DIY Mermaid Tail for an 18-Inch Doll with Free Pattern

I have finally found time to give you the tutorial for the mermaid tail for the 18-inch dolls. I shared pictures of the first one awhile ago. I should mention that Hazel has of course lost the first one. Or at least misplaced it. I was hoping to tweak my pattern a bit but my tweaks without having the first one did not work well. 

DIY Wooden Doll Table

Continuing with some of our DIY projects for 18-inch dolls, I made Hazel a table for her doll. I had her pick out a plaque at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts the other day. It was $2.99. For the legs I used clothespins and woman peg dolls. I glued one of each together and let the glue dry and then glued them on. Once the glue dried Hazel wanted to try it out. Here it is with a tea party and her Hazel doll.

Next I painted it white (well actually I reglued some legs since she insisted on taking it to Nonni's and it does not travel well). To make a stronger table you could use spindles instead of my cheap version. 

Then I wanted to share a cheap find. We found this magnetic chalk board that is doll size for $1 at Target, I believe. It came with a piece of chalk.

It is made to put in a locker, but that makes it the right size for dolls. Here it is on the table.

Now her dolls are really ready for their tea party and ice cream party! 

For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• Doll Ice Cream Sundae Party
• DIY No-Sew Doll Purse
• Cheap Doll Items to Buy or Make
• DIY Doll Pencil 
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

Doll Ice Creams and Sundaes

Now in this hot weather I know we like to have ice cream and as a child I loved sundaes! Well with the heat and humidity we have been having, Hazel's dolls wanted to have a sundae party! I was inspired by the Miniature Sundaes over at Making Friends. I bought clear shot classes at the Dollar Tree and a package of small red pom poms for the cherries. Then I invaded Hazel's ice cream shop. Since Hazel does not like hot fudge or chocolate sauce on her ice cream (I know, strange), I made some without any chocolate sauce and some with it.

I glued a pink for strawberry and a brown for chocolate large pom pom to the bottom of a glass. Then I glued a white large pom pom on top of it for the whipped cream. Then I added the small red pom pom cherries. I showed them to Hazel and she asked for sprinkles, so I found her sprinkle beads and glued each one on. 

For the hot fudge sundaes I experimented with some brown paint. (I used acrylic since it was what I had.) I first tried just putting it on the top of the ice cream pom pom (I used beige for vanilla). However it just really sat there and also absorbed into the whipped cream pom pom. For the other two, I poured the paint onto the inside sides of the glasses before gluing the ice cream pom pom. This worked much better for looks. We have my favorite strawberry ice cream with hot fudge and a plain vanilla with hot fudge. Now Hazel's dolls are all set to party! They can use the spoons that came with their tea set to eat them! Stay tuned for doll milk shakes. 

For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• DIY No-Sew Doll Purse
• Cheap Doll Items to Buy or Make
• DIY Doll Pencil 
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

DIY No Sew Doll Purse

Sorry for being a bit sporadic this week. For the first time in our almost eight years of marriage I have gotten the house to myself for a couple of days. The main reason is for me to organize my extremely messy and useless craft room. Well, I got a good start on it!!

Today I wanted to share a simple way to make an 18-inch doll a purse. I was inspired by the tutorial over at Doll It Up: Make a Doll Purse Out of a Coin Pouch. I had bought a coin pouch at Rite Aid from the $1 bin, but I hadn't gotten around to making it like the one over at Doll It Up. Then when we were at Michaels the other day I saw this adorable panda head coin pouch on clearance for under $1 and knew it would make a perfect one. Hazel has been really into pandas lately.

To make it all I did was measure a piece of red ribbon so it would hang on the doll the way I wanted it to. I cut the ribbon a little long so I could fold the ends in and cover them. I glued the ends down and then glued the handle back over the end. I didn't want to try to sew the vinyl or whatever the coin pouch is made of. After the glue dried it was ready for Hazel (the doll) to use.

 

For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• Cheap Doll Items to Buy or Make
• DIY Doll Pencil 
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

Cheap Finds: Doll Accessories to Buy or Make

After our big adventure to the very expensive American Doll Store I wanted to find or make some of the things Hazel wants for her dolls at a better price. One of the things she really liked at the store were the doll binoculars that came with the Trail Accessories. Since she really only cared about the binoculars I could not see spending the money on the whole set. I then googled doll binoculars and discovered there really are not many out there besides American Girl ones. We decided to check Target and Michaels just in case, but no luck. Then we hit the Dollar Tree and I saw these.

