With it being a holiday weekend here we had plenty of time to get out the dolls and have some play time with them.  It felt good since it had been awhile for us due to being extra busy the end of the school year upon us.

Zoey got out Zoe and Bella to help with some gardening projects around the yard.

  

The adorable gardening outfit was made by Tallulah Sophie.  It included the green and white polka dot shirt, the coveralls, bandana, shoes and gardening apron.  The set also came with the purple gardening pot.

The girls first project was to pot some plants for the yard.  I think they chose some nice ones don't you?  :)

Bella is wearing the gardening apron while she waters some of the freshly potted plants.

After done potting the plants they assembled all of their things to clean up a bit before having a picnic.  The weather this past weekend was just perfect for a picnic and after working so hard in the yard it felt so good to enjoy their efforts while still outdoors.

Zoe can never sit still for too long though and as soon as she finished up her meal she was off to look for a good spot to put their birdhouse that they had painted.

She found a spot quickly near what looked to be a little fairy house...perfect!

It was such a fun day for everyone!  Zoey actually did some planting in the yard too...she planted some sunflowers which we hope the deer won't get once they start sprouting.

And then she also put together a little fairy garden...

It was such a beautiful weekend here!  I hope that wherever you are it was a good one as well.  I know that this past weekend made me really excited for summer, I am ready for school to be over with so we can have more free time and of course more fun in the sun with the dolls!!

A Thank You...

Memorial Day Weekend Sales from Lil Blue Boo and 4 Ever Princess!

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! For those that aren't fans on Facebook, I wanted to pop on and share with you that things are extra busy here these next few weeks since the end of the school year is upon us. My husband and I are both teachers and Zoey is of course in school as well so we are busy, busy, busy!!! I can't wait for things to get back to normal and we can share some more fun Doll Play with you! Until then, have fun preparing for your doll(s) summer fun!

I wanted to share with you this great deal from Lil Blue Boo this weekend, she has some great patterns, doll clothing, girl clothing and more!  Just click on the image below to go to the sale.

And, I also wanted to share with you that 4 Ever Princess is on Zulily today!  They have some adorable matching girl and doll outfits on sale.  Check them out here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Sponsor Highlight: The Real Thing with the Coake Family

Today I'm sharing with you the fun site The Real Thing with the Coake Family.  The owner of this site, KC, is so fun and so very busy! In addition to her blogging she home-schools her children which I am in awe of and very much admire. She has such an assortment of things always going on daily on her site that she shares with her readers...in addition to discovering some new and fun American Girl crafting ideas you will walk away with some cleaning tips, recipe ideas or parenting advice.  It's really a nice and well rounded site that's real in addition to being inspirational.  Be sure to check it out!

Thanks KC for supporting AG Doll Play!

Sponsor Highlight: Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns

I want to share with you today the fun site Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns.  Have you been wanting to learn to sew for quite some time like I have?  Something beyond the basic straight stitch (which I may or may not have mastered!).  Then Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns just may be the site for you! This site offers video tutorials, step-by-step with patterns to help you (or your child or grandchildren) to learn how to sew their own doll clothes!

She has patterns for everything from fairy wings (because what doll doesn't need fairy wings?)...

to simple pretty summer dresses...

all the way to Halloween costumes.

There are so many patterns, you just have to check them out yourself.  Rosie offers step-by-step video tutorials and has all of the patterns categorized by skill level.  It's like taking sewing classes right from your own home!  I hope that you check out her site and share it with friends...it's such a great concept and something that would be really special for a mother and daughter to try or a grandmother and granddaughter!

Thank you to Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns for supporting AG Doll Play!

Sponsor Highlight: DreamWorld Collections

I want to share a bit about my current blog sponsors this week starting with DreamWorld Collections.  I am tickled to be in a position to have the support of blog sponsors now and want to make sure to point them out to you and share what fun things they offer to the doll world!  

I am so excited to have DreamWorld Collections on board with AG Doll Play as they have so many things to offer the doll community when it comes to doll clothing, accessories  shoes, bedding sets and more...they are sure to have you covered!  

Check out this fancy special occassion dress that Rebecca is wearing:

When it comes to their doll clothing, they offer many different selections and offer casual wear, athletic active-wear, special occasion and outerwear/winter wear as well.

Since we have McKenna and love her, we are always on the look out for more fun gymnastics apparel for her and her friends.  We love this colorful set and that it comes with pants is a bonus!  Very nice set.

