Come join our on line American Girl Mystery Book Club for book 2

 

I am so happy to report that my on line Mystery American Girl Book Club has finished our first book and we are moving on to the next in our 4 book Samantha series The Stolen Sapphire.

I love Mystery books and am inviting you to join us on our  reading adventure as we read through the mystery books in the American Girl series. There is no cost to join and I hope you will come take a look at my blog by clicking here.
Once we begin reading our book I post chapter reviews every few days which you can comment on or email me about. It is a fun way to enjoy reading and connect with others. If you have any questions you can email me at karenmowen@gmail.com 
The best part is you can find these books at your local library, book store, on line at American Girl  or you can use The Book Depository which offers free world wide shipping.

I hope you will join us for our March selection A Samantha Mystery, The Stolen Sapphire.

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

Brandy's version of Mckennas Hamster! THANK YOU BRANDY!

Fabulous contributing blog writer, Brandy shares with us her craft for your own doll hamster!
" My girls fell in love with McKenna's accessories.  It is unfortunate that AG
bundled so much of it into one set.  Their favorite accessory was the
hamster.  So I got creative.......

The hamsters are Iwako hamster erasers.  I found them at our local "Justice"
store for 99 cents each.  You can also find them on Ebay.

I found a cage at our local pet store for $1.50.  This particular cage is
used for crickets or transporting small animals.  You can also find them at
amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F99ERA/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details

Then I used some scrap shredded tan paper from my wrapping paper bin as the
wood chips.  I purchased this at our local dollar store.

I used a pop bottle cap for the food bowl. I used a rectangular hand punch
with tan and brown foam paper for the food...I hot clued the punched out
pieces into the cap so they would not get mixed up with the tan paper if
tipped over.

I used a travel mini spray bottle and turned it upside down.  I took a nail
and punched holes in the end and placed a mini cable tie through it to
attach to the lid of the cage.

For the hamster wheel, I used an old brush roller and cut it down to size.
I glued a tiny wood cap to the bottom to lift the wheel up a bit out of the
shredded paper.

My girls were so thrilled with this inexpensive treat.......enjoy!"

I love Brandy's creative style! I hope you will all join me in thanking her!

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 

Another New Years Resolution Update! Knitting!

I have another New Years resolution update for you, I showed you my evolving craft room on February 10th and today I thought I would show you some of my knitting progress.
So I learned how to knit in 2010. However I am left handed and it took me a really long time to figure out how to cast on and actually knit. I have not tried to purl yet and can just straight knit so far.

I have been told that the only way to learn how to knit is to practice and I thought it would be great to practice knitting scarves for my dolls. So I started out with casting on 8 stitched and then straight knit until my rectangle was 15 inches long.

I am thrilled with how these have turned out and will keep practicing. I would love to do a blanket for my doll bed and then graduate to actually reading a pattern. I would also love to hear from those of you who are also trying out knitting for the first time and those of you who have been knitting forever!

The Red Outfit swap from Swap-bot

 

This is the Red outfit I made for my swap partner on Swap-bot.I had so much fun making it and loved the 80's feel it gave me. The socks were so much fun to make!

The object of this swap was to make your partner an outfit they would love for their doll and you had to include the color red in the swap! 

I made a peasant style shirt, simple black skirt, heart belt with matching hair bow and the fun socks. I also made the matching bracelet! I had such fun putting this outfit together.

My partner I sent to is a Grandmother who does the swapping for her 7 year old Granddaughter.

My partner for the Red swap was one of my most favorite swap partners! Here is what she sent my doll.

 I loved this red swap outfit, with a red top and polka doted skirt, Soccer Dolly was thrilled!

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

Soccer Dolly's Spa day- A Springfield Doll Make Over

My Niece Laura's Favorite doll is her Springfield Doll Soccer Dolly, Now Soccer Dolly has been her constant companion and favorite doll since I gave the doll to her on her first birthday. I purchased Soccer Dolly from Micheals the craft store in 2007 for Laura's birthday. I also bought her Sister Thea an Emma doll for her birthday last May.

The above photo shoes how well loved and dirty Soccer dolly was before her trip to Aunty Karen's Dolly Day spa.

To clean any 18 inch doll you will need one very important item. Baking Soda,  I have used no name it really doesn't matter.
For dolly skin care you will need:
-Baking Soda
-a small bowl
-a wash cloth
-water
First undress your doll completely.
Wet a corner of your wash cloth and the wet part in the soda. Apply to the surface of your dolls legs, rubbing up and down, removing dirt and oil.

The difference is really surprising and gratifying. As you can see in my photo above the top leg has been washed with the baking soda and water.

Next move on to your dolls arms. Rubbing up and down the same way you did to the legs.

Soccer Dolly's face was really dark and well loved. When cleaning your dolls face you need to be careful not to get the eye area wet! Or your dolls eyes may not open and clothes properly!
Wet your cloth and work the baking soda over the surface of your doll. You may need to use a Q-tip to get the mouth ears and nose area sparkling!

