Here’s Addy with her new accessories that I picked up at AG Place LA.
This Addy was in the large PC Molly lot I brought home a few weeks ago. I fell in love as sometimes happens and decided I had to keep her.
She had her boots but no meet dress. I remembered I had this lovely dress someone made with great care. Kirsten had an extra apron and kindly passed it along.
I was very excited to set up her Sweet Dreams set which I’ve been holding onto for years!
I rarely come across Addy items on my adventures so I’m cobbling things together until either I get lucky or AG expands their retired doll lines. 🤞🏻
Here’s a quick shot of the wall when you first enter the new LA store. I love how the historical periods are all mixed up in a way that makes perfect sense.
And here’s my little haul. #116 will be transformed shortly into another Taylor Swift doll. More on Addy’s accessories in another post.
Visited the new LA store today and I have lots to share but OMG!
I always tell the girls, never take it seriously, if ya never take it seriosuly, ya never get hurt, ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the AG store and visit your friends.
Meet my newest OOAK; you might recognize our old friend Strawberry Shortcake.
Her and Custard are baking strawberry sweet treats. Yum.
She’s a Caroline whose wig had been severely cut but was in otherwise lovely shape. I ordered the wig from Za Zou Custom Dolls and I’m so happy with it!
Spring Has Sprung Doll Photo Challenge Week 4: Pets
We live in San Diego county and have taken loads of trips to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. I have always imagined Kira (aka Outback Julie) as a junior volunteer at the Safari Park. So, here she is helping a her koala friend find a suitable eucalyptus tree to much on at the park.
If you’ve never had a chance to visit, it’s a pretty amazing park that focuses on conservation and education.
TBH, the koalas are not actually at the Safari Park but I’m taking artistic liberties 🐨. You can learn more about their habitat at the SD Zoo here.
Last but not least, here is Beth March. She is an American Girl CYO, purchased gently used on eBay. She looks exactly as I have always pictured Beth, who has always been my favorite of the March sisters. She is wearing a dress by Etsy seller Threads of Silk and is pictured alongside Josefina’s English square piano. Her kitten is from Kirsten’s collection, and her china head doll was purchased on eBay
Meet Jo March! In “Little Women”, Jo is described as having chestnut hair and gray eyes - not an easy combination to find in American Girl dolls! I have chosen to use a Blaire doll to represent Jo. Her coloring is not quite by the book, but I do think the red hair suits Jo’s personality. I love this outfit for Jo. The skirt and blouse are from Etsy seller LolasAndSewOn. Her key necklace is by BrownDaisyDesigns, and her hat is from American Girl - maybe from a gardening outfit?
Meet Amy, the youngest of the March sisters. Amy is described in “Little Women” as having blond curls and blue eyes. To represent her, I chose a gently used Just Like You #22, purchased on eBay for a fairly reasonable price. In addition to having the right coloring, this doll has a relatively youthful-looking face. I attempted to add more curls, without much luck. I may try again, perhaps with smaller rollers. Suggestions are welcome! Amy’s school jumper was purchased from Etsy seller SewWitchy, and she is wearing a duplicate pair of Addy’s navy boots
Here is Meg March, or at least my interpretation of Meg. She was the eldest of the March sisters. I chose American Girl’s Just Like You #121 to become Meg because of her beautiful dark eyes and hair, and because her eye make-up helps her to look a bit older than the others. She is wearing a beautiful ball gown made by Etsy seller RuthieLovesToSew, along with an American Girl crinoline. If I am remembering the story correctly, she should be wearing just one kid-leather glove. ( Jo had ruined her own gloves, so the sisters shared one pair). Unfortunately I don’t have a doll glove that looks right.
I support my insane doll habit by buying large doll lots that have pieces I’m searching for and reselling the rest on Mercari. Here’s a pretty white body Sam I sold a few weeks ago. I keep my prices very reasonable because I have no reason not to, it’s just to support my hobby. But, Mercari changed their TOS overnight last week and I’m considering leaving the platform. So, question, where do you buy your dolly things? Is there a platform you feel confident using? Please let me know 🧐
PS: I do sell my handmade items on Etsy and I love that platform but it’s not supposed to be used for reselling and I’m a rule follower by nature.
It's a sunny spring day in Minnesota Territory, and Kirsten is stuck indoors, helping with the spring cleaning. Her first task is to sweep the upstairs bedrooms--she shares one with her three siblings, and so it gets messy very quickly. But Kirsten doesn't complain--she remembers her previous home, a one-room log cabin on her aunt and uncle's farm. That was easier to clean, but it was hard sharing such a small place with six people. After a fire burned that cabin down, the Larsons bought a much larger house, the beautiful home they dreamed they'd have when they left Sweden two years ago.
As for my part in this, I created a bedroom for my Kirsten doll a few years ago, but I recently renovated it to make it look more like the illustrations in Kirsten's sixth book, Changes for Kirsten.
The walls in this illustration look like they've been finished with plaster, which was common in houses at the time. The light color would have come from local sources of limestone.
So most of the changes I made were to the walls and windows. I used printed photographs for the windows, and added the twelve-pane window frames over the images before printing. For the walls, I took down the boring white wood paneling. I imitated that plastered look using tissue paper stuck to the first layer of pale yellow paint, and then I painted another layer over the tissue paper.
The furnishings are basically the same, except for the trunk on the right side of this photo. She used to store her clothes in the top half of Felicity's clothes press, which I mentioned in my recent post about moving the clothes press into the parlor for Caroline to use. After I did that, I knew Kirsten would need a place to store her clothes, and what better piece than a smaller version of her trunk?
Most of the things in the above picture are not from Kirsten's collection. The bed was made by my grandpa when I was eight and first got my Kirsten doll. My mom made the quilt on the bed and the one on the rocking chair, the pillow and mattress on the bed, and the two darker gray cats. The foot stove next to the bed is Pleasant Company, and so are the shoes (including snow shoes) lined up next to the trunk. The rocking chair came from an antique store. I made everything else: both rugs, the cradle, the nightstand, the candle and book and stuffed cat on the nightstand, the cross stitch hanging on the wall, the shelves and everything on them, the painted round boxes at the foot of the bed, baby Britta's dress, and Kirsten's quilt square in the embroidery hoop.
This is a little wooden trunk I found at a craft store. I painted it blue and then painted on the decorative designs using stencils.
That's Kirsten's straw hat hanging on the wall, from her collection. My mom made the two sunbonnets.
I gave it a weathered look by lightly brushing on white and red paint.
The trunk can hold all of Kirsten's clothes. It has room for a few more dresses too. I have almost all of Kirsten's clothes; I'm only missing her baking outfit, skating coat, and promise dress.
I also made the gingham curtains for the windows. There's a lot of blue and white going on in here, so I wanted them to match the color themes.
Next to Britta's cradle are the round boxes I made to hold Kirsten's socks and ribbons, which are all Pleasant Company things. Her lunch box and bucket are from craft stores.
I remade her honey crate and the jars of honey. They now contain clear glue dyed with food coloring. I made her little gnomes too.
The rocking chair was an antique store find. It's perfect for her to sit with her baby sister Britta.
I also painted a little flourish on the end of her bed.
This definitely isn't all of Kirsten's collection--I have a few pieces hidden away underneath her room that won't fit here. That includes her actual big trunk that my grandpa made, her Saint Lucia wreath and tray that I made, her dishes set from her official collection, and some other small things that she doesn't need in her room.