After hearing reports that even though some of McKenna’s collection were on backorder, they were still shipping, we decided to go ahead and order her a few weeks ago. McKenna’s starter collection arrived with McKenna, her meet outfit and her accessories – her practice outfit and her warmup outfit were on backorder, scheduled to arrive sometime in June. Imagine my surprise when I got a shipping notification for her warmups last week. They arrived and are just too cute! They are only available as part of McKenna’s starter set, but oh how I love them.

The exclusive Warm Up outfit was just the thing to put McKenna in a great mood after all the talk about gymnastics in this house the past few days.

McKenna’s Warm Up Outfit comes with the purple/orange ombre warm up jacket, white athletic pants with a little gather at the ankle and her trademark swoosh, cute athletic shoes, two orange hairbands and a hairstyle card for how to do fishtail braids on McKenna’s hair. If you don’t have the card, check out this video Megan did on how to fishtail braid your doll’s hair.

Ta-da! It looks great on you McKenna!! This is definitely one of my favorite outfits in her collection.

I don’t know what it is about this color scheme plus the crisp white pants, but I just love it. So does McKenna.

Nice split McKenna but can you just straighten out that back foot? It’s really bad form. Oh, that’s right, you are a doll – you can’t.

McKenna is checking out Megan’s medals and score card from her State Championship gymnastics meet yesterday. Can you tell what places she got? Yep, that’s a second place and two third place awards. Good job Megan.

Over to the beam she goes. McKenna is practicing her beam mount – that’s a fancy way of saying how you get on the beam. And to get off the beam it is called a dismount.

This photo shows the star on her shoulder for Shooting Stars Gymnastics. And I did the Fishtail Braid hairstyle based on the hairstyle card the outfit came with. Fishtail braiding looks hard, but it is actually very easy once you get the hang of it.

Showing off the the detail in the stitching, her swoosh, and her super cute tennis shoes.

Back at the bars, McKenna is getting ready to do some of her conditioning like pull ups and leg lifts so she will be strong enough to make that kip!

On a scale of 1-10, I give this outfit a solid 9.0 – all it is missing are some socks – I mean who wants to wear tennis shoes without socks?

Thanks to all our readers who have shared their photos with us this week! Here are the Sunday Showcase entries for this week.

Jasmine’s McKenna was reading Doll Diaries with her and spotted our Mckenna doll in the Fairy Garden, and was surprised to see her twin sister! Jasmine loved how McKenna looked in the pictures, so she dressed her McKenna in the same outfit and hairstyle! Too cute!

Dharma’s dolls are ready for a sleepover! From left to right – A Pleasant Company Kirsten, AG Chrissa, AG Felicity, and Claira from Springfield Dolls. Did you notice their matching bunny slippers from Springfield Dolls?

Ava’s friend brought her Moxie Girls dolls over for a visit.

Madelon’s family gave Cecile the Parlor Desk from the American Girl store at Tysons (DC) for Mother’s Day.

Merida’s a hit in Australia too! Catherine sent in this photo of the Brave, Merida and Angus playset she found in Big W, which is the Australian version of Wal-Mart.

Hayley just started her YouTube channel and shares a photoshoot she did with her doll Kirsten.

Heather was the winner of the Graduation Gown for dolls a few weeks ago. Her daughter’s Our Generation doll looks great in it!

Sharry sent in a photo of her Springfield Collection doll Julie getting ready for bed. She is wearing replica Julie pajamas available from dollclothesstore.com. She is holding her 1975 Holly Hobbie doll from Knickerbocker toys. Sweet dreams, Julie!

In honor of her birthday, Kit is wearing her reporter’s dress and holding one of her chickens. The backdrop is pink, but she probably wouldn’t have preferred it. I hope this year she has the Robin Hood Party she wanted many years ago. Thanks to Madelon for this beautiful photo.

