Birthday Party at American Girl Doll Store

So earlier this month Hazel was invited to a friend's birthday party at the American Girl Doll Store Boston. Since the store is at least half an hour away, parents went as well. The party included lunch in the Bistro and having each girl's doll's hair done at the Hair Salon. Hazel of course loved it!! We also thought Nonni (my mother-in-law) would love it, so we made plans for the three of us to go and we figured with my birthday coming up, it would be a fun birthday party. Nonni wanted to splurge for the birthday party option in the Bistro. 

Lunch at the Bistro includes your choice of a starter and the main meal as well as a beverage. The non-birthday party price is $7.50 for a child and $16.00 for an adult. The child gets to bring a doll (or two and they do not have to be American Girl brand) and they have high chairs for the dolls. If a child does not have a doll, they have some to borrow. The dolls get a mug and saucer which the girls get to bring home. For the birthday party, the birthday person gets a special crown and all the dolls get a crown. Plus they bring out a cake and sing to the birthday person. Then they serve the cake with vanilla ice cream. The birthday person gets the leftover cake.  Each child gets a goody bag which differ for different ages, but the young girls includes a celebration tee shirt for the doll, a balloon for the doll and a book and stickers, plus a doll size American Girl shopping bag. The prices for the birthday party are $30 for a child and $20 for an adult. We drove one of the other friends (it was all girls from Hazel's class plus the birthday girl's older sister). The friend we drove did not have an 18-inch doll yet, so we had her borrow one of Hazel's. She picked Mimi. Hazel brought her Hazel doll. 

Now the hair prices range from $10 to $25, but most of the styles are $20 or $25. Having seen what they did and heard advice a few of the stylists gave about the dolls hair, I decided this was something I could do on Hazel's dolls. Her oldest 18-inch doll, Barbie, had a mess of hair. I considered having the hair salon deal with it, but after seeing several posts about how to fix doll hair, I decided to give it a go. I used the tips from All Things with a Purpose: Fix American Girl Doll's Hair Without a Trip to the Doll Hospital. However we had bought the American Girl doll hair brush after the birthday party and I found it did not work well. It broke very easily. However I had a cat brush that was made with metal and love that one. The cats hated it so I don't use it on them. I found soaking the dolls hair when it is really messy and then brushing it out works. I had to resoak Barbie's a couple of times to get right, but it worked. Then I was able to copy the styles they would do to Hazel's dolls. I convinced Hazel that we did not need to spend $25 on a doll's hair and we could instead buy baby clothes to make doll clothes.

I took a selfie for the first time!

Well when you book a birthday party, they send you invitations and thank you notes for the number you say. (They ask you for the largest number of people who will be attending when you book it.) Needless to say, we did not use these. When we were seated they gave both Hazel and me a sticker saying "It's my special day!" and gave me the crown, which Hazel of course wanted to wear. The napkin rings are hair elastics with a pink bow. I put Hazel's and Nonni's on Hazel's pigtails and put my hair up since I forgot to bring an elastic for my hair. Hazel also insisted on bringing all four of her 18-inch dolls. (None of them are American Girl dolls and I have explained to her that all four together cost less than one American Girl doll, so she has decided she would rather have more dolls than a brand one.) 

Hazel brought Hazel and Barbie and she dressed Hazel in the Dolly & Me dress that matched her own. They actually were perfect because the matched the crowns as well. Nonni got to bring Emily a BFC, Ink doll and I got Mimi. Now Hazel and Mimi are Madam Alexander dolls (one from KMart and one from Kohl's post Christmas sale), and I actually like their faces better than the American Girl dolls' plus I love that their chest and shoulders are plastic and not cloth like the American Girl dolls (and Barbie). Hazel of course wanted pictures of her with each pair of dolls. She also was excited that she got four mugs and saucers for the dolls.

We had a lovely lunch. Then it was time for cake. While waiting for the cake, Nonni took our picture, and look I get to wear my crown! I should note that Nonni hates having her picture taken, so she will not be pictured in this post. She does not let me take one usually.

The waitress came with a friend and the cake and sang to me.

Hazel and I blew out the candles and took a picture of the top of the cake. The cake is two layers--one white and one chocolate. They then took the cake and brought us each a slice and a dish of ice cream. The dishes look like small flower pots and each one has a fake daisy in it as well.

