American Girl

By Char Maplelea Girls is one of our newest site sponsors and they would like to introduce more Canadian and American girls to their line of dolls. We are giving away the Maplelea doll of choice to ONE lucky Doll Diaries reader. Whether you are a Canadian girl doll collector or your American Girl doll...

By Char Yesterday while I was at Michael’s Craft Store trying to scope out the new American Girl Craft line (which they had in the back but hadn’t finished putting out yet) I picked up the Doll School: For Girls Who Love to Teach! (American Girl) set for my girls. They love these sets from American Gir...

By Char It doesn’t look like too much has changed – you still pick the doll’s skin tone, eye color and hair color and you send in a photo of your child so they can customize the doll as much as possible for you. They have a variety of cute doll clothes but they don’t fit American Girl dolls. However some of t...

By Char A few years ago we visited New York City and one of our destinations was the American Girl Place on 5th Avenue. The store was absolutely magical as far as my daughters were concerned. One of Doll Diaries readers, known for her Bonggamom site, recently visited the American Girl Place in New Yor...

By Char Disney Princess Ariel Doll Ornament with Holiday Gown Disney Princess Belle Doll Ornament with Holiday Gown Disney Princess Cinderella Doll Ornament with Holiday Gown Disney Princess Jasmine Doll Ornament with Holiday Gown Disney Princess Mulan Doll Ornament with Holiday Gown

By Char It is time for the 2009 edition of our Dolloween Parade! Get your American Girl dolls, Build a Bear friends, Barbie, and all your other dolls decked out for Halloween and take their picture. All dolls are welcome to enter (no pictures of humans though!) Rules:

By Char And there may will be prizes for the best photos! I have a few goodies in my secret American Girl stash that I will be giving away (will announce prizes when I announce the start of photo submission) and if there are any doll related vendors that want to donate a prize to our contest, we’d love t...

By Char What is going to be interesting though – is that the American Girl Boutique and Bistro is also located in the Mall of America. Both stores are owned by Mattel. I wonder if the opening of the Barbie store will have any impact on the American Girl B&B? Will they co-exist peacefully? I know my g...

By Char Now I have my own theory. I think American Girl is archiving some of the original historical characters now so that come time for the 25th anniversary of American Girl, they can re-release special 25th Anniversary editions of the dolls.

By Char Some lucky souls have already received their American Girl catalogs for fall that have the pictures of all the new stuff. Unfortunately I am not one of those lucky souls – yet. Here are some scans of the new catalog that Claire found: http://s952.photobucket.com/albums/ae4/luvmytwins02/

By Char My youngest daughter still loves taking her dolls everywhere, the mall, to her friend’s house, the grocery store, you name it. Usually she just carries her doll or puts her in the American Girl Doll carrier, but then she still has her hands full. The myWallaby doll carrier looks like a normal...

By Char One of our readers (Patty) just let me know that A Life of Faith doll outfits and accessories are 50% off at www.lifeoffaith.com.  Use coupon code DZQJMB1Z. The hardcover books are also on sale. For those of you who are not familiar with ALOF, the outfits also fit American Girl dolls but the shoes...

By Char So we have seen quite a few cats who think American Girl doll furniture – specifically beds – are mighty comfy, but today I received a picture of Mini. This adorable little dog thinks Kit’s bed was made just for her and that Grace might be a good pet.

By Char Jill of SVMoms.com shared 2 really funny pictures of her cat taking over an American Girl doll bed. First her cat kicks the dolls off the bed… Then declares the doll bed a cat bed! Too cute! If you have any fun pictures of your pets hanging out with your dolls, feel free to email them to share@doll...

By Char Based on the fact that we have not had an African American Girl of the Year, we have an African American president who has daughters in the target age for American Girl and the books that Jane Kurtz has already authored, I would put my guesses on an African American GOTY with an interesting st...

By Char Logo SweatshirtLogo V Neck (until gone)Logo Cap (until gone) Bitty Baby/Bitty Twin (all until gone) Real Families: Figuring Out Your Family and Where You Fit in (American Girl Library)The Big Book of NotesThe Pop Quiz Book: Tons Of Trivia (American Girls Collection Sidelines)Paper F...

By Char American Girl dolls will be featured July 26 on QVC. It will be part of their Christmas in July feature. Right now it is not known which dolls will be sold or what kind of discount will be in place. I may just have to watch it Sunday morning to see for myself.

