Updates! :)

Hey everyone!  Sorry it's been a while since I've posted.  Like I warned you, things have gotten crazy and have prevented me from posting as often as I'd like to. 

My clavicle and shoulder area are feeling a lot better this week, so that's an answer to prayer.  I just need to be a little more careful about how I do things for a while. :}

I'm hoping to get a few posts for each of the blogs done sometime tomorrow or the next day, so you can check back for that.  In the meantime, you can head over to Tess and Maggie's blog to see Maggie's Thanksgiving post.  :)

I'm so anxious to get my doll rooms all set up for Christmas!  We got our tree up but as a result ended up doing a lot of rearranging.  My house is a complete disaster area...except for the kitchen, which I cleaned today. :)  When I'm feeling stressed, I go stand in my kitchen and pretend that the rest of my house looks as nice as it does. ;)  As you can imagine, I'm trying to get a bit more of my house taken care of before diving into my doll rooms.

I've also been doing some eBay and Craigslist listings.  I wasn't planning on selling anything in the month of December (I must be crazy!!), but my mom and I had a few things come our way that we thought would sell well this time of year.  If any of you are interested, you can check out my eBay auctions HERE. 

So, all that to say...hang in there!  You'll be hearing from me again soon. :)  For now, I'm off to get the kids in bed, pay bills, work on Christmas cards, clean my house...yeah.  It's gonna be a long week. :}

Happy Thanksgiving to All! :)

I'm not supposed to be typing too much as my shoulders, neck, and clavicle are still healing (and I'm soooo impatient!!!  I have tons of blog posts for all 3 blogs just aching to get out!!), but I had to say a quick and official "Happy Thanksgiving" to everyone. :)  I pray that you all share a wonderful day with friends and family, remembering God's blessings.

By the way, lest you all think I'm mortally wounded or something, my clavicle is pretty much back to normal, but I still have a lot of tension in my neck and shoulders, so I'm just supposed to take it easy for a while.  Hopefully I'll be back to normal by next week! :)

And Alisa, I haven't forgotten your comment.  Once I'm able to type for longer periods of time, I'd like to devote a post to some of your questions.  So be on the lookout for that! :)

I'll be out of town tomorrow, so your comments might not be posted right away, but I'll have time to check them sometime Friday. Talk to you then!

P.S.  I mentioned this in a post last year, but a great book that our family really enjoys this time of year is "Thanksgiving:  A Time to Remember" by Barbara Rainey.  It has the story of the first Thanksgiving, places for your family to record what they're thankful for, and even a CD of instrumental hymns appropriate for the holiday.  I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking for a way to make Thanksgiving more significant and not so overshadowed by Christmas.

New Giveaway Drawing Results!!

Okay everyone, thanks for being so patient.  I had my middle daughter's Thanksgiving program at the school this morning, so I couldn't get to this until just now. 

Sadly, my first winner of Giveaway #3, the Disney Store Rapunzel doll, didn't get back to me in the week following her win.  Because I didn't hear from her, a new winner needed to be chosen.  All of you who originally entered for Giveaway #3 were put back in the pot, and my daughter drew a new name. 

The new winner of the Disney Store Rapunzel doll is: 

                                                                   ANGELA!!! :)

Congratulations, Angela! :)  I'll be contacting you via email shortly to request your mailing address.  You will have one week to respond to my email.  If I do not hear from you by Tuesday, November 29th, a new winner will be chosen.

Thanks to everyone who participated!  I'll let you know when I've heard from the winner. :)

Quick Giveaway Update

Hi everyone...just a quick post.  I stayed home from church this morning because I did something to my clavicle this week and my whole collar bone and shoulder area on one side is really sore.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I still haven't heard from the winner of the Disney Store Rapunzel doll.  If I don't get a response by tomorrow, I'll do a new drawing for Rapunzel on Tuesday.  I will put all of the names of those who entered Giveaway #3 back in my pot and choose a different name.  For my other two winners, the charm keeper necklace and code and the Belle doll are all packaged up and ready to go!  I'll be shipping them out tomorrow.  Sorry it took so long...this week ended up not going quite the way I planned it! :} 

And Suzy, if you read this post, please please respond via email with your shipping address!  I'd hate for you to miss out on your prize! :( 

Talk to you guys again soon. 

