If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Here at Emily Rose we get lots of questions about cleaning your American Girl Doll.  The vinyl arms and legs of your doll require special care and you don’t want to scar her for life.  So what do you do if you get pen on your American Girl Doll?  Or even worse magic marker?  What do you do if the greasy fingers holding that french fries reach for her best friend without first reaching foe her napkin?  Maria at Just Magic Dolls wrote a great article all about basic cleaning of your American Girl.  Or should we call the article Vinyl Cleaning 101

So next time you are looking for ways to clean your American Girl Doll, or perhaps you are trying to restore that fabulous original you found at the neighbourhood yard sale, visit Maria and she can help.  By the way, Just Magic Dolls has tons of other great information as well.  You can see reviews of all of the other 18 inch soft body dolls that are available, read articles on how to care for the American Girl Doll hair, and more.  Have fun!

Hot on the heels of announcing a marquee store in Boston, American Girl has said that they will also be opening a store in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.  It is scheduled to open around the same time as the Boston store in the November time frame.  This will make it seven AG stores around the country: joining Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta.  Like its counterparts, the new store will offer the full range of AG products and accessories and, most importantly, the “experiential” activities of the AG stores: hair salon, bistro, party rooms, etc.

Although the Mall of America has been feeling its age lately, the AG store will be part of an extensive development program to modernize and revitalize the Mall.  This development is part of a plan to make the Mall more family oriented and this addition will, I’m sure, prove extremely beneficial.  For those that know the Mall, it will be located near Nickelodeon Universe in the retail space formerly occupied by Stampede Steakhouse and will occupy two levels. 

Stand by for the openings of Boston and Mall of America later this year and reviews of the stores as they open.

I hear that American Girl has just announced that the next American Girl store is to be in lovely Boston.  I’ve always liked Boston as a city and love to stroll around Quincy market and Faneuil Hall on a Summers afternoon.  The store will be in the Natick Collection.  Although I’m not sure exactly where that is, the mall is purported to be the largest in New England.  American Girl call the store an experiential retail store I guess because they are trying (with success) to make the visit on where customers get more than just products.  They get the whole AG experience surrounding them, including Mom/daughter events and other interactive activities.  This store will have a doll salon and bistro just like the others and I think will be as big as the marquee stores in New York and Chicago.  Its due to be up and running in November this year so we’ll be sure to post a review once it opens.

The new American Girl movie Kit Kittredge is only 2 days away from general release and I can tell you that the excitement is building in our house.  Our daughter isn’t normally one who has ever been too interested in the American Girl movies but this one seems to have caught her fancy.  She did watch the others but felt a little let down.  Samantha was set in Victorian times, Felicity showed the two side of the Revolutionary war and Molly has a family coping with the Second World War in middle America.  All were interesting stories from very different times and all related to growing up and family issues.  Although they were all well made there seem to be something lacking in appeal - at least to our daughter.  But Kit Kettredge - An American Girl has more appeal.  It will still deal with the family trials and tribulations, this time in the Great Depression, but it has a Hollywood feel to it.  Whether that is a good thing or not it certainly has our daughter’s attention.  We’ll review it on opening day.

Have you ever tried to wash your American Girl Doll’s hair - its tough.  Here is a link for YouTube that has a couple of friends doing it just right.  Some tips are to ensure the hair is tangle free before you start and use a sensitive shampo, like Johnston & Johnston.  Try not to make a mess or get water everywhere - and make sure you clean up after you.  Good luck

As the build-up to Kit Kittredge: An American Girl continues, I came across a great contest site.  The prizes are awesome - 1st prize is a shop “til you drop” at the American Girl store with a $500 American Express® Gift Card and the second prize is the Kit Kittredge doll and her dog, Grace! 

To enter you simply need to take a quiz - the only required thing you have to do is log-in to the website and register an account.  If you don’t mind doing that then it sounds like a great contest to me.  The contest is open to US residents only and ends at midnight on the 29th June.

Here’s the website: http://www.lilsugar.com/1689930

This is great way to have some fun and possibly get lots of stuff for your American Girl.

Here is a great item I came across today. Although Emily Rose also has basic hangers, here a nicely decorated set of 3 you could buy to spruce up your American Girl wardrobe.

Although I would much rather children play with their American Girl dolls (see Parenting article) I do understand that there comes a time when they do need to be put away for safe keeping.  This may be as children grow and move to other things, or if you want to keep them for a future generation.  Either way here is a way to keep them in great condition. 

First of all make sure your American Girl dolls and the accessories are properly cleaned and free of dust and sticky things.  Then wrap each piece separately and carefully in sheets of tissue paper (the American Doll accessories should be wrapped individually also).  Once they are wrapped you should put them in a hardy cardboard container or box.  If you can get any of those silica packs that are normally included when you purchase dolls clothes and such like then put a few of them in the container to keep the contents dry.  Next it is important that you store the container in a place which is climate controlled and out of direct sunlight (so as not to fade the contents)  - somewhere like a linen closet of even under a bed.  This will ensure that the American Girl dolls and the accessories stay in great shape for years to come.

Some important “no, no’s.”  Don’t keep stuff in the attic or garage as temperature variances will only accelerate aging.  Also never out the dolls in a plastic bag as moisture gets trapped there and will lead to disintegration over time.

Here’s a fun, (extremely) short quiz on the web for your daughter to do.  It consists of 5 questions that ask generally about her character and then link the answers to the American Girl which most resembles them.  Harmless fun really but it does link to several other short quizzes that may be of interest. 

http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/1OqCz0K/Which-American-Girl-are-you?view_quiz=1

Now that the Altanta store of American Girl has been fully up and running for over a year we thought we’d share some thoughts on how it is shaping up. 

Keep in mind that the Atlanta store is much smaller than the others with less stock in store.  There is no theater in Atlanta, but then again American Girl has closed live theatre performances in Los Angeles and New York and Chicago are on the chopping block.  The total square footage of the Atlanta store is smaller - which means the other stores (especially New York) have more to offer.  A meal at the American Girl Cafe costs 12 dollars less than NYC, which is great as the cafe in New York is pretty unaffordable.  At the price you won’t be disturbed that the meal is a little less fancier and does not include dessert. Generally, the NYC American Girl cafe feels more upscale and is a bit more isolated and “special”.  Both of the American Girl cafes (in NY and Atlanta) will provide a high chair for your child’s American Girl doll to join you at the table. If you don’t have a doll they will lend you one to share your meal with you.

Your child can have their doll’s hair done at (at the American Girl Salon) in both stores and the prices seem to be the same - about $20!

The Atlanta store does have some very  cute t-shirts for the girls to buy and “big girl” doll clothes to go along with the doll stuff

Overall, the American Girl Doll Store is Atlanta still makes for a great day out.  You don’t have to shop or spend money to have a great time with your daughter.  Emily Rose and I always “pretend shop” together by picking up one of the little “Wish List” wallets and wandering the store adding our favorite American Girl products.