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!