I also asked them to give pieces of the cake to the mother and daughter eating next to us since they were not celebrating a birthday and the tables were really close together. We still came home with half the cake. Since it was good cake, we didn't mind and Steve was happy to help eat it. I didn't take a picture of the sliced cake, but here is the fruit kabob starter that Hazel got (and most of the girls at the friend's birthday party). The yogurt was served in the same flowerpot dish with daisy as the ice cream.

We stuck the daisy in Hazel's pigtails and my pony tail. Hazel did not get the yogurt due to her dairy intolerance and instead got an extra fruit kabob. They also gave her raspberry sorbet instead of vanilla ice cream.

After lunch we took a picture of Hazel with her Hazel doll and then she wanted one of me and Mimi. She took this one.

Then we went to show Nonni the Hair Salon and all the dolls and accessories. Nonni of course had to buy Hazel something. After the struggle of getting her to chose one or two things, Nonni saw the price of the two things and decided it would be better to buy just one of the expensive things Hazel loved. She bought her Isabelle's Studio. I explained to both of them that this would be Hazel's Christmas and birthday gifts from Nonni. Hopefully Nonni will stick with it though she never does.

Hazel is loving it and has her Hazel doll sewing all the time now. In fact her (the doll's) sleeping bag is next to the studio so she doesn't have to go far. The only thing Hazel thought it was missing was a pencil to go with the sketch book. This brings us to our craft for today. I made Hazel a doll pencil from a bamboo skewer. I painted the tip black and left some wood color and then painted above it yellow for the pencil. Then I cut it off. After the paint dried I glued on a dot of pink foam and tried to make it look somewhat like an eraser.

Hazel took it for her Hazel doll as soon as she saw it. Before we left the American Doll Store however we got some pictures of the two Hazels with Isabelle.

We had to do it with and without the crowns.

Tomorrow I will share some more doll crafts and some Dollar Tree doll finds. 


For more doll ideas check out:

• DIY Doll Sandals
• Doll Mermaid Tail (Tutorial Coming Soon)
• Leather Doll Clothes
• Easy Doll Clothes to Sew New or From Baby Clothes
• Baby Doll Clothes and Changing Area
• Making a Waldorf Doll
• My Doll Clothes and Craft Pinterest Board

DIY American Girl Doll Themed Birthday Party with Free Printables

For Hazel's sixth birthday, we decided to have a small family party and a friends party. So on her birthday we invited her grandparents (and aunts and cousin who live too far to come) and a few close friends like her godparents and their daughter. Since Steve always takes Hazel's birthday off and her grandparents are retired, we had the party on her actual birthday. We had all three of her living grandparents, her godparents' daughter (age 3) with her grandmother and one of my best friends with her two boys (ages 4 and 1) who Hazel loves. The invitations invited the guests to bring a doll with them. Only the two boys did. Hazel wore the crown I got at the American Girl Doll Store for my birthday and Ducky wore one of the ones that the dolls got. 

DIY Doll Camping Equipment

Happy New Year!! I hope all of you have a healthy and successful 2015!! I know I am planning some exciting things for Crafty Moms Share and hope you will stay tuned. (One of the best ways to stay tuned is to subscribe to Crafty Moms Share! See the ways to do so in the right column.) I am lining up some amazing giveaways and reviews as well as fun crafts and activities to do with your child(ren). 

Today I thought I would share the main part of Hazel's birthday present from us. This year's family birthday party was American Girl Doll themed, so it seemed appropriate to give her something for her dolls. We gave her the beautiful carrying case with murphy bed from Queens Treasure for Christmas with a homemade quilt. When we were at the American Girl Doll Store for my birthday this summer, Hazel fell in love with the tent they sell. However I was not going to spend $85 on it. I figured I could come up with some way to make one. I happened to find roasting sticks on clearance for a $1 at the end of the summer and bought them thinking they could be the poles for the tent. I also saw this great tutorial over at The Frugal Crafter using cardboard to stiffen the sides, but I really wanted her tent to have a window like the one at the American Girl Doll Store. After a couple of tries I got a tent. It is not perfect and I now know what I would do differently. The first would be not bothering with the "poles". 

