Cookies From Clay For Doll House Plus Coffee Drinks DIY!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I don't know about you but sometimes I start a project and set it aside and it gets forgotten about for a while... Well, I do. Clear back in November I created some cookies out of clay from a Playdoh mold I found at a thrift store. They needed to dry for 24 hours so I set them aside... For five months. Hahaha. 

So I finished them up this weekend because I pulled the paint out for another project. I watched a video from the amazing American Girl Ideas about how to make lattes. Inspired, I decided to use half the idea (I am much much too lazy to make cups out of paper! LOL!) and fill a few of my Dollar Tree Tea Set cups with 'coffee' and paint them. Since I had the paints out, I remembered I had a bunch of cookies to paint too!  

Here are my cups filled with hot glue so I can paint it as coffee. I decided to just paint the hot glue with craft paint instead of using the puff paint as coffee.... Then I used white puff paint as 'whip cream' on my coffee's. I also decided to put 'coffee' in a few of the 'ceramic' cups I have too. One thing I hate about taking doll photos of them 'drinking coffee' is that the cups are always empty. Lame! So it'll be so nice to have some 'coffee' in the cups finally!

Being as I got back in the mood for doll food crafting (Watching American Girl Ideas videos will do that do you!) I decided to whip out a few more from the clay too! Gotta have something else to set aside for five months, right? Haha. Kidding! I also decided to make a couple glasses of 'milk' with just white craft glue and a straw put in a couple of communion cups. I don't know why I didn't do it before because they came out so cute! I am going to make more!

When I decided to put some 'milk' into one of the little creamer pitchers... And my puff paint bottle top popped off and made a huge mess. Like she says in the video though, if you mess up you can just wipe up the mess and start over. So I took a baby wipe, wiped away the paint and started over. 

Here are some of the drinks and such I created with the hot glue... You might notice the larger cups filled with 'something'? Well those are a botched idea. I hoped that the hot glue would dry clearer and I put little alphabet noodles in there hoping it would look like noodle soup. No such luck. Sometimes a craft just doesn't come out, eh? So I am not sure what I am going to do with them? I think I'll try to pry out the glue and start over but I am pretty sure it's stuck in there pretty good. So perhaps I'll paint over the top and make them really large coffees?

And here are some of the painted cookies! The chocolate chip cookies, the pink cookies with the cherry on top and the 'nutty bars' in the smaller jar in front are all ones I made from clay. I love how they came out honestly. So fun!

Then these are my 'Oreo' cookies. the white cream filling is white fun foam that I glued in the middle of the two clay Oreo rounds. I think they look awesome! I left two of the Oreos apart so they could have a couple of them open for photo shoots!

These little pink cookies with white flowers are ones I made out of clay... I think they came out so cute!!

So here are Heather Doll and Frann Doll enjoying some cookies and milk! Aren't they adorable!? So I am pretty sure I am going to be making a lot more doll drinks and cookies in the future cos it's so much fun!!

Better run!
Till Next Time!
XXOO

Heather

Bubblegum Eggs As Doll Eggs Dye Project Update!

Greetings Doll Friends!!

If you didn't see my post about bubblegum eggs as easter eggs for the dolls you'll have to go check it out because this is just kind of an update!

In that post I wanted to make some of the eggs as in process of 'being dyed' in cups for my photos. So I just put two eggs into a communion cup and dumped in clear craft glue much like I did with my dolly drinks. Sadly it just looked like Easter eggs in water but I took photos anyway because that was when I had time. Then I set the cups aside and kind of forgot them... I had planned to toss them when they dried but didn't want to make a mess in trash. (I'm typeA what can I say? They could've leaked!) So when I went to toss them this morning I was delighted to find that the dye had come off the gum and mixed with glue! Leaving plain white eggs in dye! Perfect!!

I added a tiny bit more glue to top to seal it in better but I think they are cool. Only question...? Will gum "rot"? I have no clue? I suppose I'll find out. I think once it's sealed in glue it should be ok? Eitherwise, for photos, of egg dying, they are perfect! So... If you have the bubble gum eggs for your dolls and want to make these all you do is take an empty communion cup  and put in two same colored eggs, squeeze in enough clear craft glue to cover them and then let them dry. As they are drying, the magic happens and the dye comes off the gum into the glue. Now I want to re-do my Easter Egg Dying Party photos. Maybe... So many ideas and never enough time to do them all! 

Don't they look real? I think they do! 