By Char Marisol offered to be our model. She fits comfrotably in the desk which has a shelf underneath to hold her books. The desk comes with a readable math book, folder with worksheets, and a pencil case. The backpack has a water bottle, a planner, Homework Smarts book, library card, a three ring bin...

By Char So, I realized that there are still a bunch of photos from my American Girl Place Chicago trip that I have not posted. Below is a picture I took the first weekend in May – just prior to the release of Rebecca. The historical vignette case from the Samantha collection was the last piece of [...]

By Char Make Your Doll Accessories to Fill Her World! (American Girl) Doll Tees: Sparkling Shirts to Make Your Doll Shine! (American Girl Library) Doll Purses: Create Tiny Totes Your Doll Will Treasure! (American Girl) Making Furniture & Dollhouses for American Girl and Other 18-Inch Do...

By Char Our friends at Emily Rose Doll clothes have a REALLY cool new business opportunity brewing - they are introducing Emily Rose at Home Parties. How cool is that? You and your daughter can have friends over to preview and purchase Emily Rose Doll Clothes and Furniture to expand your wardrobe a...

By Char When it comes to toys, the only thing my daughter likes more than her Build a Bear animals is her American Girl dolls, so when she earned some money recently from helping her Grandmother in the garden, I wasn’t surprised when she asked to go to Build-a-Bear.

By Char USA Today - American Girl Dolls Up Jewish History: Kaya Meet Rebecca Matzav.com - The New American Girl doll: She’s Jewish, She’s Poor, And Her Name is Rebecca Jewish Daily Forward Sisterhood Blog - American Girl to Unveil Jewish Doll

By Char On the second floor once you go through the Just Like You doll area there is a “street” with the Crafts-to-Go area, Doll Hospital, party room, t-shirt kiosk, Sweet Shop and at the end of the “street” there is the Cafe. I still have lots of pictures from my trip to American Girl Place Chicago to p...

By Char Over the weekend I was lucky enough to visit the American Girl Place Chicago at Water Tower Place and oh was it cool! I have been to the New York store as well, but the Chicago one was so nice!  When I got there they were celebrating the historical character, Julie’s birthday.

By Char I plan on going to the American Girl Place in Chicago at some point this weekend - but I’m not quite sure when yet. Either way, it looks like there will be a lot activity there - they are celebrating Julie’s birthday on Saturday, too - so I am sure I will get good pictures, no matter what.

By Char DollClothesPatterns.net - this site is totallly focused on doll clothes patterns for 18″ dolls like American Girl. She has great tutorials, ideas, projects and tips. This is the first stop you need to make! AGPlaythings also has the original American Girl Doll dress patterns available fo...

By Char The primary story line behind the American Girl of the Year Doll for 2009, Chrissa Maxwell, is how to deal with bullies - in school, in sports, online and in all aspects of life. As part of the Chrissa’s mission, American Girl is deeming May 1 as “Stop the Bullying Day”. The American Girl Place s...

By Char Meet Rebecca (American Girls Collection)Changes for Rebecca (American Girls Collection)Candlelight for Rebecca (American Girls Collection)Rebecca to the Rescue (American Girls Collection)Rebecca and Ana (American Girls Collection)Rebecca and the Movies (American Girls Co...

By Char Princess Time Toys carries a complete line of clothes for 18″ dolls like American Girl dolls. If you think these two outfits are cute, you have to take a look at some of the other outfits - like the yoga set, the pink striped rugby polo outfit, the soccer uniform and I could go on! And if you have a...

By Char I got a note from my personal shopper at American Girl Place and according to her note, we have more clues on Rebecca: June 24th or July 13th4pm tea5:50-6:30 Museum Tour$75 per person American Girl Dinner and Harbor Cruise (NYC Waterway Ferry)

By Char Luck of the IrishMore Luck of the IrishReady for St. Patrick’s DayFelicity Models Her Carpatina Celtic Princess Gown Last night my daughter decided to go through her doll clothes to see if we had enough green outfits to have a St. Partick’s Day party for the American Girl Dolls. I think she did...

By Char Do your dolls need some new, cool clothes? You have to check out the Doll Closet - it is an Etsy store that features some adorable clothes for 18″ dolls like American Girl dolls. She has 100% positive feedback, the outfits are fun, well made and original. Her store features dresses, pajamas, s...

By Char One of our readers, Aunt Karen of North Vancouver, Canada has made some of the cutest shoes for her nieces dolls. She has offered to share her instructions for making your own doll shoes. How to make doll shoes to fit American Girl dolls

By Char Psst: Secret Instructions Every Girl Should Know (American Girl) - $.9.95Is This Normal?: Girls Questions, Answered by the Editors of the Care & Keeping of You (American Girl) - $8.95A Smart Girl’s Guide to Her Parents’ Divorce: How to Land on Your Feet When Your World Turns Upside Down...

