Life's A Happy Song? Strategies for Sick and Rainy Days

Just needed a little Muppet pick me up this morning.  From The Muppets.

Woke up to a foggy day outside, and still no let up on the chicken pox for The Peanut.  Our house is a germy pit of despair for a wee girlie who just wants to go back to school. 

So we continue to muddle forward slowly, hoping that they will begin to dry up at some point in the near future. Being a parent with a sick and stir crazy child at home can be tedious and exhausting for everyone, especially mom.  (I am so there this morning, let me tell you.)

I've been sitting here wracking my brain for things to do with the sickly wee one that don't involve a lot of energy expenditure, and here's what I've come up with for us for the next few days:

-- Coloring:  We always have a stash of coloring books, crayons and colored pencils on hand because you never know when a sick day/snow day/torrential rain in the summer day will show up.  Diversionary tactics are my friend.

-- Reading:  The Peanut has already read 4 books in the last 4 days.  Okay, sure...two of them were Goosebumps books, but the other two were the first two books in the Sisters Grimm series which we are both absolutely loving right now.  (Highly recommend the Sisters Grimm for the kids or grandkids in your life!)

Making Easter Bonnets For 18-inch Dolls

Don't know about you, but my morning will be spent with glue gun in hand today.

We're making Easter Bonnets again for today's doll club meeting at The Peanut's school, and momma is woefully behind in getting ribbon glued around the brims of the hats in advance of getting things together for the girls to make their individual hats.

Here are instructions for making them for your own girlie or dollie (as the case may be).  They turn out really adorable, and are relatively inexpensive compared to what you'd pay for a fully made one from the more expensive 18-inch doll lines.

If you'll pardon me, I have about 15 more hats to assemble...

Dolled Up: Some American Girl Ideas

'Tis the season to spend huge amounts of money on American Girl doll accessories and outfits.  Or not, if you are crafty enough to make a few things or smart enough to shop around a little bit.

It can take some work, but you can, indeed, find some doll bargains even this close to Christmas that will wow your wee girlie.

One thing we have learned: the quality of the American Girl doll itself isn't really matched by the poorer quality of any of the knock-off dolls we've played with or seen.  When it comes to the doll itself?  I recommend spending the money on an American Girl doll.

If you aren't wedded to an 18-inch doll, there are some lovely dolls from Hearts 4 Hearts girls that are a lovely quality, too -- but your options for knock-off clothing will be limited because they are a smaller size.  But they are also significantly cheaper, and I wanted to mention them in case someone might be interested in a cheaper starter doll.  The nice thing about these dolls is that part of the purchase price goes to support charitable food and education programs for kids, and there is a booklet with each doll talking about things that can be done in communities around the world to help the less fortunate.

The Peanut has Consuelo from Mexico and loves her -- she really is a beautiful doll -- but none of the clothing we have for her American Girl doll fits, so beware that these are not interchangeable doll sizes.

Making Hats For Doll Club

I've spent my morning with glue gun in hand, cutting ribbons and gluing like crazy for next week's doll club meeting at The Peanut's school.

Each month we meet, the girls share something about their dolls, and we make a little craft with them and have snacks.  For April, we decided an "Easter Bonnet" would be lovely -- and very fun for the girls to make.

But to get things staged to the point where the girls can take over?  It's taking a bit of work on my end.

I bought some mini-doll straw hats in the 6-inch size at a local craft store.  Found them in the doll aisle -- they were the largest size they had, and the crown just fits on The Peanut's American Girl doll perfectly.

Conversation Heart Cakes

I've been helping with Doll Club at The Peanut's school this year, and having a lot of fun hanging out with the girls and making fun crafts and food for the monthly meeting.

Today, we are making a friendship pin with a heart and some pink and red beads on it as our craft.  And I'm making something fun as one of the snacks.

I actually got the idea from the "Eat Me" cakes I made for The Peanut's Alice in Wonderland birthday party last year.

It occurred to me that making the little heart-shaped cakes that I bought from Little Debbie look like those candy conversation hearts would be really cute, using frosting tubes to write things like "Luv U" and "Cute" and such.

Happily, they are making the little pink heart-shaped cakes again this year.  Yay!

