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! 

Our canadian girl house!!

When we brought this house home, we reconfigured it to look like this....

It's taller than I am. I guess I should measure it.  I do know the depth is 20 inches which is NOT long enough for AG beds. If I were to build one I'd make the depth 23 inches just to have more options of arranging furniture. However, we are thrilled with this house!!

Starting from the bottom we have the living room

The couch came with the house but I'm re-covering the cushion in this pink fabric. I made the curtains and throw pillows myself with scrap fabric from Walmart. The window is an unfinished frame I got from Michaels. I've yet to decide whether I will paint it.  The wall painting I painted myself.  The end table was on clearance at michaels for $5. The coffee table was a jewellery box from michaels that I may or may not paint. Or let my daughter paint it.  I still have plans for this room.... I'd like to make a fire place and a tv.  Oh the lamp was from dollar tree and it really works! 

The plant I put together with a tiny pot from michaels. 

Next to the living room is the kitchen.  The shelves came with the house. The little glasses are actually shot glasses from ikea. The tea set was from winners.  The table and chairs were half price at Sears! The garbage bin was a pencil holder from dollorama. The fridge and stove I made out of shoe boxes and duct tape until I can find a nice one.  The sponge is a piece of sponge cut from a real one. The soda bottles on top of the fridge are actually lip gloss I got from Claire's.  The light is a push light from dollorama.

Upstairs we have the bathroom!  So the toilet I made from a kandoo wipes container and a piece of craft foam! The vanity is two jewellery boxes I put together and added a "sink" which is actually a candle holder. I still need to figure something for a faucet. 

The mirror is from the dollar store and my four year old glued sparkly jewels all over it. I made the window and curtains. The back ground in the window is just cloud computer paper! 

The tub I found at winners and it came with the towel and a few extras. I need a bath mat in here though! And maybe a picture or two!

Next to the bathroom is Brooke's room (soon to be shared with Taryn after Christmas!) this is probably my favorite bedroom.  The bed came from target and it is an our generation girl day bed. The rug I found in the craft section at Walmart. The dresser was a jewelry box I found at target. The laundry hamper is from dollorama, as is the bulletin board. My four year old painted the crown frame and chose the hello kitty pic to go in it.  She also decorated the lamp which is from dollar tree. The picture frame is from michaels and has a pic of Taryn in it which we cut from a catalogue. The little mushroom was from dollorama and it lights up and changes colours!

The loft/attic room is Roses room. And will soon be shared with Saila. My 8 year old moved her up here so the four and five year old can't touch her stuff!

The bed is from ikea although a more girly bed is on order! The fold out chair is from the Springfield doll collection at michaels. The chandelier is a locker light.  We are using a suitcase from dollorama as a night table. She has her lamp, glasses, cell phone I made, and a framed pic of Saila. 

Cute and handy little closet for shoes and clothes.  The dog house was a bonus too! 

The boys room!! Bunk beds are made from ikea beds. The lights are also locker lights.  The boys painted picture frames and the pic on the easel.

I had my husband add a little picket fence to the roof top deck. I made furniture out of Popsicle sticks! The plants I randomly found in a clearance bin at michaels

Well that's it for now! 

I'll post more as projects happen! Take care and go play with dolls! 

A home for the dolls

Well guess what we discovered. YouTube videos of dollhouse tours! 

Wow there are some pretty amazing AG doll homes out there! I started looking on Pinterest for plans to build one. I asked my husband to build one. He promised he would in the spring. 

Well that's like 6 months away and I could have grey hair by then! I'm not really that patient when I want stuff done!

 

I looked on kijiji, our version of craigslist and found an AG dollhouse advertised but it looked more like a Barbie house, all plasticy and  pink. No thank you. 

I wanted wood. Blank walls and rooms that we could decorate and fill with our own collection of stuff. I resigned myself to wait until I could nag hubby into it...... 

But then I saw this on kijiji....

And well. I had to have it. 

I thought about saving it for Christmas. 

But yeah. That didn't happen. 

I'll post a tour of our doll house very soon. It's a constant work in progress! 

The love grows

So it didn't take long until we began to look online for doll stuff. I was reading doll reviews, trying to decide if I should order an American girl doll, when I discovered Maplelea dolls. Canada's version of AG dolls. 

It was instant love for me and the girls. We asked for catalogues and the girls spent hours poring over those catalogues. They both chose dolls they wanted.  My 8 year old wants Saila.

Saila is the first First Nations doll that can be played with I have ever seen.  Although I've since discovered AG has one as well. I love that there are different cultures represented in the dolls. We've received Saila, but she is all wrapped up for Christmas. I will do a full review once we take her out of the box but I will say this, she is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! The box she comes in is incredibly sturdy. Everything seems to be of the very highest quality.  From all the reviews I've read, they are equal in quality to AG dolls.  The hair is super soft!

My 4 year old wanted Taryn. 

I really hesitated getting this doll for her as she's a bit young for such an expensive doll.  They are available only from the Maplelea website at $99 each.  But in the end I caved. 

And I don't regret it. Taryn is incredible. I can't wait until Christmas morning! 

Honestly. I want one for myself too!! 

How boys play with dolls

Walked into the boys room and saw this. Too cute!

Then later at bedtime....

The boys will be great dads one day.  

That's all I have to say about boys playing with dolls!

The dolls continued

Well after Rose came and was well loved, my 4 year old was asking for a doll so I bought her a pretty little blonde girl from target. She named her Brooke. 

Then to my surprise, the boys wanted boy dolls! And I thought why not? Why shouldn't boys get to have dolls if they want!!! I searched. There were no 18 inch boy dolls to be found anywhere. So I dug through my teenagers old dolls and found two 18 inch Newberry dolls (from Sears) that were in perfect condition, except for their ratty hair. I gave them hair cuts. Cleaned the makeup off their faces with rubbing alcohol.  The new berry dolls eyes do not close so I didn't need to be careful with getting their eyes wet, as you would in a dolls eyes that open and close.  I painted their eyebrows a little bushier, and one of them got a sprinkle of freckles! I used acrylic paint for that. 

Finding boy clothes was a challenge. There's not much out there, but I did find some jeans, tshirt, shoes and a soccer outfit at Michaels. 

Meet Pete and Joey! I'm not great at hair cutting but I was amazed how boyish they looked. The boys were thrilled and it didn't cost me a cent.  Other than some clothes. 

Here they are! Our little family of dolls. 

For the love of dolls

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved dolls. There was something so very special about getting a new doll under the Christmas tree.  I played for hours. We had no tv, no computers. I had books. And my dolls.

When I grew up and had little girls, I was so very disappointed they did not share my love of dolls.  I tried. Every Christmas there was a new doll under the tree, hoping she would be the one to spark the love of dolls.  All were cast aside until.... 

Nene, a beautiful girl from the our generation girls from target, came to live with us. She was my last attempt to interest my daughter in dolls. She was a gift for her 8th birthday, and I will forever be grateful to her for doing what no other doll had been able to do. My daughter fell in love with her. She loved doing her hair and changing her outfits. She re-named her Rose.

As for the doll herself...

She's really just the cutest thing.  I can't even get over those cute freckles!! She has a vinyl head, arms and legs and a soft body. She is 18 inches long and was a very good price at about $30. She has long brown rooted hair and lots of it. It looks nice worn in pig tails or just brushed out.  But it does tangle easily.  We've had her 6 months and I finally trimmed her hair because the ends were pretty ratty.  It does brush out ok with a few spritz of diluted fabric softener.  My daughter has a hard time brushing it out so i get the tangles out first and then she can practise doing braids or whatever. 

All in all she's a great doll for the money.  And a great doll to see if the interest for dolls was there without investing in a more expensive doll. 

Thus began our journey into falling in love with 18 inch dolls.  It wasn't long before my other children, boys included wanted a doll like Rose. 

Living in canada we had not yet discovered the world of American girl dolls. Yet.