How to make an 18" doll sized rolling pin and cookie dough...

        Every doll needs a rolling pin to help them bake sugar cookies for the holidays and this is a very simple craft for a child to make. After making a set like ours, include it in a bakery or kitchen if you like.

Above is our handmade rolling pin, cookie dough and 
cardboard chopping block.

Supply List for Rolling Pin & Sugar Cookie Dough:

• one recycled toilet paper roll
• oven-bake clay
• scrap cardboard
• red and tan acrylic paints
• faux wood shelf paper
• Mod Podge
• white school glue
• masking tape
• hot glue gun and hot glue

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. First it is best to acquire a set of mini cookie cutters so that you will be certain the sizes to be made to go with your cookie bake set. The set I have pictured here is vintage but it cost me no more than a few dollars. Each cutter measures no larger than an inch. These will make 'jumbo' sized cookies for our 18" dolls but that's o.k. The love cookies!
2. I chose to use the star four our example but you can make as many sugar cookie cut-outs as you wish. 
3. For the sugar cookie dough, roll out oven-bake clay to the size you will need to surround the cookie and leave approximately 1/2 inch extra dough. This will ensure that the cookie dough can be played with and not broken as quickly. 
4. Cut out the sugar cookie using a mini cookie cutter. Remove it from the dough and bake both in the oven.
5. For the rolling pin, cut a recycled toilet roll length-wise and then cut it down to approximately 2 1/2 inches in length. 
6. Roll the pin into a narrower shape and tape/glue in place.
7. Draw around the end of each side of the rolling pin, cutting out these shapes from scrap cardboard. 
8. Glue the circle pieces to both ends of the tube. Let dry.
9. Shape from the oven-bake clay, two reasonably identical handles. I made mine to look like the handles on the cookie cutters.
10. Bake these as directed.
11. Hot glue these to opposite ends of the doll rolling pin and paint. Finish with Mod Podge.
12. Cut and cover the rolling pin with faux wood shelf paper.
13. Paint the ends of the pin using a tan colored acrylic paint.

Above you can see the mini cookie cutters that 
were used to cut-out our doll's pretend sugar 
cookie dough. There are a selection of 5 designs:
5 pointed star, moon, ruffled square, diamond
 and an 8 pointed star.

See how I made other cookie sets for our dolls:

• Doll sized cookie sheets
• Easter egg sugar cookies
• A set of gingerbread reindeer and pine trees displayed on a cookie carousel
• Doll sized set of gingerbread men displayed on a Christmas tree here

What kind of sweets are in Grace's bakery?

       Grace helps run a pâtisserie. This is a type of Italian, French or Belgian bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets, as well as a term for such food items. In some countries, it is a legally controlled title that may only be used by bakeries that employ a licensed maître pâtissier in French, meester banketbakker in Dutch, Konditormeister in German (master pastry chef). In Dutch often the word banketbakkerij is used for the shop itself and banketgebak for the confections sold in such an establishment.

• Collecting furniture for Grace's French bakery: faux wrought iron
• DIY A Shabby Chic Bakery Display for Dolls
• DIY a Bakery Kitchen Unit from A Box
• A Vintage Printable Poster for a Doll's Bakery

 The Original Sweets & Baking Accessories in Grace's La Patisserie: Our versions of these crafts will be linked to as these are published...

• 2 tarts with raspberries and cream
• cake sprinkles for decorating the sweets: red and silver
• 2 chocolate mousse tartelettes
• 2 larger chocolate tarts with shavings of chocolate
• 3 larger strawberry macrons 
• 2 strawberry bars with hearts and fruit
• 2 lime tarts with blueberry details
• 2 pink doll plates
• rolling pin and raw dough - make rolling pin and cookie dough here
• baking tools: rubber spatula, whisk, and a display rack
• a faux cupcake tin, tart tin, mixing bowl, cookie sheet
• printable doll sized Euros, open and closed sign
• carton of eggs and icing bag and serving tray - make piping bags here
• smaller macarons stuck together
• 2 croissants
• a small variety of bakery boxes,
• 4 cupcakes pink and white, yellow and pink
• French baguettes and bags
• hot pad for removing hot pans from the oven
• sugar box (bag), milk carton, flour box, bottled water, clock
• 2 fancy shopping bags, menus, and recipe cards

More bakeries built by American Girl Doll Fans at YouTube:

• ParisWondersAG setting up her Grace doll's bakery
• American Girl doll DIY Grace Bakery by Create with Jada
• DIY: American Girl of the Year Grace's Bakery! by The Good Life

Learn more about a French bakery 

by Oui In France (Part 2 and Part 3)

This is an excellent series for young 

students to learn about Bakeries in 

France.

• Find a similar listing about Angelo's Bakery Accessories here!

DIY Doll Sized Clay Crescent Rolls...

