In late May of 1996, Harmony and her new foster sister Sariah had their last day of school; Harmony graduated fourth grade, and Sariah graduated fifth grade. Right now they like different styles of clothes, but they both are obsessed with anything from the Pleasant Company catalog and they absolutely love Grin Pins!

Sariah put them on her vest and purse, while Harmony pinned them to her vest, which is the exact same vest Sariah is wearing, just flipped to the reverse side. She's more partial to pins with interesting text, while Sariah is more drawn to design and aesthetic.

Once again, I’m planning a weekend away, and this time Persephone is coming, dressed in her summeriest outfit!

She packed some more summer clothes, including her favorite skirt and her fun vest-jeans set, as well as her nightgown (one of the few doll things I’ve had since I was a kid) and of course a sleeping bag (I have 2, don’t know why I didn’t think to bring it last time)

traveling with cricket (nellie) and avril (kanani)! 💫✈️

i’m fortunate to have traveled a lot in the past few years - for work, for fun, to see friends and family. bringing my dolls and taking photos of them is my favorite way to feel safe and connected to home when i’m in an unfamiliar place!

sometimes i hear from folks who are afraid to bring their comfort items out in public! that is very normal. you will get weird looks that you may not even remember, because what you may remember is the people who come up to you and tell you that they remember american girl and kit was their favorite. one of my favorite things about dolls is that they open doors and make people want to tell stories.

when people ask “what’s up with the doll?” i get to tell them that i’m a doll photographer, collector, and artist, and that dolls are a huge joy and part of my life! this happens when i bring my dolls to conferences, dinners, airports, workshops, and anywhere else that i have space in my arms or my bag for them.

While scanning in The American Girls Postcard Collection, I had the idea to try to recreate the American Girl “reading” posters on Canva since I haven’t been able to find high quality scans of the originals.

Addy had a birthday this month, and one of the gifts she received was an elegant bandbox. It's a sturdy wooden box covered in pretty wallpaper, with a leather carrying strap. It will be a huge help when Addy makes deliveries for Mrs. Ford's dress shop.

This is my updated version of the bandbox I made for Addy some years ago, following the instructions in Addy's Craft Book and ultimately serving the same function as the one in her retired Pleasant Company collection. But I recently spotted this little papier-mache round box at Dollar Tree, and realized it was so perfectly doll-sized that it would be perfect for making a replacement.

I was able to cobble together a halfway decent replica of the exterior.

The blotch pattern is smaller and my printer printed it out a bit duller in color than the original, but it turned out close enough for me.

For the carrying strap, first I cut a strip of faux leather. I then secured onto the box with straight pins, which I poked through the box to the inside; I used pliers to bend the pin shaft and wire cutters to clip it short. Then I covered it in a few layers of packing tape to keep it in place.

The lid comes off. The bottom of the box is lined in a page from Harper's Weekly, featuring the poem "The Song of the Blue Bells".

Benne candy tin for scale! Addy is bringing some benne candy on her delivery route today, to share with her friend Sarah, who will be helping out with deliveries.