Doll Clothes from Outgrown Clothes

I usually pass Hazel's outgrown clothes to a friend who has a three-year-old girl. However there were a few I kept this time. One was a t-shirt that the tag was cut out and whoever cut it out cut the shirt as well. The second was her favorite dress (well actually I kept three favorite dresses, but I only did something with one so far) and the third is a favorite skirt. I started with the t-shirt. It had a pom pom type trim on the neck (this is what got cut) and a band at the waist. I cut the band off and then cut the neck decoration off and saved it for later. Next I got out my pattern for a BFC doll t-shirt from Beach Baby Doll Boutique. I won ten free patterns from Sylvia at Beach Baby Doll Boutique awhile ago and one of the patterns I picked was the Easiest Tee to fit BFC Ink. I have to say it really is the easiest pattern!! After completing the t-shirt I added a piece of the neck trim to the neck of the doll shirt.

Creating Historic Style Doll Quilts for Beforever Dolls

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

 This past week was school vacation week here and Steve took the week off as well. We spent a long weekend with my parents and had some family time including a trip to the American Girl Store. My parents gave Hazel the retired American Girl Doll, Kirsten, for Christmas and gave her Kirsten's bed (well a homemade version my mother found on-line) for her birthday. My mother told her she would make a quilt for the bed with Hazel. My mother and I picked out a set of farm style precut fabrics for Kirsten's quilt. Her bed is blue with a heart cut out off the ends and berries and leaves painted on it. Her story is from the 1850's and she was an immigrant from Sweden and her family moved to the prairie. Her quilt was a patchwork quilt. (Something like this charm pack would also work.) Hazel has been making 9-square quilts for awhile, so she was excited to make a patchwork quilt for Kirsten. My mother took the big precut squares and cut them into quarters. Then Hazel and Kirsten began to arrange them on batting.

Spring and Easter Crafts, Ideas & More with Products from Oriental Trading -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Can you believe Easter is only two weeks away? I love spring and Easter and love making various crafts for this time of year. I also am always looking for some non-candy ideas for the Easter eggs and basket. I turned to my friends at Oriental Trading for some of all of these. I cannot wait to share with you what we have been making and what surprises Hazel will have on Easter morning. We will start with ideas for the Easter eggs and basket and our new Easter flag.

Vacation Week Crafts - a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

This past week was Hazel's spring break. We have had quite the week and a half. The last week of school included Hazel's class's Easter play and my parents came to see her and celebrate Easter with us early. Then my sister came to go to the Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday with us. Then we celebrated with my mother-in-law on Easter Sunday. On Monday we headed to the American Girl Doll Store Boston (which is not in Boston). Hazel had saved almost enough to buy herself a doll. We loaned her the last $30 since we were going. My plan had been to take her so she could really decide which doll she wanted. Seeing the dolls in person helped her really decide which were her top picks. Some that had been top picks fell off the list in person. After a bit of thought she decided on Kit Kitteredge. She LOVES the books about Kit, so I thought this was a wonderful choice.

American Girl or 18-inch Doll Accessories from a Party Store Product Review

 Disclosure: I was sent these products to review free of charge from Shindigz Party Supplies. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Yesterday I received an email from Shindigz informing me that my DIY American Girl Themed Party had won an award (you can see the award badge on the post). I responded what a coincidence since I was about to write a review of Shindigz products to use with an 18-inch doll. So yes, here are some ideas of party supplies that work with 18-inch dolls like American Girl dolls. We are getting ready for a Valentine themed Doll Play Date later this week. Hazel invited a few of her friends and their dolls over. We are planning on having a tea party with the dolls. First of course all the dolls need tiaras. These mini tiara combs are the perfect size for the dolls.

Native American Legends and Picture Books

Today I thought I would share some Native American picture books and legends with you. Hazel and I have been enjoying reading them and I find it such a wonderful way to share the Native American culture with Hazel as well as learn more about it myself. Some of these books we have had a chance to read and others we have not yet. However I wanted to give you a pretty comprehensive list. Also below is the blog hop and giveaway with a newly added bonus prize!! Make sure you enter this week!!

