Girls of Faith Dolls

       The Girls of Faith dolls was a line of Christian doll characters developed by Sara McCord of North Carolina in 2010. Each character came with a doll and book introducing little girls to faith based play. Do to the complications in manufacturing during Covid the company was forced to put the reissue of the original first three dolls aside. Read their story here.

 The Girls of Faith Dolls Include three religious character dolls:

1. Hannah Olivia Patterson's Bible and Cultural Artifacts about Miracles
2. Kayla Newman's Bible and Cultural Artifacts about Missions
3. Audrey Thompson's Bible and Cultural Artifacts about Sharing The Love of Jesus - Below are sample artifacts teachers may use to help students develop research for a lapbook assignment based upon Audrey.

Opening Audrey Thompson doll with Rilyn Dinyae.

Audrey Reaches Out Book Cover.

      Read about the adventures of a third grade girl, Audrey Thompson, who attends a small church school with her siblings. Audrey loves winter fun activities and making new friends. 

      But not everything in Audrey's life is peaceful and ideal. She learns how to show gentleness to a new girl at school and must gain this young stranger's confidence through persistence and bravery.  

"Because Audrey reached out to Trina, Trina's life and Aunt Nell's life were truely changed. They all spent many happy times together, with Bear and Angel too. This experience not only changed the lives of Trina and Aunt Nell, but also Adrey's life as well. Jesus had given Audrey the courage to reach out and share her faith. In the process, she learned some wonderful things about Jesus and how much He deeply cares for all people." Sheri Baker and Sara McCord

• Authors Sheri Baker and Sara McCord - Girls of Faith dolls reach young Christians
• www.girlsoffaithdolls.com
• Audrey Thompson's book "Audrey Reaches Out"
• Sharing Jesus With Kids
• Learn the meaning of the name, Audrey

Our Artifacts for Themes Covered in Audrey Thompson's Book:

• "Treasures In The Snow" James Hastings child sermons based upon the life of Job
• "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" Job 38:22 coloring page
• Asleep by Edward A. Jenks

Online Research for Girl of Faith Audrey Thompson:
The Snow Day:

• "Angels in The Snow" by Amy Sky
• How to Build a Snowman
• How to Go Sledding!
• How to Make Snow Angels
• Seeing snow for the first time with the Norris Nuts in Australia
• Grandfather makes granddaughter's snow wish come true 

Starting All Over Again:

• 10 Year Old Sings "Listen"
• The New Kid - a short film about starting a new school
• How to handle being the new kid at school

How Children Learn To Mourn:

• Jenkins sings "Guiding Light" along with the Children's Grief Encounter Choir
• Losing a Pet - The Story of My Dog Leo
• Grief through a child's eyes - visit the children's bereavement camp
• How to help grieving children
• Stephen Ministries, St. Louis

Lost In The Woods: 

• "What A Beautiful Name" by Hillsong Kids
• Lost girl gives big thanks to officer and dog who found her
• What to do if you get lost in the woods?
• How To Survive The Wild: A 10-Year-Old Boy's Survival Story

Believing Is Seeing:

• Lauren Daigle sings "Look Up Child"
• "Let the little children come to me" by the students of Saint Gregory
• The importance of leading kids to love Jesus
• Nine-Year-Old Alaine Shares the Love of Jesus
• Mississippi Children's Choir sing "Things Go Better With Christ"
• 4 Ways your kids can live out their faith
• The "E" Word for parents...

The True Love of Dogs: Fun Video About Man's Best Friend!

• So God Made a Dog - very cute video!
• How my dog taught me about God
• The Circle - short film
• Organization uses animals to help kids grieve
• If I Could Talk and If I Could Bark

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page 

Printable Student IDs for Your Doll and You!

       Now your dolls can have student doll IDs for Trinity Church School and so can you! Download, print, cut, and paste photos inside the boxes provided. Fill out the information on each card and cover the cards with a transparent tape to keep them looking new. 

       The dolls could clip their IDs onto their uniforms for a few days while everyone learns their names. Then keep their IDs inside a backpack, folder or in a doll purse for future play.

