Ear Piercing – Yes or No?

Yes please.

This weekend the local Masterminds store is offering free piercing and free earrings for Our Generation dolls. I’m a big fan of free and have been thinking about getting Evelyn’s ears pierced anyway.

Alternatively, I’ve thought about piercing her ears myself. Directions and tutorials abound on the Internet. Here are a few video tutorials if you think you might want to attempt it yourself:

• How to Pierce Your Our Generations doll’s ears
• Ciara’s American Doll Ear Piercing Tutorial

Off to Masterminds to get her ears pierced …

… and now back home with Evelyn’s ears pierced:

And I have a new beauty salon and sewing room kit:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THE SEWING ROOM. Can’t wait to set it up.

 

 

Dinner & a Craft: Cranberry Backpack

This blogpost kicks off my “Dinner & a Craft” series, wherein I attempt to merge my love of food and crafts in some kind of integrated manner. 🙂

It’s Monday night and time to work on a new project to wow the visiting Littles on the weekend. I’m venturing away from crocheting today to attempt a project I’ve seen and loved from the blog of Doll Diaries. Lots of fabulous ideas here, but the one that caught me immediate attention was the backpack.

First a bit about Duck Tape. It’s come a long ways since I was making my own pewter coloured wallets back in the day. I was able to find an impressive selection of patterned and coloured Duck Tape at the neighbourhood Walmart, but to have some idea of what’s available, check out the Duck Tape webpage here. There’s a whole line of Disney inspired Duck Tapes, not to mention Minions and Sponge Bob. Of course there’s Elsa and Anna Duck Tape.

Now a bit about Friday’s recipe. Friday nights are pretty casual at our house. It’s the end of the week, so time clear the fridge of leftovers by offering them as a dinner buffet. But I like to try out one new simple recipe to jazz things up a bit.

This week it’s cranberry turnovers, made from a recipe at the Food Network site. Looks delicious, yes? They were.

I’ll keep you posted!

 

Making Cupcakes for Your 18 Inch Doll

The other day I came home from work to see my husband puttering in his workshop, making a giant wooden cupcake for our granddaughter’s birthday next week.

Our granddaughter has a bedtime ritual that we adore. When you tuck her in, she says, “Dream About Cupcakes!”. She’s been doing it for a couple of years and recently she upgraded it to, “Dream that you’re in Disney World and it’s your birthday and you’re eating your favorite cupcake”. I love that kid.

Watching my husband etching “I love you more than cupcakes” onto his giant cupcake gave me an idea. Why not make some (fake) cupcakes for her 18 inch doll?

Doncha love the Internet? Everything you want, whenever you want it.

Including cupcakes for dolls.

You’ve got three quick options below: make it yourself, buy a commercial set, or buy off an Etsy vendor.

Cupcakes make from the lids of toothpaste tubes (brilliant idea, I’ll have to remember to keep these lids). Also on this site you’ll find wedding cakes, milkshakes, donuts, and Oreo cookies.

I was quickly distracted by this tea set, including sweets, for 18 inch dolls. Why, oh why was I not born fabulously wealthy???

Dreamy Dolls Life on Etsy carries an amazing 47 piece dessert set that includes: 4 colorful cupcakes, 4 sprinkled donuts, 4 decorative petit fours, 1 chocolate bon bon, 1 cherry chocolate mousse, 1 chocolate mousse torte, a three tiered display rack, a serving tray, serving tool, bakery tongs, 4 plates, 4 forks, 4 spoons, 4 knives, 4 lace trimmed napkins, and 8 paper napkins.

The Heat is ON – Grill Accessories for Your 18 Inch Doll

Ok, maybe I’m a little obsessive.

After my last post on the grill out for my granddaughter’s doll to celebrate July 4th (we’re Canadian, but ANY excuse for a cookout!), I couldn’t stop looking at accessories to go with the outfits.

First step? The grill, of course. Here’s a step-by-step Youtube video on exactly how to make that grill yourself.Written instuctions can be found here.

Paper plates and cups? Find a how-to video here. Written instructions for the plates here, and written instructions for the cups here.

What’s left? Food, of course! Find the directions for a pitcher of lemonade here and hamburger (the DIY video is for a lunch tray that includes a hamburger, but I think you can adapt it for a grill). Stay tuned, I’ll be adding more as I discover them.

Edited to add: here’s another burger tutorial.

Not the crafty kind? A full up bonafide American Doll campstove and food is available here at the AG store, and you can purchase a chef’s grill outfit from Etsy.

     

Please note, we are in Canada, so allow for plenty of shipping time if you order a grill outfit for July 4th (or any other special date).

July 4th Cookout: Not Just for Humans Anymore

Eeeeeek! My sister just made a series of grill outfits (apron, chef’s hat, grill mitts) for 18 inch dolls. My favorite – and the one I’ll likely buy or steal for my granddaughter’s doll – is the featured image above.