The finished result, crescent rolls or croissants for doll's.
See a grocery box of crescent rolls for dolls here.

       The kipferl, the origin of croissant can be dated back to at least the 13th century in Austria, and came in various shapes. The kipferl can be made plain or with nuts or other fillings (some consider the rugelach a form of kipferl). Some Egyptians claim, arguably, that the kipferl may have been based on the feteer meshaltet pastry known to the Egyptians.

       The birth of the croissant itself—that is, its adaptation from the plainer form of kipferl, before the invention of viennoiseries—can be dated to at least 1839 (some say 1838) when an Austrian artillery officer, August Zang, founded a Viennese bakery ("Boulangerie Viennoise") at 92, rue de Richelieu in Paris. This bakery, which served Viennese specialties including the kipferl and the Vienna loaf, quickly became popular and inspired French imitators (and the concept, if not the term, of viennoiserie, a 20th-century term for supposedly Vienna-style pastries). The French version of the kipferl was named for its crescent (croissant) shape and has become an identifiable shape across the world. Read more...

       You will need Sculpey oven bake clay,acrylic paints: browns, white, yellow and Mod Podge to make croissant rolls like these.

Left, Cut long narrow triangular shapes like these to roll up into croissants.
Right, see how the shape forms when rolling from the largest end to the smallest.

       Roll out Sculpey clay between two sheets of wax paper using a glass, jar or rolling pin. Cut long, narrow triangles from the thin clay. Starting at the widest end of the triangle, roll it up and around itself until the narrowest tip has been smoothed over the tube-like, clay shape. Then gently pull both ends into a "C" formation, similar to a crescent moon shape.

Left, a rolled croissant before shaping it into a crescent shape.
Right, the rolls are shaped into crescent moon shapes.

       After baking the clay crescent rolls in a 175 degree oven for five minutes, let them cool. Now you are ready to paint the rolls. I gave these rolls a base coat of tan acrylic paint first. Then a lightly, dry brushed several additional tanish colors over this base coat. Apply Mod Podge to seal the surfaces once you are satisfied with the painted croissants.

Left a finished croissant or crescent roll for our 18" dolls. Center the top of the crescent rolls.
Right, the bottoms of the crescent rolls.

Craft More Bread for Your Dolls:

• Learn To Sculpt 1:12 Dollhouse Bread with IGMA Fellow Betsy Niederer
• Polymer Clay Miniature Bread Tutorial
• Polymer Clay Tutorial; 5 Types of Bread - Miniature Food

How I Restored An "Our Generation Gourmet Kitchen Set"

The before and after photos of my "Our Generation Gourmet Kitchen." I papered the back
 splash, painted the burners, painted the lighter pink trim and shelving white, replaced the clock,
 covered the old hinges, added a view behind the window panes (free alternative here) and then
 papered hot pink shelves.

 

Restoring The Food and Accessories That Once Came With The Kitchen

Above are the vintage doll foods from Japan that I purchase from a local
estate sale. I paid fifty cents for two small, unopened bags. Each piece
measures approximately 3/4" across. Top Left fruit are: watermelon, pear,
pineapple, lemon, bananas, grapes, two apples, pomegranate and orange.
Top, Right breads are: two toasted cheese, three plain glazed donuts and
and one larger bagel. Bottom Left meats are: two hamburgers, hot dog,
two pork chops, Cornish hen, lobster and two fried eggs that are sunny-
side-up. Bottom Right vegetables are: two small iceberg lettuce heads,
two carrots, one tomato, one yellow onion, head of cauliflower, celery
stalks, one red beet, a cucumber, one green pepper and one lonely potato.
All of the play foods are made of paper mache and hand-painted. I don't
know a date but the packaging looked very old. One of the hamburgers
is marked Japan.  This tiny collection adequately replaces similar food 
 items that once came with the collection belonging to the Our Genera-
tion Gourmet Kitchen. In fact, I'd say it greatly improves it altogether.

       This doll kitchen set came with a large collection of food items. However, I was only able to purchase the single, larger unit from resale for $4.99.  So over a period of several weeks, I managed to collect & craft most of the following items to replace what once accompanied it. Below I've listed the original contents of the sets normally sold at Target, and now also at Amazon, so that visitors may also be encouraged to undertake a similar challenge.

       The bad news is, as you may also have noted, I did not obtain the original refrigerator with the used kitchen! The good news is that I will be making a DIY for a doll refrigerator in the near future and link it up to this post when it has been completed.

       I've included lists of those items accompanying three popular doll kitchen sets so that you can decide which of the three you might prefer to purchase in the future or, you could go the least expensive route like myself, and hunt one of these down at resale or on ebay. Printing the lists out and working off of these makes crafting or purchasing similar items easier. 