• Back to Trinity Church School for Dolls index page

Print a doll school ID for Trinity Church School dolls.
Print, cut and fill out the information for your 18" dolls.
Paste a photo of your doll in the empty box.

Print a Doll School ID for yourself so that you can attend Trinity Church School as an older brother
or sister to your doll. Paste a photo of yourself in the box and fill out the information listed on the left hand side.

Build a Market Booth For Your 18" Dolls

       This market stand or stall is constructed from a discarded wooden crate. It is the perfect size for 18inch American Girl Dolls and may be used for all kinds of doll play. We will be using it to demonstrate a lemonade stand, a road side market stall for fresh produce and as a doll booth for homemade baked goods in the future.
       The crate had only four slats across it's bottom to begin with. I removed these and cut seven slats of uniform size and type before nailing and gluing them back onto one side of my crate. I kept the original shelf in the middle and glued on additional narrow slates to the ends of all three shelves to make these stronger and give them a finished looking edges. 

Left, one side of my doll market stall has shelves for doll food items. Center, a side view
 of the booth shows the tall wooden slats both glued and nailed into place for the draping
 of banners and signs. Right, here's is a close up of the banner slat; it has a narrow slit cut
 away from it's center so that I can suspend and change banners and signs between these
 two flat 'posts.'

Left, I will use the shelf side for a baked goods booth. Right, the slated 'wall' side of this
 booth will be used as a lemonade stand eventually.

Left, you can see how the cardboard sign is suspended between the booth slats above.
 Right, here is an 18inch doll standing next to the completed booth. I decided to color 
parts of my booth with a transparent wash of teal colored, oil based paint.
 Then I stained the remainder of the wooden parts: shelves and posts by rubbing the 
coats of stain into the wood with an old rag. Lastly the entire booth was sealed with a 
durable wood varnish to give the stand a tough weather resistant surface, perfect for outdoor play.

Left, the 18" doll standing next to the booth. Center, up close photo of the stained 
surface. Right, cardboard sample of the sign placement. It will be fun to decorate 
our doll's booth with all kinds of banners and signs in the near future.

Building More Market Booths or Stalls for American Girls and Their Dolls:

• DIY American Girl Doll Nanea's Family Market by agloviesparkles - made from foam board
• DIY American Girl Doll Lea's Fruit Stand - made from foam board
• How to sew a gathered canopy for a child's market stall...

DIY Basic Gymnastic Equipment for American Girl Dolls

Pictured above is an incline wedge ramp, balancing
 beam and a tri-fold workout mat. Read more about
her leotard here.

       Gymnastics is a sport that includes exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, back, chest, and abdominal muscle groups. Alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence, and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills.
       Here I have crafted basic gymnastic equipment for our 18" dolls: a tri-fold workout mat, a balancing beam and an incline wedge ramp. All three crafts required only basic skills to complete and I recycled materials found in the garage, scrap bag and our toy block collection.

Supply List:

• wool felt for durability
• narrow wooden blocks (for feet)
• wood scrap for balancing beam, 3/4" dowel
• wood varnish
• wooden block for wedge ramp
• enamel paint and or varnish for balancing beam and wedge ramp
• foam padding for the tri-fold workout mat
• sandpaper

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. The wooden, wedge shaped block is common to the majority of classic block collections. Ours was originally unvarnished, so I painted it with a teal colored enamel paint and sealed it with a clear varnish. In real gyms these wedge ramps are made using foam and vinyl. 
2. Cut the balancing beam, using a hand-held saw, from a square dowel. Our beam measures 18 inches across.
3. Remember to sand the ends of the dowel smooth.
4. Then, stained and varnished the dowel, leaving space for gluing two wooden blocks at either end to act as feet for the doll's balancing beam.
5. Paint the feet a coordinating color to match the other two pieces of equipment.
6. The tumbling, tri-fold mat was sewn together with a durable thread and heavy duty wool felt. 
7. I removed the foam stuffing from a box. These pieces measure approx. 6 1/2" x9 1/2" each.
8. Line the foam sheets up side-by-side on top of the fabric. Allow for approx. 1" of space between each sheet and 1 1/2" extra fabric around the circumference of the entire mat before cutting it out.
9. Cut a second sheet of fabric the exact same size as the first.
10. Remove the foam sheets and sew the two identical pieces of fabric with right sides facing together. Make the seam approximately 1/2 inch wide.
11. Only sew the two long sides plus one short side together to form a 'pouch' so that you can insert the foam padding easily.
12. Turn the pouch inside out so that the right sides of your tumbling mat now face outwards.
13. After adjusting the first foam piece inside the long narrow pouch, sew a plain top stitch across the open end, up next to the cushion.
14. Add the center foam cushion and repeat the above step.
15. Then stuff the final third foam cushion between the opening of the tumbling mat and sew an invisible seam across the open end to close off the end neatly.
16. Your tri-fold tumbling mat should fold up neatly into three sections for storage.