We thought they would make perfect binoculars similar to the ones at the store. (I had many ideas to make them, but Hazel wanted them small like the stores.) So here is what we did. We used two matching pencil grips, the same color lacing (also bought at Dollar Tree in a package of six colors), two star shaped (but any larger bead will work) beads, two clear faceted beads that will fit in the holes of the pencil gripper and two pony beads. The tools we needed were a kitchen skewer, a large-eyed needle (the lacing needs to fit in it), and craft glue. The first step is to use the skewer to poke through both grips. Then thread the needle with the lacing and pass it through one grip, a star bead and the other grip. Pull the lacing through and give yourself a good amount so you will be able to tie it to go over the doll's head. Then I glued the bead into place. Then glue the second bead toward the other end of the grips for stability.

I put the clear beads in the end away from the strap and the pony beads in the ends where the eyes go. I found putting the grips between two heavy items help the glue set correctly. Then cut the lacing to the length you want and tie the end so it will fit on the doll. Once the glue dries your binoculars are ready to use!

Now the Trail Accessories also included a trail mix package. I have something similar to print out and make from Paper Minis. Ann Vanture of Paper Minis offers a complimentary project with each month's newsletter. She often offers them in different scales: 1/12 (dollhouse), 1/6 (Barbie doll) and 1/3 (18-inch doll size). To sign up for her newsletter and have access to all of her complimentary projects e-mail her at:  ann-vanture@paperminis.com . Many of the projects include packages of food, so check them out. It is free!! And she has even more amazing projects to buy at her store.

On our shopping adventure we found some great things to use with the dolls. We found the notepads pictured above at Michaels. They came in a package of 18 and were on clearance for 60% off making them around $1.20. At the Dollar Tree we found a lantern. The original one we bought had a palm leaf top which was removable, so we took it off. It is larger than the one American Girl has with the tent, but it will work.

 
If you put batteries in, it will really work. Next I need to make Hazel a tent for her dolls.

We also found a tea set at the Dollar Tree. Hazel loved the fact that it came with spoons for the dolls, so I spent the $1.

Then I found a package of green apples and one of red apples that were doll sized.

In this picture you can see how the sizes compare to the dolls. Aren't they perfect?


We have a few more crafts to make and will be sharing them as we make them. Stay tuned!!


For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• DIY Doll Pencil 
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

Birthday Party at American Girl Doll Store

So earlier this month Hazel was invited to a friend's birthday party at the American Girl Doll Store Boston. Since the store is at least half an hour away, parents went as well. The party included lunch in the Bistro and having each girl's doll's hair done at the Hair Salon. Hazel of course loved it!! We also thought Nonni (my mother-in-law) would love it, so we made plans for the three of us to go and we figured with my birthday coming up, it would be a fun birthday party. Nonni wanted to splurge for the birthday party option in the Bistro. 

Lunch at the Bistro includes your choice of a starter and the main meal as well as a beverage. The non-birthday party price is $7.50 for a child and $16.00 for an adult. The child gets to bring a doll (or two and they do not have to be American Girl brand) and they have high chairs for the dolls. If a child does not have a doll, they have some to borrow. The dolls get a mug and saucer which the girls get to bring home. For the birthday party, the birthday person gets a special crown and all the dolls get a crown. Plus they bring out a cake and sing to the birthday person. Then they serve the cake with vanilla ice cream. The birthday person gets the leftover cake.  Each child gets a goody bag which differ for different ages, but the young girls includes a celebration tee shirt for the doll, a balloon for the doll and a book and stickers, plus a doll size American Girl shopping bag. The prices for the birthday party are $30 for a child and $20 for an adult. We drove one of the other friends (it was all girls from Hazel's class plus the birthday girl's older sister). The friend we drove did not have an 18-inch doll yet, so we had her borrow one of Hazel's. She picked Mimi. Hazel brought her Hazel doll. 

Now the hair prices range from $10 to $25, but most of the styles are $20 or $25. Having seen what they did and heard advice a few of the stylists gave about the dolls hair, I decided this was something I could do on Hazel's dolls. Her oldest 18-inch doll, Barbie, had a mess of hair. I considered having the hair salon deal with it, but after seeing several posts about how to fix doll hair, I decided to give it a go. I used the tips from All Things with a Purpose: Fix American Girl Doll's Hair Without a Trip to the Doll Hospital. However we had bought the American Girl doll hair brush after the birthday party and I found it did not work well. It broke very easily. However I had a cat brush that was made with metal and love that one. The cats hated it so I don't use it on them. I found soaking the dolls hair when it is really messy and then brushing it out works. I had to resoak Barbie's a couple of times to get right, but it worked. Then I was able to copy the styles they would do to Hazel's dolls. I convinced Hazel that we did not need to spend $25 on a doll's hair and we could instead buy baby clothes to make doll clothes.

