Craft Idea #2: a Tetherball Court!

Today, in this craft, your dolls are going to get a great tetherball court!
Anyway, for those who don't know what tetherball is (it is sort of a rare thing to see on a lot of playgrounds - but schools have them mostly), here is a stock photo (this is Google Images NOT mine):

 Does it look familiar?

Anyway, today we are going to make a craft off of that.

Here is what you'll need:

1 Empty Paper Towel Cardboard Roll (or tape 2 toilet paper rolls together!)

Tape

 Construction Paper (Color of your choice)

String (must be somewhat sturdy)

1 ball on AG sized scale (plastic, super ball, slightly blown up balloon, etc.)

1 square of cardboard

 

First, get out your cardboard paper towel roll.

As you can see, if you buy the paper towels I buy, the roll isn't as tall as the doll (tetherball nets that I've seen - while I've seen very few, have always been nearly 6 feet in the air). However, the smaller it is, the easier it makes for storage, so as long as it is about up to her shoulder at least, you are fine. You can always tape toilet paper rolls to it if you want extra height. (Anyway, who ever knew I'd be posing a doll next to an empty paper towel roll? XD)  

Take the roll and place it on the very tip of the red paper. As you can see, my construction paper piece is pretty long. I am only using the paper up to where the big crease is in the middle, so you don't need that much paper.

Tape your roll to the tip of the paper so that it will stay put somewhat. The tape may not be strong enough to hold it all the way down, so keep one hand on it at all times as your roll.

Take the paper towel roll and roll it down the paper until the roll is totally covered. (Sorry for all the shadows).

As seen here, I only used half of the paper.

Cut off any unnecessary paper, but try and leave a little excess paper on the side as you can see here, just to make taping a bit easier.

After taping the paper down to the paper towel roll, your roll should now look like the picture above.

Here it is standing up!

Next, get some string/ribbon. It has to be durable and sturdy enough to hold the ball that will be swinging around when your dolls play. I used simple ribbon I found in my craft room for this. I believe the ribbon is from Michaels.   

As far as measurements go, I'd just use about half the length of the tetherball stand or the full length if you want it extra long.

Next, tape the ball down to the string. You may need to use about three pieces of tape to get it all to stick and hold the ball correctly.

Tape another end of the string inside the tetherball stand. I taped mine a bit far down in there so that it will not be noticed as much.

Next, get some cardboard. If you are having trouble finding cardboard, take a "dumpster dive" in your recycling (we have a tiny recycling closet where the recycling waits the week for it to be taken out) so I just went in my recycling closet and found the perfect cardboard box. I have resisted having it recycled because I wanted to do something with it.

The box's cardboard was light and sturdy and easy enough to cut with regular kids scissors. I cut off this little square, as you can see (sorry it blends with the wood floor).

You should make it as big enough as big as the one shown (enough room for the tetherball stand in the middle with about an inch left on the sides).

Tape it down on all sides and maybe even put double stick tape on the bottom for more backup and durability.

Here is the tetherball court all finished!

Yay! Payton is ready to have some fun with friends!

 

Little House on the Prairie: The Dance Part #1

One lovely morning in January, Laura came home from school. Mary had been resting since her terrible illness, though she would return to school probably tomorrow or the next day. 

"Guess what the big deal was in the mercantile today? I went in there to pick up a new paper tablet," Laura didn't look particularly happy. 

"What? Nellie fell in the river?" Mary laughed, hoping to make her sister smile. 

Laura laughed a bit and then went back to talking, "No," she looked at her sister once more with the mischievous smile of her's. "There's going to be a dance - a town dance, but only for girls and women ten and older. I'm only nine - but your ten and a half - nearly eleven, so you can go. I thought you might be interested. I wish I could go - I bet Ma will bake one of her good pies for it. I wouldn't want to miss out on a good pie." 

"Oh Laura," Mary laughed. 

