Wow! I love my readers! You all are sending in enough pictures that I can do a weekly post just on you.

Julie sent in this photo her doll Dakota #24 or 26 who is sitting in a chair from Walmart  the same place where the table came from, the lava lamp and the computer are erasers from Walmart also. The fruit, napkin and drink is from the Fiesta set from American Girl same as the outfit. She got a little jar from Target with a few other things and just took the cap off and put print out money in it using it like a piggy bank . She made the binder and the purse was found at a yard sale for  – it is a phone purse but Julie did not have a phone so she tried it on her doll and it fit.

Hayley’s dolls are ready for spring.

Lori’s 6 yr old daughter Janelle’s recently had to make a collection of 100 items for the 100th day of kindergarten.  She used American Girl stickers, pictures from her catalogs, and photos of her own dolls to make this poster.  It really shows her love of American Girl dolls!

Chloe sent in lots of pictures but I like this one of Ruthie and Penny best.

If you have a photo you want featured, send the photo and a description to me at share@dolldiaries.com. Don’t forget to enter the February Reader Photo event – Virtual Valentine’s through February 15.

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!

My inbox is happy with lots of great photos and fabulous-ness that you have all sent me!

Kirren sent in photos of her built in bookshelf that she made into a doll house for her American Girl dolls.

“I just wanted to show you pictures of my built in dollhouse that I have in my room.  When we built our house, my parents put in a dollhouse, but I just recently found that it works great for American Girl dolls.  I took out 2 shelves, and filled it with my doll stuff!  In the attic/bedroom is Kirsten with her dolls.  The dresser is a little jewelry box I found at a thrift store.  On the bottom (the living room), Elizabeth, Beckie (Rebecca), and Camille (#55) are having a Valentines party.  I made the fireplace!   I hope that you enjoy the pictures!”

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-dZ4PXFTs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAI3HtBL1nY

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has had a great week and has some fun plans for the weekend. I will start my weekend off cheering on Natalie and her friends at their swim meet tomorrow morning but hope to have time to do some sewing or something else creative later in the weekend. I have a few things to share that don’t really go in another category…

First, the girls on my desk right now say hi! The shelf above my computer is where I put various dolls from our collection on display – they all take turns and sometimes there is a theme and sometimes there is not. They keep me company while I work all day and that makes me happy. From left to right – Snoopy (I just LOVE Snoopy), Ivy, Ellowyne, sitting down Emma and Hadley our Little Miss Matched dolls, then Addison (BFC Ink) and Olivia dressed in an Our Generation bowling outfit.

• Thanks to everyone who has entered our giveaways! They are lots of fun, however, when you enter them, please read all the instructions!! I can’t tell you how many entries into the SF Style Club were winners but the entrants didn’t read the instructions and I couldn’t get in touch with them – so I had to pick someone else.
• If you enter a giveaway, please double check the email address you use for your comment. I always email our winners after the giveaway closes, but if your email bounces back or I don’t hear from you for a week, I have to draw a new winner.
• We love our Doll Diaries readers and want you to enjoy your time here! When you leave a comment, please use the same name and same email address each time. If you are being multiple people, I will probably delete some of the extra comments.
• Please take the time to read your own comment before you hit submit! I know that you are taught as early as first grade to capitalize the word “I” and even our youngest commenters should know this. I have been getting tons of comments recently where the spelling is so bad, I have a hard time understanding what the reader was trying to say. Everyone makes mistakes and this is not English class, however, please do the best you can to spell correctly, review your comment before you send it, and always think before you submit.
• We love sharing photos of your dolls, your collection, your craft ideas and more. You are more than welcome to submit things for Doll Diaries to share, however, help me out a bit! Please include a description of your photo – like what dolls are in the picture, what are they wearing, and other things you like to know when you look at a photo – and let me know what name you want the photos credited to.
• As we get close to another historical release, feel free to share any scoop you find, but remember – I will not post anything unless you can tell me where you got the information – as in a link, photo, or something else I can substantiate.
• Finally, I really care a lot about making Doll Diaries a fun website that doll lovers of ALL ages enjoy visiting. That is why I read every comment left on this site and delete anything I do not feel is appropriate – I give myself a lot of leeway on the appropriate decision!

Thanks again for being part of this awesome community! I appreciate each and every one of you. And stand by for a new giveaway coming up very shortly.

If it is a new month, then it must be time for some new Spotlight Sites!! Spotlight sites are blogs, websites or YouTube channels that I think you should check on on a regular basis because their authors have something new, different or fabulous to share about dolls. Our latest Spotlight Sites are:

1. Doll House Diva

Anna Marie from Doll House Diva started her blog this past summer and is really starting to get the hang of it and establish her own style. She has become a regular commenter on the Doll Diaries site and our Facebook page, too. Congrats Anna Marie and keep up all your hard work.

2. Cami’s Cuties

Cami of Cami’s Cuties is one talented lady!!  Cami loves collecting dolls and painting. These two hobbies came together when she began painting 2″ wood peg people to look like the American Girl dolls. I love the details she includes in the dolls.