Better run! 

Till Next Time!
XXOO
Heather

Inexpensive DIY Doll Hurricane Lamp For 18 Inch Dolls!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!! 

I hope this finds you staying safe and warm in your cozy home on this mid-January day! They are forecasting ice storms here in the middle of the country and so we've done the grocery run and today after Church I am sure we are likely going to get iced in for a few days. As I say that I am breaking the 'rule' about not anticipating a 'snow day' from school but I think the entire area kind of is already expecting school to be called off tomorrow. It's days like that where the blessing of being able to work from home as I need to is a super blessing!! Rambling here and not even about doll related stuff... What's the weather like where you are? I guess I forget that I get a few international readers too and that someone reading this could very well be in a very warm place! If that's you, enjoy a beam of warm sunshine for me today!! 

Many Saturday's end up being eaten up with errands and such but yesterday ended up being a lazy day at the house and I had lots of time to work on doll projects. I changed rooms around for first time in months and that was fun. I left up the kitchen because I have quite a few 'food related' posts coming up but pulled down the 'living room' side of it and finally set up a 'bedroom' scene again. I've wanted to for months but I only have room in my doll space to set up two or maybe three rooms at a time so I have to pick and choose though. Maybe someday I'll have a doll space big enough to set them all up and leave them as they are? Ah, a girl can dream. Haha.

Speaking of dreaming... Yesterday I was sorting through my doll stuff, re-organizing things and whatnot. I pulled out some of the items I got on my Black Friday shopping spree with Frann Doll and had them all sitting together. I originally purchased this little salt & pepper set on a little silver tray at a thrift store that day and mostly bought it because of the little silver tray. It was a set though (marked like 30cents) and, being as the salt & pepper were doll sized and I thought they'd make good 'vases' I bought them. I also bought the little battery operated votives they sell at The Dollar Tree that day.

So, as I glanced up at both of them while I was working a 'lightbulb went off" in my head and I thought "I wonder if they'd work as a hurricane lamp??" So I opened the package of votives, turned one on and upended one of the salt & peppers on it. So. Stinking. Cute! Maybe it's just me but I think they look pretty much just like little hurricane lanterns!! They even work!! So for less than $2, I got two cute little operational hurricane lanterns for the Doll House. Fun!!

I didn't glue them on or anything because as an adult collector who just uses it all as props in photography sessions, I know they won't get knocked over (too often... I knock stuff over all the time in setting up scenes.... LOL!) and broken by rough play. So, depending on how you're going to use them, you might use a dab of clear craft or hot glue in a couple of dots around the base of the glass if you want it to be hooked together. 

Now I realize that half of the 'ingredients' to this craft were sourced at an obscure thrift store but I tend to see small bottles and salt & pepper sets at thrift stores pretty often and I think the idea would work with most any small bottle or salt & pepper set. So keep your eyes open for small bottles in your Thrifting adventures! I think it'd be kind of fun to have a few differently shaped ones sitting around the doll house. I thought it was fun that I came up with the idea just ahead of our upcoming ice storm too. Just in time!! If the power goes out in the Doll House, they'll have lamps to see by! 

Well, that's it for now Doll Friends! I have a few blog posts I want to finish this morning so stay tuned!!

Till Next Time!

XXOO
Heather

Black Friday Errands Shopping and A Doll Craft!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

Black Friday... I am not sure what your feelings are on it but it's never been something I've gone out and joined in on. Perhaps it's because when I was younger I worked in retail and always had to work for it so now I don't want to be at stores since I don't have to be at stores? Also, I am not all that fond of crowds and talk about crowds! Do you like to go out in the early morning and find the amazing sales? I can see the appeal of a really great deal on expensive electronics for instance... Still it's not ever something I've wanted to do for the reasons I've mentioned. 

That being said, the weather was really pretty on Friday and I needed to run an errand into 'town' to go get a parcel from Fed Ex. It was in the other close-by city I live near. This city is actually closer but since it's not the one I moved out of, it's always my second choice to travel to for errands. So, going there is kind of like an adventure! When I said that it was going to be an adventure, guess who wanted to jump in Jeep with me and go along for the ride? You guessed it! Frann Doll! She always likes to see new places she's never been before. 

When we got to the address of the Fed Ex place she and I both giggled... It looked a little bit like a fortress!! You had to walk up to that turnstile, mash a little button and speak into a speaker to a person who lets you in. Very secure! Frann was so brave! She walked right up and mashed that button like she owned the place. We went in and got the parcel and since we were in town anyway...

