Today is American Girl Emily Bennett's birthday. I always loved Emily because she has such a cute meet dress, and she looks quite a bit like my own daughter. Alas, I couldn't afford to purchase her before she retired, and I haven't really found a comparable doll I can use as a stand-in. I did, however, find an old Battat doll at the thrift store ($6) who looks quite a bit like Molly. Her hair is a little more reddish and she has brown eyes instead of gray, but the bangs look similar, and I think my mock Molly looks pretty close once she has the braids and glasses. What do you think? Since the weather has been so cold here lately, I dressed her in this DIY ice skating outfit I put together.

Leotard, Leggings, and Skates: My Life As ice skating set (on clearance for $5 after the Winter Olympics) from Walmart 
Coat: Springfield Collection. I folded the bottom of the long coat under to make it look shorter so her cute skirt would show, and I added some decorative snowflake brads for buttons.
Muff: Home-made with a piece of white fleece.
Glasses: Hand-made by me with wire I had on hand.

Her hair was pretty messy, but actually in pretty good condition. I tamed it with a little bit of water and fabric softener, brushed it with a wire brush, and flattened the bangs with a hat before braiding it into that classic Molly style. Now our "fake" Molly is ready for some real fun!

I love doll pieces that are functional as well as decorative, so I wanted to make a dresser that can really be used for storage (but without the hassle of real drawers that pull out). This dresser has a flip-top that opens to store items inside the box. I also found a great tutorial from My Froggy Stuff for making a dresser with a hole in the back to stash stuff inside. I made the drawers look more 3-D by wrapping pieces of cardboard in contact paper rather than using flat scrapbook paper. 

Materials:

• 1 cardboard box the size you want your dresser to be
  
• 1 extra box or pieces of thin cardboard
  
• 1 roll of wood-grain contact paper (or sheets of scrapbook paper)
  
• Strong double-sided adhesive or glue gun
  
• Craft beads
• Thin magnets (I got mine from a phone book!)

Instructions:

1. Cut a large piece of contact paper and wrap the box like a present. (I left mine open at the top and then cut the contact paper to fold over the flaps so they could still open.)
2. Cut a cardboard rectangle slightly larger than the top of the dresser. Wrap it in contact paper and firmly attach it to one of the top flaps. Attach a thin magnet to the underside of the dresser top and another to the opposite box flap to hold the dresser closed.
3. Cut out cardboard rectangles the size you want the drawers to be. 
4. Cover each drawer in contact paper and firmly attach to the front of the dresser.
5. Attach beads to the front for drawer handles. (I used sticky tack to put the beads on so they can easily be changed for different styles. Be sure to glue securely if your dresser will be used around small children, though.)
6. Cover the top of the dresser with a small piece of fabric and knick-knacks  to suit your doll.

* For an easier variation (which I discovered after completing mine, of course) is to cover both ends of the box and glue the top down all the way, Then just cut a small hole in the back to access the inside of the box for storage. 

One of my favorite doll blogs, Living a Doll's Life, recently featured 18 inch boy doll options, so I wanted to share my custom boy doll Emmett. My son is 6 years old, the middle child and only boy, sandwiched between two sisters who are both avid doll lovers. He started asking about a boy doll last year, but I just couldn't find the right doll for him. He wanted the 18 inch size, one that looked about his age, not a baby. I thought about AG Bitty Twins, but those have more of a toddler look and are still quite expensive. I didn't really like the other options I saw, so I went on a mission to create the perfect boy doll for him. It was easy to find the base body doll, an old Kingstate Friendship Kids doll whose wig was in terrible shape. I finally found the perfect wig for him on a thrift-store doll I got for $4!

The original doll came in a pretty gender-neutral outfit, so I just had to swap out the floral t-shirt for a plain white one. He is a bit smaller than American Girl and Our Generation dolls, with a slightly smaller head and feet. His clothes can fit other 18 inch dolls, but his shoes are a little snug. He fits well in most typical 18 inch clothes, and I especially like the Springfield Collection from Joann. He has a soft body that extends to his upper arms and legs, so he can't stand on his own and doesn't look good in super short sleeves (especially since his arms are prone to come off, so they are wrapped at the top in medical tape. My son chose the name Emmett after the hero of the Lego Movie. Emmett likes all the same things as my boy: cars, ninjas, sports, Legos, and dogs. My son says he would give him 4 out of 5 stars. Not bad for under $20, huh?

In keeping with the 50s theme from Camp Doll Diaries this week, I put together this quick and easy 50's look from a baby dress. I really like the square neckline decorated with tiny pink embroidered flowers to contrast with the lovely minty color. I put the dress on the doll and overlapped the sides in the back so the neckline was not so large. Then I tied a ribbon around the waist to hold it closed. I arranged the pleats in the front so the skirt poofed out more, and I also used a tulle underskirt (from a thrifted porcelain doll) to make the skirt look nice and full. I finished off the look with a high ponytail tied with a satin bow. The pearl necklace is made from a decorative eyeglass chain from the dollar store. The shoes are from Paradise Kids. Saige is ready for a sock hop!