Healing Hands, Gentle Heart

living the AG life; take pity on a crafting neophyte. 

[americangirlstar]

American Girl Dolls (30/?)  

Caroline Abbott ~ 1812

“Stay steady.” she ordered herself. She forced herself to stand and wait for the terrible order to burn the shipyard. It was the hardest thing she had ever done. Her knees trembled with longing to race after the fleeing soldiers. I will not run, Caroline told herself fiercely. I will not abandon Mama. I will do whatever I must. She repeated those words in her mind over and over.

See the light as it shines on the sea? It’s blinding But no one knows how deep it goes And it seems like it’s calling out to me so come find me And let me know what’s beyond that line? Will I cross that line?

first released 11 August 2012

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[americangirlstar]

American Girl Dolls (6/?)  

Maria Josefina Montoya Romero ~ 1824

A flock of birds, startled by the sound, rose up with a great exuberant fluttering of wings. Josefina smiled. She knew just how those birds felt. Her heart rose up with them into the endless blue sky.

Remember me, though I have to say goodbye Remember me, don’t let it make you cry For even if I’m far away I hold you in my heart I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart

first released 21 August 1993

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[in-the-dollpalace]

You know what I think would be cool? If they did reprint translations of certain characters meet books in a language that relates to them. Like they could do Josefina in Spanish, Kirsten in Swedish, Kaya in her indigenous language of her tribe, Rebecca in Hebrew or Yiddish, etc. I would be so cool and little kids who see themselves represented in these characters would feel even more so if they could read it in their language. Idk just an idea I had.

[doll-collecting-aerialist]

Some of the AG books are available in Braille!

http://www.braillebookstore.com/American-Girls-Collection

American Girls Collection | The Braille Bookstore

Also I can’t find it on Google, but I do remember one of my friends had a Russian copy of Meet Rebecca as a kid.

[changesforminnesota]

I have Josefina Learns a Lesson in Spanish! I’ve been thinking about hunting down the rest of her collection in Spanish.

[lesbiansamanthaparkington]

i know the term “valid” gets tossed around a lot here on tumblr dot com to the point it cant always be taken seriously but this fandom is so kind and wonderful i just feel compelled to say if you only have one doll, you’re valid if you have a huge collection, you’re valid if you’ve had your first doll since you were a kid, you’re valid if you’re an adult and only just got your first doll, you’re valid dolls bought at the ag store? valid. dolls bought off ebay or thrift shopping? valid. doll given as a gift to you? valid you’re valid if you grew up reading the books, and you’re valid if you didn’t make a ton of stuff for your dolls? valid aren’t an arts and craftsy person or great sewer? valid people who buy off brand doll clothes and furniture bc they cant afford ag stuff? valid people who don’t have a lot of money to go around cant cant usually afford new dolls/dresses/furniture/diy supplies? super valid this fandom is full of respectful, kind, clever, and talented people and having you all here really does make this fandom……..pleasant company

[felicitymerriman]

Okay sorry the pics are not great but is this new?? This is my first time being to an AG store in a while, and they have all the girls up, not just the ones they’re selling, and those that they didn’t re-release are in their original outfits.

also SO funny to me that they put Molly in her original meet, like they’re just pretending the quick re-release and Costco drop didn’t happen.

[americangirlstar]

me, adding explicitly gay songs to the american girl playlists: if american girl won’t give us rights then by god i will 

[desertdollranch]

I spent yesterday evening working on some cloaks for my custom historical girls. Susanna’s brown cloak and Eleanor’s plaid were made from thrift store skirts. Judith’s flannel cloak is lined in forest green cotton. All three have hoods with a gathered back. I used the Ivy Cape pattern by Melody Valerie Couture. 

[ill-be-back-soon]

The mysterious doll holders! Patented by Pleasant Company in 1987, these odd contraptions allowed dolls to hold things like books or pencils. They look weird, but I kind of want a few now...

[desertdollranch]

I had no idea that they held the patent to this! It looks like it fell out of use probably after Mattel came along. 

[fyeahamericangirl]

We have a bunch of PC catalogues dating back to ca. 1993 and I don't recall having seen these, so I think they went out of use fairly early on. A shame, because those look insanely useful and I desperately want some now that I know they were a thing. As a kid I spent so much time frustrated with stuff not staying in my dolls' hands!

[fyeahamericangirl]

Update: So I got out the PC catalogues and here it is in one from 1995:

In fact, it's still listed as part of Samantha's birthday party treats in a catalogue from 2005, though the holder is no longer visible in the photography:

I guess I stand corrected!

[benbunny]

This movie is so sweet! Definitely made it up to my AG favorites

[kaileeandag]

This really was quite good. The attention to detail on how things in the 70s looked was spot on.

[akinas-shave-ice]

i am the most easily frightened person ever but if a scary story centers around a haunted/possessed/evil doll or stuffed animal i’m 100% uninvested. dude that’s not scary at all those guys are my friends what are you talking about.

[desertdollranch]

People will ride dangerous roller coasters, drive without wearing a seatbelt, swim with sharks, and go skydiving, all in the same day..... but then come home and say they’re scared of a doll? Can’t relate.

[desertdollranch]

So I managed to get my hands on some vintage American Girl magazines...

Now take a look at this poll from the November/December 1996 magazine. 

“American Girl readers think the U.S. will have its first female president within 24 years.”

2020 marked 24 years since this issue was published! With VP-elect Harris, we came close but not quite all the way. 

And then in the March/April 1997 issue was this letter to the editor:

If Hayley is 11 in 1996 (when she presumably wrote that letter), she could possibly have turned 35 in 2020, depending on when her birthday is. How cool would it be to see her run for president in 2024? 

[akinas-shave-ice]

my dolls falling over, thus creating a domino effect and sending all ten of them plummeting, is going to be the last thing to finally push me over the edge

[in-pleasant-company]

American Girl Samantha stories + @edwardiansuggestions

[benbunny]

I love the little blurbs for (some of) the historicals in the new catalogue! It reminds me of how they used to explain part of the story for each historical, so you could decide which one you wanted based on character, not just the way they looked. I think this is the first time Maryellen’s marketing mentioned polio, right?

[desertdollranch]

DIY Caroline’s Parlor

Welcome to Caroline’s parlor! 

Caroline is here to take you on a tour of the most cozy part of the Abbott house, the place where her family gathers and spends time together. 

This is probably my most ambitious DIY project to date. But it’s a project I’ve been wanting to make ever since I got my Caroline doll last year. She has so little in her collection, and sometimes that makes it hard to figure out what to do with her. I wanted to give her something grand and special, just for her. 

Making it wasn’t too challenging, rather just incredibly time-consuming. I must have put in at least a full 24 hours of work into it. It involved lots of measuring, labeling, and cutting of the foam board, and lots of hot glue to hold it all together. And I didn’t even need plans or a pattern; I just looked at the original piece from Caroline’s retired collection, and based it off of that.

All in all, though, I only spent maybe $10 to create my own version of it. $6 for six pieces of foam board, and a few dollars on extra things like scrapbook paper and hot glue sticks. The original cost $300, and since its retirement the price on the secondhand market has only gone up. Shipping fees on it are outrageous and can run close to $100.  

What I also like about having my own version is that I can make it proportional to Caroline! The original piece is scaled absurdly small, so much so that she can’t fully fit into that window seat. I also get to customize it and add my own little details to it. She’s still young, so some things might be a little out of reach.

The drawback is that mine is a little less functional. The drawers don’t open, there’s no storage compartment under the window seat, the painting above the mantle doesn’t have a mirror on the reverse side, and the fireplace doesn’t light up like the original. I’m also missing the embroidered fire screen, but I’m still figuring out how to make that. In the meantime, this is more or less complete. 

Now Caroline and Inkpot are going to show you around the parlor and explain along the way how I did it and what I used. In case this inspires anyone to try making their own just like this. I would be thrilled if someone did.  

I’ll put this under a cut for length. Now let’s begin in the middle.

Keep reading

[themermaidsunshine]

Look at this incredible craftsmanship! So inspiring!

[nellieandsamantha]

Can everyone share their first AmericanGirl story?

For me I have two sisters and if my family was going to get an expensive doll everyone would get one (my sister is still bitter because she wanted a PlayStation instead)

But I begged and BEGGGGED for Samantha. Oh how I loved her. I loved her stories and my mom knew everything about her.

So for Christmas one year my mom schelped ya to Chicago and we each got to pick out our American Girl Dolls.

I got Samantha, my middle sister (the one who wanted the PlayStation) got Kaya, and my youngest sister got Kit.

I have them all now because they grew out of them but I never did.

Even if I have to sell all my other dolls those three will go no where.

[desertdollranch]

Cool idea! 

For me, I read all the books a full year and a half before I got a doll. I was six when I got Samantha’s Surprise at the elementary school book fair, and saw the little punch-out mail order catalog form in the back. And even after reading through all the books and loving all the characters, I always knew it would be Kirsten for me. She was everything I wanted to be and I knew we’d be best friends. We still are! She’s got her imperfections and flaws but that’s all on the outside. On the inside, she’s still the same. 

[luciana-vega-is-flawless]

I got my first doll for my ninth birthday. My parents wrapped the catalogue itself. I still have it and it’s very worn at this point. I picked out American Girl Today #16 but for some reason, they sent me #2 instead, who’s a lot like #16 but with a darker skin tone. Well, I get attached to things so quickly that there was no sending her back! I’d send a picture but she’s lost in storage at the moment ):

[starboardcaroline]

bring 👏 them 👏 bACK!!! BRING 👏 THEM 👏 BaCk