Our American Girl doll does the splits on her tri-fold tumbling mat.

Left, cut the foam and wool felt. Center, the mat is sewn with straight stitches.
 Right, the tri-fold gym mat folds up for easy storage.

Close up of basic gymnastic doll equipment made from materials found at home.

More Links to Gymnastic Equipment for 18" Dolls:

• DIY American Girl Doll Gymnastics Mat
• Gymnastics mat by Shelbri AG

Craft an Inglenook Fireplace for Your 18inch Dollhouse

Our version of a doll inglenook has a faux 
cast iron wood burner.

       An inglenook (Modern Scots ingleneuk), or chimney corner, is a recess that adjoins a fireplace. The word comes from ingle, meaning "fireplace" in Old English (from Old Scots or Irish aingeal, "angel" or euphemistically "fire"), and nook. 

       The inglenook originated as a partially enclosed hearth area, appended to a larger room. The hearth was used for cooking, and its enclosing alcove became a natural place for people seeking warmth to gather. With changes in building design, kitchens became separate rooms, while inglenooks were retained in the living space as intimate warming places, subsidiary spaces within larger rooms.

Supply List:

• masking tape
• sturdy cardboard box and cardboard scraps
• paper mache pulp
• novelty printed brick on cotton fabric 
• Styrofoam (thick cut) for mantel
• black, brown, yellow, and white acrylic paints
• acrylic sealer or Mod Podge
• hollow paper tube
• recycled plastic lid and clear plastic sheet (for wood burner door)
• small cut tree branches for logs and supports for the mantle (These are sold at the dollar store or search your own backyard.)
• sandpaper 
• paper toilet tube
• faux wooden paper

Step-by-Step Instructions for the Inglenook Fireplace:

1. Tape together a strong, thick cardboard box for the fireplace/ inglenook. I found a box with the opening already cut away at a local Sam's Club.
2. Then I resized my doll's inglenook to the shape and proportions of approx. 12"x14"x3".
3. Mask (with tape) the areas that you will be covering with fabric and Mod Podge in advance.
4. Use a large soft brush to apply the craft glue/ Mod Podge to the cardboard surface. Then layer on your novelty printed, brick fabric onto the box surface. Reapply the Mod Podge onto the surface of the fabric and let the cardboard fireplace dry in the sunshine.
5. After this surface has dried, you may then mix and layer on the paper mache pulp to the inside of the inglenook. I elected to paint my surface white after the pulp was fully dry. I had to wait a few days before I could complete each of the above steps.
6. It is important to give your surfaces plenty of drying time between applications so that the cardboard does not warp while you work. 
7. It is also important to remember to construct a paper mache project like this one, in a hot dry environment in order to achieve the best results.
8. I cut a mantle to fit on top of my inglenook from foam insulation. 
9. I masked the bottom of the mantle with tape before hot gluing it down on top of the fireplace. Then I used a heavy tin (or book) to apply pressure to the top of the mantle while it dried.
10. After the Styrofoam mantel was successfully mounted, I dry brushed the side surfaces with three different brown colors of paint, alternating the layers to acheive a wood-like surface.
11. Next, I layered a wooden looking paper onto the mantel top with Mod Podge.
12. You may need to use a bit of sandpaper between gluing the surfaces to give your project a professional looking surfaces.
13. Hot glue two cut pieces of wood (shaped from tree limbs) to the underside, edges of the mantel, to look as though these were supporting the mantel.
14. After finishing the inglenook, I sealed all of it's surfaces with an acrylic varnish.

