Earlier this month I shared with you the new line of craft kits from American Girl Crafts that are inspired by the historical American Girl characters. The kits come complete with high quality materials to make the project shown in the box and instructions, too. We were sent two of the kits to review – American Girl Crafts Painted Memory Box Kit, Josefina Montoya
and American Girl Crafts Embroidered Pillow Kit, Felicity Sweet Heart. Over the weekend Natalie did Josefina’s project and I think it turned out very nicely.

These are the boxes of the two kits we received to review – Josefina’s Painted Memory Box and Felicity’s Sweet Heart Stitched Pillow.

Josefina’s Painted Memory Box kit came with the wooden box, 2 paint brushes (which are nice enough to keep for more projects), 9 mini tubs of paint (again, we had enough to keep for another project); stencils and an instruction booklet. Now that Natalie has done this project I am sure we could make additional memory boxes from the inexpensive wood boxes you can get at the craft store.

The instruction booklet is very well written and easy to follow. I love that it also gives the girls some design inspiration and painting techniques to try as well.

Natalie spent a lot of time planning out her design and tracing the stencil designs on to her box. She took her time and made the box something she would like to display in her room.

Here is her box almost done. She had to stop painting for the day as we were going out to dinner, but I think it looks great so far. Hopefully she will have time this weekend to put the finishing touches on it.

I love how she painted the heart on the inside of the box! What a sweet idea. This would be a great place to store all the little cards and instruction booklets that come with the historical American Girl dolls and the cards that the Innerstar U charms come on, too.

For  $20 (depending on where you get it), this kit is a good value – especially since most of the contents can be reused in other projects. You can purchase the Josefina kit and the other American Girl Historical Craft kits at Barnes&Noble, Amazon, and limited independent stores or at  AmericanGirlCrafts.com.  I would definitely recommend watching for store coupons and sales and picking up the craft kits to keep for a rainy day project, sleepovers or birthday party favors.

These are the contents of the Felicity Embroidered Pillow kit (the scissors and tape measure belong to us). This project is definitely more advanced and is taking more patience from Natalie and guidance from me. We’ll keep you posted on the progress of this project, too.

One of the things I really enjoy about running Doll Diaries is being able to share different products from a variety of companies with you. The Queen’s Treasures sent me the Wooden Doll Storage Trunk with a built in Vanity to review and like every other piece of their doll furniture I have reviewed, this piece is top-notch!

First, let’s introduce our model today. This is Galina, an 18″ articulated (she can bend her wrists, elbows and knees), slim body doll from the Kidz ‘n Cats line by Sonja Hartmann and being sold in the US by Madame Alexander. She is wearing the Private School dress by Carpatina and Chrissa’s shoes. Galina is standing next to The Queen’s Treasures Wooden Storage Trunk for dolls in it’s closed position. The trunk is very sturdy as are the handles and the closures.

This particular trunk is special in the sense that not only does is provide great storage, it has play value, too. When you open the trunk there are two hanging rods, 4 wooden hangers, two drawers, a removable vanity top, a vanity stool and a mirror. You can remove the vanity desktop to make room to store two dolls (up to 20″ tall) side by side or leave it there and slide the vanity seat in underneath. Galina was so excited to see her clothes already hanging in the trunk and her ballet gear in there too.

Here you can get a better view of the vanity table and the storage compartments inside the trunk. The trunk is a nice shade of deep brown and is definitely furniture quality which means it can actually be used as a display piece as well, depending on your space. The only change I would make, and it really applies to about every doll trunk I have seen, is that I wish there was a little toggle or something to keep the drawers from sliding out when you place the trunk on its side.

Galina is now ready to brush her hair or put on some lip gloss before she gets ready for ballet class.

The Wooden Storage Trunk with the Vanity is about $100 at The Queen’s Treasures but watch their Facebook page because they do offer discount codes and there is always an exclusive 15% off coupon for Doll Diaries readers with the code DD15%OFF. This piece is an investment and would be good for a special birthday or holiday, but if cared for it will last for years to come and be an heirloom piece worthy of handing down through the years.