These Pinky Pie Pajamas are a favorite of Zoey's...she loves doll pajamas for some reason. Probably because she loves having sleepovers (therefore her dolls do too of course!).

Be sure to stop on over to DreamWorld Collections to see what else they have to offer your dolls...you are sure to find something that suits your fancy!  They also have a Facebook page so become a fan to stay up to date on their inventory and specials...right now they have some of their items on sale.  The sale items includes this lovely Black Swan ballet outfit.  So pretty!

Thanks for supporting AG Doll Play DreamWorld Collections!  I appreciate your reaching out to me.

American Girl New Releases: Activities, Books and Book and Plush Sets

Doll at Work

I was checking out Amazon the other night and noticed that there were some new place-holders on the site for American Girl doll published items.  Here are some that looked interesting to me, there are more publications so be sure to check them out for yourself. The above Doll at Work play set looks interesting, Zoey always has fun with those type of activity sets.

Here is one that is more arts and crafts based...

Dabble, Doodle & Draw

There are several new quiz books which the girls always have fun with at sleepovers and play dates.  Zoey always loves asking me the questions too and I have to admit it's fun to see what her choices are for the quizzes too.

Personality Patterns Quiz Book

This looks fun for those that love to color, design and draw...it would be fun to get a peek at what's inside this book before purchasing.

Design By Me Treats

This series of books are enjoyed in our house...there are two new ones it looks like for this upcoming release.  

It's a Girl's World (link isn't available for this yet)

Animal Answers (link isn't available for this yet)

And Zoey is excited for the new Inner Star University books.  These are quick and easy reads but she loves that she can re-read them over and over again getting a different ending by choosing different situations throughout the books.

Second Chances (link isn't available yet)

Project Friendship (link isn't available for this product yet)

Something new that I discovered was a series for Bitty Baby!  This is so exciting, they look so sweet and I love the illustrations on the cover.  I have a feeling these will really take off since reading to this age target market is spot on.  I even want to know what the stories are and I don't have any little ones at home anymore!

Bitty Baby and Me (there are different versions of this to reflect the race of the child)

Bitty Baby at the Ballet

Bitty Baby the Brave

I also spied some book sets that included some little stuffies for Bitty that are also pictured in the story books.  So sweet!

I hope you enjoyed some little peeks at the upcoming American Girl releases...I can't wait to find out what the releases will be for the dolls!!  So fun!

Doll Crafting: Make a Doll Salon for Your Dolls!

It's been awhile since we last created a fun backdrop for the dolls so it was time that we put our thinking caps on to figure out what our next one should be.  Zoey suggested a doll salon and since she already has lots of salon accessories I agreed that it was indeed a good idea and we did it!  As with all my other backdrops, I used a foam core board that I found at our local dollar store and adhered patterned papers to it to create the look of paint or wallpaper.  I used strips of cut white paper for a border and to mat the "mirror" which was just mirror card paper that I found at our local scrapbook store.  The stars were puffy stickers that I had also found there.  That's it for the construction of the play piece itself...now on to the play!

Emily came in and needed a deep conditioning treatment as well as some straightening, (she needs to do that once in awhile with the humidity).

                        

Elizabeth took one look at Emily's hair and got busy...first she made sure she was comfortable in her smock so she wouldn't get her pretty outfit all dirty.

And then she led Emily to her chair...she was lucky to get in right away with no appointment, especially since it was the weekend and Mother's Day!

She offered Emily a favorite magazine to read, of course she chose the latest issue of the American Girl Magazine!

After the conditioning treatment Elizabeth got busy straightening Emily's hair.  It's a long process since Emily really has thick and beautiful hair.

Once done, Elizabeth got the hand mirror for Emily so that she could see if she was happy with the new and healthier look.

Emily loves it and is so happy!

She will be coming back to this salon for sure!  Here are some close-ups of Zoey's new doll salon.  The rolling cart with drawers along with some of the salon tools are from the brand My Generation and it's awesome!  It comes with so much and has lots of play value in our opinion.  We love the curling iron and flat iron perhaps the most.

Then we have the blue hair salon styling caddy that came with lots of hair accessories   Zoey got this from her Grandma for a birthday and it's been great for storage of all those little things and now it goes great with our salon as well!

Here is a final shot of our salon...doesn't it look like a real hair salon?  The mirror looks a bit funky since I had to use two mirror papers (you can see our wreath hanging in the background) but for the dolls it works just great!

We hope we've left you inspired to get busy and create for your dolls today!  Thanks for stopping by!