Heritage Doll Clothes -- Making 1930s Doll Clothes -- Crafty Weekends Link Party

Hazel has discovered the American Girl books. She is loving the mysteries for older children. She also has fallen in love with Kit Kittredge. She really wants to get an American Girl doll. She has begun saving her own money for one. She is struggling deciding between getting Kit, Samantha or Rebecca. She really LOVES the Kit stories but likes the looks of the other two more. She has begun reading the other stories and is really just enjoying them all. Since it will take her awhile to save enough money to buy an American Girl doll I thought I would make some clothes from the various eras for the dolls she has. Since Kit is her current favorite I thought I would start with something from the 1930s. I pulled out Heritage Doll Clothes by Joan Hinds. I bought it awhile ago to get the pattern for a prairie dress and bonnet when Hazel was really into Little House on the Prairie. I still need to make it for her doll and the matching one for her.

Fairy Tales in Different Cultures--A Cinderella Tale from Argentina

Today we are going back to Cinderella tales. The one for today is from Argentina. I found a copy of it translated in English in Latin American Folktales: Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions edited by John Bierhorst. Before we get into the tale, let's look a bit at Argentina.

Argentina is located in the Southeast of South America. It is officially called Argentine Republic. It is the eighth largest country in the world and the second in Latin America. It claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Europeans first arrived in the area in 1502. Pedro de Mendez established a settlement in the area that is now Buenos Aires in 1536 but it was abandoned in 1541 when it was destroyed by natives. Unlike the rest of Latin America the colonization of Río de la Plata estuary was not influenced by the gold rush since there were no precious metals in the area. However, the name Argentina comes from the Latin word for silver since they explorers heard rumors of silver mountains located there. Buenos Aires was established again in 1580. After much war, Argentina claimed its independence from the Spanish rule.

The climate of Argentina varies from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the south.  The animals also vary greatly depending on the climate. The north has the pumas, flamingos, hummingbirds, and more and the south has seals, sea lions and penguins. The west has the Andes Mountains, so it also has llamas and mountain animals.

Now onto our tale. This tale is called Rice from Ashes. Again I found it translated in Latin American Folktales: Stories from Hispanic and Indian Traditions edited by John Bierhorst. It has many similarities to Cinderella tales we have looked at from around the world. 

The story begins with a girl who has lost her mother and her father remarries a woman with two daughters of her own. From the start the stepmother and stepsisters are cruel to the girl, and she only has a lamb to keep her company.

Source

One day the stepmother tells her to kill her lamb. The girl starts to cry. The stepmother takes a plate of rice and spills it into the ashes in the hearth. She tells the girl that if she does not separate each grain of rice from the ashes by the time the stepmother wakes from her nap the lamb will have to die. The stepmother goes to nap and the girl cries. A dove comes and talks to the girl. The dove tells the girl to take a nap and it will clean the rice from the ashes. The dove has a flock of doves come to help and the task is taken care of. The stepmother is angry when she awakens from her nap.

By Keven Law, Los Angeles, USA [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The next day the stepmother pours sand into lentils for the task. The birds came back to do the task. The following day the stepmother throws sugar onto the hearth and an ant comes to help the girl. The next day the stepmother gives the girl two large bags of wool to spin. The lamb helps the girl and gets it done, however the stepmother finds one stray piece of wool on the lamb and orders her to kill the lamb. The lamb tells the girl to calm down and butcher and she will find a cup in the bowels. The lamb tells her to keep the cup forever. She does this and while at the stream, a little man comes and asks her for a drink. She gives him one with her cup.

The girl misses her lamb now that she has no one to talk to. The stepsisters decide to punish her more by asking their mother to buy them lambs. The stepsisters' lambs ate all the grass and the mother insisted on butchering them. The lambs told each sister in turn not to be sad and to find the cup and to be good to others. Each one found the cup inside the lambs' bowels. The little man comes to each of them and each stepsister in turn refuses to serve the little man, who happens to be God. 

Now there was a prince in town whose mother told him on her deathbed that he would marry a girl with a gold cup since it had been predicted by his godmother who was a fairy at his birth. He made an announcement in town for all the young women with gold cups to be presented to him. The stepmother ran to the king to have the prince come meet her daughters with their gold cups from the lambs. 