One thing Emily Rose Doll Clothes owner Lisa-Marie and I have in common is that we love efficiency! That is why when I saw the new furniture releases from Emily Rose Doll Clothes I just had to tell her how cool I thought the new Loft Bed with Storage was. American Girl dolls (and all the other 18″ dolls we have) are big and so is their furniture, but the Loft Bed combines style with function as it has 3 big bins for storage that fit right into the bed.

Lisa-Marie sent us one of the Loft Beds with Storage to review and I loved it so much I decided to use it for my very first video review! Watch my review then scroll down for more photos and details.

What a great bed!

The Loft Bed with Storage measures 24.25″ x 24″ x 11.5″ and is CPSIA safety tested and approved, and is perfect for 14-18 inch dolls (including 18 inch soft body dolls such as American Girl, Maplelea, BFC Ink, Our Generation, Gotz, Magic Attic, and more).

The Loft Bed with Storage comes unassembled and packed flat. It took me about 30 minutes to assemble the bed on my own – it would have been much easier and quicker to assemble if I would have had someone to hold the pieces.

Once the bed is set up, it makes a really nice piece for storage and play. The bins underneath slide out easily for storing doll clothes and pajamas, accessories or other doll items. The storage bins are what really make this bed! You can see from the picture of Chrissa and Emily that the bins are plenty big enough to store all sorts of doll goodies!

The canopy that comes with the bed is a soft purple material with silvery accents. The canopy can be left down or tied back and the bed really is big enough for two dolls to sleep side by side if you wanted.  It also has a detachable ladder in case your dolls want to climb in themselves.

This Loft Bed with Storage is one of those pieces your daughter will be able to use for years with her dolls and won’t ever go out of style. It is the perfect birthday or holiday gift due to its size, but at $99 it is a good value considering you are getting a piece that serves as a bed and doll storage.

Where to Buy:

The Loft Bed and Storage piece is available at Emily Rose Doll Clothes for $99.

I’d like to welcome one of our newest site sponsors, DreamWorld Collections! DreamWorld Collections was born from a childhood love of dress making that resurfaced years later as her own daughter began to play with dolls. They sent us two outfits to review and let me just say – BEAUTIFUL!

They sent us the Black Swan ballet outfit and the Asian Beauty gown to review.  The first thing I noticed is that these doll outfits came packaged differently than any others I have ever received. They were packaged flat and with the coordinating shoes in the package. Nice touch!

Kailey asked to model the Black Swan outfit so we pulled her hair up into a bun, put on the tights, the leotard and laced up her ballet shoes. The detail in the Black Swan outfit is so pretty from the silver beaded trim at the neckline to the trim at the waistline and the 4 layer tutu. The body of the leotard and the shoes are a soft velvety material that has just the right amount of stretch.

I really wish we had Ivy or another doll who looks Asian to model the Asian Beauty gown, but Marisol does look stunning in it, too! The Asian Beauty gown is made of a very high quality feeling red Asian flowered material with gold ric-rac trim. The stitching on the dress is so exact and a higher quality of detail than I normally expect from doll clothes. Paired with the red shoes, this dress is absolutely stunning on the dolls. We just happened to have a doll-sized Chinese take-out box on hand for Marisol to carry – that is not part of the DreamWorld outfit.

If you are looking for high-quality, unique outfits (like a Princess Kate inspired gown or an Egyptian Beauty dinner gown) for your dolls, you really should check out DreamWorld Collections – my only complaint (which really isn’t a complaint but a compliment) is that I would love to see even more designs. Her stock may be small right now, but the pieces she offers are gorgeous and definitely well-made.

What are your favorites from the DreamWorld Collection?