"Well, I better go do my homework, I'm working in the barn today," Laura dashed off and nearly ran into Ma who was coming up the stairs to check on Mary. 

"Ma, did you hear about the town dance for all of those ten and over?" Mary asked hopefully. She wasn't sure if Ma would let her go or not. Mary wanted to get dressed up in her Sunday best and have fun, listening to the lively music of the band (which may consist of Pa on his fiddle and a few other men who played various instruments), and eating one of Ma's warm pies with the flaky crust. 

"I did hear about that," Ma replied truthfully. "Do you want to go?" 

"Oh yes," Mary looked Ma in the eye dreamily. 

"Well, then, as long as you are responsible and get good grades up until then, and go to school and start completing your chores and making up for when you were sick, then you may go. I know that won't be too hard," Ma smiled at Mary. 

"It won't be hard at all," Mary nodded eagerly, "In fact, I can get up right now and help Laura with the chores!"

"Now, now, you don't want to relapse and end up getting sick and weak again. Just take it easy and then tomorrow morning, you may start chores and school. Now get some rest - tomorrow will be a good and big day. I'll bring you up your dinner shortly."

"Thank you Ma," Mary suddenly felt weak all over again just thinking about the chores and work she would go back to, so she sank back into the pillows and tried to go to sleep.

The next day at school, Nellie was bragging about her dress that she had gotten for the dance. Laura didn't think it was fair since Nellie had only turned ten no more than a week before. Apparently, the dress was imported from Paris and was the "height of fashion." Laura saw it, and even though she didn't really fancy huge, frilly dresses, she knew that it was considered beautiful.

That was when she knew that she had to get to the dance. Somehow.

That day, later in the house right as they were all sitting down to supper and setting the table. "Ma, can I please go to the dance? Please?"

"Now Laura, you know I don't like that sort of begging and whining. Act your age please. Anyway, no, the dance is only for those ten and up. Don't worry, your time will come to dress and go to a dance. You went to one last year on Independence Day, you didn't seem to like it that much."

"I know, but I think now I will like it - especially since Mary gets to go and I don't. It's not fair - I'm jealous." Immediately, Laura realized what she had said was wrong. It was naughty and mean to be jealous, and that was what Laura had just admitted to being.

"Well, give up those jealous thoughts - you have to Laura. I know that jealousy can get to us sometimes, but we can't let it overtake us. We have to brush it away like we brush away dust and dirt with a broom....." Ma went into one of her longer speeches about the way to properly behave. Laura secretly hated those speeches. Luckily, it was cut short as everyone was hungry and wanted to sit down and eat.

For the rest of the week, all the kids at school who were over ten were in a huge buzz. All the kids under ten could care less, but none of them, except for the boys, were exactly Laura's age.

Then, Mary came home one day in an excited frenzy. 

"Ma! I got asked to the dance! Henry asked me! I'm so excited. I told him yes!" Mary looked dreamy. "I was planning on just wearing my braids with two bows on the end, but now I need something special. Really special. Maybe we could even curl my hair!"

"Calm down, now, Mary. Don't get yourself too worked up. But you've been doing a good job at getting back on top of chores and school, so why don't you go upstairs and look at your bed."

Mary went up the loft's ladder and Laura cautiously followed behind her; dreaming of what could be on the bed.

Sitting on the bed was a beautiful dress with a matching, frilly pinafore. It was a pale, pastel colored dress with a plaid white, orange and yellow striped plaid.

It was beautiful, and Mary gasped and nearly went into tears when she saw the beauty of the dress and pinafore. It was like her Sunday best yet it could still be practical for nice school spelling or geography bees where she would preform in front of the class. 

Ma had followed them upstairs. Mary and Ma hugged right then and there. "I love it Ma. I love you."

