Monday, March 28, 2016

Aztalan State Park

Kaya is eager to show you a new-to-her Indian mound site, Aztalan State Park.

Aztalan is the biggest Indian mound site in Wisconsin, and it is the largest one north of Cahokia.


I would like to stress again that these mounds were made by the Mississippian people, in a different geographical area and time period that Kaya's people. These site are still considered sacred by today's Indians, so Kaya is showing them off. She enjoys learning about other Native people.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Spring is here!

The title of this post is a little ironic, because there are still traces of snow on the ground. Whatever!

Kanani couldn't wait any longer to show off her new dress.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Cahokia Mounds Historic Site

Kaya got to visit the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois. The Cahokia Mounds were built by a different tribe than Kaya's, the Mississippians.





Monday, March 21, 2016

Lea at the Jewel Box


I had a really cool photo opportunity- to photograph a doll at the location on the cover of her book!

Lea is pleased to show you around the Jewel Box. The Jewel Box is a greenhouse from 1920. It is located in Forest Park in St. Louis. It is really lovely. Lots of people have weddings there!

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Ever After High Forest Pixies Deerla

I have always had to fight temptation with the Ever After dolls. I think they are really cute. I keep reminding myself that I don't really want to collect fashion dolls.



Well, this little cutie finally convinced me to buy one. She is going to be a gift, though, so despite temptation I am leaving her in the box.

This is Deerla from the Forest Pixies line, and she is so cute!

This look, a  humanoid doll with antlers, is very popular with the expensive BJDs, for example Soom Amber. This is an adorable and inexpensive alternative. She only costs $10.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Puppy!

The Ai dolls got a new pet. Amanda is so excited!


The puppy looks happy, too.

Friday, March 11, 2016

About Anne


Felicity was my first American Girl doll, but Anne was my second.

I was target age when AG came out with American Girls of Today- modern dolls that you could write your own story for! I think I was hooked on the write your own story part.

My sister and I both wanted a Native American doll- Kaya was not yet released. We each bought a different AGOT, and decided they were Cherokee.

Anne was mine. 



She is named after Anne of Green Gables. Anne with an e, if you please.

It took me ages to save up for her, and I was very proud of my hard work.

My parents, trying to be nice, bought her when I almost but not quite had enough money and put her under the Christmas tree. I was, I am sorry to say, indignant. I felt that it invalidated my hard work earning the money if they bought her before I had all the money. My poor parents, who were just trying to be nice. I did finish earning the money and pay them back.

Speaking of which, back then AG had free kits you could send off for that helped you keep track of the money you saved towards a goal, and had suggestions for earning money as well. This was a great way to learn about money management as well as enjoying your doll, and I am sad that they discontinued that, even if that had to charge for the kits.

This is Anne's meet outfit. It is the very first meet outfit for the modern AG dolls. And it is excellent.
It really reflects the style at the time. I hated the maroon, personally, but nonetheless it was right on target. It includes maroon leggings, a maroon T-shirt (under the white shirt), a long sleeved white shirt, black flats and a reversible vest. The vest is denim on one side and maroon on the other.

I had flats exactly like those and so did my fourth grade teacher. I also had a white shirt like that.

The best part of this was its fantastic mix and match possibilities. It had so many pieces, so you could leave off the white shirt, or reverse the vest, or leave the vest off- lots of possibilities in one outfit. And the shoes could match any number of outfits. Just fantastic. None of the current meet outfits live up to this. The newest meet outfit, with its additional mix and match accessories, tries to, but it can still only mix and match with itself. The shoes, the vest and the white shirt in this outfit could go with a lot of other clothes. The maroon, alas, remains maroon, with limited potential.

Anne, by the way, is the original AGOT #6. This was discontinued shortly later and replaced with a blonde with green eyes.

My sister's doll was a AGOT #2. Her name is Meg. She is also Cherokee. .


Anne and Meg are cousins and they get along great.


Meg, unlike Anne, has never been changed out of her meet outfit and is very happy with it.

They are old enough to vote and still in great condition!


Thursday, March 10, 2016

Multiple Minis

I find it fascinating that there are so many differences between the American Girl mini dolls. The differences are much more obvious than those with the 18 inch dolls.