When the prince arrived the two stepsisters shoved one another to be the first to present the cup to the prince. The stepmother told the older girl to show the cup. The prince saw the gold cup and assumed this was who he was to marry. The prince put her on his horse and started for the palace. Along the way a bird sang out of a tree in the cemetery that he had the wrong girl. He asked to see the cup again and it was now iron. He turned back and got the other stepsister. Again the bird told him he had the wrong girl. He looked at her cup again and it had become iron. He took her home and insisted that their had to be another girl. He searched the house and found the orphan girl in the kitchen. He asked to see her gold cup. He put her on the horse to go the palace and as they went by the cemetery the bird told him he had the right one, however he asked to see her cup again and it was still gold. 

The girl and the prince were married and she became a very good queen who especially was kind to orphans.

Ladybug Girl Themed Birthday Party Ideas

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you discovered Ladybug Girl yet? Lulu loves to dress like a ladybug and she turns into Ladybug Girl--a brave girl who can do anything. She and her dog Bingo go on all sorts of adventures and learn many lessons along the way. Ladybug Girl is a series of books written by Jacky Davis and illustrated by David Soman. There are picture books, board books and easy readers as well as a few sticker/activity books and gift sets. We were sent the board book, Ladybug Girl Ready for Snow to review and for inspiration for a birthday party. (Penguin Kids challenged me and anyone else who wants to join to come up with some ideas for book-themed birthday parties and create Pinterest Boards for them.)

 Now I will admit I did receive an apology for being sent this one with all the snow Massachusetts got this year. Hazel however enjoyed the book. It is very simple and perfect for the younger set. I find it hard to believe a mother would let a child wear a tutu over her snowpants let alone wings and antennae, but it is a book, so we will go with it. The book is about Lulu and Bingo going to play in the snow. 

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey -- Book Review

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review and Harper Collins Publishers to participate in this blog tour. I was sent a copy of this book and will receive a small compensation for my review. All opinions are my own.

Yesterday we kicked off our celebration of Asian-American Heritage Month. Today's book features a young Filipino-American girl so it is perfect for this month. The book is Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly. Today is the release day of this book!! The book is recommended for ages 7 to 12 but I think the sweet spot is for 6 to 9. This is definitely an emerging reader novel thanks to the pictures throughout and larger print size. 

Cheap Doll Finds -- a Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these items in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. All printables are free but for personal use only. If you would like to share them, please use a link back to this post.

I have not done a cheap doll find post in awhile, but I decided it was time. One of my favorite places to look is Oriental Trading. They have so much for parties and crafts and if you are creative you can find some great items that work for dolls. I always start by searching "miniature" or "mini". I will admit Hazel and I have been checking things out for awhile since she is planning on having an American Girl themed birthday party this year. It was going to be a Beforever themed party until she got Saige as a hand-me-down. For the birthday party we knew we wanted to get the Mini Neon Tote Bags, so we will start with these. Hazel set up the scene as her dolls having a slumber party. The tote bags work for the girls to bring her things for the night. At Hazel's party they will be for the dolls to bring home their favors (and we are planning on getting the matching Neon Tote Bags for the girls). 

Minnie Mouse Ears and Dress for Doll (and Girl) Crafty Weekends Projects and Link Party

Oops!! With the spotty internet on our vacation I missed writing my review for Earth Day!! Be sure to check out tomorrow's post for some great Earth books!!

Disclosure: Target links in this post will give me a small percentage of your purchase at no cost to you. 

After the crazy March we had weather wise and for Steve work wise, I really needed to get away to somewhere warm. Steve on the other hand just wanted to stay home and rest. We decided Hazel and I would go down to Florida (we have a time share there) and he would stay home. Since we were going to be in Florida we decided we would spend a day at Magic Kingdom and a day at Universal Studios. I found this fabric in my stash. It has beautiful flowers and Minnie Mouse heads on it. I showed it to Hazel and suggested I make a dress for her to wear to Magic Kingdom. I used Butterick Pattern 3860 to make her a dress. Since Hazel wanted to bring two of her dolls with us I thought I would make her doll a matching dress. I checked out the patterns I have downloaded and found one that used the slip pattern from Molly's Pretty Clothes. I didn't put on a ruffle and lengthened the pattern for the dress. I also wanted her doll to have Minnie Mouse ears. 