Mary squeezed her eyes tight and the nice moment between the two of them made Laura's jealousy build up more and more inside. She fled the house and ran out to the barn where she sat in the barn's loft trying and trying to get the naughty jealousy to go away. It wouldn't. Just the thought of Mary getting to do something else while Laura sat home alone minding Baby Carrie (a chore she didn't particularly like). Mary getting something new - even if it was just a dress, and eating Ma's pies all night while listening to Pa and some other men get together and play. Pa would play fun dancing songs that didn't require dancing slowly in tiny foot movements - he would play something lively that would get Laura's feet dancing fast. But she wouldn't be there to experience any of that.

Laura tried hard to sweep the jealousy out as she would sweep out dirt and dust with a broom, as Ma had said. But each time she swept the dust and dirt out, the strong winds blew it right back in. Right back into Laura's mind that was filled with jealousy for her sister, for Nellie, and filled with pity for herself. 

The night before the dance Mary tried her dress on to make sure that it fit just right. It did. It fit perfect - with a bit of growing room to spare. The skirt of it swayed when Mary turned around in front of Laura. Laura wasn't so jealous about a dress skirt's sway though, so it didn't bother Laura one bit.

Then, that night after they had gotten into their night gowns, Ma fussed and fought with Mary's braided hair. "We should curl it Ma - and sweep the bangs back," Mary thought.

"Well, okay, here let me get the curling rags and things. Come downstairs with me now. But then you must get to bed - tomorrow is going to be a huge day."

"The best day of my life," Mary sighed dreamily as she and Ma went downstairs to do the curls. 

"Laura - there is no excuse for you to be up. Now get to bed!" Ma called to the loft where Laura was looking at the general store's catalog to try and stay up later. 

"Yes Ma," Laura sighed before slipping the catalog under the bed frame and pulling the covers over her and drifting off to sleep.

The next day was going to be a big day. It was certainly going to be a big day for Mary and all those going to the dance, but that day was going to lead Laura to the adventure of a lifetime with a very special friend. Only, Laura didn't know that yet. 

Back to School Craft!

By now, I'm sure that most of us have been back to school shopping or are still in the process of back to school shopping. Well, some of the colorful folders and notebooks and binders at places like Target or any other place could get expensive if you need a lot of them. Some schools require one for each class, so you could be using up to six folders/notebooks/binders, etc.
Well, the cheapest folders/notebooks/binders, etc. are usually the plain white ones. Sometimes, those can be boring, especially if you are an artistic person like me who likes to express themselves through things like their folders, backpacks, etc. while at school (I go to a homeschool co-op/school two-three days a week even though I'm homeschooled, which means that I still get a chance to express myself through the binders, backpacks, etc.).

Those folders though, can go from super plain and untouched to suddenly super exciting and eye-drawing in the classroom! Well, I have a great AG-inspired craft for making those plain school supplies into your own! (It's an especially great craft if your parents hate having millions of "out dated" magazines from years ago lying around the house) 

You will need: 

Scissors

Old/or new AG Magazines

Double Sided Tape

Folder, Binder, school supply you want to decorate, etc. 

First, start out with your magazines. As you can see, I have a few pretty old ones and some new ones. (Well, maybe a year old - I have even older ones though)

Go through and pick out pictures that are fairly small that you really like and want for your craft.

Next, cut them out. 

Here is one example of one that I cut out. It's fairly small yet big enough for really cute detail. Cut out a bunch of pictures that you like. Your scissoring doesn't have to be perfect, as you can see, my cuts aren't exactly along the lines. It's all arts and crafts; and there are no mistakes in art, so if you think that you "messed up" while cutting, you didn't - it's just something unique about your project. 

I am choosing to make a collage with a 5 pocket accordion (or as they call it "letter") folder. Remember, don't do any over the opening or you won't be able to get your folder open!

I did my collage on the back. Just arrange your collage the way you like it! Remember, it is all about your AG style!

Take your double sided tape (I'm using Scotch Double Sided Tape) - but you could even take regular scotch tape and fold it up to make it double sided. 