School Christmas Party Day...And More Snow

Today is the class Christmas party at The Peanut's school, and I've got a box full of decorations and games and a craft to take over because I'm helping organize them this year.

And what is it doing outside, you ask?

Pouring the snow down, so quickly the local snow plow folks are having trouble keeping up this morning.

It has that "early dismissal" feel to things today. 

So a few parents are going over early to make certain that the large stockings we got for their treat bags get filled with some goodies that they can at least take home with them today.  Just in case.

Stop By The Woods On A Snowy Morning

It's feeling a bit Robert Frost-y here this morning, with more snow and a fierce cold outside.

I managed to capture a snowflake or two this morning from our front porch.  The flakes were those huge, fluffy sugar snowflakes.

Having a new camera is fun.

A Word About American Girl Knock-Off Dolls

I've had a couple of questions about 18-inch dolls that are knock-off versions of American Girl dolls (since my last post about them), and I wanted to address them for folks:

The Peanut owns an American Girl "Just Like Me" doll.  "Natalie" is pictured here at our recent tea party and, as you can see, she gets a lot of outfit changes (as well as tiara time) at this house.

That said, other friends have dolls from other lines that are lovely and also well-loved by the girls who own them.  If your child is not big on labels, there are dolls in just about every price range that might fit what you want:  Our Generation dolls at Target (I've actually been thinking about getting The Peanut an Our Generation Sydney doll as a "friend" for Natalie, but not for Christmas this year -- for her birthday, if she expresses interest still in another doll); Friends Boutique dolls at WalMart that are made by Lillian Vernon (who has a similar line that is made for Toys-R-Us as well); or Springfield Collection dolls at craft stores like A.C. Moore or Michaels.

While the knock-off dolls can be nice for a while, I've noticed a couple of issues with them that have not been issues for us with the American Girl doll.

1)  The hair on the knock-off lines just does not stay as nice.  With repeated combing or play, and especially if your child is going to sleep with the doll and muss it around a lot, the hair on the knock-off dolls gets really snarly and tough to comb back out.  If you braid it back out of the way, you can stave off the snarling a bit longer, according to a mom whose daughter has had a knock-off for a while.  I asked because I'm thinking about a knock-off as a second doll for The Peanut -- one expensive American Girl doll is enough for us, I think.

But the significant hair issues with the knock-off lines that I've seen have given me pause because The Peanut is a bit of a hair stylist wanna be, and her doll gets lots of hair clip love.  A half-balding doll is not a pretty sight, so I haven't decided if this is the route we will go -- or if Natalie will just have to be content with Barbie coming for a sleepover instead.  (The things you think of for your kids, eh?)

A Cute, Crafty American Girl Present Idea

Last year, during the American Girl holiday gift palooza that was our Christmas (because momma couldn't help herself...sigh), I got The Peanut a kit that had some plain shirts and some embellishment items in it for us to make together for her doll.

It was a book, with lots of craft ideas in it, along with three long-sleeved t-shirts and items you could use to make some of the ideas.

It's published and packaged by American Girl, retails for around $15 (sometimes less if you look), and was, I thought, a really cute and fun idea.  It's called Doll Tees: Sparkling Shirts to Make Your Doll Shine!

When you consider how much just a shirt usually costs from American Girl for one of their dolls, getting three shirts, a craft book and embellishment materials for $15 is really a good buy.  Especially when you can purchase your own crafting materials and other cheaper shirts down the road, but still use the craft book for ideas going forward.

Some of the book's ideas included felt and other items, though, which had to be purchased separately from the kit, so be forewarned that you may make a trip to the craft store depending on what your child falls in love with in the idea book.  You'll also want to purchase some craft glue that works with fabric and gems/sequins before you give this as a gift, especially if your child really loves this sort of thing and will want to make one right away, because the kit does not come with any glue.

Since The Peanut loves anything that has to do with a craft, I thought it would be a big hit.  And I was right.

Creativity's Calling

The Peanut only has a half day of school today.  They've been studying Ireland the past couple of weeks for an International Day performance and feast at lunch, and then she'll be done for the day.

For the record, I've made a big pan of colcannon and some scones to take over for the feast today.  

But since The Peanut will be home about noon or so, I'm trying to come up with several options of things to do. 

