Journey Girls Dana

Journey Girls are a line of 18" dolls made and sold exclusively by ToysRUs. 

I bought Dana from a thrift store for $12.99. These dolls are usually priced at $29.99. 

According to Wikipedia, "Dana is the only doll with short hair and glasses; she loves animals and is always trying to help at her local shelter."

And: "The top portion of their bodies are made of vinyl and the lower half is made of cloth."

Her box was beat half to death but it had never been opened. 

The doll was in good shape, just a little rumpled. 

A sweet, cute face and pretty eyes. Her eyes don't close. She has one braid going across the top of her head. 

Her jeans are well made. I get tired of dolls in dresses. 

A closer look at her shoes. 

This is Dana with an Our Generation doll sold at Target. Dana is thinner than American Girl and Our Generation dolls. They can't share clothes or shoes. 

Dana is adorable wearing her glasses.

 

Dana and Yuko, a BFC, Ink doll. Yuko is slimmer than Dana so they can't share clothes, either. 

Unless I find a deal I can't refuse I won't be buying any more clothes for Dana. I just have too many different dolls in different sizes. I can't buy clothes for all of them. I don't know if I'll ever have the time to make clothes for her, either. 

She's a very good alternative to American Girl dolls. I feel that AG dolls are for the monied set. There are plenty of excellent and less expensive alternatives. But I know that even little kids can be materialistic. 

I wasn't dying to have a Journey Girl. I wouldn't have paid the regular price for one. I never see them on sale at TRU. 

I'm glad I have Dana. She's cute and she was the right price. Actually, I have so many dolls I might give her away as a present to a little girl who needs a doll. 

Robotica 

American Girl Outsider: Crafting Creatively: Picking Perfect Prints and Fabric

American Girl Outsider: Crafting Creatively: Picking Perfect Prints and Fabric



I've been following this blog for a while. This post has helped me a lot so I'd like to share with anyone else who'd like to improve their doll sewing skills. The tips are helpful for all types of dolls not just AG.

American Girl - Kirsten Larson

She is a hot mess. I found her at a thrift store. I paid $3.99 for her. The elastic in her pantaloons is shot so they keep falling down. 

Her name is Kirsten Larson. She is an historical doll. She's was born in Ryd, Sweden in 1845 and moved with her family to the Minnesota frontier. She's wearing her original meet pioneer outfit from 1854. This doll was released in 1986, retired in early 2010. 

I learned some of this from the American Girl/Our Generation Dolls an (sic) Accessories Facebook group and www.americangirl.com. 

Right eye is cockeyed, giving her that crackhead look. 

Her hair is a wreckage. I heard it can be fixed with Downy Fabric Softener and a wire brush. 

She doesn't have a tag on her body. Her skin is tan. Her limbs are very loose. 

I don't know what's going on with her shoes. They're in rough shape. 

I called American Girl's 800 number to find out about their doll hospital. It's located in Wisconsin. It would cost $44 plus tax plus shipping to get her head replaced, general cleaning and limbs tightened. 

I was told that there are a lot of tutorials on www.youtube.com for fixing American Girl dolls. I'm going to try that option. 

This is my first AG doll. I think she was a great find. I'm glad I finally have one. I also found a lot of AG clothes at the thrift store. She'll have a nice wardrobe. 

It's going to take me awhile to restore her to original state. If her hair can't be saved I'll get her another wig. 

If anyone knows anything about restoring AG dolls, please leave a comment. I'd appreciate any help I can get. 

EDIT:

I watched YouTube tutorials to learn how to fix this poor doll. I learned a lot so I wanted to share with everyone the process so far. 

I learned how to remove the head and tighten the limbs. It was real easy. 

At the same time, I let her hair soak in Downy fabric softener overnight. 

These are my hair supplies. Braid and wig spray $1.99, a wig brush and a flat iron. 

I went to several beauty and hair supply stores but couldn't find a steel brush. I wasn't going to the city to the AG store to pay $8 for a hair brush. 

This is how her hair looks now. Big difference. I trimmed it a little to make it even. Her hair is so soft, shiny and straight. 

The roots didn't come out so well but they don't look as bad as they did when I got her. 

Her bangs came out like this. It's very disappointing. 

Here's a video I made about my progress so far. http://youtu.be/0Uml7AzcerU

Now I have to work on her bangs. I will not rest until this madness is straightened out. 

I washed her clothes by hand and ironed them. I need to replace the elastic in her pantaloons. That's going to take awhile because I'm in no mood to pull out the sewing machine. Wiped off her shoes with a damp rag. So far, she's looking good. 

