Maryellen - 1954!

So we took a quick trip to Nashville to visit the new American Girl store (now that makes 12 different AG stores!) And look who came home with us!

Oh, My....New York City!

When a great opportunity came for us to travel to NYC, guess where we just HAD to go??

Roller Skating Waitress

I couldn't resist taking this photo of Spring (#20) after she kept sliding all over the slick floor in her new Our Generation skates:

"This job of waitressing on roller skates is HARD!"

This set up is of the Our Generation (Target brand) Retro Diner, Retro Roller Skater Outfit, & Retro Bop-til-you-Drop Outfit.

(FYI: she does stand up easily on carpet!)

Petite Patisserie for Grace!

I bought the Wal-mart brand "My-Life-As" Snack-Stand ($27.97). Disclaimer: the Wal-mart on-line photo isn't the same as what's in the store. It now has chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cupcakes, a lavender/white canopy and a lavender cash register.

I painted the canopy stripes black and printed off a front view of Grace's Patisserie which I glued on (and then covered with laminate).

I also added in treats from the Target brand Our Generation Tea Set ($16.99), along with treats from various swaps on AGPlaythings. -- YUMMY!!

The finishing touches are the tiny bags and boxes printed off and assembled using this idea/template from AmericanGirlIdeas.com blog (free).

Now Grace and mini-Grace are ready to make and sell their goodies for much less than any treat set at AG.

UPDATE: I made a small platform with wheels out of things I found after dismantling some extra "Build-and-Grow with Lowes" stuff this afternoon. And spray painted red to contrast the cart.

Still looking for the white cabinet handle that I know is around here somewhere. I plan on gluing that to the end of the Cart where Grace's hands currently are, so she can push it around.

UPDATE 3/4/15:
Didn't find the handle, so ordered one from Lowe's.com and super-glued it to the cart.

Completed Petite Patisserie!

Paris themed quilt for Grace!

I ran across this fabric at Wal-mart the other day and just had to get a small piece for Grace! I only bought 3/4 of a yard (@ $3.97 yard) of the front fabric and 1/2 yard (same price) of the contrasting backing. I already had some quilt batting pieces that I used to make it warm.

I did NOT want to cut it up and piece it back together because the images are kind of big. I just hand quilted around each image making a sort of 'applique' look. The finished size is 21" x 19".

UPDATE: Also made a bolster pillow and a bed for Bonbon!

And another update! I've taken almost all of the rest of the Paris fabric and made a sheet (more like a pillow case) for Grace's mattress. Then I made mini-Grace a quilt and pillow with some scraps! 

 

One more update: Pieced together the tiny scraps and made mini-Grace a matteress too, and then I made a little bed for her out of some scrap, craft-grade wood I found in the basement. I used my new Dremel tool to make a bit of carving on the headboard and foot-board. I may work on that some more. And then I need to stain or paint it.

UPDATE: All of the American Girl Stores we've visited!

Now that we've been to two more different stores, it's time to update the image to the TEN DIFFERENT AG stores that we've visited.

(A 2017 updated photo of the 15 stores we've now been to can be found here)

Grace Thomas, GotY 2015!

Grace made her debut and we went to Charlotte, NC to meet her!

She really is pretty, but it's so hard to photograph the Josefina face mold!

The BeForever section is the first to greet you as you come in the Charlotte AG store.

Grace with life-sized Grace in the store display of the life-sized Patisserie.

The Charlotte store is in the South Park Mall and can only be accessed from inside of the mall.

Grace saying hello from the famous doll-hooks in the restrooms!