American Girl Goes to Work

 

I love Miss Priss loves to make new play scenes for her American Girl dolls. She has a Tri-Fold Project Board Display, the kind used for science fair projects, that we periodically change out for different doll activities. So far, we have made a Restaurant, a Dress Shop, an Art Gallery, and a Hair Salon with the project board. Last week, Miss Priss asked if we could convert the background scene to an office space.

American Girl DIY office play scene American Girl crafts

You don’t have to ask me twice, so we loaded up and headed to Hobby Lobby where all of my great crafty projects start.

American Girl Office SuppliesThe Desk

  • We used a hot pink desk organizer and tipped it on its side. The openings that would have held pencils, paper clips, or Post-it notes became shelves across the front of the desk.
  • We found 5″ sparkly candlesticks and glued them to the desk organizer. I used E6000 Glue, which is a heavy duty craft glue. I did measure the distance from the edges of the desk organizer and center the candlesticks on each side of the desk organizer box before gluing to make sure the candlestick legs were evenly spaced.
  • In order for the scale to be about right, desks and tables should be roughly 9″ tall.

American Girl office deskThe Bulletin Board

  • Purchase a pre-cut mat for a picture frame. The interior dimensions of my frame mat is 4 1/2″ x 6 1/2″. I used the thin corkboard on a roll with adhesive back that I had from making Doll Sandwiches. Cut a corkboard piece a little larger than the opening of your frame mat. Run a line of glue around the front edges of the corkboard and press it to the back of the frame mat. The corkboard sheet rolls up a little, so I placed books on top of the mat and cork on a flat, hard surface (like a kitchen counter) until the glue dried.
  • Once the glue dried, we attached the framed bulletin board to the science fair backboard. I put the science fair backboard flat on my dining table and measured the placement of the bulletin board before gluing, so it would be straight and centered. You can remove the sticky back paper to attach the bulletin board to the project board or attach with craft glue or hot glue.

American Girl office background

  • Map pins work well for attaching notes. Your pins will go all the way through the cork and the backboard.

American Girl bulletin boardOffice Plants

  • Look for mini plant containers at Hobby Lobby, Michael’s Crafts, or gardening centers. We purchased a block of that green oasis material that florists use to make flower arrangements and some fake greenery.

American Girl office plant oasis material

  • Cut a chunk of oasis to fit in the bottom of the container.
  • Cut pieces of greenery and stab the ends into the oasis block.

American Girl office plantCharts

  • We went through the art supply section at Hobby Lobby and found a 6″ x 8″ watercolor paper notepad with the spiral binding on the top (portrait orientation).
  • Using Sharpie markers and a ruler, Miss Priss and I drew a few different graphs.
  • We set the notepad on a small tabletop art easel.

American Girl office sales chartStationery

  • Using my paper cutter, I cut notebook paper, printer paper, and colored cardstock into 2″ x 3″ pieces of paper.
  • Using mini rubber stamps and ink pads, we stamped designs and monogram initials onto the top of the papers, so it looks like personalized stationery.
  • I also found colored paper clips that are smaller than standard size, and we clipped assorted papers together.

American Girl office stationeryAdditional Accessories

  • Hobby Lobby has plain craft boxes with lids in a variety of sizes. We bought 2 boxes that measured 2″ x 3″ x 1 1/2″ and separated the lid from the bottom. The bottom parts of the boxes fit in the desk like a drawer and hold some desk supplies. I used an X-acto knife to cut a small half circle out of one side of each lid and then sanded the rough parts down with a nail file. The lids look like in/out desktop file boxes. Miss Priss has papers in the file boxes.

American Girl in out file boxes

  • We used a sparkly candle votive for a trashcan. Miss Priss wadded up scraps of paper to make the trash can look full.
  • We found small folders (about 2 1/2″ x 3 1/2″) that have the string to tie the folder closed like an interoffice mail envelope in the scrapbooking section of Hobby Lobby.