• To see a review of the original Our Generation Kitchen set by IconaDollies. My set is the version with a hot pink kitchen counter. This review is of a red kitchen set with the same design features.

Above are custom grocery items made from my vintage label printables.
Shown here are: a sack of flour, country ham, Five Roses Cake Flour,
two bags of dried peas and two frozen packages of Ozark Strawberries.

The Original Food Items: Note - I have seen alternative, updated food sets for My Generation Kitchen set that come with egg trays + removable brown eggs, plastic milk cartons, butter with a transparent container and removable lid, a raspberry fruit basket, an additional skillet with a clear plastic lid, realistic salt and pepper shakers, a clear plastic cookie jar with a removable lid, a clear bottle of olive oil with a silver spout, peanut butter jar and Nutella jar etc... So depending upon when and where you purchased this set will determine what is included in your version of this play kitchen.

1. colorful marshmallow flavored cereal box (empty)
2. fruity crunch flavored cereal box (empty)
3. a paper container for pretend orange juice (empty)
4. hot chocolate mix, including 2 sachets inside
5. a paper container for pretend milk (empty of course)
6. 100 percent hamburger patties, freezer box (empty)
7. rainbow pops made with 100 percent fruit juice (empty)
8. a Sunday ice cream kit (empty)
9. an egg container for 12 extra large eggs (empty) - farm fresh eggs here!
10. a small empty bag for All Purpose Flour
11. two 3 dimensional chocolate chip muffins
12. two 3 dimensional cup cakes (red and blue icing) - see how we mad blue and red cupcakes with rosettes
    
13. three chocolate chip cookies
14. one small plastic can of tuna fish
15. one small plastic can of peaches - fresh peaches here, not canned
16. two small plastic sandwiches sliced in cross length shapes
17. three plastic eggs stuck together
18. a soft red plastic tomato - learn to sculpt tomatoes using oven-bake clay
19. a soft orange plastic orange
20. a soft, red plastic pepper - peppers and tomatoes sculpted using oven-bake clay
21. a wedge of Swiss cheese 
22. a cardboard box of butter - handmade dairy items for play

The vintage labels for doll canned foods above include: yams, asparagus, pineapple, pickles, spinach, tuna
baking powder, pumpkin, and pet foods for both a dog and a cat. The copyrights for my versions of these
labels are free for people to print out and craft with but not sell. Link back to the originals if you wish but
don't republish or redistribute them from alternative other websites please.

Kitchen Dishes, Tools, Accessories & Decorative Items:

1. a blue, transparent, plastic serving pitcher
2. a pink plastic drying rack + the draining tray that accompanies such kitchen equipment
3. a plastic cookie sheet
4. a plastic muffin baking tin
5. two blue plastic glasses that match the serving pitcher
6. three plastic shakers with red, white and blue caps for spices
7. a set of red plastic measuring spoons
8. a plastic spatula with a blue handle and grey tip - doll kitchen utensils crafts
9. a plastic spoon with a grey handle and blue tip
10. a remote, plastic, red phone and charging unit (phone can be removed)
11. a red, plastic hand mixer (grey beaters that are permanently attached)
12. a plastic, soft soap dispenser (red lid, white container)
13. white and red, plastic spray bottle for pretend cleaning fluid
14. a grey frying pan with a red plastic handle - how to make doll sized pots, pans and skillets here
15. two blue polka-dot plates made from plastic (polka-dots are white)
16. a plastic, blue polka-dot mixing bowl (goes with plates)
17. a white sponge for cleaning counter tops
18. a transparent measuring cup
19. two small decorative plants with attached plastic pots
20. Three plastic, white canisters for: flour, sugar, and coffee beans (Traditional canister sets usually include four pieces, the fourth being used for tea) - spool craft canister set
21. two red plastic soup bowls
22. two tall, white plastic chocolate mugs (not coffee mugs, the shapes are traditional to hot chocolate sets crafted a couple of centuries ago) - how to craft hot cocoa
23. one grey, plastic loaf pan - Our version of this craft here.
    
24. a pale pink sink strainer ( These are made to fit over the top of a sink so that veggies and fruit may be washed thoroughly; directly under the faucet.)

These tiny granola cereal boxes are made from advertising on
the side panel of an actual cereal box. They are just the right
size for a Barbie doll. See how to make the same for 18" dolls.

*Note, the colors of items may vary according to the color combinations of your kitchen set.

*Second, many of items in all sets are doubled up to increase the count of how many accessories and pieces of food come in each play kitchen set. 

* I don't mention the kitchen hardware on the lists.

Here is a listing also of all kitchen items normally included with the Journey Girl Gourmet Kitchen set originally sold by Toys-R-Us. You can view the exact toy kitchen sets here by Just Craft It.