I took a selfie for the first time!

Well when you book a birthday party, they send you invitations and thank you notes for the number you say. (They ask you for the largest number of people who will be attending when you book it.) Needless to say, we did not use these. When we were seated they gave both Hazel and me a sticker saying "It's my special day!" and gave me the crown, which Hazel of course wanted to wear. The napkin rings are hair elastics with a pink bow. I put Hazel's and Nonni's on Hazel's pigtails and put my hair up since I forgot to bring an elastic for my hair. Hazel also insisted on bringing all four of her 18-inch dolls. (None of them are American Girl dolls and I have explained to her that all four together cost less than one American Girl doll, so she has decided she would rather have more dolls than a brand one.) 

Hazel brought Hazel and Barbie and she dressed Hazel in the Dolly & Me dress that matched her own. They actually were perfect because the matched the crowns as well. Nonni got to bring Emily a BFC, Ink doll and I got Mimi. Now Hazel and Mimi are Madam Alexander dolls (one from KMart and one from Kohl's post Christmas sale), and I actually like their faces better than the American Girl dolls' plus I love that their chest and shoulders are plastic and not cloth like the American Girl dolls (and Barbie). Hazel of course wanted pictures of her with each pair of dolls. She also was excited that she got four mugs and saucers for the dolls.

We had a lovely lunch. Then it was time for cake. While waiting for the cake, Nonni took our picture, and look I get to wear my crown! I should note that Nonni hates having her picture taken, so she will not be pictured in this post. She does not let me take one usually.

The waitress came with a friend and the cake and sang to me.

Hazel and I blew out the candles and took a picture of the top of the cake. The cake is two layers--one white and one chocolate. They then took the cake and brought us each a slice and a dish of ice cream. The dishes look like small flower pots and each one has a fake daisy in it as well.

I also asked them to give pieces of the cake to the mother and daughter eating next to us since they were not celebrating a birthday and the tables were really close together. We still came home with half the cake. Since it was good cake, we didn't mind and Steve was happy to help eat it. I didn't take a picture of the sliced cake, but here is the fruit kabob starter that Hazel got (and most of the girls at the friend's birthday party). The yogurt was served in the same flowerpot dish with daisy as the ice cream.

We stuck the daisy in Hazel's pigtails and my pony tail. Hazel did not get the yogurt due to her dairy intolerance and instead got an extra fruit kabob. They also gave her raspberry sorbet instead of vanilla ice cream.

After lunch we took a picture of Hazel with her Hazel doll and then she wanted one of me and Mimi. She took this one.

Then we went to show Nonni the Hair Salon and all the dolls and accessories. Nonni of course had to buy Hazel something. After the struggle of getting her to chose one or two things, Nonni saw the price of the two things and decided it would be better to buy just one of the expensive things Hazel loved. She bought her Isabelle's Studio. I explained to both of them that this would be Hazel's Christmas and birthday gifts from Nonni. Hopefully Nonni will stick with it though she never does.

Hazel is loving it and has her Hazel doll sewing all the time now. In fact her (the doll's) sleeping bag is next to the studio so she doesn't have to go far. The only thing Hazel thought it was missing was a pencil to go with the sketch book. This brings us to our craft for today. I made Hazel a doll pencil from a bamboo skewer. I painted the tip black and left some wood color and then painted above it yellow for the pencil. Then I cut it off. After the paint dried I glued on a dot of pink foam and tried to make it look somewhat like an eraser.

Hazel took it for her Hazel doll as soon as she saw it. Before we left the American Doll Store however we got some pictures of the two Hazels with Isabelle.

We had to do it with and without the crowns.

Tomorrow I will share some more doll crafts and some Dollar Tree doll finds. 


For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

Pinned it and Did it! Doll Clothes

We have been very into dolls lately and I have been looking at patterns on-line. Now for 18-inch dolls,  Hazel has two What a Doll dolls from Kmart, a BFC doll and a You & Me Doll from Toys 'R Us. The BFC doll is super skinny and an older girl with breasts and jointed everywhere. She came in a bathing suit. The problem being that her straps would get caught in her shoulder joints and then her chest would be completely exposed. I had to make her a dress. I found a simple pattern on Wren-Feathers: Summer Sew-Along Week 7.  She has many great doll patterns on her blog!! Check it out!