Updated "My Dolls" Page

For those of you who have been waiting so patiently, I finally got around to updating the "My Dolls" page at the top of my blog.  Hayden's personality profile is finally there!  Sorry it took so long.  I kept forgetting about it, or I'd remember it at a time when I couldn't get to the computer. 

I didn't have a chance to take an updated personality profile picture of Hayden, so I just used one of my favorites from the pics I've already taken.  I may go in and update it later.

Here's a direct link to the page for those of you who like things to be quick and easy: MY DOLLS. ;) 

Talk to you again soon!  I'm off to clean my house (oh, joy!).

New Trailer Up for Disney/Pixar's "Brave"

The newest trailer for Disney/Pixar's upcoming film was released today.  Here's a link:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/disney/brave/

So, what are your thoughts?  I'm excited to see the movie.  I think it will be too dark for my girls until they're older (of course, most movies I let them watch have the scary parts edited by Mommy and the remote). ;)  The animation is beautiful (I love Merida's hair!!).  I don't know enough about the story yet to know what I think about it, but it definitely looks interesting.  There's one part in the trailer that I could have done without.  I know crude humor is something a lot of people appreciate, but I am much more satisfied when a movie doesn't rely on that for its laughs. 

Are you guys excited about Pixar's first Princess? :)

Christmas Capelets from Debonair Designs :)

Here are the latest offerings from Debonair Designs, inspired by the classic Bing Crosby movie, "White Christmas". 

"White Christmas"

See the auction HERE.

"Silent Night" 

The link to the auction is HERE.

"First Noel" 

You can view the listing HERE.

"Believe" 

This one is a full-length coat.  Isn't it lovely?   A link to the auction is HERE.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I just found some doll goodies to add to my Christmas wish list! ;)

Exciting News for Fans of "Tangled"! :D

I got some great news from one of my faithful readers last night (thanks, Elaine!). ;)  As many of you may already know, Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" is coming to theaters in 3D in January.  Since I'm not a big fan of 3D, I wasn't really planning on going.  But then I heard from Elaine that there will be a new "Tangled" short film released with "Beauty and the Beast"!! :D  It's called "Tangled Ever After", and supposedly picks up where the movie left off, including their wedding! 

You can click HERE to see a promotional picture from the film, and click HERE to see an article about it.  As a bonus, when you read the article, you can follow a link to read about the new Toy Story short that will be released with the new Muppet movie. :)

I can't even tell you how excited I am about this!!  I often find myself wondering what happened to the characters from my favorite films after the movie ends.  Now we get to get a glimpse of Eugene and Rapunzel after the movie! :D

What do you guys think?  Are you excited too?

Hayden's Fall Photo Shoot

I had a lot of fun taking some fall photos of Hayden last week while I was at my aunt's house.  The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, so I'm just going to share them with you without any commentary.  :)  Enjoy!!

Okay, one little bit of commentary here. :)  As you know, I like to put my old headers in my posts so I can remember them.  So here's my last header. :)

Fall Giveaway Results!!! :D

Okay, it's the post you've all been waiting for!  It's time to announce our winners for my Fall Giveaways!! :D

There was a great response to this, by the way.  I want to thank all of you who entered.  I wish I could give a prize to each and every one of you.  Since my budget wouldn't quite afford that, though, I had to pick a winner for each. 

We had 23 entries for Giveaway #1, 23 entries for Giveaway #2, and 16 entries for Giveaway #3.  I wrote out all of the names, separated them by giveaway, and put them in my trusty little name pot, one giveaway at a time.  My daughter was good enough to draw one name out (without looking, of course!) from each set of giveaway entries (just so you know how I did this...I figured having my daughter involved was a good way to keep me accountable, too). ;) 

For Giveaway #1, the My AG Innerstar U Code and Charm Keeper necklace (with the bonus Hearts4Hearts girls online code), the winner is:

                                                                Lissy!!!!


