The Three Musketeers: My first TLC project!

Hi guys! 

So I am super excited because today I got my recent Ebay find in the mail! I have been wanting to do a TLC project for a while now and I found this lot of three dolls that really... didn't need too much work so I thought that it would be a perfect first time TLC project...plus.. the price was really hard to pass up! I really think I will be able to double what I paid for them. So I have decided on a name for this trio...

The Three Musketeers!

So as you can see, they are all pretty much in good shape. The Samantha (right) needs some extra stuffing added to her body. If you notice in the picture her head is always cocked to the left. She also needs a good cleaning and some hair care!

The Kirsten (center) Just needs a cleaning and some hair care. She is in really good shape! 

Now the Josefina (left) is my challenge. If you look in the picture below she has a mark in her wig that almost looks like a burn? Also her wig is sort of peeling off her head. I was so excited to see her hair was nice at first glance but after finding that, I am not sure what I am going to do at the time, I could either keep it like that or replace the wig and I am really not sure yet. 

The next issue is her eyes, In the picture below you see that the lashes are completely destroyed and there is a couple hard marks on the actual eye. So I am going to do an eye swap. But since I found also that the hair is "burnt" on top it has crossed my mind to do a complete head swap.  

The last issue with her is the chew marks on her right hand. So I am going to order a new arm and get her looking good as new!

So right out of the box I already worked some magic and they are already looking good!

Please follow my blog and add me to your circles to see updates on The Three Musketeers! 

Product Review: Kirsten's Checked Dress and Apron

So I have wanted this outfit for such a long time and I finally fought an intense bidding war to get one and got it on the final bid of $39.99. Which this dress is pretty rare so honestly I feel this was a good price. Now it is missing the yellow shawl but I know I will find it one day on Ebay! 

So here is the American Girl Wiki article on the outfit.

http://americangirl.wikia.com/wiki/Kirsten%27s_Checked_Dress_and_Apron

And here is the dress on my Kirsten, just got it today!! 

So its obviously beautiful and I love the way it makes Kirsten's eyes pop! 

The detail is absolutely impeccable as you see above. The very detailed flower stitching on the apron is so beautiful and the tiny buttons on the front of the dress are adorable. 

All and all here are my ratings.

Quality- 5 AG stars

Definitely has that American Girl quality that I love!

Fit- 5 AG stars

My Kirsten is a Pre-Mattel and it fits her just perfect!

Historical Accuracy- 5 AG stars

Looking at any old photo of the 1850s you can see this is a very accurate look! 

I have nothing bad to say about this outfit and it was so worth the money!

Any questions about this outfit I would be glad to answer in the comments!! 

  

The Newest Member of my Collection

Well I have had her for almost two weeks now but I haven't been able to take nice pics until now soooo... without further adieu let me introduce....

Samantha!

She was an preloved on Ebay, kinda a cool story... my mom said to me one day out of the blue, "You know your name is Samantha...You should probably have the doll named Samantha." And she hopped on my computer and started to look on Ebay at Samantha dolls. I pulled up a chair and sat next to her and we looked and looked at all the listings. Some were in too rough of shape, some cost wayyy more than the new ones out of the AG catalog...and then we came across this one. She was a good 'buy it now' price and very good condition. She didn't come in her meet outfit but she came in a badass bowling outfit. Anyways my mom and I agreed she was awesome and she was like, "Lets get this one." I was like...whaaaaa?! Awesome!! Since then I got this outfit and also her meet outfit. Welcome Samantha!! 

I took Reed out for some pics the other day, here are my favs!

Conan at The American Girl Place LA

I just came across this video of Conan at the American Girl Place in LA and I just could not stop laughing! So I had to share!

Kaya Pics

I took some pics of Kaya outside today

Recipe: Kirsten's Prairie Style Indian Pudding

Well it was forty degrees all day here in Minnesota but I guess we just aren't quite out of summer mode yet because we were all craving ice cream. So indeed we did have an ice cream treat... but we topped it off with warm indian pudding. 

Early American settlers such as Kirsten usually had an abundance of "indian meal" which in current times is called corn meal so this recipe was used often. It was even mentioned in The Little House books as Charles Ingalls favorite dessert. 

Recipe Level: Easy  

Ingredients

2 cups of whole milk

1 cup of heavy cream

1/2 cup of molasses

1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1/3 cup of corn meal

1 tsp. of ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pint of vanilla ice cream (we used vanilla bean ice cream)

Things you will need

Oven!

medium saucepan

whisk

small mixing bowl

8X8 baking dish

measuring cup

spoon

ice cream scoop

Okay so start off by preheating your oven to 350 degrees

Then in a medium saucepan add the milk, cream, molasses, and brown sugar. Put in on the oven at about a medium high temp and stir occasionally. 

While that is heating up mix the corn meal, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in the mixing bowl.

Once your mixture in your saucepan is ALMOST to a simmer, add your dry ingredients from your mixing bowl and whisk constantly. 

Once it comes to a simmer, dump the hot mixture into the baking dish and put it in the middle rack of your oven.

After 20 minutes take it out and stir the pudding with a spoon and then return to the oven for another 20 minutes. Then turn off your oven and crack the oven door a bit, let the pudding cool in your oven. After about 20 minutes it should be nice and settled.

Put a scoop (or two!..or three!) of vanilla ice cream in a bowl and top it with a scoop or two of the pudding. 

Enjoy!

We sure did!!  

Brave Girls in American History

Okay so, this is my first post of my blog and I am going to start out with a history lesson... the American Girl stories are full of some brave and amazing young girls. Of course the stories are fiction, but were there girls in our history really similar to the AGs? I am going to tell you about famous young ladies from history that remind me of each character in the AG historical series starting with... 

Kapkap Ponmi (Noise of Running Feet)

Inspired by Kaya

When the War of 1877 broke out Kapkap-Ponmi, daughter of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce tribe, was 12 years old. She had been born in 1865. During the attack at Bear Paw, Chief Joseph and his daughter found themselves in the middle of an attack and he ordered his daughter to jump on a horse and ride to safety. He watched his daughter flee for her life in a hail of bullets. That was the last time he saw his daughter. Chief Joseph surrendered and was captured. Part of his punishment was to never see his daughter again. Kapkap Ponmi did get away safely though and her bravery was never forgotten. 

Sybil Ludington

Inspired by Felicity

Sybil was the daughter of a patriot, Colonel Henry Ludington. Her story is similar to Paul Revere. In April of 1777, when she was only 16 years old, British troops raided Danbury, CT. Sybil volunteered to help round up troops. Although Paul Revere gets all the credit for this kind of bravery... Sybil rode her horse over twice as far as Paul Revere did (40 miles!). She rounded up over 400 of her fathers soldiers that night.