We decided to visit a few stores. We pondered "Which stores might not have crazy crowds?" because mostly we just wanted to get out and have a bit of fun window shopping. Then we thought "The Dollar Tree!" because they don't really have 'sales', they are just $1 for everything every day of the year. Perfect! We found one that was intriguing in that it was in a pretty brick building and very large... Might find some amazing stuff we never see in our regular Dollar Tree! Perfect!

"Come on! Lets go!" 

Then we decided another great place to go that might not have crazy crowds would be the local thrift stores. We started with Salvation Army and it turned out they had a Black Friday Sale! Half off everything in the store! How fun! We also went to two Goodwill stores but forgot to take photos of them as we were in the spirit of shopping by then. Haha.

We also needed to go to a Grocery to get a few things for the 'real' house... We found a Super Saver and got what we needed. 

Then, because it was such a nice day, we decided to stop into the Thrift Store in town before we headed home! It's becoming one of my favorites because proxity is important and it's a few minutes away! 

So what did we get? One great thing was these nail kits! The minute I saw them I knew I wanted to buy them and mix them together for a doll kitchen item. See the little bottles of glitter in the lower kit? They were perfectly doll sized for little spice containers or whatnot for the dollies. The little 'fruits' in the other kit would be perfect little 'candies' to go into the bottles! I didn't know for certain if my little idea would work but for $2 total investment, I decided to give it a go...

And I love how they came out!!! Aren't they cute?!?

One caveat!! When I brought home the kits my daughter saw them and said "oh mom I have some of those fruity things in a nail kit I got and never used... do you want them too?" Um, yes! So three of the jars (the more full ones) have an extra "serving" of the fruit bits. So if you decide to get some for yourself, if you want extra full jars, buy two "fruit" kits! I will probably buy a few more if I happen to see them again (Not all Dollar Tree's are created equally!) cos I think they'd be super cute on "baked goods" like cakes made out of bottle caps or whatnot... So I'll be looking for more. When will I learn to just buy twice as much of everything at Dollar Tree! But I always think "what if my idea doesn't work?" I am so cheap I don't even like to to 'waste' a couple of dollars. Haha

I also got these at the Dollar Tree. I needed the extension cords!! I've got some doll lamps for the doll house that I've never been able to plug in because the cords wouldn't reach the plugs in the room. So I was delighted to find some for $1 each! The lights I am going to try and decorate around the doll house with. I don't need them for a tree because I already got a Christmas Tree from Walmart for the Doll House and it's a pre-lit one. Pre-lit tree's are not my favorite but you can't seem to find a non pre-lit tree much anymore... So you gotta do what you gotta do. Right?

What did I get at the Thrift stores? Here is the 'haul' of the day... I don't really 'need' all those many Easter baskets but they are perfectly doll sized and only $1.99 for the whole bag! Had to get them. The molds I am going to try and make some doll sized cakes or cookies with. I love love love the milk jugs! I am going to re-paint them white so they'll look real but they are perfect sized!! SO cute! Naturally the stockings will be for the dollies. The rug beater made me laugh... So old school I wasn't sure what I would do with the Santa shaped bottle but it was too cute to pass up. 

So that was our adventures on Black Friday! What did you do that day?

Better run for now...
Till Next Time!
XXOO
 Heather

Inexpensive American Girl Doll Lollipop DIY From Dollar Tree Items!

Hi Doll Friends,

Being as it is nearly Halloween, I've been a bit obsessed with figuring out how to make some doll sized candies. So I've been keeping my eyes open as I am out and about for "doll sized candy" sized items... With that in mind, the other day I went to The Dollar Tree. 

What did I find but some party favors and cupcake picks in the Baby Shower section that I thought would make perfect doll sized lollipops and suckers!

So I brought them home thinking I'd paint them with craft paint... But as I looked at the paint colors in my craft paint box I thought "I wish I had something brighter and more 'candy' colored" Then it hit me! Nail Polish!!

I have always loved nail polish... I generally buy the 'cheapy' kind at the Dollar Tree because as far as I can tell, they are not a whole lot different than the more expensive brands. I mean, when you can get five colors for the same price as one 'more expensive' brand of nail polish and still get great colors, I don't see any need to pay more. I digress... Back to the doll talk! I had some fun colors on hand already that I started with... I thought it made sense to color each different color of 'baby rattle' a different 'flavor'. 