For Giveaway #2, the Disney Store Belle doll, the winner is:

                                                                 Mary!!!!

And finally, for Giveaway #3, the Disney Store Rapunzel doll, the winner is:

                                                                Suzy!!!!!


I will be contacting the winners via email today.  They will have one week to get back to me with their mailing address.  If I have not heard from the winners within a week, new winners will be chosen.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated, and congratulations to the winners!  I hope you have a great week and a wonderful fall season! :)

Giveaway Reminder and Random Updates

Hi everyone!  I just thought I'd remind all of you that tomorrow is the very last day to enter my fall giveaways!  I'll be drawing the winners' names on Monday.  We have a lot of great entries so far! :D  For more information on the giveaways, you can click HERE.

I had a couple other random things I wanted to mention as well.  First off, I felt bad about missing Veteran's Day yesterday.  I'd hoped to do a post, but things were a little crazy, so I didn't have time.  At least I remembered to wish my dad a happy Veteran's Day and thank him for his service in Vietnam...which is more important that doing a post. :)  I hope all of you had a chance to express your appreciation to the veterans in your life.  It is so easy to take them for granted.  Already, my grandpa (a World War II veteran) and many of his generation have passed away.  Our Vietnam and Korean War Veterans are getting older.  It is an honor to have them with us.  We need to make sure we never forget their sacrifices, their stories.  Without the brave men and women who have served in our military, some to the point of death, and those who are currently serving, our country would not be the place it is today.  Our country is not perfect (no country will be this side of Heaven), but I am so thankful for the many freedoms we have that other countries don't.  May we never take our freedoms or our veterans for granted! 

The other thing I wanted to share is that I'm entering the time of year when things get really busy and stressful.  I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, but no matter how hard I try, somehow the season always ends up packed with more and more activities, events and responsibilities until I feel like I'm in the middle of a tornado!  This makes keeping up with 4 blogs really difficult.   The other thing that makes it hard is that we're still down to 1 computer, so I have to share with my hubby sometimes. ;)   I'll do my best to keep things current, but you probably won't see nearly as many blog entries from me for a while.  I try to keep on top of my comments even when I'm not doing a lot of posts, so feel free to comment anytime.

Thank you so much to all of my amazing readers and followers.  These blogs are such a joy, and I've really enjoyed getting to know all of you through them. :) 

Talk to you again soon! :)

Charlie's Regency Hairstyle Tutorial

I had at least one reader request a "how to" post on the Regency hairstyle I did on Charlie for The Doll Wardrobe's photo contest (which I didn't win, by the way...but that's okay.  I had a great time taking the pics and being involved.). :)  Thankfully, I had the foresight to take pics as I worked on her hair, so I didn't have to go back and try to figure out how on earth I'd done it. ;)

I drew inspiration for this hairstyle partially from the way Catherine Morland, as played by Felicity Jones, wore her hair in the 2007 version of "Northanger Abbey". 

I also took some ideas from this YouTube hair tutorial. 

I started by choosing a piece of ribbon that matched Charlie's outfit and was long enough to go around her head.  I put it on her head like a headband, leaving some hair in the front:

I put the extra hair in claws so it would stay put: 

After the claws were in, I turned Charlie upside down and secured the ribbon with 2 mini bobby pins.  I found these doll-sized bobby pins at Dollar Tree several months ago.  They work really well for doll hairstyles...they even have the nice ceramic-type coating so they don't pull the hair as much.  I stocked up on several packages of these, and I'm so glad I did, because I haven't seen them there in a while. 

After the ribbon was secured with the bobby pins, I put all of Charlie's hair (except for the two front portions in the claws) into a ponytail. 

Once her hair was in the ponytail, I twisted it into a bun and secured it with several more mini bobby pins. 

Next, I took one of the front strands of hair and twisted it: 

Once it was completely twisted, I brought it around her head and rested it on top of her bun.  Then I tucked it around her bun and secured it with more bobby pins. 