The Original Food Items:

1. white, plastic milk carton - Doll dairy container crafts pictured here.
2. one paper juice carton
3. one box of butter (empty)
4. three, orange plastic carrots stuck together
5. three, yellow plastic bananas stuck together
6. one plastic orange
7. one red condiment bottle of ketchup
8. one yellow condiment bottle of mustard 
9. two plastic pieces of toast
10. one green plastic head of lettuce - How to make Bibb lettuce for your dolls
11. one red plastic tomato
12. one brown, plastic chocolate cake sliced into four pieces - pretty pom-pom chocolate cake craft
13. four chocolate cup cakes
14. four sugar cookies iced with pink plastic - Our sugar cookie star versions with jelly filled, heart shaped centers...
    
15. one large uncut sandwich
16. one cardboard cereal box (empty)
17. one box of processed macaroni and cheese (empty) - how to make pasta boxes for doll pantry...
18. one plastic green celery or broccoli? - doll size celery handmade
19. one box of Neapolitan ice cream for the freezer (empty)
20. two boxes of frozen veggies (empty)

Our set of very realistic looking desert erasers are now
kept in the doll's kitchen. These include: ice cream cones,
ice cream pops, ice cream sandwiches and dishes of
ice cream.

Kitchen Dishes, Tools, Accessories & Decorative Items:

1. a free standing, green colored mixer with matching beaters
2. a grey, plastic mixing bowl
3. one white plastic mixing bowl
4. a set of pale green measuring spoons
5. a green, plastic toaster - two versions of cardboard toaster crafts here
   
6. a grey, plastic drying rack
7. a grey, plastic ice cube tray (comes with 6 pieces of removable, heart shaped, plastic ice)
8. a grey, plastic pot with a detachable lid
9. two, green canisters with attached lids
10. a pale pink, plastic cake stand
11. two transparent containers with grey lids
12. a grey cookie sheet
13. two, red, heart shaped serving bowls
14. a pale pink strainer
15. two see-through plastic cups
16. one lemon scented, liquid dish soap bottle
17. a set of little salt and pepper shakers - button-top salt and pepper shakers here
    
18. one plastic spatula
19. one cookbook (doesn't have actual pages)
20. two pale pink plates
21. two pale pink coffee cups - Our paper tube coffee mug craft here.
22. two see-through glasses
23. one pink oven mitt
24. one pink hot pad - braid vintage fruity potholders for dolls
25. two sets of grey, plastic silverware including:one knife, one fork and one spoon - See how you can make silverware for dolls from cardboard here.
26. a transparent measuring cup with a spout
27. a pink hand mixer with attached grey, plastic beaters
28. a green container for mixing spoons and spatula
29. a plastic shaped bread box with a bread shaped lid
30. a grey plastic cutting board

Our dolls now have a selection of sushi erasers to eat.

Last, but certainly not least, is a listing of all the supplies sold along with a Gourmet American Girl Doll kitchen set: Review by American Girl Spirit

The Original Food Items:

1. one box of baking oats (empty)
2. one box of apple cinnamon stars cereal (empty) - How to make cereal boxes for your dolls here.
3. one box of pet food (empty) - Can labels for doll pet food here.
4. one box of brown sugar (empty)
5. one tiny box of baking soda (empty)
6. four plastic chocolate chip cookies
7. four plastic dark brown chocolate brownies - make rich chocolate brownies in a casserole here
8. half a loaf of bread
9. three slices of cut bread to insert into the toaster
10. one green basket of strawberries (removable)
11. one green basket of blue berries (removable) - Baskets of fruits with free pattern too!
12. two canisters: one for flour and the other for sugar (clear plastic, contain glitter, color labels, non-removable lids)
13. white plastic milk jug - Milk containers both glass and paper here...
14. clear plastic olive oil bottle
15. white plastic egg carton with eggs
16. plastic butter on a blue butter dish (comes with a clear plastic lid) - See our dairy for dolls to learn how to make butter sticks.
17. rolled out sugar cookie dough
18. pet food and water (removable) - Dog water and food bowl craft here.

A collection of food shaped erasers are just the right size
 for our 18inch dolls. pizza slices, burger, hot dogs,
 fries and sandwiches all look delicious!