I also saw lots of ideas on using baby clothes to make doll clothes.  Since we donated most of Hazel's baby clothes except a few favorite things, we had to purchase some new onsies and a newborn outfit. The first thing we tried was adjusting old baby dresses like the ones I saw at Doll It Up and A Doll for All Seasons. However I started by adjusting one of our favorites of Hazel's baby dresses.  This dress was a 6-9 month size. It had been a gift for Hazel's baptism. I just adjusted the side seams to make it fit the dolls. It is a bit long on them because it was so big, but I didn't want to adjust the length.

Here is Hazel in it as well. I also adjusted the headband so the dolls could wear it.

While shopping we found the cutest newborn outfit/dress. We thought it looked the right size for two of Hazel's baby dolls. 

It fits pretty well except the onsie part underneath is a bit too long, but since you cannot see it with dress, I didn't bother adjusting it or cutting it off.

The final idea we had was to use newborn onsies to make tee shirts like I saw at Nest Full of Eggs. I have not finished the edges yet, but Hazel wanted to use them right away. To make these you simply cut the bottom part of the onesie off. Then finish the edge. 

We also found a pair of 3 month onsies with flamingos on them. I cut the simpler one of them and made a doll night gown. The other one has tulle ruffles it, so I think I am going to try to make it into a dress.

Tomorrow I will share my birthday party at the American Girl Doll Store. Yes, we did it for Hazel, but since my birthday is coming up my mother-in-law went all out for the celebration. 

For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

DIY Doll Sandals

A few weeks ago I bought Hazel some sandals for her 18-inch dolls. A couple of weeks ago we went to a birthday party at the American Doll Store and now we are going back next week to celebrate my birthday with my mother-in-law. Hazel has been getting into dressing her dolls a bit more, so we decided to try to make our own sandals. The owner of the store where I bought the sandals told me his sister-in-law made them after looking up how to on-line, so I began looking. There are many different tutorials out there. Here is what we did. 

Somewhat following the tutorials I saw on line and playing around, I made three pairs (somewhat successfully) of sandals in different styles. I also had one disaster, but learned a lot from it. To get a pattern it is best to trace the dolls feet. Our dolls are not American Girl dolls, but here is the pattern I came up with. (Click on picture for the pdf form of it.)

I found it helpful to label the top of the feet not to mix them up or make reversed cuts. I wrote the name of the doll whose feet I traced. I happened to use Hazel's Hazel doll. Now you cut this pattern out of craft foam. I wanted to find thicker craft foam, but had trouble. I did however find some thick foam white ghosts and black spiders at A.C. Moore. I bought two of each. If you do not have the thicker foam, you can use more thinner layers (I would use a total of five or six after my experiences). With the thicker foam you will have three layers--one of the thicker foam and two regular craft foam thickness (a top and bottom). I mostly used sparkly foam for the top layer, but it does not matter. After cutting the foam, you glue the top to the thick layer or if not using thick layer, glue the top and two or three of the middle layers. If using only thin layers you want a few layers on top before gluing the ribbons to the bottom (or the ribbons can rip the top layer and yes, I had it happen). Then all the sandals or at least most I saw have some form of stretchy ankle ring to make sure the shoe is not lost if it falls off. You can add beads to it or not. A thin piece of ribbon holds the ankle ring onto the shoe. You glue this ribbon--both ends with the loop strung onto it-- onto the bottom of your glued layers. Next you measure the ribbon for the top part of the shoe and glue it on. I also remeasure after I have glued it on to make sure it will fit correctly.

Depending on the style you are doing, you may want to adjust this step. To do what I call the crisscross sandals, you first glue a ribbon folded in half and linked onto the ankle ring the length of the shoe and then put the crosses through it.

Or if you are using a wider ribbon and want to shape it or shape any ribbon more bow like, you can tie the ribbon with the ankle ring and use beads if you want.

My tutorial pictures are however for the simpler form of just having a ribbon going across the top. Hazel and I each made more pairs for the tutorial which are drying now. 

After the ribbon layer is glued on and attached if it is going to be to the ankle ring, I put a piece of tape over the glued areas just to hold it until it dries. Next glue on the bottom layer and clamp it with clothespins. Let it sit for a few hours or overnight for the glue to dry. If you want to hide your layers you can glue a ribbon of equal or less width around the edge of the shoes. You need to pin or hold until the glue sticks. You can buy special foam glue. I did not and used my regular Aleene's Original Tacky Glue. I will share our other two pairs after they are dry and finished. If you have questions about my tutorial, let me know.

Her dolls seem happy with the new sandals and playing my models. 

If you are looking for more doll clothes and craft ideas check out:

• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board