One thing we should definitely get started on is putting up some of the easier Christmas decorations.  The last couple of years, I've started putting them out in bits and pieces instead of trying to do it all at once, and that makes a huge difference for me in terms of how tired I get while decorating.  If I pace myself a little better, it's less difficult for me and everyone around me.

So, there's decorating.  Sure.

But what else?  She's not going to be content to just tote stuff around, even if it is Santa-related.  So I'm trying to come up with something crafty for us to do this afternoon.

Tea Party For Two

As a surprise yesterday, I put dinner together for The Peanut and I as a tea party.  The table was set and waiting for her to come home from school.

And the look on her face was absolutely priceless.  Wish I'd gotten a picture of it.

But I did get pictures of bits and pieces of the table setting for you.  The whole thing took about an hour of my time to throw together from start to finish, and she had a blast having a "tea party" dinner last night.

And so did I.

Since we had her birthday party in an Alice in Wonderland theme last year, we still have all this cute tea party stuff and plush toys.  I used a few of them for table decor -- the flippable Alice/Queen of Hearts dolland a small Cheshire Cat were happy to oblige.

I found that cute little polka dot tea set for less than ten bucks at Target several years ago.  We have played more with that one little set than just about any other toy she has -- and even though it is ceramic, she's never broken one dish.

As you can see, our little kitchen table was covered with fun stuff, mostly with flowers or polka dots on it -- but it looked really adorable altogether.

Found A Great (Cheaper!) Doll Bed!

All this talk about American Girl dolls today reminded me that I'm in search of a bed for her doll for this year's present.  Guess what The Peanut will be getting for Christmas?

This adorable bunk bed and closet combination.

(Sure hope she doesn't read momma's blog between now and then!)

It is wooden -- not cheap-o, breakable plastic -- and is bunk beds, which The Peanut loves.

And it comes with an attached closet for clothes which is handy for organizing in The Peanut's bedroom.  I think we'll use the little top shelf for a doggie bed for her little Coconut doll.

I can make a pillow for that, right?  Even without awesome sewing skills, I should be able to put something together that will work for that space for a stuffed, toy doggie bed.  Right?!?  (I doubt my crafty skills, but we'll see.  I'll put a picture up when the bed arrives and I've finished my handiwork.)

It is adorable -- and a little over $30 cheaper than the single bed I'd been looking at on the American Girl website.  Plus, I got free shipping when I ordered.  Bonus!

Making An American Girl Doll More Affordable

WalletPop has an article on the expense of American Girl dolls and all their many accessories.

It can tally around $600 if you get all the doll bling, apparently, and given how much bling there is to buy?  That's not shocking.

Then we checked out the latest accessories. If I was inclined, I could have bought our dolls a new polo pony, guitar, wheelchair, glasses, beauty salon, snowboard, camping gear and snorkeling equipment.

The girls selected one of 30 possible styles and watched as “stylists” turned their dolls into super models. The girl behind the counter said they do up to 300 of these hairstyles per day. Scared that more than 2,000 people every week decide they have $20 extra to spend on a hairstyle for a doll, and comforted that I wasn’t the only parent who had $20 extra to spend on a hairstyle for a doll.

Since Christmas season is just around the corner, I want to share some of what we've done with The Peanut's American Girl doll, Natalie, to make it (at least a little) more affordable.  We got her a "Just Like Me" doll last year for Christmas, and so this is all pretty recent -- and The Peanut regularly plays with her as a 7 year old, so we have many years of fun to go.

1.  The American Girl website has some fantastic sales, you just have to look for them.  Especially this time of year, they do a spotlight sale which rotates items weekly, plus sales on items that go with the historical dolls that have occurred the last two Octobers that I've been watching.  They also have a clearance area that, while somewhat scanty at the moment, can be full of lovely things at seriously slashed prices during the summer (which is when I pick up bits and pieces for The Peanut's doll and store them away for Christmas).

2.  Craft stores like A.C. Moore, Michaels, and others sell a lower quality American Girl knock-off doll from the "Springfield Collection" which is perfect if you have a child that (a) doesn't care about the branding/a particular historical doll or (b) you aren't certain they will like the doll so you want a cheaper one for a test run.