Directions for the Woodburner:

1. In order to construct the woodburner, I removed the lid of a baby wipes container from it's original container and then reattached it to a smaller box constructed with thick cardboard. I had to cut a corresponding hole, mask off the surfaces where I would be gluing the pieces together and also cut a round hole at the top of the box for a cardboard chimney pipe.
2. The chimney pipe was cut from a toilet paper tube and sized to fit into the hole.
3. I used glue to attach a wooden block the the bottom of my wood burner to act as a foot.
4. Then I painted the entire woodburner with black acrylic paint.
5. After the paint dried, I then cut a small piece of plastic to line the inside of the woodburner's door.
6. I stacked wooden faux logs inside the woodburner for appearances. 
7. With a bit of hot glue and manipulation, I mounted my faux woodburner inside the inglenook. Now the dolls will have a very romantic looking fireplace for their future winter parties!

Left, First you will need to tape together a strong, thick cardboard box for the fireplace or inglenook.
Right, use a heavy tin (or book) to apply pressure to the top of the mantle while it dries.

Left, I had to cut a corresponding hole, mask off the surfaces where I would be gluing the pieces together
 and also cut a round hole at the top of the box for a cardboard chimney pipe. Right, hot glue two cut
 pieces of wood (shaped from tree limbs) to the underside, edges of the mantel, to look as though 
these were supporting the mantel.

Learning History With Samantha Parkington

Meet Samantha Parkington and American Girl

       "Samantha is an only child growing up during the Edwardian period (although American Girl designated her as Victorian). Her year is 1904. Orphaned at age five and raised by her wealthy Victorian-era grandmother, Mary Edwards, whom she called Grandmary, in fictional Mount Bedford, New York, Samantha befriends a poor servant girl named Nellie O'Malley. Eventually Samantha, Nellie and Nellie's young sisters are adopted by Samantha's uncle Gardner Edwards and aunt Cornelia. 

       The themes of Samantha's books include women's suffrage, child labor, and classism. Red Om Productions produced Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, in cooperation with American Girl. The show premiered on WB Television Network in November 2004 and was released to DVD soon thereafter. American Girl introduced the concept of "archiving" in October 2008 when it announced plans to cease production of Samantha and her collection (including Nellie). Samantha was then officially archived on May 31, 2009, but was later re-introduced in August 2014 as part of the BeForever reboot." Wikipedia

• Susan S. Adler and Sarah Masters Buckey and Valerie Tripp
• Meet Samantha Parkington an American Girl
• Samantha Parkington BeForever American Girl
• Teacher's Guide to Manners and Mischief (PDF)
• Look up the meaning of the name, Samantha

       Nellie O'Malley, Samantha's best friend, is an Irish immigrant who works for Samantha's neighbors and is befriended by Samantha. She personifies the working-class immigrant experience of the time and teaches Samantha about the conditions faced by children who are part of the work force. Nellie and her sisters, Bridget and Jenny, are orphaned and later adopted by Samantha's relatives, Gardner and Cornelia Edwards. In 2004, American Girl introduced a new line of Best Friend dolls with Nellie O'Malley debuting as Samantha's Best Friend in conjunction with the Samantha DVD release. Nellie was marketed with a small collection of clothing and a book written by Valerie Tripp, Nellie's Promise, which chronicles the character's growth and adjustment to her recent adoption. As Nellie was part of Samantha's collection, she was archived at the same time as Samantha. In 2014, with the return of Samantha and the release of BeForever, American Girl decided to move away from the Best Friends line. It is unlikely that Nellie will be re-released. 

•  Nellie O'Malley Doll, Best Friend Doll
  

For your 18 inch doll sized calling cards.