I have to admit, Monster High Dolls are starting to grow on me a bit. Yes, I know they are kinda creepy looking, but I am starting to appreciate the humor with which they are marketed and the tribute to monsters throughout mythology and pop culture.  So, when I was approached by HalloweenCostumes.com to review one of the Monster High costumes, of course I agreed. They let us choose which costume to review and my daughter picked Lagoona Blue (she is a swimmer and likes Lagoona Blue’s fins).

The Lagoona Blue Costume Monster High Costume comes with a top that is actually a jacket and shirt that are attached together and kind of look like a leotard with a jacket over it in teal and pink fish scale patterns. I think the top is super adorable and very age appropriate! The bottom is a skirt (which I think is a bit short) with built in shorts. It also comes with light blue fishnet leggings – but we will substitute light blue opaque leggings for Halloween and there are fins for the arms and legs that just slide on. The costume retails for about $25 (depending on where you get it).

The costume is not complete without the wig – unless you have long blonde hair and want to put some teal streaks in it – but be very careful with the wig! Since the wig is long and curled, it tangles almost immediately!! It looks very cute on, just handle with care. The Lagoona Blue wig retails for about $15.

The package shows Lagoona Blue carrying a fish bowl purse – I have to figure out how to make one of these for my daughter’s Halloween adventure – she could use it for collecting the candy. I’m thinking I may just have to paint a regular jack-o-lantern blue and either draw or find a large fish decal to put on the side. And no, she will not be wearing giant black high heels like the doll does.

As far as kids Halloween costumes go, the Monster High costumes are comparable in quality and fit to most that you will find – especially those based on licensed characters. But, the good thing about Halloween costumes is they can be used for dress up and costume play all year long. I expect that Monster High costumes will be one of the most popular lines of costumes for tween girls this Halloween – and Halloween is the perfect time of year to spotlight the Monster High characters.

Right now they have costumes for five of the Monster High characters, but you could probably make costumes for many of the characters with a little creativity from what you already have at home.  Click on the images below for more details on ordering or inspiration for your DIY costume.

Lagoona Blue Costume – Child Licensed Monster High Costumes Frankie Stein Costume – Child Monster High Costumes Clawdeen Wolf Costume – Monster High Doll Costume Draculaura Costume – Licensed Monster High Halloween Costumes Cleo de Nile Costume – Mattel Monster High Doll Costumes

Looking for something fun to do with your dolls this summer? Why not learn how to sew and make your dolls loads of new clothes? Then you can have a fashion show or two, set up a doll clothes store scene, or share your designs with other doll fans by sending pictures of your creations to share@dolldiaries.com for us to show them off. But you don’t know how to sew? Read on.

We were invited by Rosie of Rosie’s Doll Clothes Patterns to give her sewing doll clothes video course a try. The six-week course costs $37 and each week you are introduced to new sewing terms and techniques that you can use immediately to make great basic pieces for your dolls. The videos are live streamed so you don’t have to download anything – and they are easy for doll lovers of all ages to follow. My nine year old was able to follow along without any difficulty. We are looking forward to school being out so we can go back through the videos again and try more of the bonus patterns.

One of the best features of  Rosie’s course is that when you sign up, the video instruction is delivered to you over the course of six weeks, but you have access to the course for a full year if you need to go back and reprint a pattern, rewatch a video or get new inspiration. The terms and techniques she covers are sewing basics – skills that can be used for making doll clothes but also serve as the basics for more advanced sewing later.

Here is a video of my favorite pattern in the collection – the summer nightgown.

In addition to the course, Rosie also sells additional doll clothes patterns and has a blog full of doll clothes sewing tips and ideas like how to get the perfect fit.

Thanks again to Rosie for the course and we look forward to showing off some of our creations over the summer!

UPDATE! Congratulations Jessica! You are the winner.

I want to thank Jean from the Quilted Cupcake for sending over two super cute outfits for our dolls to review and for sponsoring a giveaway to her Etsy store. Read on for the reviews and giveaway details.