American Girl interoffice envelope

  • We pulled several of our items from the American Girl School crafting binge like the pencil and pencil cup to add to the office play scene as well.

American Girl office

Miss Priss likes the office so much, we needed a second science fair backboard, so this scene can stay up permanently, and our second backboard gets traded out for other scenes. We have also recently become the proud owners of an original Samantha Oversized Book of Cardboard Scenes and Settings. The American Girl village happening in our TV room is quite extensive. I may need an intervention.

American Girl Art Gallery

american girl art gallery

Mr. Star Wars gave Miss Priss a new American Girl craft book for Christmas. We own practically all of them, so I was impressed he located one we did not already have. The Doll Art Studio Activity Kit gives all kinds of tips for designing an art gallery for your American Girl doll. Working on these projects requires all of my concentration, so we were not able to begin construction until the MLK holiday when I had a day off from teaching and minimal interruptions. Miss Priss and I took over the kitchen and dining room tables and dug in.

art gallery artist table

It would not be an official AG craft project if we did not make a trip to Hobby Lobby to get started. I had Miss Priss bring the kit’s idea book in the car with us and skim the pictures and explanations to make sure we would not miss anything critical. Miss Priss’ reading skills add tremendous value to project work– especially now that I have to wear the “over 40” glasses and need her to read all of the fine print on the material packages.

art gallery samantha paintingPaint Brushes and Artist Palette Materials

  • matchsticks
  • duct tape (shiny silver and a few other colors)
  • 3/16″ glue dots
  • old paintbrushes
  • brown cardboard
  • acrylic paint (5-6 colors)

art gallery brush and pallette

Directions

  • The AG book came with a paper artist palette that I traced on brown cardboard. If you do not have a template for the artist palette, draw a kidney shape that is roughly 3″ x 2″. Using scissors, cut out the palette shape. Using an X-Acto knife, stab/cut a thumb hole. Carefully drop small blobs of acrylic paint evenly around the edge of the palette and let dry overnight.

art gallery paint pallette template

art gallery paint pallette paint dabs

  • To make a paintbrush, cut a 1-inch piece of colored duct tape or a piece of tape that matches the length of your matchstick and carefully roll the piece of tape around the matchstick until you come to the end of the tape piece.

art gallery wrap brush handle

  • The glue dots are stretchy, and you pull a glue dot around one end of the covered matchstick.
  • Carefully cut the bristles from an old paintbrush and make a pile with the cut bristles. Roll the sticky end of the matchstick through the bristles. If you want thicker bristles on the paintbrush, add another glue dot around the first layer of bristles and roll through the cut bristles again.

art gallery brush bristles

  • Cut a thin strip of silver duct tape less than 1/4″ wide and wrap the silver strip at the base of the bristles. Trim bristles to even up if needed.

art gallery brush silver tape

art gallery brushes and pencilsStudio Table Materials

  • 2 wooden A letters ~9″ tall
  • wood plank for tabletop (mine is 1/4″ thick and is ~5″ x 12″)
  • 5/16″ diameter wooden dowel
  • acrylic paint (any color)
  • paint brush
  • hot glue gun

art gallery work table suppliesDirections

  • Paint your table materials and let dry. If you like the natural wood color, you can skip the painting step.
  • Measure the length of your tabletop against your wooden dowel and make sure the dowel is 2″ to 4″ shorter than the tabletop. I sawed ~2″ from the end of my dowel to make the dowel ~10″ in length.
  • Hot glue the dowel into the nail hanging slots on the wooden letters, so the dowel connects the two letters. Put the tabletop on your working surface and hot glue the the top of the letter A’s to the tabletop.

art gallery work table assembly

 

art gallery work table finished

  • We also made a display table by painting a wooden plaque and resting it on a metal candle holder. The candle holder is only about 6″ in height.