3. Miss Kristi’s

Miss Kristi’s blog is pretty new and I don’t usually spotlight sites that are super new, HOWEVER, the few posts that Kristi has are how-to’s for doll furniture using materials you probably already have around the house and are very cool. Like how to make a doll refrigerator and doll stove. Something tells me she will have even more good ideas to share in the near future.

4. My Maplelea My Country My Doll

Our very own Karen has started a new blog called My Maplelea, My Country, My Doll – it is a site dedicated to the dolls of Canada and extending their play through Karen’s notoriously creative crafts and ideas. If you have a Maplelea doll, Karen is looking for reader photos to share so stop over and see what all the fun is about.

Congrats to our Spotlight Sites!

Feel free to grab your badge using the code below.

Don’t forget to enter all our giveaways - we have more on the way too! The current giveaways are listed in their own box on the sidebar.

So I am trying to get caught up today as my inbox is overflowing with everything from reader photos to ideas for upcoming posts! Here are even more reader photos I just had to share with you!

Dacia from Mini Me Dolly Diva was the winner of one of our Doll Diaries t-shirts. Her Lanie looks adorable, but I have to say that her Live.Love.Play with Dolls outfit is too cute for words! You can buy it in her Etsy store.

Priya’s Lanie is also modeling the t-shirt and jeans she won during the Holiday Gala.

Ana’s doll is adorable in the Holiday outfit she won from Dreamworld Collections.

Sarah’s dolls wanted to stay up and see Santa. This is the before…

WOW!! Sarah’s dolls are having fun now! Looks like Santa was very good to them.

Emma’s dolls are enjoying their treats. In the box are some chocolates or petit fours that reminded her of Marie Grace and Cecile’s food. They are actually cat toys and were in the Christmas stuff at Target. They were about four dollars. The other two cakes are from the dollar section at Target. It came with both cakes for a dollar, but they had other felt foods like sushi as well.

Lyric’s dolls had a New Year’s party. Samantha, her dog Rascal, Kanani and her dog Malana are enjoying a New Year 2012 party!!   The dolls have put out popcorn, pizza, fruit punch, ice to put in the punch and mints!!

Sharry’s dolls are wishing you a Happy New Year, too! She has also uploaded a new video called New Year, New Friends that is very cute!

Just a quick reminder! January’s reader photo event will be all about pets and dolls – photos of your pets with your dolls, your dolls with their pets, or something similar! Stay tuned for details later this week!

Tish won the Victorian Holiday Sleigh for dolls from The Queen’s Treasures and was kind enough to send in a photo of it for us.

Josefina and Nellie look like they are really enjoying their new ride and are cozy under the blanket, too.

I just love the little note her dolls made to go with the photo, too! And, I like the repurposed Vera Bradley box as an end table!

Thanks again Tish! Seeing the prizes from our giveaways in their new homes makes me sooooo happy!

This is definitely the part of doing giveaways that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the most – seeing the happy faces of the recipients of our giveaway items!! One of the winners of the American Doll Room giveaway, Geri, sent in photos of her daughter and friends having fun with their dolls. Looks like fun was had by all!

Looks like a tea party in action! Have to say the special guest Clarice (Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’s girlfriend) looks like she is enjoying her tea.

Love the bunkbed with trundle in the background and the variety of dolls at the tea party.

And who has arrived on horseback for the party?

And a view from the outside of the American Doll Room.

I am so happy to see our giveaway item has found such a fun home full of dolls and a girl (and her friends) to play with it for hours!! Long live imagination!! I’d like to thank American Doll Room again for sponsoring this awesome giveaway.

The Doll Diaries t-shirts for the winners of the Holiday Gala this month were all mailed out today.

I had wanted to send these out sooner, but nobody seemed to have white t-shirts in stock. I’d like to thank Springfield Dolls for coming to my rescue and sending over 11 sets of white t-shirts and jeans so I could make the Doll Diaries t-shirts for the winners. As a bonus, the winners get jeans for their dolls, too. I was going to add a butterfly transfer to the jeans, but when I tried it on a test pair it failed miserably.

Here is the box of 11 envelopes ready to go to the post office!

Honestly, I get so much enjoyment out of holding the reader photo events and sending out the t-shirts to our readers. About 35 t-shirts went out this year and I plan on giving away more t-shirts and other items each month in 2012. The theme for January’s event is going to be PETS. As in photos of your pets with your dolls or the dolls with their own pets, so get those cameras clicking!

Merry Christmas to you and yours from the entire Doll Diaries family!!

We look forward to another year of doll fun, crafts, reviews, giveaways, sharing your photos, and keeping the love of dolls alive for girls of all ages!!

We’d also like to thank all our site sponsors including:

• My Doll’s Life
• My Pink Planet
• Maplelea
• American Doll Room
• DreamWorld Collections
• Children of America Dolls
• Sassy Doll Creations
• The Franklin Mint
• American Doll Houses
• My Twinn
• Emily Rose Doll Clothes
• Ashton Drake
• Celebrate Express
• Springfield Dolls
• The Queen’s Treasures
• And all the other companies that sponsored giveaways throughout the year!

May all your doll-y wishes come true!!