A Very Important Post

Hi Everyone,
This is going to be about the hardest post I've ever written.
Lots of you will be sad.
Most already know where I'm going with this.

I fear this blog's days are coming to an end. I have enjoyed posting so much, it has been a fun experience. I hope to maybe start a different blog about something else in the future. But for now, I am putting blogging days not entirely behind me, but at least slowing them way down. Many of you have been commenting or asking yourselves..."Why hasn't she posted?" I did want to add some closure rather than letting my blog become one of those that just never got another post.

Why, you ask? Well, the interest in litterally playing with my dolls has come to an end, through a long and slow fade. My doll life, in it's hayday, consisted of photo stories and a whole imaginative world that went on inside me. It was so much fun! I can't do anything about it, but that suddenly just left me. I know some of you will have trouble understanding this, but I can't FORCE myself to play dolls. It wouldn't be the same, and it would be almost wrong. All of you will reach this point someday...when other things like school, work and hobbies crowd your doll life out. Honestly, I also needed the space that my dolls took up in my room! (hahaha)

I don't hate my dolls now. I love them. More so than I did before. It's just one of those sad growing up things. My dolls bring back so many great memories! They are a huge chunk of my life. Every year I have lived I have spent considerable time enjoying my dolls. And I still do plan to enjoy them! Let me show you how...

This is where all of my dolls are now! On a shelf where I can totally enjoy them! I have selected out my favorite outfits to keep in my closet so that when each season changes, I will take all my dolls down and dress them in something else, and perhaps do their hair a bit differently. They are wearing their fall clothes now, and they will soon be wearing clothes for Christmas! I maybe will do a post at Christmas too, like a photo shoot. We'll see how much time I have. See, I still want my dolls to be a part of my life, just not with a huge house and tons of furniture and clothes and a blog to keep up with!

So, what happened to my furniture anyway? Well, currently some of it is in the basement in boxes. I have a younger sister, but she is too young to handle some of my nice accesories and furniture yet. I am saving them for when she is older and will certainly encourage her to take part in the wonderful world of American Girls when she gets to that point!

I am not trying to persuade you to give up your love of dolls, NOT in the least! By all means... Enjoy it while it lasts!

I put up 2 poll in the corner. Please vote on them!

Thank you for reading this, and all my other posts! I will miss this chapter of my life, but I'm excited as I move on to a new phase!

~Rachel, Doll Girl

Looking Back (11)

Another looking back today! For the first day of fall, I thought I would do a looking back picture from a trip I went on a few years ago.

We stayed at my Grandpa's cabin way out in the middle of nowhere! It was fall, so the temperature was great and we had so much fun fishing and exploring out in the woods. Kit went with me, and here she is standing in front of the cabin.

My shadow looks enormous! I was wearing a coat. :)

Awards

Sorry these are so late!
Priya's:

And Caelen's:

Been so busy! There hasn't been much posting time! So sorry about that!

Good job Priya!

Nice job Priya. You won! I will make your award soon and post it.
The doll was...Marie Grace!

In the mean time, here's a harder one.....

Guess the AG Doll!

I got this idea from American Girl Playground! It's a guessing game. So...Guess which AG doll this is:

First person to guess correctly gets an award!
And, do you like this game, should I do it again?

Looking Back (10)

Here is another looking back picture! As it gets cold and more fall like outside, I wanted to share this one of Rebecca. I dressed her up as a teacher two septembers ago, when I first got Doll School! Isn't she cute?

Sorry there's been a real lack of posts this week. I've been so busy! More coming soon, I hope. :)

Looking Back (9)

A day late...and I don't have much time, but...

These are a few photos from 2 1/2 years ago, when I had am outdoor party for my dolls! They're playing games on the bench in these pictures!

Photo Shoot with Samantha!

With all this rain and cool weather, Samantha and I had to get outside during a break in the weather for a photo shoot! :)

Vote. Which photo is your favorite?

Kit Plays Playdoh!

Hi! It's rainy today, so I (Kit) decided to play playdoh.

Playdoh is fun to squish and squeeze!

I'm making my handprint!

Isn't it great?!?!

Next, I made a family of snakes.

When I finished playing with them, I smushed them all together!

I'm going to show you how to make a pizza now. First make a ball.

Then smush it flat.

Make a littler ball now...

and form it to look like sauce!

Add that to your pizza!

Now for cheese, make tiny snakes.

And make a LOT of them!

For pepperonis, make some tiny balls...

and smush them flat!

Tada!

The options are endless as to what you can make when you play play doh!

Note from Rachel---Be sure and check out my new pages at the top! I am adding more slowly. :) And, I'm attempting to lable ALL my posts, so bear with me as I do that!

How to Sew a Cape!

Hi, Samantha and I here! It has been our dream for a long time to sew a regency looking doll cape. You know, the kind they wore in the early 1800s to keep warm. I don't have any very heavy weight fabric, but I did have some fuzzy warm stuff to make it out of. My directions on how are sort of shadowy, but with a good sewing machine, this project should take 30 mins or less!

First kind of cut out a cone shape with a scoop top.

Measure it by putting it on your doll, and round out the corners or the bottom so they're not pointy.

Finish the edges (the two sides and hem the bottom) whatever way you want. Various people do it various ways.

Then...Make four little gathers on the neck of your cape.

Sew them on the machine!

Now, get a hooded jacket or something hooded that your own for you dolls and use it as a pattern for the cape's hood. Fold it in half and cut around it.

Like so. Finish the two STRAIGHT edges, NOT the rounded one.

See? Now, you'll need to sew  WITH RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER from there, where my finger is...

Around to there, where my finger is in this picture.

tada! Try the hood on your doll and make sure it fits!

Then sew the bottom of the hood to the neck of your cape.

Try it on. Now you need to measure for ties. You should know how to make ties if you know anything about sewing. Again, different people do them various ways.

Then, where the hood is long than the cape, sew the ties like I did in the photo.

And you're done! Here's what it's like with the hood down.

Hood up.

I hope this is helpful to you! Please comment if you decide to make one! :)
Happy Labor Day!