art gallery art display

Original Artwork Materials

  • mini canvases (available at Hobby Lobby)
  • variety of stickers
  • colored Sharpie markers
  • acrylic paint
  • sequins
  • foam shapes
  • magazines
  • Elmer’s glue
  • mini easels (available at Hobby Lobby)

art gallery art sample

Directions

  • The sky is the limit with the mini canvases. You can paint original artwork, draw with the Sharpie pens, paint backgrounds and put stickers on top, cut out pictures from magazines and create collages, glue foam shapes together for modern art… anything works.
  • I also scoured around my house for little clay projects Miss Priss had made and any other mini craft projects and added those to the displays in the art gallery.

art gallery canvases

Studio Design

  • We had a science fair backboard we used for the American Girl Dress Boutique. We took down a few of the decorations from the dress shop and put up the art work using Tacky.

art gallery art display with tags

  • The AG doll book came with a few easels as well as the new ones I purchased. We used the easels to display the art on the tables. I also moved some clear acrylic boxes stuffed with colored tissue paper from the dress shop into the art gallery and set small clay projects on those (notice the tiny little otter in the background of the picture below).

art gallery artist table with canvas

  • We dropped the paint brushes in a mini pail and a small glass jar for an authentic art studio look. We borrowed the colored pencils and cup from our AG School Supply stash and set up the artist table with an art canvas in progress, paint palette, brushes, pencils and a mini LED clip reading light I found at the checkout at Hobby Lobby.

art gallery brushes with lampThe activity book has many other ideas and paper accessories. The small tags to label the art came from the book as well as the template to make the art smock Samantha is wearing. Miss Priss was tired of waiting to play with the art gallery, so I had to stop adding to it and let her actually play. *sigh*

art gallery supplies

American Girl Hair Salon

AG hair styles front

The most popular activity at American Girl camp last week was the hair salon station. We had a hair salon set up every day. We gave instructions on how to properly brush and care for American Girl doll hair. The girls could visit the hair salon area any time they finished a camp activity. We had doll brushes, spray water bottles, and hair accessories available along with directions about a specific hair style each day.

On Caroline day, the campers learned how to put their doll’s hair in a bun. Caroline lived during the War of 1812. Ladies during the early 1800s might wear their hair with curls around their face and have a bun in the back.

Salon Secrets

  • Keep your doll still. Hold between your legs or use a doll chair.
  • Always use a wire doll hairbrush. Plastic bristled hairbrushes snag and frizz the doll hair.
  • For best styling results, lightly mist your doll’s hair with water. Cover the eyes and face with a small cloth or paper towel while misting. Protect the body from water too.
  • Take a small section of hair at the tip and brush gently. Work your way up the small section of hair.
  • Don’t pull the doll’s hair too hard when brushing. If possible, hold the doll’s neck as you work.
  • NEVER use a blow-dryer, hot rollers, curling iron, or straightening iron on your doll’s hair. The hair is made of plastic and will melt and burn.

AG doll hair supplies

Materials

  • American Girl Doll Hair Salon Kit w/Book (optional– we got a few styling ideas from the kit, and it came with a doll brush and spray water bottle)
  • wire doll hairbrush
  • styling spray water bottle (found spray bottles that will lightly mist in the soap making section at Michael’s crafts)
  • short bobby pins
  • classic hair pins (the kind that are wide)
  • small elastics (the kind that look like Rainbow Loom bands or rubber bands for braces)
  • paper towel, washrag, or some type of covering to protect the doll’s face and body when misting hair with the water

Classic Bun

  • Gather the hair at the back of the doll’s head and make a high ponytail. Tie with an elastic. Twist ponytail tightly; spritz it with water; wrap twisted ponytail around the elastic. Tuck the end of the ponytail under the bun and insert a hairpin to hold. Pin the rest of the bun in place, crisscrossing pins.
Classic Bun Step 1

Classic Bun Step 1

Classic Bun Finished

Classic Bun Finished

Messy Bun

  • Make a ponytail and tie with an elastic. Using small sections at a time, very loosely pin the ends of the ponytail around the elastic.
Messy Bun