More progress:

I took Kirsten out to get some air. I washed and pressed her clothes. I still haven't replaced the elastic in her bloomers. Will get around to that someday. 

That's the best I could do on her bangs. 

Her hair is still super dry. I think I will re-wig her at some point. 

Here she is having some fun and hanging out with a few friends on the boardwalk. That's Heart 4 Heart Lauryce and Doc McStuffins. Doc is wearing Lauryce's sweater. She was a little chilly. 

Robotica

Madame Alexander 18 Inch Doll -Edit

Thanks to www.toyboxphilosopher.com and www.dolldiaries.com, I found out she is Jill from the Walmart line of "My Life As An Outdoorsy Girl' line of dolls that sold for around $27.97. 

I got this doll at my local thrift store for $5.99. She didn't have any clothes on. Her legs are jacked up and don't bend very well. Maybe someday I'll take her to a doll hospital. Or maybe I'll sell her on eBay.

I don't know which doll this is. I also don't know if she's one of the $59.99 dolls or the much cheaper Walmart dolls. 

Here she is with Our Generation Sadie made by Battat. You can see her cockeyed legs in this photo. Her chest is vinyl while the rest of her torso is cloth. She also doesn't have shoulders like a football player like Our Generation and American Girl dolls. 

I like the body and face on the Madame Alexander doll much better. 

They're both 18 inches. Their eyes close when you lay them down. 

Her hair was in pretty good condition. It's very soft but not as thick as Sadie's. 

These are a pair of American Girl doll boots I got from the thrift store. It says "Sophia's Heritage Collection" inside one of them. They look brand new. They were spotless. Not one mark on them. 

Here they are wearing American Girl dresses that also came from the thrift store. I think they look very pretty. 

I'll never pay full price for anything that AG makes. EVER. 

I like the Madame Alexander doll much better. I won't be purchasing another OG doll unless, of course, I find another one at the thrift store. 

OG has the best prices for clothes and accessories for 18 inch dolls so I will buy those. But their dolls are strange looking. Perhaps Sadie would look better is her eyes and lips were changed to a better color and her eyes had a bit more definition. 

Maybe one day I'll get around to doing that to see if it makes a difference. Right now, I just can't be bothered. 

For now, the girls can keep each other company. At least I have someone to wear the beautiful new dresses I got and boots I got. 

Robotica

Our Generation Doll - Sadie

I bought this doll from Target for $18.99 on sale. Originally, they cost $22.99. Well, I always wanted an 18 inch doll and I'll never pay American Girl prices because I just cannot afford it. Besides, I don't want one that badly.

Here she is in her box. I originally wanted the African-American doll, Abrianna, but when I saw her in the store I knew I had to leave her there because she's a butt-ugly doll. Her hair looks nothing like it does on the website. Her outfit was adorable, though. 

I just got an American Girl catalog in the mail. Even the American Girl dolls of color are as ugly as sin itself. 

Sadie has a very cute, sweet looking face. She has blue eyes and a very tanned complexion. 

A few of the other Our Generation dolls had this same exact face mold with different color eyes and hair. 

Here she is outside of her box. She stands quite easily on her own. As you can see, her clothes are nothing special. There isn't anything underneath the sweater. I was disappointed about that. 

Her she is sitting down. 

From the back the skirt is kind of jacked up. It looks like something I made and my sewing sucks. 

A better view of her headband and bow. It's cute enough. Unfortunately, my cat got a hold of it and shredded it. 

This is how the back of her head looked after I got her out of the box. Her hair is long and she has plenty of it. I've heard it's nowhere near the quality of the American Girl dolls. It gets matted and tangled in no time. I have to keep it braided at all times just to keep it from turning into a rats nest. 

I bought her a pack of 3 pairs of eyeglasses and 1 pair of sunglasses. 4 pairs in the box for $6.99. 

They are adorable. When I went back to Target to get more accessories they were completely sold out. Probably girls who have AG dolls are buying the accessories for their dolls. 

Here's Sadie and Heart for Heart Girl, Lauryce. Sadie has on a babies shirt that I got from a thrift store and converted into a nightgown. Her eyes close when she lays down. 

Lauryce is prettier and has a more realistic looking face. 

The Our Generation dolls are a great and affordable alternative to American Girl dolls. I like their accessories and I want to get more. I don't think I'll be getting the car, horse, bed, camper or bike. Those things are just too big for my small apartment. 

Here she is wearing a hat, leggings and a T-shirt that I made for her. I had a lot of fun. 

Robotica