This house is Pittsburgh sports crazy! Even the dolls are in on the fun. We are sad that the Pittsburgh Steelers are not in the Super Bowl this year but Gwen is wearing her Pittsburgh cheerleader outfit and showing her team spirit on the Terrible Towel anyway!!

We are having a surprise giveaway for an American Girl Washington DC doll tee at the Doll Diaries Facebook page today (2/5/12) and the winner will be picked at Half Time. Here is the link – you have to submit your entries there to win!

Before I announce this month’s reader photo event, I thought I would share some pictures with you. So many of our readers have asked how many dolls we have and which ones that last night Natalie and I took the time to dress them all in shades of pink, red or purple so I could photograph them all. I already know that I missed our BFC Ink doll Addison, Tender Hearts Emma, our MyTwinn doll Rochelle, and Megan’s first MyAG doll Nicole which  is at my niece’s house, but otherwise this is pretty much it – well, minus all the Barbies, Groovy Girls and Build-a-Bears.

From left to right – Alex (MyAG #21), Olivia (Springfield Dolls), Kailey (LE 2003-2004), Calista (MyAG #39) and Emily (Historical)

From left to right: Nicki (LE 2007), Lily (Terri Lee), and Kit (Historical)

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Ready for a slumber party we have Madison (Springfield Dolls), Sonali (LE 2009) and Marisol (LE 2005).

Madison gets a close up!! Don’t you just LOVE her two ponytails?? I just think she is adorable.

Moving right along we have Chrissa (LE 2009), Erin (Carpatina), Ellowyne (Wilde Imagination) and Gwen (LE 2009).

These photogenic girls asked for a close up. Okay, it was Ellowyne who asked!

Our historical girls – Kirsten, Felicity, Elizabeth, Samantha and Nellie.

Left to right we have Ivy (Historical), Taryn (Maplelea), Emma (Tonner Toys Little Miss Matched), Kanani (LE 2011), Hadley (Tonner Toys Little Miss Matched), Saila (Maplelea) and Julie (Historical).

And finally, we have Daisy (Bitty Baby Twin), Penelope (Bitty Baby) and Fritz (parties all night outside, sleeps all day inside house cat). Our brunette Bitty Twin was still wearing her Halloween costume and didn’t want to be photographed.

So start getting your dolls ready for a Valentine’s Party and take pictures because the February Reader Photo Event will be a Virtual Valentine Party for Dolls!

One of our readers, Allyson, sent in these photos of her doll Kailey as she returned from the doll hospital.

Are your dolls ready for Valentine’s Day yet? Ours spent the day baking and getting treats ready. Here are some fun Valentine’s activities for you and your dolls!

• Send your friends an American Girl e-Valentine Card
• Make Mini Valentine Cards with this Kit from Paper Source
• Make these adorable miniature Valentine’s boxes for your dolls using this printable pattern
• Print some miniature Victorian and Edwardian Valentine’s cards in three different doll house sizes
• Samantha’s Valentine Crafts has plenty of ideas for activities and decorations for a party with your friends or your dolls
• Animal Love printable Mini Valentines from HP

I originally posted this last year, but thought it might be fun to do some of these activities again as Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Oh, and check back tomorrow as we will be kicking off the February Reader Photo event with a Valentine’s Day theme.

I meant to include these two photos from Sarah in yesterday’s Reader Photo post, but overlooked it. Sarah did a brief review of two American Girl doll accessories – the Purple Glasses and the Silver Purse.

Pretty Purple Glasses: I got these glasses so they could match my new ones and I LOVE them! I was so excited when I got them, I totally recommend them to anyone!

Flower Purse: I love this but I wish it would be a little bigger. Its tiny. I cant fit anything in it.

Thanks Sarah for sharing these pictures!

Updated!! It’s official. There will be a new American Girl Historical character added in 2012. Like previous historical releases, the new doll looks like she will be debuting around September 1, 2012.

One of our sharp readers noticed the links to the pre-release information for the new American Girl Historical books by Kathleen Ernst are on Amazon.

• New Historical Character Book 1: An American Girl
• New Historical Character Book 2
• New Historical Character Book 3
• New Historical Character Book 4
• New Historical Character Book 5
• New Historical Character Book 6

Love those Doll Diaries sleuths – like Jenny – who find the coolest clues to American Girl scoop going!! Thank you.

According to the Transatlantic Literary Agency website, Kathleen Ernst has a set of 6 books in the works for American Girl to be released in 2012. How interesting!! And they are supposed to be historical – even more interesting!

Kathleen Ernst has authored many of the American Girl mysteries and has written other history-based stories for young adults. Some of her titles include:

• The Runaway Friend: A Kirsten Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)
• Danger At The Zoo: A Kit Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)
• Clues in the Shadows: A Molly Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)

Now, we just have to patiently wait for more clues as to who the new girl will be!

Note - I first published these tips in October of 2006 – yes, that is how long DollDiaries.com has been around – and thought you might find them helpful!

While on our trip to American Girl Place this summer I noticed the ladies in the doll salon were using toothbrushes to do the dolls’ hair. I asked our Personal Shopper about this and she said that using a small spritz of water (don’t forget to cover your doll’s eyes) and a clean toothbrush is a great way to tame the frizzies around your doll’s face. You can use the toothbrush on dolls with short hair, too. We use one for taking care of Kit and our new Bitty Twins and we love the results.

Other doll hair tips include:

• Use doll brushes only – do not share a brush with your doll. The oils from your hair will ruin hers.
• Always spritz. Damp hair is easier to work with and less prone to breakage.
• Brush from the ends and work your way up.
• Be gentle – your doll can’t tell you if you are pulling too hard.
• Don’t let your dolls sleep in your bed – you move around alot at night and your doll will wake up with bed-head, too.

Do you have any other doll hair care tips? Feel free to share them here!

Now that Julie has her BFF, Ivy here, it was time to get the room set up so the two of them could really kick back and relax!  Check out all the photos below as some of them feature items I picked up at the American Girl store over the weekend and some are from earlier and just haven’t been featured.

The Julie and Ivy room is created by putting two American Doll Rooms together. Ivy’s bed is from Quietude Quilts and her bed cover is just a random piece of fabric we have left over from something, but it works perfect for Ivy.

Julie is super comfy in her Butterfly PJs lounging on her bed. You can see her basketball bag, fuzzy green foot rug, her room accessories and her sound accessories. She even has the American Girl shopping bag we got over the weekend. If you go the American Girl store and buy just a gift card or get something little like chocolate to go in the Bistro, they will give you one of theses super cute doll sized American Girl shopping bags.

On Ivy’s side of the room you can get a better look at the Quietude Quilts handmade wooden bed and the fun bedspread from a bandana. Ivy is wearing McKenna’s PJs and I think they are just adorable on her.

This is a closer photo of the super adorable Berry Purse and Shoes set that you can only get in the American Girl stores. The ruffled corduroy pink purse is just too cute for words. It is one of my favorite all time pieces. The set also comes with “miss-match” socks and red, pink and white tennis shoes. I love how you can mix and match the shelves in Julie’s room accessories to come up with all different configurations.

Julie and Ivy are talking about their favorite records and trying to decide what to listen to next. I vote for Saturday in the Park or something nice and relaxing like that.

The music decision has been made so now it is time to just relax, catch up on girl talk and enjoy the popcorn!

I am so glad we decided to get Ivy on Sunday at the American Girl store. She is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites!

The line of American Girl Craft kits can be found at most Michael’s, Joann, Barnes and Nobles and lots of other stores these days. We have picked up a few of them and Natalie has had fun making an apron for her dolls, sewing the Owl, she’s working on the pom-pom scarf and she decided to make the doll totes last night.

The Doll Iron-On Tote kit comes with a doll sized tote bag and plenty of doll size and girl size iron ons. The kit only comes with one tote but enough iron ons to make a lot of bags. I hated the idea of wasting all the iron ons so I picked up a few more plain doll sized totes from the craft store and we made a bunch. This would be a fun activity to do at an American Girl birthday party with a group of girls.

The off white bag in the lower left corner is the bag that came with the set. The other three were bought separately but all the iron ons were in the Doll Tote craft package – and we still have more!

Here we have Kanani wearing McKenna’s school outfit with her new tote bag. She is getting ready to put one of her favorite books in the bag. Maplelea doll Saila needs her notebooks to put in her music bag. The scene also includes the Itz Purple Ice Cream Shop with Julie’s Room Accessories table, AG Minis books and the AG School Desk set.

Here is a closer look at the doll sized tote bag with the iron on decals. Too cute.

Saila decided to change from her boots to her Springfield Doll Crocs for school.

The American Girl Crafts Iron-On Doll Tote set is a good value and fun party activity if you pick up a few extra mini totes or even doll tees. It is a relatively quick and mess-free craft that girls of all ages will enjoy. It does require parental interaction because you have to use an iron to do the transfers.

When we were at the American Girl store yesterday, we just had to check out McKenna and her collection for ourselves. While I really love her starter set, especially the exclusive warm ups, the practice outfit part of her set is already sold out and on backorder. We had considered picking her up yesterday while we were there, but decided to just wait until her whole starter collection is back in stock. We already have her gymnastics equipment, her school outfit and her pajamas – all of which we love.

After seeing McKenna’s Rain Boots and Umbrella up close, I have to say I was somewhat “under-impressed.” The set is $34 and consists of just the boots and the umbrella. The boots are not as vibrant as I expected they would be in person and the umbrella looks cheap.

McKenna’s Loft Bed is definitely a fun piece, but it is already backordered, too. There are so many neat little details in the set from the hamster to the books, to the alarm clock, McKenna’s trophy and the bulletin board – it could keep you entertained for hours.

Our favorite part of McKenna’s collection was the big photo op spot they had created in the store where you can pose next to a cardboard cut-out of McKenna.

Here is Natalie mimicking McKenna’s pose. If you are wondering what is all over Natalie’s arms – she had just come from a swim meet. She had her events written on her arms (one for Saturday’s events and one for Sunday’s events) and on her team if you get a personal best in a race the coach gives you a temporary tattoo with the team’s logo on it. Natalie had four personal bests so she was sporting four temporary tattoos.

And here is Natalie “coaching” McKenna as she makes sure McKenna’s hands are positioned correctly. I forgot to pack Natalie a jacket so she had to use my Adidas jacket to keep from freezing outside.

Until we get McKenna, our MyAG #39, Ivy and some of the other dolls will just have to play with McKenna’s gymnastics equipment and wear her clothes. I will share pictures of Ivy wearing McKenna’s school outfit later today.