Our Artifacts for The Samantha Parkington Doll:

• Paper Dolls and How To Make Them, published in 1857 (during the Civil War era)
• Portrait of A Survivor Lesson Plan (about the Titanic)
• New Year's Wishes...1887 - something found in her grandmother's attic
• The Doll Wedding by Lena Miller - a short story about a childhood memory.
• Doll Sized Spelling Printables - 1841
• A Quincy, Massachusetts, 1906 Maxwell
• At The Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, 1901
• Dollhouse window printable includes stained glass...
• Soda Fountain/ Ice Cream Parlor Clip Art Pages 
• Printable dollhouse door hardware, page 1
• Since Will Turned Into a Boy...
• How the old folks made camp...
• The doll's Full English breakfast...
• DIY an east plum pudding craft for a doll's Christmas
  
• How to make ice-cream parlor desserts
• What came with Samantha's ice cream parlor?

Crafting In the Past: What kinds of crafts were popular in 1904?

• DIY a doll sized needlepoint and hoop
• Cutting snowflakes and drawing snowman...
• Paper cutting & Silhouette Crafts Index
• Leaf print pictures and rubbings

Online Research for American Girl, Samantha Parkington, According to Themes Covered in The Books:

Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Parlors and Tea Rooms:

• Aunt Martha's Victorian Tea Rooms
• Example and How to make Victorian Ice Cream

Economic Class in America 1900:

• American Labor and Working -Class History, 1900-1945
• Social Class in America
• Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900

The Industrial Era in America:

• 1920s Industrial America Classroom Activity Guide
• The Development of the Industrial United States (1870 - 1900)

The Orphan Trains:

• National Orphan Train Complex
• The American Orphan Trains
• Placing Out Documentary about the Orphan Trains
• The Orphan Trains from Prairie Public 
• Orphan Train Rider Tells His Story

The Journey and Tragic Ending of The Titanic:

• Letters From the Titanic
• Survival Stories of Former Titanic Ocean Voyage 
• Titanic: The Facts Told by Real Survivors
• 5 Real Titanic Survivors & Their Stories
• Titanic: The Unsinkable Molly Brown and her story told through a popular musical 
• Titanic Classic Documentary (1987)
• NOAA Titanic Expedition 2004: Breathtaking Wreck Footage

Samantha Parkington Books by Pleasant Doll Company and American Girl Doll Company:

1. Meet Samantha
2. Samantha Learns a Lesson
3. Samantha's Surprise
4. Happy Birthday, Samantha!
5. Samantha Saves the Day
6. Changes for Samantha
7. Samantha and the Missing Pearls
8. Samantha's Special Talent
9. Samantha's Winter Party
10. Samantha Saves the Wedding
11. Samantha's Blue Bicycle
12. The Curse of Ravenscourt
13. The Stolen Sapphire
14. The Cry of the Loon
15. Clue in the Castle Tower
16. Danger in Paris
17. Welcome to Samantha's World
18. Samantha's Ocean Liner Adventure
19. Samantha's Wedding Memories
20. Samantha's World
21. The Lilac Tunnel
22. Real Stories from My Time: The Titanic

Samantha Parkington Doll Fan Videos:

• American Girl Doll House - Samantha's Bedroom
• Room Tour, 1904, Victorian Inspired Bedroom
• Differences Among The American Girl Samantha Dolls
• A Bedroom for Samantha Parkingon
• Samantha's Special Day Dress
• Samantha Parkington & Nellie Outfits
• Outfits, Accessories and Books for Samantha Doll
• Opening Samantha Outfits
• Samantha's Bathing Costume
• My Entire American Girl Samantha Doll Collection

Film and Theater About Young Girls from Samantha's Time: Rags to Riches Themes:

• Annie on Broadway and Film trailer from 1982 version starring Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters
• Pollyanna Trailer starring Hayley Mills by Disney

Advanced Reading: Historical Fiction that takes place during at the turn of the 20th Century, The Victorian Era, The Industrial Era in America:

• Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, RMS Titanic, 1912 by Ellen Emerson White 
• A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, Lattimer, Pennsylvania, 1896 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
• Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North, Chicago, Illinois, 1919 by Patricia McKissack
• A Time for Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen, Washington, D.C., 1917 by Kathryn Lasky
• Hear My Sorrow: The Diary of Angela Denoto, a Shirtwaist Worker, New York City, 1909 by Deborah Hopkinson  

Explore Outer Space With Luciana Vega

Luciana goes to space camp.