Messy Bun Back View

Messy Bun Side View

Messy Bun Side View

Rope Braid

  • Brush all of the hair back into a high ponytail or pull a small section into a side ponytail. Tie off with an elastic. Separate the ponytail into 2 equal sections. Twist both sections of the hair clockwise. Tightly cross one section over the other counterclockwise until you reach the end of the ponytail. Tie off with another elastic.
AG rope twist

Rope Braid Step 1

Rope Braid Step 2

Rope Braid Step 2

Rope Braid Finished

Rope Braid Finished

Some campers visited the hair salon and did nothing but brush their doll’s hair. If you plan to host an American Girl camp, I think having a hair styling area is a must! I think this would also work well as an activity at an American Girl birthday party.

AG hair styles side

 

 

American Girl Camp

kaya tepee scene 2

The school where I teach runs American Girl camps in the summer. The history teacher in charge of AG camp is pregnant and had to go on bedrest at the end of the school year, so the school needed last minute subs to run the two camp sessions. Clearly, I am totally qualified to run this camp, but I was hesitant to accept the job. I immediately had visions of American Girl crafts run amok since I tend to think big and have difficulty prioritizing and gauging what is realistically possible for little hands. 20+ campers and overly complicated mini craft projects are not always a good combination. Nevertheless, I took on the challenge, and we just finished the last day of American Girl camp today.

I recycled many of my American Girl craft projects, but I also designed some new ones too. This past Monday was Kaya Day. With the help of my nieces who are still staying with me, we engineered tepees out of brown butcher paper, strung Nez Perce-like beaded necklaces, and wove mats for the tepee.

The Tepee

Materials

  • brown butcher paper (I used painter’s floor covering paper from Lowe’s)
  • wooden dowels– 1/4″ diameter, 24″ length (4-5 per tepee)
  • duct tape or masking tape
  • mini hair bands or Rainbow Loom bands

Directions

  • My oldest niece has the original Kaya tent. She traced the outline of the cloth tepee cover for me to use as a template. The tepee shape is basically a half circle. The diameter is 48″ with a small circle cut out at the center of the straight edge.

kaya tepee template

  • Using the template, we traced the shape onto the brown butcher paper and then cut out the shape.

kaya tepee full design

  • I added Native American looking patterns and symbols. I cut geometric shapes out of poster board for the campers to use as templates for designs on the paper.

kaya tepee designs

  • I also shared a handout with some Native American symbols.

Native American Symbols

  • After decorating, turn the tepee paper over and tape 4-5 dowels to the paper. Space the dowels evenly around the tepee shape, and the bottom of the dowel needs to be even with the bottom edge of the tepee.

kaya tepee dowels

  • Fold the paper in half and stand up. Pinch the first and third dowel together and wrap a rubber band around the top of the dowels. Pull the rest of the dowels together to make them look like the poles at the top of the tepee. Add another rubber band around all of the dowels. (We also wrapped some twine around the top to make it look more authentic).
  • Spread the part of the dowels that touch the floor out and fiddle with the paper to get the desired tepee shape.

kaya tepee scene back

Beaded Necklace

Materials

  • waxed cotton thread
  • plastic beads– various shapes (perler beads work well too)
  • lanyard clips (2 per necklace)

Directions

  • Cut 3 pieces of cotton thread in 3 different sizes– 14″, 13″, and 12″.
  • Line up the 3 pieces of thread so the ends are even. Keeping the ends even with each other on one side, tie a “granny knot” around the lanyard clip.

kaya necklace cord

  • Thread beads onto all 3 pieces of string. You can create any bead order and partially fill the string or fill the string full with beads. Leave space at the end to make it easy to tie the threads into a knot.
  • After adding beads, gather the loose ends of the strings and even them up. Tie them in a knot to a second clip making sure the ends are even with each other.

kaya beaded necklace

  • When the necklace is on the doll, the strings will hang at 3 different lengths in a similar way to the quill necklaces worn by the Nez Perce Indians.