We love seeing what you make for your dolls, adventures they have, and great finds. If you would like to submit your photo for next week’s Sunday Showcase, here are the basics:

• Email your photo to share@dolldiaries.com (it must be your own photo – do not take photos from someone else’s site and submit them as your own)
• Put “Reader Photo Submission” in the subject line (I get a ton of email & this will make it easier to sort through)
• Resize your photos to 540 pixels wide (if you can)
• Make sure you include a description or caption for your photos

PS - I am going to be gone at Megan’s State Meet for gymnastics today so this is the only post for today. I will try to check comments from my phone as much as I can, but no guarantees. Also, keep sending in the Lights, Camera, Dolls entries and I will get them all posted tomorrow.

UPDATED WITH WINNERS!! The winner of the three McKenna books is Christina from http://bigworldandmypower.blogspot.com/. The winner of The Hidden Gold is Jen. The winner of the ISU Behind the Scenes book is Kaylee and the winner of The Smart Girls Guide to Liking Themselves is Agbittybaby.

Summer is almost here and one of my kids’ favorite ways to spend their summer days is curled up with a good book! American Girl thinks that’s a great idea, too.

They sent me a box of American Girl books to use as giveaways to Doll Diaries readers – we will actually have FOUR winners!

So, keep reading to find out what Read-a-palooza is all about, what books we are giving away and how you can enter to win!

About Read-a-palooza

Read-a-palooza is American Girl’s summer reading program they are doing this year in conjunction with the literacy campaign that ties in with the American Girl of The Year for 2012, McKenna Brooks, and her struggles with her schoolwork. From May 1 through September 3, 2012, $1 of every book purchased through American Girl (up to a maximum of $100,000) will support Save the Children’s efforts to raise literacy rates in impoverished communities by providing basic education and equipping schools and teachers with reading materials. In addition, American Girl will make its third donation of books to Save the Children this fall, bringing the value of the company’s total book donation to nearly $1.5 million. Go to www.americangirl.com/reading to:

• Get details about the program
• Download printable bookmarks to keep track of your favorite books all summer
• Find out about in-store events
• Take quizzes
• Print out McKenna’s gymnastics word search
• and help a great cause!

What we are giving away

ONE lucky winner will win all three books in the McKenna collection which includes -McKenna by Mary Casanova, McKenna, Ready to Fly! by Mary Casanova, and Take the Challenge.

ONE lucky winner will win The Hidden Gold: A Marie-Grace Mystery (American Girl Mysteries)by Sarah M Buckey.

ONE lucky winner will win the Innerstar U book Behind the Scenes – a book starring you with more than 20 endings you can pick.

ONE lucky winner will will A Smart Girl’s Guide to Liking Herself – Even on Bad Days.

**Note – the dolls are not part of the giveaway, they just wanted to see what the books were about while showing them off to you!

How to Enter!

• Visit AmericanGirl.com/reading and get acquainted with the program, do a quiz or two and print out some bookmarks or activities.
• Mandatory entry – leave a comment below letting us know what THREE books are you looking forward to reading this summer!
• Get a two bonus entries by posting a photo of your dolls reading books on our Facebook page or on Twitter (be sure to leave a comment here that you posted it so I go see it).
• Get more 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) – please send us a tweet letting us know you are following us and introduce yourself, too.
  • Like us on Facebook (we are DollDiaries) – again, feel free to leave us a note on Facebook saying hello and that you are entering the giveaway.
  • Subscribe to our YouTube channels (DollDiaries)
  • Follow the DollDiaries board on Pinterest

Rules

• Leave your comment(s) no later than midnight May 14, 2012.
• Make sure your email address is right. We only use it to contact the winner and we will NEVER share it or publish it.
• You must be 13 or older to enter. If you are under 13, just ask your parent, grandparent, favorite aunt or uncle to enter for you!
• We will be using the “And the winner is” plugin to select four (4) winners at random.

Of all the furniture and accessories that are available for dolls, the gymnastics equipment for American Girl of the Year McKenna has got to be my all time favorite. So, I might be a bit biased – I was a gymnastics coach for many years (26 to be exact) and my daughter has been a gymnast from the time she could walk. We got McKenna’s bar and beam as soon as they came out and the girls love them, but McKenna is missing something – her vault!