First we have Alex modeling a sweet seersucker sun outfit. The top velcros in the back and is a trendy cross over style. You could easily layer it over a tank or white tee shirt for another look, too. The pull-on capris are pink with the coordinating pattern ruffle at the bottom.  On the American Girl dolls and similar 18″ dolls, the pants are definitely capri length, but on Bitty Baby, they are long pants. Take a look at our very well-loved Bitty, who is in dire need of a good face scrubbing,  modeling the same outfit but with a t-shirt underneath.

The outfit comes with a shoulder purse and a beaded necklace that Alex is wearing above. Alex’s shoes do not come with the outfit – they are from our own collection.

Not only does Jean sew adorable doll clothes, she also crochets some of them. Chrissa got to be our model for this three-piece set consisting of a poncho, beret and scarf. All three pieces can work individually as an accessory to an outfit or you can put them together to make an outfit. Both outfits are very well made and as you can see, they are versatile! You can mix and match them, let different size dolls wear them and best of all, they are machine washable! Perfect.

So, now, what are we giving away? Quilted Cupcake has a $20 gift certificate to the doll clothes area of her store up for grabs!!

What We Are Giving Away

• We are giving away a $20 gift certificate to the Quilted Cupcake Etsy store (just the doll clothes part of it) to one lucky winner.

How To Enter

• Visit the Quilted Cupcake Etsy store and take a look around.
• Leave a comment below telling us what your favorite outfit or item in the Quilted Cupcake store is. Or is there an outfit you wish they made? You can share that idea as an entry if you wish.
• Get bonus entries by letting your friends know about our giveaway. Get one extra entry for each of the following, but come back and leave a second comment telling us where you shared it:
  • Post about it on your own blog, in a forum, tweet about it or share it with your friends on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter (we are @DollDiaries and @QuiltedCupcake)

Rules

• Leave your comment(s) no later than midnight June 7, 2011.
• You must use your real name and email address in the comment form below – don’t put your email address in the comment itself. We don’t share this information, we just use it to contact you if you win.
• If you are under 14, you need to get a parent’s permission to enter.
• We will be using the “And the winner is” plugin to select one (1) winner at random.

Good luck!! Oh, you can’t get extra entries for liking us on Facebook (some new rule I heard about), however, we’d still be so flattered if you would like us anyway! Like DollDiaries on Facebook and Quilted Cupcake on Facebook.

Meet Erin. Erin is an 18″ slim body doll from Carpatina – the makers of stunning Renaissance style gowns and fashions for 18″ dolls (one line is for slim body dolls, the other for dolls like American Girl) and a line of 18″ slim body dolls and fashions. Last month Carpatina sent me Erin to review. Erin comes dressed in a camisole and panties, so I decided to order her the Afternoon Stroll outfit so I didn’t have to review her in her undies.

According to the Carpatina website, Erin and her best friend Zoe, want to be fashion designers. With their gift of the Magic Moonstone, Zoe and Erin can traverse the past, present and future and want their fashions to do so as well. (Read the whole story of Erin, Zoe, their clothing line Zoen and the Magic Moonstone.)

Erin has one of the sweetest faces of any doll I have seen. The Carpatina slim body dolls are 18″ tall and all vinyl (unlike their soft-bodied cousins – American Girl, Maplelea and My Twinn) with eyes that open and close. Erin has a delicate freckled face and stunning auburn red hair that is straight and easy for girls to style. Another feature worth noting is how her head is attached. Since she is not a soft body doll, her head is more articulated, meaning that it can move up and down, side to side, and at an angle.

This side view gives a better feel for how long Erin’s hair is and shows off that gorgeous auburn red color. The Afternoon Stroll outfit consists of black and purple plaid skirt and a purple t-shirt. Of the Zoe and Erin fashions, this is not necessarily my favorite outfit (I think the two pieces are fine on their own but the fabrics seem mismatched), but it was the one my daughter really liked. (I’m just a Mom, what do I know?) I really LOVE the Private School dress and the Guinevere gown, but all of the fashions are pretty.  I should also note that the silver flats are sold separately from the outfit too, but are well made.