Woven Mats

Materials

  • scrapbook paper
  • glue dots
  • scissors
  • rulers

Directions

  • Cut scrapbook paper into the mat size you would like. Our mats were 5″ x 5″.
  • Fold the mats in half with the design facing in.
  • On one side of the folded paper, draw guidelines for cutting. The lines begin at the folded end of the paper and stop about 1/2″ from the opposite edge (the open side of the folded paper). My lines are 1/2″ apart. You can adjust based on the mat size you use.

kaya woven mat sample

  • The campers made cuts along the lines being careful to stop when the line stopped. Then, kids opened up the paper flat and weaved strips of scrap paper over and under securing each end with a glue dot. My strips are about 1/2″ wide, and I used a paper cutter to make all of the strips.

kaya woven mat finished

  • The mats fit neatly inside the tepee, and if our American Girl doll had been living with Kaya in the mid 1700s, the mat would have helped keep rain out of the tepee.

For more DIY American Girl ideas, visit my other AG posts or check out my Crafts link in the menu bar to the right!

American Girl Food

American Girl Sweet Shop

American Girl School

American Girl Campout **includes directions for the campfire

American Girl Dress Shop

kaya tepee scene

American Girl Dress Boutique

American Girl dress store

Guess what Miss Priss got for Christmas? An American Girl dress shop craft book! I practically ripped the book out of Miss Priss’ hands. I did control myself briefly while we visited my parents during the holidays, but then some of my nieces asked about AG crafts, so I made one tiny stop at Hobby Lobby, and you can probably fill in the rest.

American Girl Ruthie white satin dressMiss Priss actually did a lot of the work on the hats and purses, but there is hot glue involved in the gowns, so I have been handling most of the design on the dresses while Miss Priss acts as consultant.

American Girl Doll Boutique BookThe Book

  • The craft book kit comes with two shopping bags, a receipt book, play money, a foldable paper laptop computer, and other paper items you can use to decorate your store. The book gives suggestions for using old clothing and other found items to make doll hats, purses, and gowns. I did source my massive craft supply inventory and end of the year donation pile, but I still needed a few trips to Hobby Lobby for odds and ends to make the shop look really professional. I have a materials list at the end of the post.

American Girl purses

The Purses

  • We used tiny bottles I had leftover from the American Girl Campout and wrapped them in fabric. We put a strip of double sided tape around the bottle first, then brought the edges of the fabric up and tied around the top. You can then add a strap by tying another piece of ribbon around the gathered fabric at the top or hot gluing a looped strap near the top. You can add little beads or sparkly stickers to the sides.

American Girl pouch purse

American Girl blue evening bag

  • I found small, round bead boxes at Hobby Lobby. We covered those smoothly in fabric using double sided tape and hot glued a fabric handle (see the little white round purse in the picture of the purse wall above).
  • There are mini drawstring gift bags in the wedding or bead section of Hobby Lobby. We added trim to the bags and other sparkly buttons for another type of purse.

American Girl hat samples

The Hats

  • First we painted wooden discs, candle stick looking things, and knobs I found in the wooden pieces section at Hobby Lobby with acrylic paint. Once the pieces dried, we hot glued them into hat stands. (We also painted mini wooden spools, which are used to hang the purses on the wall of the shop.)

American Girl hat stands painting

American Girl hat stands finished

  • I purchased round cardboard gift boxes, and we covered those with fabric, trim, and buttons or sparkly stickers to make pillbox hats. The lids work better than the bottom half of the box, but we used both top and bottom box pieces for hats.
  • I found tiny clips and baby barrettes, and we hot glued tulle and little flowers leftover from the American Girl wedding cakes to make fascinators (very Kate Middleton).

American Girl stocking cap

  • My favorite hat is the stocking cap. We made a trip to Goodwill and bought blouses and knit tops that had fun designs or fancy fabric. I cut the sleeve from a silver knit sweater about 6 inches from the wrist end. Then, I turned the knit inside out and tied the cut end tightly with a piece of thread. Finally, I turned the tied sleeve right side out and added a little button decoration to the outside.