Then I bought these three colors at the Dollar General the next morning... I love how bright they are and I think they really do look like doll sized suckers. When I took these photos a few of them were only about half done because, just like when you paint your fingernails, the trick to making them look nice was several coats of polish. You may be able to tell that the blue lollipops are a bit lightly colored and they look much darker now that I have them fully painted. I was just so excited to come show ya'll the idea in case you also need candy for your doll Halloween party or trick or treat bags. Maybe you'll have time to get them done before the big day next Monday! I also put a clear coat of polish over all of them after I was all done painting on a few coats. Even so, you'll want to always be careful with any brightly colored doll craft around doll 'skin' just to be on the safe side... I have learned the hard way about color or ink transfer on doll skin when you leave something on them or in their hand for a long period of time. I hadn't even considered issuing a caution until a member of a doll group I am in on Facebook brought it up because they'd had something 'polished' stain a doll in the past. So I just wanted to be sure and pass that caution along. 

I think they look so cute! I plan to pick up another box of the 'rattles' the next time I am at Dollar Tree because it'd be fun to have more 'flavors' and even after Halloween, I'll need goodies for the sweet shoppe and such... Right? So... I hope you have fun making your dollies somes candy! If you try it out, I'd love to see photos!!

Till next time!!
XXOO
Heather

DIY Cookies From Buttons for 18Inch Dolls!

Greetings Doll Friends!

I have become obsessed with doll food lately... I also have a huge bucket of buttons because I sew and craft... So I started brainstorming "buttons and doll food? How could I use them?" Then it hit me! Cookies!

So I dug out my buttons and found some about correct size compared to the Our Generation 18inch doll cookies I already have and painted them with craft paint. First a coat of lights brown, then sploshed on darker brown and then really dark brown for chocolate chips. I wanted them more "durable" so after they dried overnight I painted them with two coats of clear nail polish. The holes in buttons, I painted them all as chocolate chips to hide them a bit... 

I like how they turned out! Not bad for a craft I did with "on hand" stuff! 

Then the smaller "cookies" are also buttons I painted with two browns. As you can see, I had cut them off a shirt to use in a future project...

 Now I am on a roll... Thinking "Hmm... what else can buttons be?" I plan to do more cookies I think and maybe some suckers or other candy? Also gonna start looking for buttons on kids clothes at thrift for cute buttons to make into cookies! 

This is them next to the Our Generation Cookie. Have to admit they don't look realistic at all next to that but.... I still like them. 

Once you have them on a doll sized cookie sheet or in a doll's hand though, they look reasonably like real cookies. 

This way, there is enough for more dolls!

Here is a view of kitchen from top... I think it's fun to take photos that way sometimes because you can see more of the details you otherwise miss because a doll is standing in the way. Don't mind the toes of one of the baby sibling dolls in the lower right hand side... Photo bomb!! Haha.

Of course I always have to do a bit of the black and white photos because they are so much fun... At least to me. 

You should try and make a some button cookies of your own! If you do, I would love to see them!! Better run... Have quite a few blog drafts sitting waiting to be written and am hoping to get a few of them publised today!

So... Till next time!!
XOXO
Heather

Inexpensive Doll Ring DIY For 18Inch Dolls!

Hi Doll Friends!!

Doll rings! I have wanted some for the dolls but they are pretty expensive to purchase... I've looked for ways to make them before but most of what I saw involved bending wire and such... Intimidating. 

Then one day on Pinterest I saw this idea... Or rather I thought I did. It turns out I recalled incorrectly what "ingredients" I needed for it and bought wrong ones. However... What I bought worked pretty well!!

I took something so simple and about two minutes to make what looks like little jeweled rings! Here Diane doll is wearing an "emerald"!

So pretty! They are so inexpensive and so easy, you can make one (or even several!) for all your dolls!

The "ingriedients" cost be about $5 to make as many as 78 rings! Or more of you went to make plain "gold" ones.

Which looks kind of pretty too, don't you think?

A diamond ring.... How fun!

To make a ring, you simply adhere a little jewel to the round part of the paper fastener. Then bend out the little "legs" into a round shape (you kind of have to play with it a bit with shaping it...) and fit it around dollies finger. 

I am sure I will be making rings for all my dollies.... You should make some for yours! This would make a great craft to do at a doll party even... You could also use other small embellishments instead of the stick on jewels.... What do you think would be a good alternative?

Better run! 

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather