I'm on YouTube!

Check out my first ever post on YouTube! It's our dollhouse tour!!

http://youtu.be/uL7PEw_V-xE 

18 inch doll "bubble" bath

Bubble wrap. Need I say more?? :D

Gotz Julia ready for Christmas!

Julia is almost ready to go Christmas Caroling in her stunning 1914 green velvet coat from queens treasures! Well as soon as I buy her some boots that is! 

The dollhouse is getting ready for Christmas too! So fun!

Diy freckles On an 18 inch doll

Julia is my doll. My only doll so far.  Although I do plan to get a couple AG dolls someday. My little girls have our generation dolls. And have Maplelea dolls wrapped and ready for Christmas! My boys have diy newberry boy dolls so I wanted a special doll for me and I just fell in love with this beautiful Gotz doll. I did a little review of her in a previous post. I've brushed her hair lots and its AMAZING. She's well worth the $100 she cost.

Anyways I wanted her to sort of, well, represent me as a child. Like Julia, I had red hair. Maybe not quite as red as hers but, my exact colour  has never been seen in a doll so it is what it is! And though there are other red haired dolls most have green eyes. I have blue. So when I found Julia with blue eyes,  I had to have her. 

The only thing she was missing though, was FRECKLES!!! 

Have you ever known a red head without at least some freckles?? 

Because she's not a cheap doll I've been hesitant to paint freckles on her. WHAT IF I MESS UP!! 

So I watched a few tutorials and decided I would try washable paint. In case I don't like it. Or I mess up... 

Without further ado.... Here she is. My little freckle faced cutie!! 

Here she is without freckles 

What do you think? Keep the freckles? Or nah? If i do decide to paint them permanently with acrylic paint, I might do them a bit lighter. But I really think they give her some personality!

My real look alike doll!!

 

10 very good reasons to play with dolls!

Dolls have been coveted and cherished toys as long as there have been children. They are classic, and have withstood the test of many many generations.  Quite literally as even many grown up women still collect dolls!

Here are just a few fantastic reasons to buy your child (girl or boy!) a doll! 

10 great reasons to play with dolls!

1. Encourages imagination!  

Anything that gets their eyes off a screen is a bonus in my book! Seeing them create little stories, and dialogue is wonderful! Anything can happen when playing with dolls. There are no limits to the imagination!

2. Fosters creativity! 

We are constantly creating stuff for the dolls and learning how to see things differently, repurposing items, doing crafts. 

3. Enhances fine motor skills.

Dressing, undressing, buttons, shoes, brushing hair, moving the doll are all developing a child's fine motor skills

4. Build relationship and communication skills.

Children can act out real life scenarios, such as playing with friends, going to school, going to the doctor, dance class etc.  They practise all sorts of conversations between dolls! 

5. Play alone

As important as it is for kids to develop social skills and play with other children, it is also important that they learn to play alone. Children (at least mine) tend to play with dolls on their own better and longer than any other toy we have. 

6. Keeps them young

Kids grow up way too fast these days. Playing with dolls keeps that little child inside around a little bit longer. 

7. Express emotions.

Doll play is a great and safe way for children to express their feelings, fears etc and to gain understanding of how your child is feeling. 

8. Provides companionship.

A doll can be a great friend to whisper secrets and dreams to! And having that special friend can help kids feel safe, less alone. 

9. Brings out the nurturer.

Practicing doll care helps them develop nurturing skills and empathy towards others. 

10. Boys and girls can play together. (And moms too!)

We have boys and boy dolls and they play soccer, minecraft,  ride dump trucks, enjoy campfires and have a pet turtle.  They get together with the girl dolls for cupcakes and movie nights. 

Doll play is just plain fun! Which doll are you hoping to get under the Christmas tree this year!?

18 inch doll fireplace update...

I made a few changes to the fireplace we made out of a picture frame.. 

Originally it looked like this..

And it was okay. But the more I looked at it the more I knew I could improve it. First of all it seemed too dark, so I painted "bricks" 

Then I found an unfinished "plaque" at michaels that my husband cut for me to add a mantle and stability on the bottom. I also found a little gold fence at michaels that I painted black to be used as the fireplace grate. 