I then repeated the process on the other side. 

And here's the finished result: 

A bit messy, I know. :}  Next time, I think I'll probably spritz her hair down with my little spray bottle from American Girl.  That should help with the flyaway hairs.

Still, it was just right for a Regency photo shoot. :) 

Veteran's Day Sale at Pottery Barn Kids

Hi everyone!  Pottery Barn Kids is having a sale in honor of Veteran's Day, and there were some great items for 18" dolls I thought you might be interested in. 

First, there's a sale on their doll backpack and lunchbox sets, which includes free shipping.  They also have a school accessories set available, but it's backordered until November 30th.  You can still order it, but it will be a bit of a wait.  You can see all of the details HERE . 

I bought one of these backpack and lunchbox sets and was very pleased with it.  The quality is great, especially considering the price. :) 

There's also a really cute back to school outfit for 18" dolls.  While it's being modeled by one of their cloth 18" dolls, it should also fit a regular 18" doll.  I bought an 18" doll outfit from them before that worked great for my AG dolls.  The shoes won't fit, though. :)  I've included a link to the outfit HERE.

Finally, there's a sale on a cute canopy for a doll bed.  I'm not 100% positive that this is for an 18" doll, but it looks like it would work.  You can see it for yourself HERE.

Hope this helps with some Christmas shopping! :)

25% Off all Cecile and Marie-Grace at Americangirl.com

Hey guys!  Just a quick post today.  Americangirl.com is offering 25% off all Cecile and Marie-Grace items through November 13th.   I thought I'd mention it just in case anyone was interested. :)  This offer is also good on the anniversary edition mini dolls! :D 

The free shipping code has expired, but even so, this is a great deal if you were already thinking about purchasing any Cecile and Marie-Grace stuff. :)  [By the way, I know they're now saying "Marie-Grace and Cecile" on their site, but they had them listed as "Cecile and Marie-Grace" for so long that I can't think of them any other way. Silly, huh? ;)]

Have a great day, everyone!

New Items from Debonair Designs on EBay

There are two new knit sets up on eBay from Debonair Designs, with more on the way. :)

 "Snow Leopard"

Click HERE to see the auction. :)

"Tundra II"

Click HERE to view the auction.

More winter designs will be coming to her eBay listings soon! :D

Craigslist Goodies

Today, my mom noticed a local Craigslist ad that we'd somehow missed in the last week.  There was a lady selling a bunch of American Girl stuff, and since it was so close to us, we figured we should at least look! ;)
We ended up getting out of there after spending $40 between us.  Here's what we got:

A non-AG pink ballerina outfit (modeled by my middle daughter's Felicity doll):

A non-AG blue fancy dress (modeled by my youngest daughter's well-loved Alexander Girlz doll):

Marisol's kitten and dance bag, including her water bottle and energy bar (the original box was included):

A doll-sized pink American Girl hat, pink and white American Girl shirt, and pink and white shoes (doesn't Rachel look ADORABLE in this?):

A matching girl-sized pink American Girl hat:

She also had a bunch of American Girl books, a really cute off-brand 18" doll bunk bed, an American Girl wheelchair, leg cast and crutches, 3 cami and undies doll-sized sets, Honey, girl and doll-sized Honey pjs, girl and doll-sized Mia pjs, and three dolls:  Marisol, Rebecca, and My AG #29.  There may have been more, but that's what I can remember.

I must confess, I was really tempted by Rebecca.  I mean, not realistically tempted.  She wanted $70 for her, which was a good price considering her condition, but way more than I could afford right now.  I've always liked Rebecca, and this was the first time I'd seen one in person!  I don't really need another doll, though (especially since I just bought Hayden), and Rebecca and Hayden have very similar coloring.  All the same, it was kind of hard leaving her there. :}

Mom and I had a lot of fun.  We took my three girls with us, and they were very well behaved, even though we didn't leave with everything they liked. ;)  (I behaved myself, too.)

Maybe Rebecca won't sell and she'll lower the price.

Maybe pigs fly, too. ;)