In her books, McKenna is working towards the Level 4 team. In the US, Level 4 gymnasts compete vault on a large mat system and do a vault called a handstand to flat back. In her movie, McKenna is more like a Level 8 and would not use this vault for competition, but she would use it in training for high level vaults. McKenna is wearing a retired American Girl leotard and Kit also has a retired AG leotard on, too.

In order to make a vault system for McKenna (or any of your dolls), you will need:

• A large box – I used the shipping box from McKenna – it is about 21″ long by 10.5″ wide by about 10″ tall.
• A piece of packing foam cut to 21″ x 10.5″ x 2″. You could use kitchen sponges from the Dollar Store too.
• Scrap cardboard
• Duct tape
• Wrapping paper
• Craft foam
• Tape, glue, scissors

Step 1 - Measure then cut the wrapping paper and wrap your box. I used packing tape so it would be more secure. I recommend leaving one set of flaps open so you can use the box for storage when McKenna is not working out.

Here is what the base of the vault looks like now. You could actually leave it like this and have McKenna practice her vault on this “setting.” Or you can add a mat on top like they do in gyms – they have mats they can stack on top to make it more challenging or to accommodate girls who are taller.

Step 2 - To make the mat on top, cut a piece of foam recycled from a packing box that will fit on the top of your box. You can also use sponges from the dollar store.

Step 3 - Cover the foam with duct tape.

McKenna is much happier with the mat on top. This way she can remove the mat and put it on the floor to practice her back handsprings or put it at the end of her beam to practice her dismounts.

If you want to make the mat really accurate – add a line with contrasting duct tape on one end of the vault. When Level 4 gymnasts do their vault their hands can not go past the line when they go to the handstand or they will get a deduction.

McKenna needs a springboard to go with her vault. She will be able to use the springboard at bars and beam too.

Step 4 - Cut two pieces of cardboard that are 4.5″ wide by 6″ tall.

Step 5 - Cover each piece of cardboard with fun foam and then staple one end of the stack (I recommend three staples).

Step 6 - Cover the end with the staples with contrasting duct tape.

Step 7 - Cut two small squares of foam to place in between the layers of foam to simulate the springs in a springboard. You could also use scrapbooking foam squares stacked, Model Magic or really anything that could look/act like springs in this case.

Step 8 - Add a stripe of contrasting duct tape towards the top of the springboard that wraps around to the underneath of the springboard. This line is a visual aid for the gymnast as to where the best spring is and it keeps the springs from falling out, too.

Ta-da!! I added a vault runway also made from 3 strips of duct tape side by side. Now McKenna and Kit can get on with their workout.

I have more photos of McKenna practicing her Level 4 vault and her more advanced vault, but I will post them later in a separate post.

I hope you liked this craft! If you missed the tutorial for making a beam for the dolls, visit our post Doll Craft: How to make a balance beam for your dolls and here is a video of our dolls doing a bar routine.

I just love, love, love seeing photos of our prizes once they make it to our winners homes. Katie and Lissy were two of the three Mystery Prize box winners I awarded for taking the time to fill out the Doll Diaries survey. All three Mystery Prize boxes had different things in them, but you can see there were some similarities.

Lissy’s box had an American Girl Washington DC t-shirt in it, plus some mini stickers, bunny slippers from Springfield Dolls and sunglasses.

Katie’s dolls got a bathing suit from Springfield Dolls.

Katie’s dolls also got pink fuzzy slippers, pink and white tennis shoes and tortoise shell glasses from Springfield Doll.

Ivy looks adorable in the tortoise shell glasses, too!!

As always, we LOVE to see what your dolls are up to – whether it is showing off something you won from Doll Diaries, something created for them or you have a photo you just want to share!

For Mother’s Day we went to my parent’s house and had brunch with the whole family. Not only was it a gorgeous day with great company, it gave me the opportunity to take some stunning photos of McKenna in my Mom’s gardens. McKenna is wearing the Flower Garden dress we gave to my niece for her birthday and she wanted McKenna to wear it while we there.