I like it way better now. What do you think? 

American girl sized Robert Munsch books!

Found these cuties at chapters. $1.99 each. Now I can tell my 8 year old to go read to the dolls. Why is everything so cute in miniature!!! And who doesn't love Robert Munsch!!

Starbucks for American girl dolls

K. Seriously I about died when I saw these. Y'all need to go to starbucks and get these right now!!!!! 

They are soooo stinkin cute!!!!! 

They are actually christmas tree ornaments but I took the ribbons off. 

Now get off your computers, phones, tablets and go to starbucks before they're all gone!! 

$5.95 each. 

American girl kitchen!

Do you know how hard it is to find an 18 inch doll size kitchen in Canada?? It's so hard. Target carries our generation stuff but NO KITCHENS. I've tried to order online from the U.S.  from various online places but. They don't ship to Canada! 

I'm leaving in 2 days to Minneapolis and figured I'd try to pick up a kitchen at target. If they even carry them in stores? 

I'm definitely intending a good long shop at american girl store....

But. ANYWAYS!!!! Today! Today the four year old and I decided to browse at Chapters. And of course being with a 4 year old we hit the kids section. And lo and behold what to my wandering eyes did appear????? 

I literally SQUEALED in chapters!!! I'd seen this on Amazon and loved it. Wanted it. but for some odd reason the one vendor of the stove would ship to Canada but not the fridge. So I never got it. Til now.  I literally spent some of my american savings for my upcoming 

trip. 

So beyond excited I loaded these beauty's up and took them home. 

Let's talk about the stove. It was $50. But there's a "spend over $50 get 20% off" deal today so I got 20% off both items. I think it was around $40- $50 US funds, on Amazon plus shipping. So I got a good deal.   The burners light up. The ovens light up and make cooking, bubbling, exhaust fan sounds.

It came with pots and pans and some foods. 

The sink/fridge/dishwasher was also $50 minus 20%.... It makes running water sounds and dishwasher sounds and came with a bunch of dishes and food. It's a lot of fun when there's sound effects!! 

So goodbye to our shoebox and duct tape made kitchen. Our dolls are cooking on style now!! 

Fireplace and TV projects

Well today my husband helped me make a fireplace for the dolls. He cut all things wooden according to my instructions and I glued stuff. 

I found what I thought was the perfect picture frame to make a fireplace out of at michaels and all their frames were 40% off, so score!  This frame fits a 5x7 picture. 

I had hubby cut it down, about 1/3 of it off and he added a base at the bottom. (Although I'm thinking of adding a thicker bottom to make it taller and maybe a slightly wider mantle so we can put little pretty things on it. )

I had him cut a few "logs" from dead branches in our yard. I glued them together then painted some black on the bottom to look burnt. 

I added some black beads to look like coal and red glitter to look like they were glowing. There's a tea light in behind the logs that glows and flickers. 

I also made a TV out of a DVD case so the scenes can easily be swapped out ..... A little frame from black foam. And a couple gems for the power button and power light. 

I think it makes the living room warm and cosy. I think Rose approves! 

Doll haul

We went shopping today and found some of the cutest little things for the dollhouse!! 

This little barrel of monkeys!! It was on a key chain which I removed. 

And it fits perfectly on Julia's hand! 

So so cute! I found this at a specialty toy store called Toad Hall and it was in the dollar section! 

For the boys... This tiny alarm clock that actually works! This was my favourite find of the day. Again it was on a key chain. I got this at Spencer's. It was a bit pricey for what I like to spend on dollhouse treasures at $10 but it was too cute not to get! 

My second favourite find of the day was the little paint set. It's so tiny! And it's real paints! And it was $1!!!! 

Also for the boys room, a few toys. 

The soccer ball was an old air freshener from my husbands car. It's a little big but oh well. 

Little baseball bat had gum in it, but it was a nice size for the dolls. The basketball net and ball are perfect!!! Both are from the specialty toy store. 

This little flip book... Too cute. And fun. It has stickers in it. 

This little ducky for the bath. It was $3.99 from toad hall. 

This little "rug" was from dollarama but it was actually a thing for washing the floor!

The laundry basket is from dollarama as well. 

These apples are just way too cute! They're from michaels. You get more than I needed in a bag for $11.99. A bit pricey but I had a coupon for 50% off

Gumball machine from dollarama.. And the pop bottles are actually Jolly Ranchers lip gloss from Claire's!

Another of my favourite finds today are the tiny playing cards and the tiny crossword and sudoko books! I pictured them beside a dolls hand to show the size comparison. These were also from toad hall. 

This is a little locker light that was on clearance at Walmart. It actually lights up and spins. 

Well of course this is gold mine gum. But I thought the bag would be cute to use as a gym bag or something for the boys. 

Last but not least Julia got a new out fit. From michaels, the Springfield collection. Of course the dolls all share clothes ...

I'm not sure who had more fun shopping today, my 4 year old or me!

Mini cookies

I made some mini cookies for my little ones preschool class. First thing she asked for were a few cookies for the "dolls".... How cute are they!!

Campfire project

So the kids decided the rooftop deck needed a little fire pit, and of course being lover of all things Pinterest I found a tutorial.  I tailored it a little to what we had around the house. 

First of all I took an old CD. I cut out a circle the same size as the CD out of brown paper bag. I didn't want to use real sand for obvious reasons so I crumpled the paper to give it texture and glued it onto the CD.  I also glued a circle of cardboard on the bottom for extra stability. 

See the textured paper? That's my pretend sand lol. I had my little one collect some rocks and glue them around the edge.  

Dollorama had orange battery operated tea lights in honour of halloween so I bought that for the "fire". It actually flickers which is cool. 

We found some branches and I cut them down to size. I arranged them sort of teepee style but left the back open so we can swap out the tea light and turn it off and on. 

We glued down the wood with craft glue, cut some flames out of construction paper and voila. 

Now all Julia needs is some marshmallows!! 

New arrival!!!! Gotz doll Julia review

Something exciting happened in Weebies doll house today! I got a big surprise! I received my first Gotz doll!  She is a gift from my husband!

Gotz dolls  originated in Germany in 1950  and they are very fine dolls indeed. In fact Gotz assisted in production of what is now the widely popular american girl doll in the 1990's!  The quality is equal to the American girl or maplelea (canadian girl) dolls in my opinion

This is Julia.  Her she is, the final moment she has to spend in her box. I love that her name is actually Julia as that's my grandmothers name! 

I just had to get her standing. She is so precious! She comes in a sweet little outfit that seems very good quality. 

Isn't that just the sweetest little face!!!! Just a hint of a smile. She will be a friend to suit every mood of your little girl. Her eyes are blue and they open and close.  I'm thinking of hand painting some freckles across her nose, but for now I'll leave her like this. 

The attention to detail is pretty thorough. Cute little bag that I would wear!

And just how cute are these crocs!!!!!! They are better quality than any I've bought for my kids!

The best part of this doll is her hair!!! It's soooo soft and easy to brush.  The lady at the store told me she has washed, blow dried and even curled these dolls hair!!! (On low setting)  You definitely couldn't do that with a target doll.  

The hair is amazing quality which is probably the main reason for the $100 price tag. It is rooted, unlike the American girl and Maplelea dolls which are wigged. Personally with children playing with dolls, I prefer rooted hair. It's rooted evenly all over the head so there are no big bald spots. The only downfall (which may or may not be a downfall to you) is there is no centre line of hair so she doesn't look so great in pig tails. 

Here is her hair down in all its silky glory! 

So here she is standing next to Rose, an our generation doll from target.  Julia has a soft body, jointed limbs, can stand on her own. She has a thinner waist than our generation dolls but she can easily fit their clothes.  Our generation dolls do not have jointed limbs. 

My daughter put glasses on her because I wear glasses lol. Here she is visiting in Brooke's room. I'm not sure where she will sleep once our maplelea girls come at christmas! She will probably stay in my room and "visit" the dolls house when mom feels like playing with the kids!

Here she is getting acquainted with Joey on the patio hehe

Just look at that sweet face! I can't even deal!!!!!

When I was little I always wanted a doll that looked like me but never got one. Even now red headed dolls with blue eyes are harder to find.  Don't you think she looks a bit like little me? Even her forehead is high like mine.  Finally my childhood wish has come true!