Creating a Bedroom for Your AG Doll

Every little girl wants a beautiful bedroom for her American Girl, Springfield, Our Generation or Madame Alexander doll. Unfortunately, not every parent can afford to buy the legitimate materials from the companies. Below are a list of links that can help you pull the entire bedroom together.

Bed

The main piece of furniture is the bed. Ana White is almost Internet famous for her free and fabulous furniture plans.  I know that this one will take a while, but you can do it! My sister used this pattern to make one for her granddaughter's doll. You can see hers here. If you love this bed, the pattern you are going to want to use in on Ana's site. If a lot of dolls are sharing a room, you really have to check out the adorable trundle bed, too!

No bed is complete without a mattress, sheets and pillow. Here are free directions for all three! If you saw how cute the bed my sister made looks, then you know you are going to want an adorable quilt to put on top. This primrose garden quilt pattern is my favorite price-free.

Vanity

With just a little bit of lumber, you can add a very cute vanity to your doll's room. Head to 100 things 2 do, and check out these simple, simple plans by Shelly.

Closet

My niece, creative like her mother, shared an adorable closet plan with me. If you do not want a free-standing vanity, you can add one to your closet like the one you are about to see. Or, you can build the closet without the vanity. This is so simple, seeing it may be all you need to do to build this closet.

If I were to make this, I think I would put hinges on the boxes so it could be opened and closed. 

Molly's Stove

Molly joined the family when my granddaughter stayed with me for a few months. She received the American Girl doll from her great-aunt for Christmas. My granddaughter loved her doll and wanted to play with her. Of course, she loved looking through the most current American Girl doll magazine, but, not only was there no AG store nearby, the items were out of our budget.  We put on our creative thinking caps and came up with a lot of ideas. Together, we made a lot of things for her new family member. 

One of the first things we made was a kitchen for Molly.  We went to Michael's and bought three photo boxes; two pure black boxes and one with a design on it for the table. One was for her refrigerator, and the third box was for Molly's stove.  

Making the stove

To make the stove, we turned the box on its side and centered the lid onto the side, gluing it into place.  Once it dried and was sturdy, we took red felt and cut four pieces in a circular, snake-like design. 
We placed each one on the top of the stove with glue, creating four burners that were the perfect size for the cooking pan you can buy at the Dollar Tree. 

Molly loved her new kitchen, according to my granddaughter. It was easy to make and, because the boxes are pretty sturdy, it will last a long time.

Easy 18-inch Doll Gift You Can Make

Life has been a lot slower for the last six months, as I have taken time for myself. All the projects I wanted to do have started happening. For example, during December, I rounded up enough different patterns to make aprons for my granddaughter, her American Doll and her mother. I have never tackled that big of a project, but they loved them.

A new year requires some new activities. and, as January rolled around, I knew I needed a new project. With birthdays and such, useful ideas for easy gifts is my cup of tea. A great idea was born from a conversation with my sister, a fabulous, creative individual. She was sharing with me how she makes doll clothes for American Girl boy dolls. She often uses little boy tee-shirts and she incorporates the hem that is already there whenever she can. During that conversation, I remembered something.

While thrift-store shopping, I found a little quilted item that I thought would work for a doll blanket, but the back had markings on it and they would not come out. I used a simple oven mitt pattern that would fit an American Girl doll. I laid it out along the edge of the material and cut out the pattern. The sides sewed together easily and before I knew it, I created not one, but several hot mitts from one twenty-five cent purchase. 

Here is Kit, wearing hers. It was made from the quilted item. I wish I knew what it was called!

 

Feeling more comfortable, I cut out more from fat squares and even used left over material to make one to make the American Girl dolls apron. I made hot mitts for my best-friend-forever (since fourth-grade) for her to give to her granddaughter, for the daughter of my niece, for my sister's new doll, Blaire Wilson. (According to her bio, Blaire loves cooking, so this is the perfect gift.)

Making the mitts was easy. It goes from this...

To this...

in a few short steps. I used a thin foam with interfacing that was ironed on to the foam. The inside edges, by the little fingers, were sewn together and a band was sewn on across the bottom edge.  A tab for hanging was added and the rest of the mitt was sewn together. It fits the hands of the dolls perfectly.

Ari and Kit are getting ready to do some serious cooking:

If you need a quick gift for the 18" doll lover in your life, or you just want a little side hustle for the holidays, consider making a few of these adorable hot mitts. They are quick, easy and bound to be loved by anyone who receives one...or two...or... Adding an apron is easy, too! The one above is not quite finished, but came out really cute. Let me know if you would like either of the aprons.

I am amending this to share the cooking outfit I made for a gift.  

Now I am off to try and make a picnic blanket from a pattern my sister told me about. Two fat squares, binding and a mason jar. What could be more fun?

Doll Party Time

You don't need an excuse to throw a party, but if it is birthday time or holiday time, it is good to remember, any time is a good time for a doll party. Several of the girls in my class have American Girl dolls or Springfield dolls. We decided to have a party after school one night. I don't think I've ever seen those girls have so much fun!

