These photos are online for my friends at the Society of American Girl Collectors! :)


The goal: to give this baby doll a makeover to look more "old-fashioned." This is a 5" Berenguer baby, purchased at Toys R Us for under $2! What is so nice about it is that the eyes are inset (not painted), it is full-body vinyl, and every limb is jointed (including the head!).


Here is the miniature doll after an "extreme" makeover! Adapting patterns for a 20" doll, I made a bonnet, diaper, sacque, and blanket (no pattern needed--it's easy!), all in an antique white flannel/lace.


Here is Molly with the little Berenguer baby in its new outfit. The doll would be about a 15" baby doll for an American Girl, if she were full-sized. It would be about a 10" baby doll for a My Twinn (what we are using it for). Baby dolls come in all different sizes, so it works well for either scale!


The seal above was knitted following the instructions in World of Knitted Toys, but Kath Dalmeny. The projects in the book are unbelievable! This is one of the easier/smaller ones (most projects are even okay for beginners, like me!), even though they tend to use size 3 needles, so be prepared for a lot of knitting! I knitted this, Fall 2005. Then I moved on to a bigger project . . .


. . . a two-foot gorilla! The first photo shows the whole gorilla. The second is a close-up that details the face (including eybrows and nostril ridges!). The third shows one of the hands up close. (I wasn't bargaining for this to end up so big! Oops!)





This is a knitting basket I made for a '50s-era My Twinn (not pictured). I cut the handle off a miniature basket, then lined the basket with a retro fabric (I sewed five pieces of material together, then put elastic around the top).
The yarn is mostly wool crewel yarn, rolled into tiny balls. The knitting needles were cut in half from real ones, sharpened to points in a pencil sharpener, and painted. The miniature scissors are old scissors my grandfather had. We don't know what they were originally meant for.
This craft was free--everything was found about the house--and was super easy and fun to make. You can do it! :)




This is a homemade version of Molly's hula outfit. I can't take credit for the nicest item of the whole outfit...the pretty red sweater was made by my friend Sandra (on the AG list). It's a finely knit sweater with lots of fancy stitches...I wish the photo had captured the detail better. The bag is a little too big, but I figure Molly would think "bigger bag equals more candy." ;)


This display represents my mom's time as a Brownie, around 1950.


I treasure my Molly display because it's a collection of many: things my mom made for me, official AG items, things made by my friend Sandra, and things that I have made.
From left to right: The pillows were made by me. My mom made the bed cover after I found a natural-varnish wooden doll bed on clearance. Although the bed originally looked more like Addy's than anyone else's, she did a great job! There's a footboard, but it was short enough to cover and looks like it's part of the bed.
The teddy bear is Bitty Baby's bear. The book is the Nancy drew book from the nighttime necessities.
Molly's outfit was made by my mom, using the pattern for Molly's pajamas and adapting it. Molly's socks were made by my friend Sandra. Raggedy Ann, which Molly is holding, was something I made using a pattern by http://www.morrisseydolls.com (they have no actual pattern for this doll--I adapted a pattern). The dog, which I tried to make look like Bennett, is based on the Toto pattern available from the same company.
The window is a combination of a drawer pull (to look like the handle to pull the window up and down), a photo from a magazine, and some lace. The poster behind Molly is a scan from one of her books. I thought it was interesting that one of the actresses in the movie was named "Bennett!"
Molly's school bag, water bottle, lamp, and lunchbox are all official AG.
The socks and mittens on her table were made by Sandra. The book was one I made by scanning a book from Molly's era. The photos of her mom and dad were cut from an old Molly book, and were painted by the first illustrator who painted Molly (I like his illustrations better than the newer ones). The frames they are in were picked up in a package created by AG for Sam's Club. So, even though most people wouldn't recognize them, they're an official AG item!
The table was one I found on clearance with the bed. I painted it white and stenciled a red heart on it. There is also added red trim around the bottom. The purse on the bottom shelf was made by my mom...it looks exactly like Molly's purse. The Halloween pumpkin is from Bitty Baby's old Halloween outfit. The red bag on the "floor" was also knitted by Sandra.
The rug on the "floor" was one that I weaved. The floor itself is a pinkish painted wood with red stars. This was originally Molly's wall, but when I moved this display I found I had no room for it!



This is the homemade "Kirsten" collection I gave my friend for her birthday. There are fishing and school supplies and a few other things pictured here. This looks like a lot of items, but since they were homemade everything was extremely inexpensive.
This is the beautiful dress my mom made for my Felicity doll.

Kirsten in a Hudson Bay-style coat and snowshoes. (This item is meant for LL Bear (teddy bear) and is item # TK46894 from LL Bean; these aren't official AG items.)


"Hooray...I can finally be warm in the winter!"


"I think I finally figured out what the holes at the top of this hat are for!"


Close-up of the snowshoes.


Felicity at Christmas-time, 2003.