I took this picture so you can see how big the Carpatina 18″ Slim Body dolls are in comparison to American Girl Dolls. You can also get a better indication of what shade of red Erin’s hair is compared to American Girl’s Emily character.

Carpatina slim body dolls vary in price, but Zoe and Erin are $69 each. They come in their own blue presentation box, too.

Carpatina dolls are extremely high quality making them suitable for collectors and for play. At the Carpatina site you can also find a full line of patterns to make your own doll fashions, One of a Kind doll outfits for sale, a line of boy dolls, and there are a few games girls can play, too.

Because Carpatina knows that DollDiaries readers love exclusive deals, we have a special coupon code just for you!! Place an order through Carpatina and save 10% off your entire order with the code Doll10.

Thanks to Carpatina for letting us review Erin – she is now a very loved member of our doll family!

When I received this review package from Daydream Doll Boutique I immediately knew that Gwen would be the doll who would look oh, so, cute in the pink toggle coat and pink striped dress. Plus, she is getting a little cold in her white sundress that she arrived in . Now Gwen is ready to face the artic temperatures we are experiencing this week.

The hooded pink toggle coat is nice and thick with a velvety pink outer layer and felt-like lining. It has four black toggle buttons, which work, down the front of it. It is made for 18″ dolls, like American Girl dolls – as you can see, it fits Gwen very nicely. The coat is $14.99 which is very reasonable for this piece.

The pink stripe dress looks like it should be two pieces. The top half is a jersey-knit pink and purple striped top that snaps at the back and the lower half is a pleated pink skirt made of the same felt-like (actually it is more like a faux, lightweight wool) material as the coat’s lining.  It hits Gwen just around the knee in length and looks very cute with boots. You can order the black boots at Daydream Doll Boutique or get creative like we did and use boots from an outfit you already have. The dress is only $9.99 which is extremely affordable.

In addition to the cute clothes you can buy at the Daydream Doll Boutique, she has patterns you can purchase so you can make your own doll backpacks, bedding and more. How cute! And, if you visit the Daydream Doll Boutique blog, you can register to win a free outfit – she gives a new one away each month.

Thanks to the Daydream Doll Boutique for introducing us to your adorable store and super cute doll fashions!!

Disclosure: Daydream Doll Boutique sent us the outfit to review, however, the opinions about the outfit are entirely mine.

My daughter still takes a doll or stuffed animal just about everywhere she goes, and while she has more than one type of doll carrier, the one we had the opportunity to review from Carry-Her was a big hit. It easily solved the problem we often run into when she brings her doll out on the town – she gets tired of holding the doll and then guess who gets left holding it? Yep, that’s me.

The Carry-Her doll carrier is a lightweight, drawstring style backpack that is made of durable, black micro-suede with special cut-outs for the dolls legs and arms to fit into.  The backpack is designed to hold dolls (or stuffed animals) that are approximately 16-18″ tall.

The backpack is easy enough for her to put on herself and lightweight so she doesn’t complain that it is heavy at all. The doll is still visible and she loves the attention she gets when we are out. The only recommendation is to make sure the doll’s shoes are securely on her feet or you remove the shoes and place them in the mini doll sized backpack that it comes with.

The mini doll sized back pack that comes with the Carry-Her is just too cute on the dolls! Gwen modeled it for us and again, it was super easy for my daughter to put on her doll – plus she loves that they match.

When the girl-sized backpack is not in use it folds up neatly into the mini backpack and can then be put in Mom’s purse or put away for easy storage. How cool is that?

The Carry-Her Doll Carrier Backpack and the Mini Backpack combo are available for $24.95 through Amazon. See additional photos and get more information at the Carry-Her website, too.  It is a great gift idea for any little girl who takes her dolls everywhere!