Tape down all your pictures in the collage. Remember to arrange them how you want them first so that you don't want to make a change after you've already glued stuff down. 

Here is a quick glimpse at my AG collage. So cute!

I'd love to see your collages! Just email a picture to: americangirldollstory@gmail.com 

Have fun! Remember that you can do this with any pictures or magazines!

Kit's Newspaper

One day, Kit was sitting in her room. It was the last week of summer vacation, and she had just finished going over to a few newspaper offices to see if they would take an article she had written.

"Hi Kit, you don't look too happy. Is anything wrong?" Julie asked.

"Well, nothing important," Kit replied.

"Then if it's not important how come you aren't out playing with us?"

"I just got back from a few local newspaper offices that my mom took me to, and all the places rejected me. I thought my article was good enough for a newspaper," Kit told Julie.

"They rejected your article, not you," Julie told her kindly. Suddenly though, Julie got an idea.

"Hey though, Kit, why don't you start your own newspaper?"

"Hey, that's a great idea! Remember when I did that a few years ago? That newspaper was boring though. This new one of mine is going to be action packed! I got to go get writing, bye!" With that, Kit was off to her typewriter. She had a computer, but she preferred to use a typewriter. It seemed to make her write better.   

Kit sat and typed and typed and typed...

Just then, Julie came in to check on Kit and the new newspaper. "How are things going, Kit?" Julie asked.

"Not too good," Kit sighed. "I added a few write ups on a recent movie and a little article about the local schools being out for the summer, but I don't have anything interesting - or that interesting - to put in the paper. When I hand it out to others throughout town, I want to get a huge fan base or at least a few fans. I can't think of anything though."

"Maybe you should take a break - or maybe forget about the idea," Julie suggested.

"NO! I wouldn't ever quit working on the paper. I think it's a great idea. Maybe you're right though, I think I'll take a break and look around the farm. I might get some inspiration." Kit ran off.

Josefina was sitting in her bunk. "Hi Josie!" Kit smiled. "What are you doing?"

"I would be outside, but since it's so rainy and it's thundering, I have to stay inside, so I'm downloading some apps to my Ipad. I found this really cool one that will tell you what is happening around town as all the stuff happens. It's like a kid friendly news thing. You should download it too!" 

"Cool, Josie! Here, I'll go do it right now 

Kit quickly went to her Ipod Touch to check out the new app.

As she sat at her desk looking at it, she saw, very excitedly, that a food fight was going on at the local kids community summer camp! Kit hadn't gone to the camp (no one she knew had), but she figured she could go anyway and get a report on the food fight and see if anything a little more interesting was happening.

Off she went on her bike since the rainstorm had stopped....... 

 

When she reached the community center, she saw a cupcake lying on the ground and half of the community center's camp counselor food table was in disarray and a kid was standing on it throwing food. They were all pretty young and were just having fun. The camp counselors didn't look too happy and Kit saw a few parents leading messy, food splattered children away from the summer camp and the community center head administrator was there on the scene taking notes and calling parents to pick up their unruly kids. Kit entered the room timidly, and almost laughing at the crazy sight of all the kids going wild. It was just too strange to be true! It would make a perfect report for her newspaper!  

 

Suddenly, a pitcher of water flew at her face and bounced off of her face. "Ouch!" exclaimed Kit as she looked down to see the blue pitcher lying next to her on the ground with water spilling out of it. "Maybe this wasn't such a great time to come...Maybe I should've waited until the whole thing was over and then came and reported on it....But oh well, I'm here now."

As she was thinking of whether she was going to risk taking her notebook out to possibly get ruined by food, a big strawberry and raisin glazed muffin hit her in the stomach, smearing all over her dress. "Oh no!" Kit quickly flicked some soggy muffin crumbs away. It was a once and a lifetime opportunity to experience unruly little kids having a food fight, so Kit knew that she had to stay. It wasn't endangering anybody and it was sort of funny, so she knew it would make great news for her paper.