By Char Send your friends an American Girl e-Valentine CardMake these adorable miniature Valentine’s boxes for your dolls using this printable patternDecorate their area with a printable mini Valentines bannerPrint some miniature Victorian and Edwardian Valentine’s cards in three diff...

By Char The outfit and the book arrived today. The outfit looks so good with Chrissa’s blue eyes and hair color. There is the red visor that has Edgewater embroidered on it, an aqua blue tank that says Edgewater Swim Team, lightweight red hoodie jacket, white shorts and the dark gray flip flops. I am ve...

By Char My thoughts? The Llama is such a cute pet. It is super soft, bigger than all the other American Girl pets (even bigger than Jess’ monkey), and it has a cute purple carry saddle that holds bookmarks for the girls. We had also wanted her swim team gear, but it is on backorder until April - none of the...

By Char Although My Twinn dolls are not my favorite, they are still very well made, great for play and collecting, and they are good competition for American Girl. Hopefully another company will want to buy the My Twinn business and the dolls will continue to be made. According to recent reports and...

By Char Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. I have never been a fan of the Bratz doll line and we haven’t had them in this house since the first time my daughter received one as a gift - the baby Bratz doll was wearing thong underwear - eewww. So the recent news the Bratz manuf...

By Char Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. Rumor has it that the next American Girl Historical character will be Rebecca, a Jewish girl from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Since that time period is very close to the one for Samantha, I wonder if the release of this new dol...

By Char Bitty Baby is a girls’ first best friend (see photo above). My daughter got her Bitty at age 3 from Santa and the two of them have been best pals since. Even now, as she is about to turn 7, Bitty Baby is still her favorite and she has been all over the world. Bitty Baby is 15″ tall, starts at $42 and can b...

By Char Get in on the fun! Submit your dolls’ (American Girl, My Twinn, Build a Bear, Webkinz, Barbie, the works!) photos for our winter holiday parade. You can submit them by joining the Doll Diaries forum and posting your photos in the holiday displays thread, or you may email them to me at share@d...

By Char Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin. The announcement that American Girl is archiving their star Samantha doll has caused an outpouring of emotion for doll lovers of all ages (just read the stories in the red box on the upper corner of my site). When the announcem...

By Char Barbie Advent Calendar doesn’t contain a Barbie doll, but has 24 different fashions and accessories to help Barbie get ready for the holidays. I wish they made one for American Girl, but there are plenty of girly choices that will help make it even more fun to count down the holidays.

By Char One of the things my girls love doing is setting up their own doll hair salon. They have the Doll Hair: Styling Tips and Tricks for Your Dolls book and we bought the doll salon chairs from Target a few years ago (much cheaper than the American Girl version and they work great). We have found that a...

By Char Here is a quote from Reelzchannel via the Complete Guide to American Girl Doll Collecting: The next American Girl to see her story make it to film? Julie Albright. “We are developing the Julie character,” Goldsmith-Thomas said, “and we’re doing her as a musical, as a high school musical.” This should be fun! I have read multiple articles and have had quiet a few reader tip me off to rumors that the next American Girl movie will be about Julie and will be a musical. Here is a quote from Reelzchannel via the Complete Guide to American Girl Doll Collecting: At a recent press day for Kit Kittredge: An American [...]   [read the full post]

By Char In the Historical Doll area - this is part of Kit’s display. Since Kit was number one on our shopping list, we had to visit her first. We also got her waffle iron set as we were worried it may not be around much longer. You can see more of our photos at AGDollResources along with photos from some of our other adventures. If you have been to American Girl Place and would like to share any of your photos with our readers, just send them to share@dolldiaries.com. The American Girl Place in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles is a great family destination. From the time you walk through the doors, there is enough to see and do that you can easily spend a whole day there. We visited the American Girl Place in New York City a few summers ago and [...]   [read the full post]

By Char We love to feature our reader’s collections! If you have photos of any of your dolls (American Girl, Barbie, MyTwinn or any other line), we’d love to show them off for you!! Email them to share@dolldiaries.com. (We reserve the right not to post poor quality or inappropriate photos). One of our Canadian readers, Iryna, sent in photos of her Maplelea Girl doll, Taryn. According to Iryna, the American Girl clothes DO fit Maplelea Dolls BUT the shoes do not because Maplelea Doll’s have larger feet. Also, Taryn looks much cuter in real life. We love to feature our reader’s collections! If you have photos [...]   [read the full post]