Kitchen Dishes, Tools, Accessories & Decorative Items:

1. one grey square brownie tray - Our replacement versions here.
2. one grey bread pan
3. a green toaster that pops your doll's toast up and lowers it down with a built in spring - our craft version of toasters here
   
4. one grey plastic skillet with a pink handle
5. one grey plastic pasta pot with blue handles
6. two dark pink soup/cereal bowls - green cereal bowls for doll yogurt and fruit in the morning
7. two white plastic plates with colorful designs
8. two metal spoons
9. two metal forks
10. a salt shaker made of clear plastic and grains of salt
11. a pepper shaker that looks like metal - button top salt and pepper shaker craft
    
12. one plastic whisk (metal looking handle, rusty orange whisk)
13. one plastic mixing spoon (rusty orange)
14. one plastic rubber spatula (pink and grey)
15. multi-colored measuring spoons
16. grey plastic measuring cups
17. one butter knife with metal looking blade and green handle
18. a blue plastic recipe box
19. a plastic pen for writing with
20. note cards made of paper for recipe box
21. eight spice jars with a sheet of sticker labels - Our replacements for doll sized spices...
22. 2 clear plastic glasses
23. one plastic rolling pin - Make your own rolling pin and sugar cookie dough here.
24. one yellow mixing bowl
25. one grey cookie sheet - My versions of a cookie sheet craft here.
26. a polka-dot pink hot pad
27. a polka-dot pink apron - Directions for sewing a simple doll apron here.
28. a peach mixer that spins two alternative attachments: a whisk and a bread dough kneader
29. a large mixing bowl with measurement markings on the side (clear plastic + handle)
30. pink square trash can

See More Toy Kitchen Reviews for 18" Dolls:

• Ari. J The official reviews "My Life As Kitchen Playset"
• American Girl Fridge Playset "Maryellen's Refrigerator & Food Set with Shopkins Surprise by CookieSwirlC
• American Girl Doll Kitchen Set - The 2020 lavender set reviewed by agoverseasfan

What Is Inside Angelo's Bakery?

       I've made this listing for visitors who are looking to either: collect the following items from American Girl resale, investigate the items prior to purchase or to craft a similar collection covering this particular bakery's accessories. There is a similar listing for Grace's bakery here.

• Templates for Bakery Boxes - Both Barbie and American Girl sizes 
  

Angelo's Bakery Accessories, 1922: Our versions of these crafts will be linked to as these are published...

• a bakers table
• A bakery cart on wheels
• a faux wooden palette for removing items from an oven
• 3 tiered display with transparent plates
• display case for baked goods
• whisk with black handle - doll kitchen utensils crafts
• rolling pin and dough
  
• wooden spoon
• piping bag
• individual measuring cups 
• sifter with working handle
• cake stand
• transparent pie plates (2)
• cake server (metal)
• grey set of bakeware (4) pieces, one of these is pale green
• plastic coins for register, paper money
• cash box (no register)
• price tags
• old-fashioned bag of flower, stuffed with cotton
• mint green apron (apron sewing project)
• box of rolled oats
• box of baking soda
• a small plastic pastry blender
• olive oil bottle
• brown sugar jar filled with glitter
• white sugar filled with glitter (canister set craft)
• pasteurized milk bottle - see filled milk bottles and other dairy here
• a carton of eggs that opens with different colored eggs (attached)
• a large bunt cake with glaze and lemons
• plastic bowl, yellow and green
• cans of pineapple, sliced (2)
• four slices of pineapple cake with cherries on top
• jelly roll cake with two slices
• strawberry jam jar
• strawberries and blackberries together in one piece
• stack of lemons
• one lemon cake + one slice of lemon cake with chocolate decorations
• 2 crackle top or Dutch Crunch bread loaves
• 2 clusters of cream puffs with filling and dusted tops
• 4 slices of pie: two pumpkin (or sweet potato) and the other 2 cherry pie slices
• 2 half pies to match: one pumpkin and the other cherry (these fit inside the pie plates)
• 2 baguettes 
• 1 braided Challah loaf
• 3 salted pretzels 
• a large bunch of bananas

Angelo's Bakery Reviews:

• Unboxing + Review of Angelo's Bakery for The Claudie Doll
• Always Dolls makes her own version of this bakery using foam core... Part 1, Part 2
• Angelo's Bakery Review by PersnicketyPleasantPenelope: Part 1 and Part 2

More Bakeries:

• Some wonderful bakeries in New York today! by Pastry Trail Part 1 and Part 2
• Harlem in the 1930s, now colorized - fish market, salon, barber shop, parade
• Watch and learn about a modern bakery in Charlottesville by The Carlos Watson Show

Hearts and Stars Sugar Cookie Craft

Left, are the unmolded sugar cookies made from a child's old Playdough set. Right, painted.

       There are many ways to make tiny cookies for your doll's pretend food sets. I made these from a old mold that once came from a larger set of Playdough toys and oven-bake clay. Just because toy sets are made for you to shape dough with are intended for one kind of clay, such as Playdough, that doesn't mean that you can't shape items with different kinds of clay. Some of the nicest faux doll food in our collection was made by using early childhood dough molds. These tiny cookies look so perfect, you'd think they were mass produced from a factory. 
       To paint items like these sugar cookies, I usually use acrylic, nontoxic paints. Sugar cookies have many colors in their pale dough, once they are baked in real life. So I dry brush several shades of brown underneath a final coat of ivory before finishing these off with a bright cherry red, faux 'jam' at their centers. I also applied a touch of red puff paint to give added dimension to my doll cookies. You could use purple for grape jam or orange for marmalade if you prefer...