The stain was slowly appearing with it's strawberry glazed jelly coloring. Just then, a few counselors told her to leave the scene, so Kit fled out the door and back onto the bicycle. 

At home, Kit began to type up all the crazy things she had heard and witnessed. "Food Fight Breaks Out at Local Summer Camp"

Just then, Mrs. Kittredge entered the room. "Kit, dear, where were you?"

"I was um, reporting, at a, um, uh, big news event," Kit knew that her mother wouldn't really approve because even though Kit hadn't put herself in any real danger, Mrs. Kittredge would think so.

"Where were you reporting?" Mrs. Kittredge's voice began to get a suspicious ring in it.

"At the local summer camp community center," Kit mumbled looking at the ground.
"What's that stain on your dress?"

"I got it while reporting."

"What happened?"
"Food flew at me - it was a food fight," Kit replied.

"So that explains why your face is all wet - water flew at you."

"Yes," Kit replied, "A pitcher of water."

"Oh it must've hit your nose hard - no wonder it's all swollen up!"  

Mrs. Kittredge who was usually calm and collected, began to go on a rampage. "You didn't even ask permission, young lady! What were you thinking?"

"I, well, I'm starting a new newspaper for around the town. I wanted to get news for it - real news. Not stuff around the farm or stories that people try to tell me. I wanted to experience something."

"Well you should've asked me," Mrs. Kittredge, "I'll discuss your punishment with your father."

"Yes," Kit sighed and went back to typing as a flustered Mrs. Kittredge left the room.

Kit finally typed some more and got Julie to take them out to her mother's store, Gladrags, and use the copier there.  

Julie ran back about an hour later with some papers printed out. The paper's big story was the food fight, then another story about the news app that Kit had downloaded, and a few advertisements for Gladrags and the airline that Julie's dad, the pilot, worked with. She also had some other articles that she had written before she'd gotten herself into all that trouble. The paper was pretty small, but a good first debut.

Kit and Julie went out on bikes to distribute the papers amongst all the town.

Once the girls were back, Mrs. Kittredge received a call. It was from Mr. Cross, one of the head mayors and leaders of the town.

"Unauthorized papers with my daughter's name on them?" Mrs. Kittredge asked in surprise. "Well, yes, it may be the new newspaper she was trying to start up. Yes, yes of course, Mr. Cross. I will speak with her. Yes, she will be out to pick the papers up. Oh, no, I think it is necessary. Yes, thank you, goodbye," Mrs. Kittredge's side of the conversation was pretty vague with a bunch of yeses and thank you's.

Kit sat in her room awaiting her mother's arrival to tell her what had happened. Sure enough, Mrs. Kittredge entered the room.

"Kit, were you distributing the paper that you talked about creating?" Mrs. Kittredge asked.

"Yes," Kit replied.

"You need a permit to distribute unauthorized papers to various houses - some of the people you distributed to don't even know who you are. If you would have at least done it to only people that you know, it might have been a different story. If you do something like that again, you are going to be in trouble with the community and Mr. Cross. Now I think you've had enough 'adventure' for one day - for a lifetime even. I want you to stay in our cabin for the rest of the day - there is no need for you to go out. I am disappointed in your foolish actions. However, it does show that you are a true reporter."

Kit lay on her bed and thought. Well, that certainly didn't work out. Now I'm in more trouble than when I started this idea. I thought it would work. I guess I was wrong. Oh well, who knows. Maybe I'll just join the school newspaper team.

With that, Kit fell asleep dreaming about running the school's newspaper team. Maybe her article had been rejected by the real newspaper and maybe her own newspaper hadn't worked, but Kit knew that if she pushed through, she would really become what she wanted to be and achieve her main goal; being a reporter.

The End

(Sorry I haven't posted in a while - I sort of took a break for the summer with all the vacations and swimming and all that)  

Little House on the Prairie: The Sickness Part #3

The doctor had transferred Mary to the church, where they would try to get her better. If needed of course, then they would make arrangements for the hospital. Everyone hoped that was not necessary.