It got me thinking about what kinds of accessories (and by accessories I mean food, grills, etc.) would be available to either buy or make. I’m big on DIY for gifts, but realistic about my skills and competencies.

Available on Etsy here is a bonafide American Girl doll grill, and at a reasonable price, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it’s only available in the United States, but the upside for American readers is that the shop does custom orders of its products. No 18 inch doll need go without her very own grill this Independence Day.

It was a little difficult to tear myself away from this shop – Lemon Bay Doll Co – which markets itself as making adventure toys for 18 inch dolls. Some seriously cool stuff here. The grill is part of the Adventures in Camping section, which also features a picnic table, a picnic basket, and – ERMAGHERD! (my daughter hates it when I say that) – backpacks and bedrolls!  I. Want.

This site also features an Adventures in Boating and Adventures in Gardening that are just gorgeous. Full disclosure: I have no idea who this person is and have never seen the shop before today, BUT I WANT TO BE THEIR BEST FRIEND.

Independence Day Designs

Ok, it seems like July 4th is still a ways off. But in the world of crafty it’s already late to be prepping for a day of this magnitude.

I’d intended to have a full range of patriotic outfits for the dolls belonging to the Littles in my life, and two months out, I think I’m close to being ready. In addition to those made for my own Littles, here are a few either available on Etsy, or soon to be up on Etsy. Enjoy!

         

Cardigan and Headband for 18″ American Doll

I love, love, love this pattern.

Purchased from PrincessOfCrochet on Etsy, this is probably the pattern that turned me into an instant fan of designer Holly Fields (Princess of Crochet).

I played around with the pattern a bit, changing up the size of the cardigan and using a slightly different pattern for the ribbing. Holly’s directions are simple and easy-to-follow and I loved the outcome.

Projects for dolls work up fast and that really warms my instant-gratification heart. I loved this pattern so much, I finished three in as many days. I chose Patons Grace Yarn for two and  Patons Silk Bamboo for the third. Like most crocheters, I often select my yarn on the feel of it and I love both these yarns. The Silk Bamboo has a lovely soft feel (as its name implies) and the Patons Grace finished product gives such a gorgeously clear look to the pattern. I was very pleased with the performance of both yarns for this project.

Some of these will go up on my Etsy shop, and a few were earmarked for the Easter baskets of my granddaughter and niece.

Item Detail: My projects are made to fit American Girl, Our Generation, Journey, and Maplelea dolls.

Poodle Collection

This loop stitch was a favorite of mine years ago and has recently come back into favor for my granddaughter’s American Girl doll. The loops give it such an amazing texture and look.

It’s a yarn-eater, though. 🙂

For people new to crochet, the loop stitch can be a bit of a challenge, but once you get the hang of it, your project will move along nicely.

Here is a picture of the sweater and boots I made for my granddaughter, also available on Etsy:

And if you would like to give the project a try yourself, here’s the pattern, also up on Etsy.

Happy Birthday, Dr Seuss!

There’s no finer thing than spending time with my grandchildren, unless maybe it’s spending time with them having a tea party. This month we celebrated the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel – aka Dr Seuss – born March 2, 1904.

Suess breakfast aboard the Carnival Sunshine

Dr Seuss holds a special place in our hearts. Our own children grew up listening to us read his books and now our grandchildren do the same. Two years ago we took our oldest granddaughter on a Carnival cruise that featured Seuss at Sea. What a blast! We wore Thing 1 and 2 wigs and t-shirts, ate Seuss themed foods, and participated in a Seussapalooza parade.

So this year, for the good doctor’s birthday, we had a Seuss tea party. I did up a crocheted hat and sweater for our dolls (Emily is pictured above) with vivid Seussian style colors, made colorful foods, and we read Cat in the Hat as part of our celebration.

 

 

Here are some of the links I used to prepare for the tea party:

Emily’s Outfit (available on Etsy) – this is my original pattern. The outfit is available and, once I’ve sent it to some testers to try, I’ll post the pattern as well.

Dr Seuss Cootie Catchers

Cat in the Hat Banana & Strawberry Skewers

Green Eggs & Ham Pretzel Bites

Thing 1 and Thing 2 Dipped Strawberries

55 Seuss Activities

 

 

A Disney Crochet List for Grandmothers

Okay, I say Grandmothers because I am one. But seriously, if you know a Little (or a Big) who loves Disney, take a look at this list I put together.

Making a Treasury list has proven to be a pricey proposition for me. While compiling the list, I couldn’t help but put a bunch of these into my shopping cart. Ah well, they are incredibly cute and there are always birthdays and holidays just around the corner.

Also. Crossing my fingers that a family trip to Disney is in the works for this September.

Check my list here. These are all patterns, but some of the shops include finished products.

Below are some of my favorites: