Today I attempted socks for the dolls.

One of the girls asked for some socks for her doll. And I decided to try and make some.

I bought these socks in a 3t for .88 at walmart.

All rolled out. I needed to decide how long I wanted them.

I put pins in knowing I would cut them down the middle of the pins.

Cut down the middle.. notice the jaggedness? Thanks to my toddler trying to help.

I then turned them inside out (should have been my first step) and sewed the line and toe section.

Finished project. One sock made one pair of socks for the doll. Next time I think I will use adult socks. For an experiment I think it turned out ok. I wont use the black ones I bought to do the same thing because I am just not loving the way they came out. I will make some soon with an adult sock and see how much I like those.

The house!

Getting it ready (ignore the floor!)

They screamed when they saw it. SCREAMED.

They did get a box of supplies and the Our Generation kitchen for Christmas so the house is pretty well stocked. We left it a blank slate so they could decorate however they want. We have already had a ton of talks over wood flooring or carpet! It is a big deal in the doll world.

Somewhat closer up image.

Last night when I went to tuck the girls in I found the house like this:

They had rearranged and boy what a mess!

I loved the little touches they had done with things we found at thrift stores.

We will be doing a tutorial on the beds with trundles soon (total cost 20.00 for two beds including trundle)

The clothes were a HUGE hit and they have asked me to make more <3

Follow us as we build their dream doll house!

We've been busy!

I read somewhere (I wish I had the link) that you can alter baby clothes to fit your AG doll, so I set out to goodwill and bought a few things to give it a try.

Dress one turned into:

For .99 we have a cute little dress or nightgown.. whatever. 

Ignore our poor model, she has been used and abused for measuring,modeling and I think she was even run over by the car!

\

I know that last dress needs to be ironed but whatever lol.

Once I felt I had it mastered I went to Thrift Town and spent 10 dollars. Nothing was over .75 (not pictured are three tanks I thought I would turn into undies or something but havent done it yet)

And my results so far ( I am not done yet!)

 

And the dress I turned into a jumper just to see if it would work:

Not bad.. not great but ok.

Note to myself or anyone else who wants to try this try to stick to newborn, 0-3 months or even preemie would work well. The "jumper" I made was from a 6-9m baby dress.

I made all these at night while watching tv, so super easy and super cute.. and even better I am going to have a wardrobe for the dolls for around 20.00. I still have other dresses to alter and turn into things and I really need to figure out how to make shirts

Dollar Store finds

I had it in my head that I wanted some sort of tea set for the doll house but really hated how babyish most of them were. Yesterday at Dollar Tree I found these:

Originally made to be a candle they are perfect size for the dolls. (  I will add a picture of the mug with the doll soon) For .99 I got the mug, candle,which smells like coffee and the plate. I only bought two but plan on sending my daughter back for two more. 4 seems like the perfect number. haha

These desert plates were also in the candle section. While too big to be candy for the doll they are perfect size for cakes. They come with the plate too which is also perfect size for the dolls. 99 cents and my girls will love them!

The crafting vacation starts Monday. I am not sure if we will post as we go updates to the doll house or after the fact posts. Keep an eye open!

Thrift store finds and a book fair score!

Thrifting for doll items can be time consuming. I try to go at least once a week to one goodwill right by my house. The other day I stumbled on these beauties. They were .99 cents a piece and I bought them for their clothes alone. My Generation (which I use as my stand in until xmas) doll is a little fatter than they are.but I am not too worried. For older dolls the clothes were amazing. The bonus is my son and his sister played with them all day. 

I found these at the school book fair for .99 My husband was convinced they would be too big but to me came out perfectly. We have no idea how we are going to make a kitchen so we are going to print out little take out menus and laminate them for the dinner table. Food for the dolls! ;)

My husband goes on vacation soon so expect a flurry of posts from the two of us.

And sew it begins...

With the girls home for Thanksgiving break, not much was done over the holidays. And then it began. Nani started sewing. This is the first dress, made from a free online pattern, she said she hated the pattern and plans on going to buy one because it was a pain.Most  if not all fabric is scraps, we are doing this frugal as possible!

My goal this week is to get a dress or two made and try to make some bedding. 

Sadly, Kmart sold out of the Christmas pajama/matching doll pajama sets that the girls were hoping for Christmas. Hopefully something similar will work.

Nani is getting the wheelchair and barber chair. I need to find a mini tea set but its proving rather difficult to find one in the size we want. If you know where to find some please email me or leave a comment.

Now, I need a fairy to bring two of the My generation Vespas.. cause those are rad. hahaha

This is what I have been doing.

Sorting through fabric.

And more fabric.

And more. This isnt even all of it. We still have four garbage bags full of fabric to sort through. I wish my Mom lived closer so I could share the wealth lol. I will never be able to use even one of these buckets completely. So many pretty silks (how do you sew on silk anyway?)

Holiday clearance rack deals

Our friend A bought these pumpkins on super clearance for the doll house. Clearance racks after the holidays seem to be a treasure trove of things for the doll house. Between what I bought and what A bought the girls house will be fully decorated for Halloween! Knowing the girls want to do stop motion videos with their dolls makes me want to have everything covered even more.Imagine these delightful pumpkins in a video.

Thank you A!

Today I attempted shoes

So, not the best or the worst doll shoes I have ever seen. I didn't follow any specific pattern, I think I will print this one out for next time. This shoe has  two layers of craft foam ( not bad but again not great, I think next time I might try cork.) The strap and  edge are made of a ribbon I found at Michael's that was .99 and I still have a ton left. I might use it on another pair later, if I attempt to tackle shoes again.

G tried to make the duct tape "Toms" and well, as you see there are no pictures. He got one done and was over it. I think from now on he is going to stick to furniture and lighting.