Warning - this is a long post and you will fall in love with McKenna in the process.

Sitting the Fairy Garden

Picking flowers. Megan did McKenna’s hair and decided to use her hairband as a ponytail holder.

This has to be my favorite photo of the day.

McKenna is Queen of the Fairies!

McKenna having a conversation with one of the fairies. I wish I would have taken a close up of the little Fairy Schoolhouse to McKenna’s right. We got it for my Mom today and it has one door labeled Fairies and one door labeled Pixies.

McKenna decided to explore the rest of the garden and found this gorgeous spot for getting her photo taken over by the fountain.

McKenna wanted to climb the pedestal near the rose bush so she could get a look at the entire garden.

McKenna’s message of the day – “Take time to stop and smell the flowers!!”

McKenna and all the Doll Diaries dolls (and humans) wish every Mom a Happy Mother’s Day today!!

McKenna is modeling the American Girl Flower Garden dress that we got my niece for her birthday.  She is also getting a trunk from Springfield Dolls filled with goodies from American Girl and Springfield Dolls.

Enjoy your day! PS. Don’t forget to enter our American Girl books giveaway.

Everyone was wondering what Elle was up to in a photo I posted recently, and now we know! Elle ordered McKenna!! That’s right, McKenna. First, she was getting a little worried that McKenna might be sold out by Christmas and second, she figured with the Olympics and McKenna’s movie coming up that we could have some fun setting up scenes, make some movies, and do some crafts specifically for gymnastics.

I took a bunch of photos of McKenna’s arrival and put them into a YouTube movie for you! Watch the movie to see all the photos and the conversation between the dolls. You can also scroll down to see a few of the photos on their own.

Elle is a sneaky one!!

Everyone watch out! Ellowyne has scissors!

It’s McKenna!!! Somebody get her out of there quick!

Oh, McKenna – you are cuter than I expected!

Finally! So glad my “sister” McKenna has arrived.

Ready for some new adventures!!

I have a really neat craft for McKenna planned! Hopefully I will have time to do it today, but if not, it may be tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

You asked for it!! More videos! Natalie has a pretty silly sense of humor and decided to make a video story featuring Chrissa and Matilda this afternoon.

**No dolls were harmed in the making of the video!!

What do you think? Natalie really had fun making the video and will definitely make more in the coming weeks – she can be pretty creative.

Today is such an exciting day in my world – the Olympic flame was lit earlier today in Greece marking to official countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. England’s own Matilda is doing a little time travel from her Tudor era to now so she can get in on the excitement – after all, the Olympics will be in her home country.

Chrissa: “Ummm, Matilda, what are you doing?”

Matilda replied, “Just practicing my balance move for my big routine on the balance beam – you know, for the Olympics that are being held in my home country!”

Chrissa – “Well, you have 78 days left to get it right because the Olympic flame was lit in Greece today. I’d help you, but my sport is swimming.”

Matilda: “Maybe your friend McKenna can help me get ready?”

Chrissa: “McKenna? Haven’t seen her. You might have to talk with Ivy instead.”

Matilda: “Well, Elle told me…”

Chrissa: “What did she tell you? And do you actually believe her?”

Matilda: “She mumbled something about … oh, she was probably just teasing me!”

Chrissa: “Oh, by the way, where did you get your outfit? That doesn’t look like something a Tudor girl would wear.”

Matilda: “Blair (Going in Circles) let me borrow it. It is really a Journey Girls outfit so it fits me great! You could probably borrow the shirt, but there is no way you could get the shorts over that American Girl booty of yours.”

Chrissa: “So what is Blair wearing now?”

Matilda: “She is wearing that great polka-dot dress from Carpatina that I had on earlier. Take a look – that girl can make anything look amazing!”

As you can tell, I am getting a little excited for the summer Olympics!! And I wonder what Elle told Matilda and I wonder if it had anything to do with Elle working on the computer last week?