What a treat!! One of our readers, Linda who is a teacher, gets Grandmother of the Year Award as far as I am concerned! Linda, her granddaughters and their other Grandmother get together on a regular basis to play dolls, bond and learn about American History. Linda was kind enough to share some photos from a Colonial Tea Party they recently had.
In Linda’s words…
We did a Colonial Party….”What was it like when Felicity/Elizabeth were girls in 1774 America?” for our granddaughters and their dolls. Everyone had a mop cap. The dolls all got a Hornbook (Day 40 of 100 Days of Doll Play,) feather pen (Dollar store mask), ink well (Pony beans) and journal (using pages from the Doll Diaries printables.) We folded paper fans, tried to curtsy, rolled a hoop, did a craft with pressed flowers and wrote with a feather pen. It really works…. (get feathers at a craft store and ink from an art store.) Then we had a tea party with fancy sandwiches (PB&J, cut with a cookie cutter) and small cookies. Peach tea is good! Fun day for 6 girls, 9 dolls and 2 grandmas.
From L to R: Marie-Grace, Kit, Kirsten, Kit. The dolls had tea in their colonial dresses…. all home made by us from a craft fair. We made all the mop caps. The china tea set was my daughter’s. The “silver” pitcher and tea pot were Christmas tree ornaments at JoAnnes. The tea cakes were from the dollar aisle at Target, placed on a pedestal plate…..a candle holder from the thrift store turned upside down. The serving bell was a souvenir from a trip.
From L to R: Julie, Felicity, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth with Bitty Baby Cupcake in their sister dresses. The girls are holding their fans on a hot day. They practiced their tea lesson. A friend who does resale knows of our interests and found the candelabra for us. The table is a plant stand. The table cloth and napkins are left over fabric from the hats.
Kirsten pretends she’s a Colonial Girl, too, by the Betsy Ross flag of the USA. She has her Hornbook from Day 40 of 100 Days of Doll Play.
Thank you so much Linda for sharing these adorable photos with us. Your granddaughters are SOOOO LUCKY! What amazing memories you are creating with them.
firstie! Cute!
Secondie!
That’s really sweet, I wish my grandma would do that, but she lives in another country ( I’m half Colombian).
Thirdie
fourthie
4THIE
Awww,my grandma is very old-fashioned always saving money :/ :/ Fourthie,I am reallly lucky to be fourthie
OOPS! 5THIE
Omg, there is only 1 word I can use to describe this: ADORABLE!!! I love little colonial things!
seventhie
soooo cool! Thanks for sharing Linda! That is a great way to make memories!
Asmita, Don’t forget to put your blog in the name!
This is really cute and a coincidence.I was thinking of doing a tea party with my dolls today!Haha!
Great job Linda and other Grandma! What a special treat — and lesson — for the girls. Thanks for sharing this.
This is so sweet! I may have to do one with my little cousins.
Aw! How sweet!
If my nana didn’t constantly work. She might do this with me. Fact my nana’s coming over today.
So cute! I remember my mom and older sister did tea parties w/ my friend Laura and I, but not w/ dolls. This is a grand set-up for 2 grandmothers and their granddaughters! Nice work Linda!
i love all the dresses! especially kits!
oh too cute!!!! and what a sweet grandma!!!!!
Dollsome!!!
Omg I just got back from walmart and I saw three 5 year olds ( well they look like 5 year olds because the weren’t 8 or 7 ) with the 18in American girl dolls ( McKenna , Molly , and Mia ( GOTY 08 ) ) and their hair were a mess like the wigs were falling off and they had make up on their dolls
-.- thats why they say 8 and up for the 18in dolls -.- it really irks me to the point where I want to scream my head off -.- I’m like those poor dolls and McKenna because her wig was like falling off to -______-
Who else agrees that 8 and up should be aloud the 18in dolls and 7 year olds ( PS I’m not trying to offend anyone because everyone on here is so nice and great )
Those are cute!!! I love the hornbook! Thanks for sharing Linda!
I agree
Hayley, I TOTALLY agree. The reason American Girl didn’t put real hair on the Bitty Baby dolls is because little kids don’t know how to take care of dolls with hair. The Bitty Baby dolls are the 3+ dolls. Kids under eight should NOT have the American Girl dolls, such as the “big kid dolls”. I am NOT trying to be mean though it’s just that I want to protect the dolls.
cute!!!!
This is so a-DOLL-able! Great job, Grandmas!
Hayley– I think it depends on the child. 7 was the age we were allowed to get our first AG dolls, but we were gentle with our toys anyway, and our parents explained to us that AG were special dolls to be treated with extra respect. My (very old) Samantha is still in excellent condition, although she could use a Downy spray.
My friend got her first American Girl doll when she was seven gping on eight. She is still in pretty good condition. My thoughts are, why would the parents let them get another new doll if they didnt take care of the others?
Char, when are you going to post the doll play for today?
that is so cool
Audrey – It will be posted shortly…
thanks Char.
Guess what!?!?!? My dad is outside- RIGHT NOW building my dollhouse! I can’t wait! Char, I’ll send pics right after I decorate it!
Thats so cool. I love playing wih the dolls. And amanda thats awesome.
Awwwww. So cute.
Char, do you know when today’s 100 days of doll play will be out? Just wondering!
Skye – I just posted it. I got so wrapped up in doing some projects around my house I almost forgot to post it!
I love this!
Story Teller- I agree, it defintily does depend on how the child acts.
I can not find the doll play for today. It is not showing up.
I love their mop caps!
I found it!
It does depend on the kid, Some know how to take care.
Story teller – I do agree because when me and my friend was 7 she got I think Elizabeth and she took care of elizabeth so well her hair is in it’s original hairstyle today well not at this moment she took it out like an hour ago lol she messaged me before saying lol but it’s still in nice shape
Thanks for all you kind comments about the Colonial Party. We had fun.
A note on the ongoing discussion about age….. I still have the American Character doll that I was given when I was 6 years old. Obviously, she probably qualifies as an antique by now. She was my playmate growing up, she went everywhere with me, but I took care of her. She only needed her face repainted and a good cleaning before bringing her out for the granddaughters. Both my friend, the other Grandma, and I have given our girls a historical AG when they turned 6. They have been enjoyed and played with but not abused. They knew it was a special gift. So it does depend on the expectations given. Kit is the easiest for a younger child to care for. Enjoy your dolls!
Wow! I love the dresses!
omg this is amazing so adorable
I got my AG when I was 7. Her hair is a little messy, but I never put makeup on her. She has a few marks here and there, but she’s just loved. I was at my local library once and I saw a 6 year old holding what I think was a Samantha. Her hair was up in an attempted bun, and it said said PLEASENT COMPANY!!!! And it was in the scrawly handwriting looking stamp! I almost cried!