Mary lay on her little mattress which had been hurriedly made and donated by the local seamstresses who were doing all they could for the poor sick people of the town.

Mary was very grateful even though she felt worse than anything.

The other town over, who had been asked to send help for the epidemic, had sent away Mosi, a young, orphaned Native American child who worked for a rich family. She had caught the terrible epidemic but had recovered quickly, and it was now determined that she could not get it again.

Now, she worked tediously trying to get all the patients in the little makeshift church hospital well again.

She passed out some medicine that wasn't necessarily going to get them better, but it would help a bit. She brought her cup of medicine and gave a spoon of it to Mary.

"You must take medicine," Mosi spoke in her broken English. "You will get better."

Mary slowly took the herbal brew of soothing medicine.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Laura had gotten a little better and was now sitting up. She might have felt better physically, but on the inside she worried. Mary was always weak when it came to getting sick and she didn't take it quite as well. Still, it was rare that she would get sick. Laura felt sicker by worrying, so she vowed to stop. Only she couldn't.

 

Dr. Baker brought around some more heavy duty medicines in a large horse feed bucket (don't worry, it was cleaned out).

It didn't seem to help Mary though, and as they day went on into the afternoon, she got progressively worse. "I may have to take her to the hospital," Dr. Baker thought aloud, "In fact, I think I must." Quickly, he hurried out to the Ingalls' homestead, and just as quickly, brought Ma back in his buggy.

IN the church, Ma grabbed Mary and hugged her. "You are going to go to the hospital, now."

"No, Ma!" Mary cried.

"You will get better at the hospital. It would only be right. Come now, Dr. Baker has arranged a train already."  

Hurriedly, they were transported to the train and then to the hospital. In all, it took about three hours. Surprisingly Mary wasn't feeling any worse. Then again, she didn't know if it was possible to feel any worse.

At the hospital, a few hours later, after Mary had been inspected by the doctor. The doctor determined that there was nothing he could do and that she should move around or else she might lose all feelings in her legs and possibly not be able to walk again.

Mary wanted to walk again, so she pushed herself to get on her wooden crutches and hobble around the hospital walking area. It hurt with each step, and Mary herself, in her brain, felt wobbly, but she wanted to walk on, so that didn't stop her. Ma carefully guided her by the shoulder, and together they walked.

It was soon decided that there was nothing that could be done and it might even be more affective for her recover in her own bed. Mary, who didn't particularly like the hospital, despite the nice doctor and nurses, was glad to hears this and was excited to get home and more excited that she could get better soon.  

Back at home, awaiting Mary, was Laura making up the bed and tidying up the house. Pa was still out making trips for the doctor, so Laura was left to practice her responsible side and take care of her chores, Carrie, and any other housework. Not to mention preparing meals!

Suddenly though, in excitement, she heard Mary and Ma walk through the door. Quickly, she finished making up the bed and ran down to see her Ma and her sister.

Laura and Mary gently hugged. "Are you going to be okay?" Laura asked.

"Don't you worry, Laura, I'm going to be just fine," Mary smiled, hugging her back once more.

"But I am going to have these silly wooden crutches for a while. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great! I don't think I have a touch of fever or sickness anymore. I'm glad to be all better. You'll be better soon too."

"Well, right now, your sister has to rest, Laura, now let her go. I'm going to help her up the loft ladder."

And off Mary went. Laura felt at peace and at the moment she didn't mind helping her sister, and while she knew that there would be plenty of fights down the road, Laura loved her sister and knew she always would.

Doll Clothes Idea and Outfit of the Day #2!

