Summer Crafts

If your daughter is like mine, I'm sure you've already heard this phrase at some point this summer "What are we going to do today mom?" Well we found some great crafts that were very inexpensive to assemble and made for hours of play for the girls & their dolls. These great craft ideas came from the following website & they had some other great craft ideas for girls too so check it out at www.makingfriends.com

For both crafts we used communion cups which we purchased at the Family Bookstore. For the Sundaes we used pom poms for the ice cream, 1 cotton ball for the whipped cream topping, and two sizes of pony beads for the cherry & sprinkles. I used clear tacky gel glue(from Hobby Lobby)to hold it all together.

To make the drink cups fill the cup 3/4 with clear tacky glue. Next push in some irredecent tri-beads until it's full. You may need to add a little bit of glue on the top as well. Then cut a coffee stir stick into small pieces & insert it into the center of the drink. We let ours dry overnight. I hope you have a great time trying out these crafts with your kids.

June Outfit of the Month

In honor of Alexa & Mallory's dance recital last weekend, we are offering our Swan Lake Ballerina outfit as our June Outfit of the Month. The original price is $16.99 so with 10% off it will be $15.29. You need to e-mail us your order if you'd like to take advantage of our monthy special.
This outfit includes a leotard, tutu, ballet slippers and a hair tie. Here is a photo of Mallory with her doll Jessie at her ballet gala. Of course you can view this outfit and all our others on our website at www.emilyroseathome.com/joelleschrader

Doll Care 101

Since making an investment in an American Girl d0ll is a large amount for girls who are usually between the ages of 3-12, I think it's important to teach our daughters how to take good care of their dolls. I'd like to share a couple of tips that I have learned that can help keep your American Girl doll or any favorite baby doll in great condition.

Cleaning Tips:
If you get dirt or stains on your doll, there are two things I have found that work well to remove them. I always try baby wipes first. Since they are made with mild cleansers and are soft enough to use on babies, they work great for dolls. If you can't remove the stain with a baby wipe, my second action would be to try some baking soda mixed with a little water. I prefer to use a soft bristle toothbrush to scrub the area. Again, remember we want to be gentle & the soft bristle tooth brush is gentle enough that it won't scratch your doll but will enable you to scrub the area to remove the stain. I want to mention one other thing that I've found that works for stains on dolls--Magic Erasers. I do want to caution you not to use them on the face of your doll as they could remove painted cheeks, but I've found that they work great for stains on arms & legs. Don't overuse them as they could take the color out of a doll who has a darker skin tone. I have to say that it even took off pen marks that my youngest daughter Mallory made on her sisters doll when she was 2! What a stressful experience that was. Luckily it worked.

Hair Care:
The best type of brush to use for your doll's hair is a wire bristle brush. Lightly mist the hair with some water from a spray bottle first & then begin to brush the dolls hair starting at the bottom & working your way up. If you have a really bad case of "frizzy doll hair" you can also try a leave in spray conditioner. Nutrigena has a good one that we have tried with success in the past.

I hope you find these tips helpful. We'll be posting more in the future so look for those to come.

Emily Rose @Home

Alexa & I are trying to grow our mother/daughter business. Last year we became founders members with EmilyRose which is a company that sells clothes, accessories, and furniture for American Girl dolls and other 18 inch dolls. I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for us to have some fun together and a great way to teach my daughter the ins & outs of business. You can never learn to early the importance of integrity, standing behind your products, how companies make money, marketing, and networking skills. Emily Rose @home has provided us with a wonderful opportunity to do this. We have started small & held probably 10 parties in the past year. We are now trying to take our business to the next level and are working hard to attract new customers. We now have our own website where customers can view our products and shop directly via the web. Check it out at www.emilyroseathome.com/joelleschrader

I must admit that I have not really used this blog much in the past year. I am a busy mom with a full time career as a training manager for a community bank. Then I'm an entrepreneur with my own at home business. Needless to say that doesn't leave much time for blogging, but my goal for the rest of this year is to post at least twice a month on our blog. I hope to share helpful tips for caring for dolls and for fun crafts that you can try with your girls. I will also feature an outfit of the month from Emily Rose @Home that we will offer to anyone who follows our blog at at 10% discount. So I hope you enjoy our information & Alexa and I look forward to hearing from you soon.