Here I have compared the three different minis with minis of Addy and Cecile.

It is hard to know where to start.


Here are all three dolls, from newest to oldest.

The oldest mini doll, glass-eyed Addy, is the smallest. She is more in scale to be a doll for the 18 inch dolls.
She has inset eyes and a wig, so she is most like the 18 inch dolls in that respect.  She also has textured hair, which is really nice when compared to Special Edition Addy. She can stand on her own.

I like her earrings better than Special Edition Addy- they are at an angle that looks like they are hanging naturally. They look less natural on Special Edition Addy.

The biggest drawback to this doll, I would say, is the shoelaces that go everywhere and won't stay tied. Some people don't like the face, but that is a question of personal taste.

Soft-bodied mini Cecile is very cute. Her curls look very different from the 18 inch Cecile, but that is a drawback due to scale. I think she is very slightly the tallest of the minis. She cannot stand on her own at all, which is her biggest drawback.



Special Edition mini Addy, with the vinyl body, is also cute. They are all cute, of course.  She can stand on her own, or with her stand. The stand makes her taller than she is, so I didn't use it when taking comparison pictures. Her shoes don't have those annoying shoelaces. Someone on AGC complained that they do not like the way the legs of the vinyl minis are farther apart, but it doesn't bother me.

The vinyl mini dolls can only swing their arms in a circle. They cannot move their limbs from side to side, like the soft bodied mini dolls can.
This is less like the 18 inch dolls and makes them less realistic to me. However, I will admit that while the soft bodied dolls can move their arms and legs to the side, they cannot hold this pose on their own.

With the vinyl body, the lower-cut Sunday dress does look better on Special Edition Addy than it would on a cloth bodied mini.


You can see the differences between the bodies better with the dresses off. Glass-eyed Addy has a smaller seam at the neck than Cecile.


From the back, you can see that both Cecile and glass-eyed Addy have strings, like the 18 inch dolls do. Does that mean that you can take the minis apart like the 18 inch dolls? I am not going to experiment and find out.

Cecile has a giant tag on the back, so glass-eyed Addy scores a point over her there.

The vinyl minis would be easier to clean off if they got dirty, although I have heard you can throw the cloth bodied minis in the washer and drier. I haven't tried it.

It all comes down to personal preference. I like different dolls best in different editions of the minis.
 I like the glass-eyed minis, except for Josefina, who looks odd. These dolls easily win in the mini book category, because they had hardbacks instead of paperbacks.

I like Cecile and Ruthie as soft bodied dolls with painted faces, but those dolls are only available in that edition.

I really like the faces of Kit and Kaya on the new vinyl minis.

All the mini dolls have advantages and drawbacks, so it depends on your personal preference.

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Secret Snarker 2016 Part Two

So you have seen the gift that I got for Secret Snarker, but what did I give?

I made a pattern  that I have already made once, Keeper's Dolly Duds Simplicity 1179 pattern.

This time I made the collar too.



This time I did it in yellow and blue instead of pink and purple. The yellow fabric just said "Rebecca" to me.

Esdolls was the recipient of the dress.

I really like how it turned out! It has buttons in the back, but I didn't take a picture of it this time.



Esdoll's Rebecca looks so cute in this dress!


Friday, March 4, 2016

Secret Snarker 2016!

I moved, and I have been so busy, and have no Internet at home!

I participated in American Girl Collectors' Secret Snarker swap. I gave a gift to one person, and a different person sent me a gift.

I got Special Edition mini Addy from thecatsme0w! She is so cute, and I had been wanting her. I am so happy!

Thank you, Cat!
Here she is in her box. The outer box was easy to remove.

Back of the box.

Halfway out of the box. It was harder to get her out of here.


Finally out of the box! I love this stand. It is so cute, even though she can stand on her own. She is more secure in the stand.


A Tale of two Addys!


Both mini Addys are stinking cute even from the back.


Anne wants to claim both Addys as her own.



She will, however, allow Kanani to read the book.

Disney Animator Sundress

 I made a quick sleeveless sundress for the Disney Animator dolls.  I used the pattern   Requiem Art Designs Disney Animator Toddler Basic D...