This week I am going to sketch out plans for the fireplace using the red shelf we found at goodwill. Another friend of ours (Another A!) has a bag of fabric remnants for our couch building. I can't wait to get that underway as well.

Thanks for following us on this journey!

This week the big part of Christmas was accomplished.

The girls were bought (and shipped!) I am still in sticker shock over the price of these dolls. 130 for a doll just seems to me a little insane. But they will be loved and so while I try not to faint at the price, I try and think of their reactions Christmas morning.

L wanted Saige. Her dream was Saige and she said she hoped Santa got her before she sold out.

Saige is an artist and a horse lover. The girls fought over who would get a Saige but it had to be fair since L asked first!

E was less than helpful at first. She would talk about dolls all day long until her Daddy came home. Then all of a sudden she did not want a doll anymore and didn't know what she wanted for Christmas. It came out that she did indeed want a doll but wanted some other kind (that would not be able to share clothes etc.) And it was important to her that her doll look exactly like her. So she picked F1215

I did order a few little books for her because hers did not come with one. They were on the clearance for 2.00. She wanted the Chrissy doll who fights bullies but they discontinued her. 

So now we get started on building, and sewing and creating! If you are interested in following our pintrest for all things AG please click here:

American Girl Ideas

Goodwill and Michaels

We need to stop shopping and start planning, sewing and building but this morning we went out to see what they had at Michaels. We bought a few things ( I picked, G watched)

Instead of doing them one by one I thought one big picture would be easier.

1. Balled flowers, I am going to use these in a vase and they were only .29! 2. Ribbon I am going to use for finishing off some doll shoes. 3 & 4 Glasses. Are they not adorable? 6. More trim 7. Mini Christmas things with mini clothes pins. We will be using these on the mantle to hold up the stockings on the garland. 8&9 More trim 5,10,11 Mini picture frames. Totally ornate too. Loved them and for a dollar I had to get them..

And my favorite find of the day. I cannot take credit for this as G found it but once it is painted and the handles are all even it will be so cute. And for 3.99 a total steal.

Thrift stores are a treasure trove of items for your doll house if you are willing to go and look, and put some work into them.

I'd like to thank my friend Shorty for taking the time to make our killer banner and photoshop things for me. I am sure she cringes at my picture taking skills. <3 Stop by her photography page!

Wal-Mart super deal!

These ballet kits were marked 14.97 but rang up 5 00!

Dollar Store and Target finds

I originally planned to not buy anything today, since we need to get started on furniture and clothing. Then I went to Target and the Dollar Store to get some party supplies and saw these adorable items.

I found the hat in the Target Halloween section for a dollar and just had to get it. The boots my daughter picked up at Wal-mart and we thought the boots were lighter until we got them together. Problem solved, we will make a dress that matches both and add a ribbon to the hat that matches the boots.

Found this mini jelly at the Dollar Store. (one dollar of course) I might get one or two more before Christmas. They had none of the soda lip glosses everyone talks about.

This to me was a two for one score. Not only can I use the bottles in the bathroom as shampoo/conditioner or whatever but the bags once they are mod podged will be too cute as purses. 1.00

I found these in the Target dollar bin for .50 I was hoping to find more things to use as decorations in the doll house but there really wasnt much. Our friend A found pumpkins (pictures to come and a big THANK YOU for looking out for us)

Another Target dollar rack item on sale for .50 It is originally a kitchen timer. For .50 I could not pass it up.

I am just going to apologize now for my picture taking skills, I really doubt they will get better as I go. haha

This week I want to try and make the duct tape shoes. Progress pictures to come.

Exciting finds today!

Today we went thrift shopping and idea hunting. We've learned along the way that new doesnt always mean best and that sometimes you can find cool stuff for a fraction of the cost of new. Today we bought a little of both old and new.

Let's start with the new.

The shoes are from Wal-Mart. I had read about them, so I thought I would pick some up. I think I will get some more before Christmas. The rainboots were adorable and for 2.00 a pair, it was a steal. No, they are not "real" American Girl but they will be loved. I found the cameras at Toys R Us. 99 cents and they make the shutter sound AND flash. Adorable. I plan on making little camera straps for them. The duct tape was on sale (1.99) and we plan on using it to learn how to make the duct tape version of Toms. The rest of it was all .29 at Michaels. The orange little boxes we will use as doll storage.. maybe shelving? The possibilities are endless!

Close up of the camera. I just know my girls will love this!

Now for the used stuff. Who knew I could be so wordy about doll things!

These will be our bathroom sinks. ( as a reminder you can click to enlarge any of these)

..69 for the pair

 

 

Mixing bowls. 4 for .99 I am debating on listing two of these on ebay for someone else to enjoy.

Mini picture. This is going to probably go in the bathroom. I couldnt resist and for .49 it was worth it!

Mini  baskets. These can be used as trash cans but we plan on putting plants in them for the outside area of the doll house. 4 for .99

Mini tupperware. Important since we are going to be making food as well! 5 for .99

I adored this so I went above my under .99 rule. This was 1.29 but it just screamed at me ;)

G saw these and wanted to get them for the outside area 3 for .99 and they will look so cute with plants in them.

And my favorite piece. This was one of those things where we walked away from it, tried to talk them down a little bit and just stood there thinking ug.. do we do it? In the end I knew we would regret it if we didnt and because I had the doll in my bag we were able to measure her and it will look so fancy in the house! People make less for hundreds of dollars on ebay and etsy. It was 19.99, and needs to be cleaned up. G is going to make it so the hutch part lights up. So far my favorite purchase for the house. I can't wait to see it in.

Totally awesome right?