AmericanGirlFan

Dakota's Sewing Project with Rosies Doll Patterns!

One of my favorite things to see is creativity! My friend Dakota sent me a guest post of her doll sewing project. I'm so excited for her to show you, here she is...

Hi Everyone! I'm Dakota! A few months ago, I won Liz's giveaway for a membership to Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns. We finally found the time to make the first project, the sport shorts!

My mom and I did the project together. She did the sewing...

And I did the ironing! It was so nice to spend some time with my mom and do some crafting together! And when we were finished it was all worth it because...

It turned out great! It looked like something that would come out of a store!

I was so surprised and excited to see how it turned out! We have an old sewing machine (it was originally purchased by my great grandmother) so we were worried entering this project and wondered if we should just hand sew it, but when we were finished, we were so glad we didn't! It was so nice making something for my dolls, and I have so many more things to make!

I just had to share this picture of McKenna sporting her new shorts! McKenna, my mom, and I highly recommend Rosie's doll clothes patterns!

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Wow, they turned out amazing, Dakota!! Thanks for sharing about it with us!

Have you made anything for your doll(s) recently?

Ps~If you ever have anything to share, I'd love to see it! You can send to me at: email@americangirlfan.com Tomorrow is From a Friend Friday too, so if you'd like to join in, feel free to email me. :)

Make a Doll-sized Closet From a Recycled Box!

I love to find unique, fun ways to make things for my dolls. My dad had some cardboard boxes laying around in our garage, so I thought it would be fun to give one of the boxes a new use!

Mia and I were going to turn it into...a doll closet! My dolls have lots of clothes but not many places to store them. We were so excited to tackle this project!

The supplies I started with were:

• Cardboard Box (18.5 inches tall by 10.5 inches wide.)
• Scissors
• Foam brushes
• Acrylic Paint
• Paper Plate
• Wooden Dowels (1.5 by 12 inche size, but I was going to use them for later)

I first cut off the bottom and top flaps of the box to get them out of the way. :)

Then I started painting! I chose to go with white so I could easily put on pretty decorations.

After I painted the first coat I had to wait an hour for it to dry, and then I did about three more coats. It took some patience, but was well worth it!

See? Doesn't it look so different?! I was ready to get decorating!

For decorating I used some $1.99 stencils I got at Hobby Lobby, spongy stencil brushes, and Martha Stewart Gloss and Glitter Paint that was on sale at Michaels Craft Store. (You could also use anykind of colorful stickers to decorate too!)

I carefully sponged on the stencils...

I think they turned out amazing, and it was so much fun!!

As I waited for the paint to dry, I pulled out some glass beads I found at Hobby Lobby.

I thought they would make great doorknobs for the closet.

Using a hotglue gun I glued two of the beads together to form the knob. Then I glued it onto the box!

I loved them! Now that the paint was dry, it was time for me to do the final step to make the closet. I needed to put in the clothes rack.

I marked a hole 2 inches from the top of the box. Using a 1 and half inch by 12 inch wooden dowel, with my mom's help we poked it through the box and pushed it to the other side. There was an extra half inch of dowel sticking out of the box, so with my mom's help we cut off the excess.

Then we were finished!!

Mia was so excited to organize her favorite outfits in the closet!

Lots of clothes to choose from!

I was extremely happy with how it turned out, and my dolls LOVE it! It doesn't even look like a cardboard box anymore! Remember that you can recycle things (like boxes) to make beautiful items for your doll! 

My dolls can't wait to use their closet everyday. If you make a closet for your doll, or do any other creative doll project, I'd love to see it! Feel free to send me a picture at email@americangirlfan.com

Happy crafting!

Fun and Easy Tote Bags for Dolls!

I love when I come across ways to make easy crafts for my dolls! The other day I was at another one of my favorite crafts stores, Hobby Lobby, and found these fun doll-sized tote bags!

They came in a set of four colors for only $2.99, a great deal! I picked up some $1 stamps at Michael's Craft Store that day too, so I thought it would be a cool project to decorate them.

I used some stamp markers and stamp pads and also decorated with some leftover stickers I had laying around.

Elizabeth wanted to model them all for you!

I think the pink tote is really cute, the stamps turned out awesome! Elizabeth likes having something to carry her doll in. :)

The green tote bag I used stickers to decorate. This is a simple way to decorate a bag, plus they are removable so you can change it up again easily.

I think this one is my favorite, I loved these bird stickers!

Elizabeth can't wait to share all of the bags with her friends!

Make sure you check out your local Hobby Lobby to get your own tote bags to decorate. (I'm sure they probably have them at other craft stores too!)

Remember to always keep your eyes open for fun, inexpensive ways to create for your dolls! Check out all of my Doll Crafts, and see what you can come up with this weekend! I would love to see your creations too, feel free to send me a picture at email@americangirlfan.com :)

What are some of your favorite things to make for your doll?