AGs newest releases!!

I feel like I just got the Sears and Toys-R-Us catalogs in the mail, with AG's new releases. (For viewers who didn't have those... yes, I'm over 25, so I did, lol, you went through catalogs you got, circled all the items you wanted, and let Mom and Dad know/left big notes around).  I used to go through them, and then write letters to Santa (that my parents "proof-read") asking for my top 5 items.  Thanks to American Girl's latest releases... I'd say my list is quite a bit bigger than 5!

Here are my top picks:

Nanea is beautiful, and I need to add her to my collection this year. When she was first previewed, I wanted her, and then for a while, I was on the fence about her.  I like my dolls to look as though they are teens instead of pre-teens or kids, and I felt her mold would be too young. But I fell back in love with her when I started seeing her used to model a lot of the etsy custom made outfits (ended up buying from AMandHDolls because of it too!)  She may need custom eyes though... so I suppose it's a good thing that I have to send out a pair to be repainted today!  Going to have to brainstorm on them, and figure out what color eyes she needs.  Thank goodness for brothers who can eye-swap for you.

And I adore her Holoku dress and pajamas!  So cute, and with purple being one of my favorite colors (as I'm sure you can tell), this definitely caught my eye.

Her pjs are adorable, and they may not be my top 5 need... but they will have to be added to my collection at some point.

Gabriela's Celebration Dress just came out, and I think I could make a crochet model of it.... but somehow, I know I will still want the real thing.  Another of my favorite colors, and the color is perfect on nearly every skin tone, so it will get quite a bit of use by my dolls. (Some of which, once I have a house again and am unpacked, may wish to find a new home, since I can only justify so many dolls in the collection. OR, may just get remade, since sometimes a few of them don't make my heart as happy as others)

Also, I know that it's been out for a bit, but I love Gabriela's Take Flight Performance outfit, and have debated several times whether or not I should get it.  Which means that it should probably get added to the wishlist. :-D

I like Z, but I feel like I may make her myself from an Ivy head that I already have (also in storage).  However, I do want her outfit, including her cute jacket. I can't seem to find where I can just get her whole outfit, so I may have to buy it secondhand... but that's alright, since a lot of my dolls are also secondhand that I have customized.

I am loving the Winter Sightseeing outfit, and I'm not usually a pink girl!  But this is adorable. And can be mixed and matched in several ways!

The Festive Reindeer PJs need to join me for the holiday... I think I have another red based PJ set, which means that at some point, I'll need to do a holiday PJ photoshoot.  Too bad that the older AG Holiday tree sets are no longer sold at AG.  I loved those.

Melody's Birthday outfit... In PURPLE!!  Don't think I need to say more.  (Though I see lots of outfit possibilities here as well!) Not fond of the shoes though... but the rest is so cute, I can overlook them, lol

I'm on the fence about Maryellen's Rockin' Roller Skating outfit.... but it just keeps calling to me! I wish they sold the roller skates separate from the rest of the accessories, as that would be all I would want... again, will likely be buying them secondhand.  Oh well.


What did you see that made you want to make a Holiday wishlist... in August???  I'd love to know!

NovaFirefly626

It's a start!! - NovaFirefly

So, I spent the Wednesday and Thursday (7/26-7/27) working on building a riser for my dolls to display on my dresser.  A riser, you ask?  It's a 2 step thing that one of my adopted brothers described like a stage, so that I can fit more dolls on the dresser (Shh, I may have a doll collecting addiction...), and so that I can see the ones I have.

I think I better explain.  I have 2 biological brothers, A and R, in FL.  (Went on vacation with my biological family in June with R).  I have an "adopted" or "second family" in MD... and this includes S and C.  And then, another adopted little sister, N.  Confused yet?  A & R are related, and S & C are related.  C is pretty good at problem solving... though not conventional.

It was a Wednesday afternoon into Thursday afternoon project.  Started out with my brother C trying to use scrap wood from around the garage, and not understanding what I drew/what I saw in my mind's eye.  He didn't want to build a traditional staircase type thing, and that was what I wanted.... so we spend the better part of 2 hours "discussing" various solutions, and working through a trial and error marathon. I may have mentioned going to Home Depot more than once to just get fresh, unwarped wood.  You know, once or twice.  Maybe three times.  C may have shot me down, saying that he thought the scrap we had around the house would suffice.  It didn't.

Exhibit A: The "mock-up" set of risers... A.K.A. the "butt-ugly" ones. C may or may not have tried to piece 3 or more types of wood of varying thicknesses together...

This was, needless to say, not going to work.  At this point, I was missing my Dad and his need for perfectionism (I got it from somewhere), because all I could figure was that I would use this til I could get to good power tools.  I suppose C figured out how disappointed I was (he was too after he took a break and came back), and he, I, and S piled into the truck to hit up Home Depot, armed with a plan (thanks to Exhibit A), a list of supplies, and measurements.

Then we felt the need to hit Sweet Frog... I forgot to take a pic of the froyo before I devoured it...

I awoke Thursday morning to the sound of a electric saw running, and, after walking Dini and Darcy, went into the garage to investigate. I was rather pleased to see everything being cut properly, and starting to fit together nicely.  I took the role of sander (I attract splinters), and S even came out to help us out (he's good with artistic flair and design, and we'd also bought trim for the Riser).

This is pre-painted, after C was finished:

And post paint:

I plan to try and get a bit lighter paint to try and highlight the trim work, but I've never that before, so it should be an adventure.  For now though, all this needs is some felt to keep it from scratching up the top of my dresser, and voila! A nice way to display!!