More Doll Cookie Crafts:

• Little Debbie's Oatmeal Cream Pies and other Hostess mini cakes packaging here...
• Box Templates for Packing Cookies at a Doll Bakery 
• Rolling pin and raw dough craft 
• How to make doll-sized cookie sheets and sugar cookies for a doll's kitchen here.
  

DIY Clay Pecan Pie for American Girl Dolls

Finished individual servings and whole pecan pie for
18" dolls to serve up at feasts.

       Our American Girl Dolls can't resist these doll sized pecan pie pieces! We will be including them in a Christmas banquet for our dolls in the month of December.

Supply List:

• Sculpey (oven bake clay)
• acrylic paints: brown, white and tan
• tin foil
• gold cupcake liners
• muffin tin
• wax paper
• rolling pin or glass
• paper mache pulp
• toothpick
• butter knife
• Mod Podge
• gold glitter glue 
• toothpick 
• tacky white glue

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Roll out a 'crust' using Sculpey oven bake clay. When doing this, sandwich the clay between two sheets of wax paper in order to protect all the surfaces from the clay.
2. Prep the muffin tin by crushing tin foil into the bottom of the muffin opening. Even doll sized muffin tins may be a bit deep for an 18" doll pie so adding this foil will ensure that your doll's pie crust is shallow enough.
3. Shape the oven bake clay into both a large pie crust shape and also smaller individual pie servings for doll play. Bake all of these for five minutes in the oven at 275 degrees, or as the manufacturer suggests on the clay packaging. 
4. After your clay has hardened and cooled to the touch, mix the paper mache pulp according to the directions on the package. Fill the pie crusts and let the pulp dry. 
5. Roll small nut size oval clay shapes between your fingers. 
6. Pat the clay down on one side to give it a flat surface with a dome.
7. Push a toothpick across the surface (dome) three times to shape the clay into pecans. see pictures above and below.
8. Bake the faux pecans in a 275 degree oven for 5 minutes.
9. Paint the pecans brown and then high light them with a paler shade of brown with a dry brush. Let the faux nut dry.
10. Use tacky glue to adhere the pecans to the paper mache pulp surfaces. Let dry.
11. Squeeze out the gold glitter glue between the painted pecans to make a gelatin looking filling for your pecan pie and individual pie pieces.
12. Brush the surfaces with Mod Podge to seal the painted parts.
13. Cut gold foil cupcake liners to fit the doll sized pie shell and glue these on with tacky white glue.
14. Now your dolls a ready to eat the perfect Christmas pecan pies!

Left, Roll out a 'crust' using Sculpey oven bake clay. When doing this, sandwich the clay
between two sheets of wax paper in order to protect all the surfaces from the clay.
Right, Prep the muffin tin by crushing tin foil into the bottom of the muffin
opening. Even doll sized muffin tins may be a bit deep for an 18" doll pie so
 adding this foil will ensure that your doll's pie crust is shallow enough.

Left, individual servings of pie crust cut into triangle shapes.
Right, the faux clay pecans are glued onto the paper mache pulp using tacky white glue.

Left the top of the pecan pie has been painted and sealed with Mod Podge.
Right, the gold foil cupcake liners have been cut down to size and glued onto the pie's outer surfaces.

Oven Bake Clay Pumpkin Pie

A mixed media pumpkin pie topped with realistic looking whipping cream.

Step-by-Step paper mache and oven baked clay pumpkin pie desserts.

       This mixed media, doll sized pumpkin pie is crafted with both Sculpey clay and paper mache pulp. It is the most realistic looking pumpkin pie in our food craft collection.

Supply List:

• Sculpey (oven bake clay)
• acrylic paints: yellow, orange red, green, brown and white
• tin foil
• gold cupcake liners
• muffin tin
• wax paper
• rolling pin or glass
• paper mache pulp
• toothpick
• butter knife
• Mod Podge

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Roll out a 'crust' using Sculpey oven bake clay. When doing this, sandwich the clay between two sheets of wax paper in order to protect all the surfaces from the clay.
2. Prep the muffin tin by crushing tin foil into the bottom of the muffin opening. Even doll sized muffin tins may be a bit deep for an 18" doll pie so adding this foil will ensure that your doll's pie crust is shallow enough.
3. Shape the oven bake clay into both a large pie crust shape and also smaller individual pie servings for doll play. Bake all of these for five minutes in the oven at 275 degrees, or as the manufacturer suggests on the clay packaging. 
4. After your clay has hardened and cooled to the touch, mix the paper mache pulp according to the directions on the package. Fill the pie crusts and let the pulp dry. 
5. You can also sculpt tiny whipped cream peaks from the clay and attach these to the pulp filling with a bit of glue. Paint the crusts with tan shades of acrylic paint, the pumpkin filling with orange colors and the whip cream tops with creamy white paint colors.
6. Serve up this popular, festive dessert to all of your hungry dolls this coming Thanksgiving or Christmas. Use your doll's best china and linens too!