A little while back I started a "Doll Clothes Idea & Outfit of the Day". Well, I decided to post the second outfit of the day and idea.
Clothes Idea: I know that a lot of people have Molly, and if you received her in her meet outfit, then you know that it came with a cute little collar/dickey. Well, I also noticed that the dickey seems to be forgotten and isn't really used that much unless the doll is dressed in Molly's meet outfit. Well, I decided to change that. Below, in the outfit of the day, is an example of a really cute (in my opinion) outfit that features that cute but sometimes forgotten dickey.
Tip: You can really take any part of a historic outfit and turn it into a modern one if you'd like. It is great to have different options for your doll's outfits. In this outfit, I use 3 historic outfit pieces.

Here is a view of the outfit of the day! I know this is a bad angle, but I hope you can see it at least a little bit.

 

Firstt, here is the close up of Jasmine's face. As you can see, to go with the red theme of the shirt, I added a matching bow.

 

As you can see, the dickey is underneath just a plain tee shirt and looks very festive for a patriotic holiday. 4th of July, maybe?

 

Here's the front of the shirt. See, it's just a plain graphic tee. You could really add the dickey underneath a selection of shirts and it would look good. Since it is Molly's dickey, I added in her locket too just to complete the look.

Lastly, here is a more focused view of the pants and shoes. As you can see, I used Caroline's old fashioned work boots on this modern outfit and it, I think, works pretty well.

 

Here are all the clothes pieces I used in this outfit:

1. Kit's Holiday Outfit - bow

2. AGP Graphic Tee - Washington D.C. shirt

3. Lanie's Nature Outfit - leggings

4. Molly's Meet Outfit - dickey/collar

5. Molly's Accessories - locket

5. Caroline's Farm Work Outfit - boots 

 

 

 

 

 

The MagNeoBio Award!

 

 

I had 2 people nominate me for the MagNeoBio award, Shelby-Grace (www.ohmydollies.blogspot.com) & Nikki (www.dollsarebestfriendsalways.blogspot.com)

 

Here are Shelby-Grace's questions (I will answer Nikki's next):

 

1. How many dolls do you own?

A: I own a lot of dolls (mostly AG)! I own 14 AG dolls, 1 Bitty Baby, 2 Journey Girls, and 3 Hearts for Hearts girls, and a few other brands.

2. Do you collect any other dolls besides AG?
A: Yes, I collect Hearts 4 Hearts girls (I have some Toys r Us Journey Girls, but I don't want anymore and am not into collecting or getting more of those - I have the 2 that I like/want).

3. How long have you had a blog?
A: Oh wow, I guess I'm nearing my 2nd year of blogging! I know it's not too long, but still, wow! 2 years - I can't believe it's been that long!

4. Who was your first American Girl doll?
A: Julie. She looks the most like me so I got her instead of a JLY doll.

5. Do you design your own doll clothes?
A: I design the clothes (I have about 2 or 3 sketchbooks full), but I haven't actually created/sewed them. I am currently sewing a Little House on the Prairie style dress, but it is nowhere near done. Later on if I find the time (which I might have more of since I'm on summer break), maybe I'll post a few of my doll designs.

6. What are your doll's hobbies?
A: My dolls do about every sort of sport or club you could ever imagine, so they don't have too much freetime. Their favorites are basketball, dance, violin, acting, and flute.

7.If you had to choose, who is your favorite doll?
A: My favorite doll....probably Kirsten because I love her accessories and her, and how she comes from Sweden, and just her pioneer story. My favorite does change everyday, but I've wanted her for a long time (and I finally got her too!).

8. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
A: There are SOOO many places I want to go....hmm. I'd probably want to go on a tour of the Laura Ingalls homesteads around the country with my cousin (we both love Laura & her books).

9. If you could design a historical or girl of the year doll, what would she be like?
A: For the Girl of the Year doll, I'd make her into a girl who lives on a sailboat with her sister and parents (and dog). She'd get to explore around the country and have a few interesting adventures. Oh yes, and maybe to make things even more interesting, she could be Caroline's great-great-grandchild or something and maybe still sail on a boat her father or her made?
For the Historical Character, I'd probably create a pilgrim girl who has just settled down here in America.
                                                  ****************
Now for Nikki's questions!