Native American Biographies Round-Up

Happy Thanksgiving!! I thought this year I would honor the Native Americans by doing a round-up of ones to check out! Happy Thanksgiving to all celebrating!! I thank God for all of you who take time to read Crafty Moms Share!!

The other day I did a round-up of Native American stories and picture books. Today I thought I would share some biographies I found on Native Americans. For the most part I only took one biography for each person but many have more than one out there.

Books about Multiple Native Americans

• Extraordinary American Indians by Susan Avery discusses the lives and accomplishments of Native Americans from the eighteenth century to present
• Native American Heroes: Osceola, Tecumseh & Cochise by Ann McGovern
• Famous Native North Americans by Bobbie Kalman profiles Native Americans who had a large influence on their tribes as well as the United States and Canada.
• Native American Chiefs and Warriors by Stuart A. Kallen
• Native American Scientists: Fred Begay, Wilfred F. Denetclaw Jr., Frank C. Dukepoo, Clifton Poodry, Jerrel Yakel by Jetty St. John
• Native American Women by  Suzanne Clores

Books Donated by Lee & Low Books with 

Reviews for Blog Hop

Links take you to book at Lee & Low Books and there is a link to each review!

1930's Dresden Plate Doll Quilt Blocks with Free Templates

Awhile ago I posted about making a quilt for Kit Kittredge. Kit is the American Girl from the 1930's/the Great Depression Era. In my post I explained I was having difficulties with the dresden plate quilt block and getting it the correct size. I decided to just make Sun Bonnet Sue squares. I started making them and at some point put them away and now I have to find them. However this weekend my interest was renewed because Hazel had her first sleepover Friday night which has turned into a weekend guest including her American Girl doll, Ruthie. Ruthie is Kit's best friend in the stories, so we have been having lots of doll fun including a trip to the American Girl Store today. However my depression era interest is back. Now awhile ago I discovered Wren Feathers has an easy dresden plate doll quilt pattern on her site. If you look up dresden plate quilts you will see three styles or so of dresden plates. Wren Feathers is the one that is just a circle. I did some more research and finally figured out what I needed to do to make my pattern. I found The Quilting Company's article to be very helpful in sizing of them. I wanted to make one with the scalloped edge and I figured it out!!

Playing Grace Thomas Doll Bakery

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

At the beginning of the year, American Girl Doll Stores introduced this year's doll of the year, Grace Thomas. Now Grace had an adventure in Paris that changes her life and she is a baker/business owner. When they introduced their new doll they gave souvenirs to people who came to see her at the store. Well, Doll Diaries had a souvenir set for a giveaway in January and I won it. Hazel was so excited!! We finally got it this weekend. Hazel immediately wanted to go through everything. She was not sure what the recipe box, recipe cards and dividers are for, but we decided she could use the box as a table for now. She put the Grace apron on her Hazel doll and created her own bakery. She used straws and cupcake liners for supplies since she was too lazy to get out her baking supplies. I however got out the baking accessories for her and set up the bakery.

The Thunder Egg Book Review - Multicultural Monday

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press gave me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

 For Multicultural Monday, I am reviewing a new book called The Thunder Egg by Tim J. Myers and illustrated by Winfield Coleman. This fictional story is about a Cheyenne girl, Stands-by-Herself, who is a bit of a loner and a dreamer. The other youth often tease her since she is so different. However one day she finds a rock that looks like an egg. Her grandmother tells her it looks like a thunderbird egg. Stands-by-Herself takes care of the thunderbird egg like it is her child. Then one summer when the rains will not come and the people are starving, she sacrifices the egg to the thunderbird. That night there is thunder and great lightning and the tree she left the egg under is split. She goes to the peak where she left it and finds the rock is split open with crystals inside. 

Easter Baskets for American Girl Dolls

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

We have been getting ready for Easter with Hazel's dolls. We had a lot of fun filling baskets for them. Most of the supplies including the baskets came from Oriental Trading. We found a few other items elsewhere. Hazel kept making baskets while I took some pictures. She really was enjoying making them.