Her face is happy fresh and clean!
Next we moved on to her hair. Soccer Dolly required a hair trim. **Never cut your dolls hair as it will not grow back, if trimming is required as in Soccer Dolly's case, have an Adult do the trimming!**

For Hair Care you will need

-Baby Shampoo and conditioner
-A Wire wig brush
-A pair scissors
- A towel

First I un braided Soccer Dolly's hair. Then I brushed out her hair with the wire wig brush. NORMALLY I WOULD MIST THE HAIR FIRST LIGHTLY WITH WATER. However as I was washing and trimming the hair I did not this time.

 

As you can see the ends of Soccer Dolly's hair are matted and un tameable.

I trimmed Soccer Dolly's hair, only trimming the matted ends.

Next I washed and conditioned Soccer Dolly's hair  with COLD WATER. Then I towel dried it and combed it. Never use a hair dryer on your doll. Doll hair is made of special plastic that will melt so even when washing be careful not to use hot water or a blow dryer.
Let your dolls hair dry naturally!

It is important to not get the Dolls body wet also, however I spot cleaned Soccer Dolly's cloth body as well.
I was so pleased with Soccer Dolly's Make over and when she was dry I dressed her in a new dress I got through Swap-bot and took her over to my Niece's home and put her on her bed so when she returned home from her vacation, Soccer Dolly would be waiting for her.

I would love to hear from you so please feel free to leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Sock Swap, My Swap bot Swap

 

In January my swap bot group did a two partner sock swap. What fun! 

We used the tutorial I posted back in October on how to make doll socks from dollar store socks!

To see that tutorial click here

I had fun creating my partners socks like the ones shown above on my Maplelea Doll, Saila.

It is so much fun checking my mail box and found a fun envelope with these adorable and colorful socks from my partner NikiG who always sends me some really fun things, and she sent me the ribbon to make Saila's ribbon in the post I did on my Maplelea blog click here to see that post . My other partner was  Sewcrazy, she sent me a fun package that was in a soup can that I had to pop the top and discovered three pairs of sock, (though My niece Laura snagged a pair before I could take a photo!)

Doll socks are so much fun to make and send, they really add to outfits and make doll dress up time that much more fun and realistic!
I love that you can make two pairs of doll socks from one sock pair! I would love to see how your own doll socks turn out! They are fun to make and you can easily practice on your own odd socks to begin with.

I love the Red Heads

I love red heads, I did a post last week on my Canadian Doll Maplelea Blog and I wanted to share and expand on it to include 18 inch  Red Head Dolls I have seen and love.

Now Springfield Collection really gets high marks in my books for Olivia. Here hair is a wonderful shade of red, she is very reasonably priced and she is the most accessible red haired doll on the market today. Priced in Canada around $30 (much less in the USA) and with the Coupons available from Michaels the craft store in both the USA and Canada she is a doll that almost any girl (or parent) can acquire and love.

Another favorite Red head of mine is Jenna, now Jenna is a Maplelea Doll pictured with Olivia above and in shirts and a skirt made by Dacia of Mini Me Dolly Diva. I think Jenna looks fantastic in just about anything! Here hair and eyes set off her delicate freckles and she is a wonderful doll.

Jenna is available for $99.99 from Maplelea. To visit the Maplelea website click here

Other notable Red haired beauties are Gali Girl Red heads. You can choose from a Brown Eyed doll shown above or the Blue Eyed doll shown below.

These beautiful Red haired Jewish dolls sell for $35 and come with wonderful accessories that will make any little girl or doll collector very happy! You can visit the Gali Girl Website by clicking here.

 For my readers in the UK, I have to say that My London Girl Doll Amy is also a favorite with her Auburn, hair and fantastic accessories she is a wonderful must have Red Head.

 

My London Girl dolls sell for 79 Pounds and are available in store or by visiting their website by clicking here

Photo of Nellie by Heather from my on line http://americangirlmysterybookclub.blogspot.com/

So you may be wondering about American Girl Doll Red heads. Nellie, now retired will run you about $200 on the second hand market if you are lucky enough to find someone willing to part with her that is. Nellie was retired along with Samantha, in 2009. She is an adorable Strawberry Blonde red head. 

Emily is another red head I just love from American Girl. I have a feeling that she may be on her way out so if you are looking to add her to your Doll Collection you may want to act fast. I have no official word but I feel that perhaps She and Molly are next to retire. I will be sad to see her go. American Girl offers Emily at $105

My American Girl Dolls have 8 choices for Red Heads according to their program on line. Though none of them are true red heads like Springfield or Maplelea.

You can order your choice by clicking here

I do love the choices you have on the American Girl Dolls and in person they are even lovelier!
While there is yet to be a red haired set of Bitty Twins, I do love the new Red Haired Bitty Baby!

 

This red haired beauty is offered at $50 and you can view her by clicking here

I hope you have enjoyed today's post about the lovely Red Heads and if you have a doll with red hair you wish to share please email me a photo at karenmowen@gmail.com 

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 

PS Kristi shared this Madame Alexander Red Head I did not know about! 

PPS Annika shared Fancy Nancy as well! Love her!