Learn About Baking and Business With Grace Thomas

 "Grace Stirs Up Success" movie

       Grace Thomas is the thirteenth Girl Of The Year, released in 2015. An avid baker from the fictional town of Bentwick, Massachusetts, her story centers around her dreams of being an aspiring entrepreneur, with her trip to Paris as a key plot point. Grace made her debut on Good Morning America on January 1, 2015.

       The Grace doll has light skin with freckles across the bridge of her nose, light blue eyes, and medium brown hair with side bangs. She comes with a white print T-shirt with "Paris, Je T'aime" written in cursive script, a pink skirt with a black bow, and dark gray boots with bows. Her face mold is the Josefina mold. Some of her unique features are highlights, side bangs and permanent lip gloss. Tying in with the Grace doll is a television film based on her stories entitled Grace Stirs Up Success, starring Olivia Rodrigo as the title character, and the mobile app Grace's Sweet Shop for iOS and Android.

• Author Mary Casanova
• A Learning Guide to Grace's World

Our Artifacts for American Girl Doll, Grace Thomas:

• DIY Patriotic Pinwheel Cookies for American Girl Dolls
• DIY Doll Cupcakes for Valentine's Day
• Craft a Cupcake Stand Using Wooden Spools 
• The Paris Doll
• Collecting Furniture for Grace's French Bakery: Faux Wrought Iron
• DIY a Shabby Chic Bakery Display for Dolls
• DIY Doll Sized Candy Apples
• Craft Halloween Cupcakes for a Doll Bakery
• DIY A Bakery Kitchen Unit from A Box
• Bakery & Deli Food Clip Art 
• A Printable Poster for a Doll's Bakery
• What kind of sweets are in Grace's bakery?
• Eiffel Tower Print - for the French Bakery 
• Templates for Bakery Boxes - Both Barbie and American Girl sizes 
• Craft a doll sized rolling pin and dough
  

Online Research for Themes Found in Grace Thomas Books:

The City of Paris:

• The Eiffel Tower
• Louvre Museum
• Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris
• Avenue des Champs-Élysées
• Musée d'Orsay
• Palais Garnier, Opéra National de Paris
• Place de la Concorde
• Arc de Triomphe
• Oui in France YouTube Channel

It's Good for Business!

• Teaching kids to be entrepreneurs
• Kid Entrepreneur: Chandler's New Business
• 11-year-old CEO and entrepreneur from Detroit
• Kid Entrepreneur Curious Katherine
• Jalen bakes at age eight to buy a house
• Florida Brothers Design and Sell 70,000 Socks for Charity

Kids Can Cook:

• Kid chef cooks at the White House
• Extraordinary Teen Prodigy Chef: Greg Grossman
• Cooking with Chef Estie Kung
• Little Big Shots - Little Chef Kicha
• Four-year-old cooks Hilsa Fish Eggs
• How to make a fruit salad
• How to make a dark chocolate cake
• Lets Bake Cookies!
• 2-year-old creates spooky popcorn and rice crispy treats

American Girl Books About Grace Thomas:

• Grace
• Grace Stirs It Up
• Grace Makes It Great
• Grace and Sylvie: A Recipe for Family

Fan Video/Crafts for American Girl Doll Grace Thomas:

• Big Moon Opens Grace's French Bakery
• My Food Rules! - American Girl
• DIY American Girl Doll Grace's French Bakery
• DIY How to Build and Set Up a Bakery For American Girl Doll
• Bakery Vlog by ag4liife

Advancing The Read: 

• Clean Romance for Teens by Sandra Byrd - all about love and cake: Let Them Eat Cake, Bon Appetit, Piece de Resistance

DIY unicorn clothespin dolls...

Finished unicorn clothespin dolls.

       Unlike many other clothespin crafts, these unicorns are made by turning the full length of the clothespin to the front, leaving the divided parts turned to the side. On the bottom tips of each pin in the front and back you will need to paint two sets of black hooves.