What can you do at a doll party? We made crafts that they could use when they played with their dolls.  Here are some ideas to get you started.

First, the girls made drinks with Modge Podge, paint and caulking. They mixed glue and paint together. Carefully spoon it into a small glass. They used cups from the dollar store, communion glasses and empty half and half containers (the kind you get at the restaurant.) The cup was filled almost to the top. Then they added caulking to look like whip cream. Sprinkles were added and then stir sticks were cut into small straws (again, like the kind you get from a fast food restaurant.) They were placed into the 'whip cream.' The drinks were left to dry.

Every doll needs her own bag!  Canvas bags were purchased from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. Using iron-on flowers, the girls personalized their bags. It was a simple craft that could be done while others worked on their drinks.

The Dollar Tree has lots of ideas. We used one of their supplies to make a decorative bowl. The girls used clear plastic bowls that came with about ten to a set. They decoupaged tissue paper on to the outside of the bowl. The tissue was allowed to dry and another coat was added.

The final craft of the night was a small bulletin board.  I had picked up some heart-shaped foam boards with adhesive on the back. The girls used ribbons and glue to make their boards. They included a loop between the adhesive and the foam board, cut to shape, that we put on the back.

Because our party was limited to an hour and a half, this is all we had time to do. Their favorite craft was the Starbucks-like drinks. At the end, the girls were asking, "When can we do this again?"  Even as I write this, I am planning the next party. I will write another post once I have pictures of the crafts.

Lit up by The Dollar Tree

It is always fun to see what different people find at The Dollar Tree to add to their doll world. One day, I went in to the local Dollar Tree to look for something totally unrelated to anything 18 inch doll worldly. As I glanced around (after all-you never know what you are going to find) I found something really cool.

What is it, you ask?  Little lights that look just like a small desk light. They are not in the toy section because they are real. In fact, so real that they actually light up! I bought several so I could give them as gifts.  Then, I decided to play around with them and create a little bedroom-scape. This is what it looked like:

Don't you love the bed?  It actually folds up and becomes a couch. I found it at Goodwill. It was in perfect shape and is big enough to share.

It pays to keep your eyes open whenever you go shopping. If you notice the little dressers, they are just plastic drawers with scrap-booking paper in the drawers. The pink dresser cloths are actually pieces of foam that I also picked up at The Dollar Tree. 

For ideas on how to make a plain, plastic set of drawers look great check out this article. It is simple, fun and quick!

Making Kit's Scrapbook! How-to do it!

You know that Kit likes her creative side. She likes to write/report on the world. This week, I introduced Kit to scrapbooking and she seemed to love it!

What you need:
                          cardboard (I used a cereal box)
                          scissors
                          glue
                          scrapbooking paper
                          Large metal needle
                          thread, string or ribbon
                          American Girl magazine

Step 1:   Cut out pictures you like from the American Girl magazine.
           
Step 2:   Take your biggest picture and measure it.

Step 3:   Use your measurement and cut 4 pieces of cardboard that are larger than your biggest picture that you cut out.

Step 4:   Glue two pieces of cardboard with the printed side on the inside on both pieces. Repeat this with the other two pieces.

Step 5:   Choose a scrapbook paper that you like and cut out two pieces that are about an inch bigger than the cardboard pieces.

 Step 6:   Glue one cardboard piece onto the center of a scrapbook paper. Fold the edges over and glue them down. Repeat with the other pieces.

Step 7:   Cut a piece of the same scrapbook paper to cover the middle of the side of cardboard with the short pieces. Glue it on and repeat with the other side. Smooth them down and let them dry.

Step 8:   Put the two pieces of covered cardboard together. On the side of the book cover you have just made, poke 5 evenly spaced holes. Make sure the heavy needle goes through both pieces of cardboard.

Step 9:   Trace around one of the cardboard pieces and them, having chosen several pieces of scrapbook paper that you like, cut out pages for your scrapbook.

Step 10:  Put the pieces of paper between the two covers.  Using thread or
sew the covers and pages together.  If you use thread, you can cover
the thread with ribbon by gluing it on.

Step 11:  Glue the pictures you cut out onto the pages. Add stickers and words.

Step 12:  Use a Sharpie to write a title on the book cover.

Ana's Doll Bed-You Can Do It!

You are probably aware of Ana White's website. She has fabulous plans for everything from household furniture to doll furniture. I love perusing her site and daydreaming. I have my "if only" times-if only I had more time; if only I had more talent; if only I had the materials. Sadly, I never seem to get beyond the "if only" stage.

Meanwhile, my dear sister looks and says, I think I'll make that and she gets the plans for a cute country doll bed. In spite of the fact that she works awful hours, she finds the time, talent and materials to make the bed!

It took her awhile because time was hard to find and a bit of it was tricky. Being the persistant person she is, she figured it all out and made the bed. Here is what her bed looked like:

This photo is what the bed looks like in use.

My sister is such a great motivator. Someday, I will try a bed. In the meantime, I have two "bookshelves" that I need to go renovate. As for you, you should head over to Ana White's site by clicking here. I linked it to the doll furniture page.

What are you working on today?