Click here to visit Maplelea priced at just under $100.

Springfield Doll Collection is another one of my favorite doll lines. These 18 inch dolls are available here in Canada at Micheal's the Craft Store. Their line of well priced Dolls, Clothing, Furniture and Accessories make Springfield and easy and affordable gift! You can use your Micheal's Coupons for further discounts on the entire line and is one of the reasons I purchase Springfield Dolls and items frequently for my nieces,  gifts and for my own collection. I personally have two Olivia's and Madison, I love all the dolls in this collection, check them out at your local Micheal's store.Dolls priced under $40

Over at Sears.ca you can order these wonderful Newberry Dolls, I also found them in store yesterday. These dolls priced under $30 do not have eyes that open and close but are great starter dolls.

 Toys R Us in Canada is now offering the Journey Girls, these dolls are much slimmer then most 18 inch dolls on the market today but have their own line of clothing and accessories through out Toys R Us stores here in Canada and the USA, priced at just over $30 they are also wonderful starter dolls.

 

For my Australian readers I can not say enough about the Australian Girl Dolls

These dolls are beautifully made, with a breast plate and separated toes each doll wears a sun dress beautifully and flip flops too! These dolls SHIP WORLD WIDE and are 22 inches tall. I have Emily and I just love her! Her soft facial expressions and long beautiful hair are just some of the things I love most about this wonderful doll line.Australian Girl Dolls are priced just under $120 and are among my most favorite international dolls. Click here to visit their website.

Brand new on the market this month are South African Girl Dolls! I am so excited to see this new line of dolls brought to us by the wonderful creator of Doll Tag Designs! I am so looking forward to all the wonderful things South African Girl Dolls will be up to in the coming months. Find and Like them on Facebook by clicking here.

For my readers in the UK, My London Girl Dolls are absolutely adorable. Personally I have three of these dolls and I love the My London Girl meet outfits, the running shoes or trainers are my favorite part of the meet outfit. Their stylish stores are a must visit if you are visiting London. I love these dolls and you will too! Check them out on line by clicking here priced at  79 pounds,

 be sure to check out their new  My London Guy doll Ollie by clicking here. 
He is personally a favorite, I have a son by the same name!

My neighbors to the South in the USA have many choices from Our Generation Dolls sold through Target priced under $40.

Springfield dolls also available in the USA on line or in store are priced far better then here in Canada, check them out on line or in store. They are my go to doll for birthday party gifts for sure!

 

Harmony Club Dolls are new to the Dolly world this season and a welcome addition they are! Limited addition dolls offered at $85.

 Click here for more details!

Last but not least the American Girl Dolls, a true classic and favorite of mine. These dolls are available on line  priced at just over $100 with so many dolls to choose from you are sure to find a favorite here. With Historical and Doll of the year dolls not to mention the Just like you dolls, bitty baby and bitty twin it is easy to see why American Girl Dolls lead the market in 18 inch dolls world wide. Click here for the on line store.

I love all my 18 inch dolls and I know you will to. Having a best friend doll to love and play with is a wonderful investment. Keeping girls, girls longer and helping them to grow into to well adjusted, creative young ladies is my hope through doll play. Weather you choose one of the dolls listed in this post or featured on my blog or another doll, doll play is very rewarding!

 I encourage you to Keep Calm and Play with Dolls.

For tips on how to play with dolls or create play sets for your child or dolls please visit the tabs at the top of this blog and start your doll play adventure today!

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