American girl hatsThe Gowns

  • I went through the remnant section and trim section at Hobby Lobby and bought things that seemed fluffy and fun. I also used some of the lacy ribbon I had leftover from the American Girl Sweet Shop and other scraps of fabric I have lying around. As I mentioned in the hat directions, we made a stop at Goodwill for blouses and tops that we could cut apart.

American Girl sleeve gown

  • For the gowns, I cut the sleeve off of a blouse or stretchy sweater and put it on the doll to size. Then, I would remove the sleeve and cut the length as needed. From there, I would hot glue or sew trim on the dresses. Do NOT do any gluing or embellishing while the gown is on the doll. Always remove the dress before adding anything permanently. I did use my sewing machine a little, but most of the design could be handled with hot glue and safety pins. On some dresses, we simply wrapped and clipped with small hair clips (kind of like a toga). Miss Priss takes the wrap dresses on and off and re-wraps a new design each wearing.

American Girl sleeve gown fitting

  • We made some armholes by cutting small slits about 1 1/2 inches from the hemmed edge of the sleeve. Pull the dress or top on the doll by starting at her feet.

 

American Girl knit topThe Shop

  • Hobby Lobby even has those tri-fold science fair backboards, so I did not have to make an extra stop! Use a science fair board to make the background of the shop. We hot glued mirrors to the sides of the backboard. Along the sides of our “full length” mirror, we hot glued the small painted spools, so we could hang purses on display. We used glue dots to stick the posters that came with the craft kit to the center of the backboard. I did have to measure everything to make sure it was centered and even.

American Girl store back drop

  • I bought a handful of clear acrylic boxes in a variety of sizes. We stuffed the insides with colorful tissue paper and leftover fuzzy boa trim. Stack the boxes around the store and use them to display the hats and purses.

American Girl dress store w dolls

  • Cost is (almost) no object when it comes to my crafty projects. I happened to see this pink hanging rack at a local store before Christmas. I did not get it at the time, but when we started building the dress shop, I knew we had to have it– um, I guess I mean Miss Priss needed it. The rack really does add a little something special to the store! It even came with hangers and the bench seat box. The Doll Boutique Kit comes with a cardboard hanging rack that mounts (glues) to the wall. Wooden dowel to complete the hanging rack is not included.

American Girl hanging rackThe Fashion Show

  • The last page of the Doll Boutique book gives an address to mail pictures of any favorite fashion creations. Guess what we are doing next? Any votes for which dress design we should submit?
American Girl Kit striped gown

Kit is wearing a cotton striped tube gown with lace and bead trim. There is a one shouldered floral strap. The drawstring purse has matching bead trim, and the look is finished with a smart pill box hat.

American Girl purple skirt and silver top

Kit is wearing a lilac satin pleated skirt with ruffled waist band. The outfit is finished with a silver tank top and tulle fascinator. Kit has a small lilac purse with wrist strap.

American Girl satin and red gown

Kit is seen here in a white satin evening gown with red floral overlay and off the shoulder straps. The top is finished with delicate pearl beading around the neckline. A red flower fascinator completes the look.

American Girl silver gown finished

Kit looks stunning in this silver evening gown with matching fur trimmed poncho. She is red carpet ready and even has a small pill box purse to finish the look.

The Materials List

  • tri-fold project poster board
  • 3-5 clear acrylic boxes, variety of sizes
  • mini bottles, small bead containers, little pill boxes
  • wooden craft pieces (candlestick shapes, knobs, discs)
  • glue dots, hot glue gun, fabric glue, double sided tape
  • round cardboard gift boxes (~3 in. diamter)
  • tulle, trim, ribbon
  • fabric (various designs and materials)
  • buttons, stickers, sparkly embellishments
  • mirrors
  • old knit tops and blouses that you can cut the sleeves– leggings work too

American Girl silver outfit