By Char A very sleuthy member at the AG Playthings discussion forum has uncovered some scoop on the American Girl doll of the year for 2009. Mary Casanova, author of the LE 2006 Jess  book and others, will be the author for two books revolving around the new character. Some of Ms. Casanova’s other books are definitely worth adding to your reading list, like: Cecile: Gates of Gold (Girls of Many Lands)When Eagles FallThe Klipfish CodeSome Dog! A very sleuthy member at the AG Playthings discussion forum has uncovered some scoop on the American Girl doll of the year for 2009. Mary Casanova, author of the LE 2006 Jess  book and others, will be the author for two books revolving around the new character. Some of Ms. Casanova’s other books are definitely worth...   [read the full post]

By Char American Girl has another video game to go along with a new character ready for release in February. Mia Goes for Great is a game for the computer, much like American Girl: Julie Saves the Eagles. Use the Program Builder to design practice routines for Mia.No Guts, No Glory! Guide Mia as she meets people and resolves problems.Challenge your skill and artistic talentVisit Mona at the Skate Shop and answer tough trivia question to receive a special pair of skates.Guide Mia as she takes on the role of Zuzu the Squirrel. The game is available through Amazon which has additional screen shots of the game features. American Girl has another video game to go along with a new character ready for release in February. Mia Goes for Great is a game for the compute...   [read the full post]

By Char DollDiaries reader Kyleigh also got Julie for Christmas. She loves Julie’s hair because it is so silky and fun to brush. Kyleigh also got Kit’s trunk that she loves. Other items she got were Samantha’s bed and wicker chairs (great for tea parties), the doll carrier backpack (great for taking your dolls with you) and she got a bunch of purses for her dolls too. And from another reader who got The Bath and Body Works American Girl Lip Shine set. She got it as a gift exchange gift from a friend.  It came in a cute little red bag that said, “American Girl”, on it and it had a red and orange pom pom keychain on it too.  Inside were three lip shines in little tubes. The flavors were mint, chocolate mint, and orange   [read the full post]

By Char Ruthie Smithens, a girl who believes in fairy tales and happy endings, would do almost anything to help her best friend, Kit Kittredge, whose family has been hard hit by the Depression. But Ruthie has learned the hard way that offers of help, even between friends, are tricky. When Ruthie finds out some bad news about the Kittredges’ house while at her father’s bank, she has to find a way to help the Kittredges’ reach Kit’s Aunt Millie, so that there can be at least the chance of a happy ending! Really Truly Ruthie is another book for American Girl by Valerie Tripp - the author of many of the American Girl books. Even though Ruthie’s story, Really Truly Ruthie, won’t be released until June, the summary is already out and it is available to pre-order....   [read the full post]

By Char We know the stars love American Girl, too! After all, Madison Pettis had her birthday party there, Oprah had lunch at the American Girl Place in Chicago, Miley Cyrus was recently spotted at the Chicago store, too, and countless other celebs have joined in the in the fun. Recently Katie Holmes and daughter Suri were photographed leaving the American Girl Place in Los Angeles (at The Grove). I wonder if she got her a Bitty Baby or not? We know the stars love American Girl, too! After all, Madison Pettis had her birthday party there, Oprah had lunch at the American Girl Place in Chicago, Miley Cyrus was recently spotted at the Chicago store, too, and countless other celebs have joined in the in the fun. Recently Katie Holmes and daughter Suri were [......   [read the full post]

By Char The scoop is coming in and while I haven’t seen the Oprah episode yet (I’ll give more details later when I see it), those lucky girls who get Oprah early in the day say:. Mia has medium red hair, hazel eyes and freckles. ...

By Char Mia (American Girl Today) - Mia St. Clair is a ten-year-old girl living in upstate New York. She has grown up playing ice hockey wit her three older brothers on the pond behind their house. Mia’s got the skills and the scrappiness it ...

By Char American Girl’s Doll of the Year for 2008 will be here soon! Her name is Mia and you can preorder her books now. Mia (American Girl Today); Bravo, Mia! (American Girl Today)

I just got this note in my inbox today: Starting today, there is a new purchase with purchase doll outfit in the New York store. It is the CHOCOLATE CHERRY OUTFIT for the 18 inch doll. It includes the dress, shoes, cheetah collar and stick on earrings for the ...