Supply List:

• oven-bake clay
• acrylic or poster paints
• one cotton ball
• white felt
• white fur
• colorful yarn
• white school glue
• hot glue gun and hot glue
• colorful glitter for the unicorn horn

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Using the oven-bake clay shape the nose of the unicorn by rolling out a ball of clay approximately 1/2''. Press this shape into the head of the clothespin gently to shape the part so it fits snuggly against the wooden pin with glue after it bakes. If you use Sculpey this clay part won't shrink during the baking process.
2. Before baking the unicorn nose, take a small toothpick or pencil and press hole for the nostrils and a smile into the clay. Now bake the clay according to the instructions on the package.
3. When the clay is cool, glue the nose of your unicorn in place
4. Cut ear shapes for the unicorn from the white felt and attach on either side of the animal's head.
5. Sculpt a horn shape from the clay and bake. When this is cool, smear on white glue and dip it into the glitter.
6. Glue the horn just above the nose of the unicorn.
7. Unravel cotton ball and smooth a layer of it with school glue about the nose, ears and horn of the unicorn head. This will help adhere the tiny part together better and make the clay parts look as though all of them are "carved" from one piece of wood.
8. Paint the head of the unicorn white.
9. Glue on white fur to cover the rest of the clothespin body.
10. Leave a bit of the clothespin uncovered at the bottom tips for the painting of four black hooves. (see photo)
11. No paint the facial details like: eyes, mouth, inner ears and nostrils.
12. Hot glue a yarn fringe mane between the ears and down the backside of the clothespin approximately two inches.
13. Hot glue on the yarn tail.
14. Glue additional glitter or gems into the yarn mane. (optional.)

Steps for sculpting oven-bake clay elements of the unicorn clothespin dolls.

Unicorn clothespin cuties from different angles.

Wild Portulaca

 Pink Portulaca Flower; it is being grown indoors
 in Central California

A rich prize for the children
With their a pin-a-pop-a-show.
A picnic for the wild dove
Who reflects your crimson glow.

       Miner's Lettuce has a pretty sister, who will also help you at your parties. At first look, you would not think they were sisters, but they are.

       Some people call Wild Portulaca, Red Maids‚ because she wears such a beautiful red dress, but I think more people know her by the name I use. You have seen her coming up along the roadside, or in a field where the grass is not high. The little stems spread out and send up many flowers, so that a Portulaca bed is very beautiful when the sun shines on it. 

       Portulaca wears a beautiful rose-purple corolla. It is much larger than the tiny white one of Miner's

Lettuce. Its petals are so velvety that they throw back the sun's light straight into Mrs. Bug's eye. They do not need a circle of green for a background.

       Portulaca has a lighter center where she has set some dishes of honey. She has placed dark little honey paths leading down to the party. Mrs. Bug likes the smell of the honey and soon finds the dishes of it. Then, she likes the taste and decides to go to other Portulacas for more of the same kind.

Portulaca from old seed
catalogue.

       The anthers of Portulaca are bursting with a rich orange pollen. As soon as Mrs. Bug touches the stamens, the anthers pour out their rich store. Mrs. Bug is nicely powdered. She carries this pollen to the next Portulaca she visits, and there the stigma gets it down to the ovules. Then, soon new seed is ripening.

       If she wishes Portulaca honey, Mrs. Bug has to work while the sun is shining brightly. Portulaca is very much afraid of dark and cold. As soon as the sun passes from her, no matter how warm the air is, she draws up her velvety petals close around her lovely anthers.

       Are the petals as velvety on the outside as on the inside? Why? Count the petals. Are there the same number as in Miner's Lettuce? See how they fold around each other. When they are open, do they form the same shaped corolla as Miner's Lettuce wears?

       Look at the calyx. See the shape of its two sepals. Each looks like the keel of a boat. That is a fine shape for a calyx. The two sepals can fold over the corolla and keep it safe. You can float these sepals for fairy boats, and no water will soak in.

       Look at the leaves. You see they are scattered up the stem as well as bunched at the bottom. Which leaves are the thickest, those of Portulaca or those of Miner's Lettuce? 

       The seeds of the Portulaca are good to eat, too. The wild dove just dotes on them. Often you see flocks of doves picnicking on a Portulaca bed. They have a very merry time. They eat so fast they forget to mourn. If you sit very still, they will go on with their frolic, stepping daintily and turning their heads to the side as they snap up the shining seeds. If you move, they will get frightened and fly away. You can talk gently. That will not frighten them. Wild birds do not seem to mind talking. They do mind a move of the arm or the leg or the body.

       So, if you wish to watch the wild doves on a picnic, sit down near a Portulaca bed and keep still. See how gracefully the dove holds her neck as she swallows. On her neck, the feathers have caught some of the same beautiful rose-purple that Portulaca has used in her corolla. Perhaps the Dove's feathers have that shade from eating Portulaca seeds.

       Take some of the seeds in your hand. See how black and shiny they are. See that they curve out on both sides. If two seeds start rolling down hill, which will go the farthest, a flat seed or a rounded seed? Portulaca thinks a rounded seed will get farthest from the mother plant and so she makes her seeds that shape. Then, when the seed-case throws it out, it may roll away to a new piece of ground. 

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