1. Do your dolls have middle names or nicknames? If so, what are they?
A: For some of my dolls, (mainly the HC dolls), I'll go on the American Girl Wiki and look at their profile to see if they have a middle name that the author of their books already picked out for them. If they don't, I'll make something that fits into their era. For the Girl of the Year dolls, I make up middle names that I think fit them. Also, I named my Lanie doll Delaney and she's called Lanie as a nickname, because I thought that Lanie sounded more like a nickname for Delaney. My dolls sort of have nicknames, like my JLY #53 Jasmine has the nickname "Jazzy" or "Jazz" or sometimes "Mimi" XD. The nicknames just sort of come and go, not many of them have really stuck (except for the Lanie one).

2. What's your favorite thing to do with your dolls?
A: My favorite thing to do with my dolls would probably be making photo stories.

3. How long have you had American Girl dolls?
A: I got my first one (Julie) on the Christmas of 2008. I guess this'll be my 6th year of having them!

4. How do you play with your dolls?
A: I play with my dolls a lot, so sometimes I'll make one of them the mom and I'll write up this crazy schedule for them and they'll all have to try and make it to the lessons or sports or something. I love doing photo stories for my blog, or a stop motion video for fun. My other favorite thing to do is make up new outfits from all the existing outfits that I own.

5. What are your favorite Historical American Girl books, and why?
A: My favorites would probably be Samantha - though it is REALLY hard to choose. In fact, my favorites change everyday. I think I like Samantha's books the most because it is interesting to hear about her rich life in the turn of the century/Victorian era. I also love Kit & Julie's books as my top 3 favorites, because Kit is a writer/reporter for fun like me and Julie looks like me and I think her story and her adventures are the most fascinating.

6. Do you have a proper bed for your dolls?
A: Yes. I have 2 sets of bunk beds that my neighbors gave me because they didn't have room for them. They are really sturdy beds and are handmade too. They were also given to me with bedding, mattresses, and pillows. Before I received the bunk beds, I bought Elizabeth's Bed and Bedding from a great kids consignment shop near me. It was brand new and only $50 (after already being retired!)

7. Do your dolls all share clothes or do they have their own clothes?
A: All my American Girl dolls share clothes, but my other different types of dolls don't because they don't really fit other doll's clothing (if that made any sense XD).

8. Do you like making up hairstyles for your dolls?
A: I love making up hairstyles for my dolls! Whenever I go to a store, I always find doll sized bows, clips, and twisties that go perfectly in my homemade doll hairstyle kit.

9. What non-American Girl Dolls do you like?
A: I like the Hearts 4 Hearts girls and the Journey Girls and Our Generation girls. I also like the Life of Faith dolls and the My Twinn dolls.

10. Do you like acting?
A: I LOVEEEE acting!!! I love being in the spotlight for anything! In fact, I've auditioned for a few things too! I am terrible at singing though and stuff, so I don't like acting that involves singing and sometimes I get annoyed by musicals. XD

Thank you girls for the questions and nomination!

Now here are some people that I'm going to nominate....

Super Inky! www.superinky.com

Clarisse's Closet! www.clarissescloset.wordpress.com

AG Fern Friends! www.thenewagfernfriends.blogspot.com

1 more person who hasn't been nominated (comment below to tell me you took this spot)

Here are the questions:

1. Have you heard of the new AG BeForever line that will be released? If so, what do you think of it?

2. What's your favorite doll that you do not own (doesn't have to be American Girl)?

3. What inspired you to start a blog?

4. How did you find out about American Girl?

5. What do you like most about American Girl?

6. What do you like least about American Girl?

7. What is your doll's favorite activity (sports, dance, play, etc.)?

8. Has your doll ever traveled? If so, what was her favorite place to travel to?

9. What is 1 Girl of the Year doll that you wish AG had made/will make?


Thank you!