       Luciana Vega is the sixteenth Girl of The Year. She was released on January 1, 2018, and is a space loving eleven-year-old Chilean girl from Virginia who wants to be the first person to walk on Mars. Luciana is the second Latina American Girl of the Year made by American Girl, the first being Marisol.

• Author Erin Teagan
• American Girl introduces 2018 Girl Of The Year Luciana Vega
• Luciana Vega Girl of the Year 2018 Doll Review 
• Go beyond the stars with Luciana Vega App! 
• Look up the meaning of the name, Luciana

Our Artifacts/Crafts for The Luciana Vega Doll:

• Visitors from Outer Space  
• Magic Sky Lights or The Aurora Borealis
• Vintage Printable Astronomy Poster
• The Man In The Moon
• Different Kinds of Balloons and Their Uses
• Sky Children...
• "Galaxy" Sneaker Craft for Your Doll Shoe Collection
• The Constellations by Mitton

Ponder The Universe!

Online Research for Themes found in Luciana Vega's Books:
What is an astronaut?:

• Astronauts from Our Universe for Kids
• All About Astronauts

What is a space mission?:

• 10 of the most important space missions in history
• NASA on The Commons

Where a space suit for protection:

• How do spacesuits keep astronauts safe?
• How Space Suits Work
• James May's Space Suit Freak-Out

Creating NASA:

• NASA Begins
• The Woman Who Helped Create NASA
• NASA How it began...

Rockets and Shuttles:

• What is the difference between rockets and shuttles

Milestones in Outer Space:

• Apollo Moon Landing - Authentic Footage and Buzz Aldrin tells the story of the first moon landing
• Highlights from landing day of Mars rover Spirit
• SpaceX: The biggest milestones
  

Space Crew:

• Astronaut Selection
• New Crew Arrives at Space Station 
• In Space, U.S. and Russia Friendship Untethered
  

Mission Control:

• NASA reopens Apollo Mission Control room that once landed men on the moon
• See Apollo Mission Control restored to look like it did in 1969 

Training for Space Exploration:

• James May Rides The Vomit Comet 
• How Astronauts Train Underwater at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab
  

Launch Gear:

• Space Shuttle Rocket Booster Test 
• How to Photograph a NASA Rocket Launch
• Top 10 Space Lunch Videos
  

Sick in Space:

• How do we handle medical emergencies in space? 
• What I learned from going blind in space by Chris Hadfield

Microgravity:

• How It Works: The International Space Station

Everyday Life in Outer Space:

• Astronaut Chris Hadfield Debunks Space Myths
• Former NASA Astronaut explains how food is different in space 
• Astronaut, Scott Kelly, answers space questions from twitter
• Weird things you didn't know about space flight  
• How Karen Nyberg washes her hair in space

Getting Home:

• Re-entry into Earth's Atmosphere
• Astronaut Anne McClain is Back on Earth
  

Accidents In Space:

• Apollo Crash Sites: Lunar Modules & S-IVBs
• The Mysterious "Lost Cosmonaut" Recording
• Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, January 28, 1986
• The secret space mission that went wrong STS 27 - Prof Simon 

Future Astronauts and Colonies: 

• Mission to Mars: 15-Year-Old Alyssa Carson Could Be The First Human On Mars 
• You kids might live on Mars. Here's how they'll survive 
• SpaceX's plan to colonize Mars, explained
• Human Exploration of Mars
• Real Reason NASA Hasn't Sent Humans To Mars
  

Going To Space Camp:

• How to play with Luciana Vega at Space Camp: American Girl videos
• How to go to space camp for Free!
• Space Camp lets you become an astronaut without leaving the planet
  

American Girl Luciana Vega Books:

• Luciana
• Lucians Braving the Deep
• Luciana Out of This World

Fun Space Themed Music Video:

• Rocket Man by Elton John cover by Avett 
• Best of Ambient Space Music HD
• The Barton Hills Choir - David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'
  

Luciana's Fan Videos:

• Introducing Luciana Vega - American Girl GOTY 2018 by Grace's Room
• How To: Luciana Haircare and Space Braids
• Unbox Daily: American Girl - 2018 Girl of the Year - Luciana Vega - The Mars Habitat Play Set
• American Girl Luciana Vega Space Bedroom set up by Be Chic Forever

My Doll

"Kitty's doll named Rose"

MY DOLL
( 1852 )

I have a little doll,
I take care of her clothes;
And she has flaxen hair,
And her name is Rose.

She has pretty violet eyes
And a very small nose
And a sweet little mouth,
And her name is Rose. 

She has a little bed,
And when the daylight goes
I tuck her up in it,
And say, "Good night, dear Rose."

Author Unknown

How to neatly trim the fringe of a doll's rug

Left, neatly tape down the fringe before cutting it. Center, repeat for both ends. Right, a perfectly even edge.

       I purchased a small 'rug', 18"x12", from resale. These small covers were fashionable back in the 1930s and 40s for use as protective coverings for chairs and tables. This one was in exceptional condition. However, the fringe was far too long for a dollhouse rug. I trimmed it by combing out the yarn fringe and taping it down with masking tape to a flat pile rug. Then I cut the ends off with sharp scissors. Now it looks as good as new!

Best Friends Club Dolls

BFC ink doll review from 2010. These dolls

 have been retired but you may still find them at resale,

 auction and on Amazon.

       The Best Friends Club were originally sold by Target but now are available at Amazon or second hand markets like Ebay. All of the dolls come in both 18" and 11" sizes. The following descriptions belong to the 18" versions:

1. Kaitlin - has light blond hair with green acrylic eyes.
2. Addison - has light brown hair and dark blue eyes.
3. Calista - has wavy dark hair and dark eyes. She is the African American doll of this series.
4. Aliesha - has very dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is the twin sister to Noelle and a Latino doll.
5. Noelle - has very dark brunette hair and eyes. She is the identical twin sister to Aliesha and a Latino doll
6. Gianna - has super dark auburn hair, dark blue eyes and freckles. 
7. CJ - has hazel to blue acrylic eye color and dirty blond hair . He is the only BFC boy doll. He love sports and keeping busy.
8. Yuko -  has long black hair and dark eyes. She is the Asian American doll of this series.
9. Carmen - has green eyes and reddish auburn hair. BFC doll was the Hispanic pen pal doll from Mexico. (2010)

       "The Best Friends Club (BFC, Ink) helps girls deal with the real life challenges facing them today. It's about self-development, and the importance of friendship. 

       Through the lives of its diverse young characters, girls gain insight to relevant issues, from helping the local community and environment to dealing with friendship fallouts, family issues, bullying and first crushes. 

       BFC, Ink teaches our daughters about teamwork and friendship as well as giving them the joy that comes from belonging to a group of amazing friends." quotes from former website 

Every 18" doll shares common body features and accessories:

• 15 points of articulation
• rooted hair
• pierced ears
• acrylic open eyes
• painted lips, eye-brows and eye-lashes
• painted on underwear
• a journal with a lock and key
• two changes of clothes

Doll Clothes Patterns for BFC Dolls: Because BFC dolls have very thin body types and their clothing cannot be shared with other 18" dolls made by Mattel or Alexander Doll Companies. There are also 11'' doll versions of the BFC Ink Club Dolls that have painted features and far less articulation. 

• BFC Ink Doll Clothes and Doll Patterns at Etsy
• Find BFC Ink Doll Clothes at Pixie Faire

Best Friends Club Doll Fan Videos:

• Original Toys R Us Ad
• Ruby Red Doll Review of the BFC Inc.
• Froggy Stuff large collection of Best Friends Dolls
• BFC Dolls Inc.: Gianna, Yuko and Calista
• BFC Ink Doll Rescue
• Talking About BFC Ink Dolls Gianna and Yuko
• Clothes for BFC Ink Dolls

  Return to the Doll Guide Index Page