Even Dolls Need a Nice Jacket for Snow

Well, finally Valentine's day is over and it seems no one is worse for the wear.  My boss forgot to make reservations at a nice place so he and his wife had pizza at Old Chicago's, nothing says I love you baby like a pizza I guess.  I was home alone and had a petite steak with butter and red wine mushrooms and sweet potato fries, NOW that was a dinner! :) And we had snow, which is the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this week.  We only had about an inch down here but it flurried for some hours and was quite nice to be inside so I had time to look for wintery, snowy type items to finish up this weeks theme.  I found this really nice item at Nancy's Doll Closet, it's for the American Girl Doll or any other 18 inch doll.  Perfect for snowy, cold wintery weather!

Pink Toggle Jacket for American Girl Doll

Nancy also has some really cool winter boots that would go nice with this little winter jacket, come visit her store and all the other great merchants at Ecrater Stores Network for all kinds of goods that will delight you all year long not matter what the weather!

Girls Who Love Horses Wear Horse Dresses!

Horses, that's the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this week and it ended Friday, and the new theme will be announced tomorrow, but sometimes some of us are a bit late in keeping up.  I have noticed however, that many scavenger hunters wrote about the "horse" theme this last week, wonderful takes on the theme and the items featured, wonderful!  And in that vein I have found the most lovely dress at Nancy's Doll Closet for the American Girl 18" doll that is just about horses!

American Girl 18 Inch Doll Horses Dress 

Isn't this the cutest horse dress?  It shows running horses and has a ruffled hem.  Your girl would love to have this dress for her American Girl doll especially when watching the wonderful film "Secretariat" running and winning the most important horse races of all time!

Baby Bath Set

I'm going to wrap up the scavenger hunters theme at ESN of "baby" with this fun little American Girl Dolls-Baby Bath set from Nancy's Doll Closet.

American Girl 18 inch Dolls-Baby Bath Set 

The doll and tub itself are very cute and pink, my favorite color!  The tub holds water too.  Any little girl would love playing with her "baby" in this tub and perhaps along with "big sister" American Girl doll.  All the other scavenger hunters on Ecrater Stores Network have pretty much taken care of all the "onesies" and other baby clothes out there so I was lucky to nab this adorable item to feature! 

It would make a great birthday present for your daughter, granddaughter, niece or any other little girl needing a gift of a "baby".  Visit Nancy, she's got the most awesome collection of American Girl stuff, and so much of it.  And be sure to visit the rest of us and see all the magnificent items we carry.

Orange Is Such A Lovely Color

Orange is a lovely color.  Think of a bright orange sun rising in the morning, and even a more vibrant orange at sunset.  And orange groves, and orange juice and yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, lava, carrots, cheese, marigolds, Irish Setter dogs, orange sherbet (oh, how I love this!) cheetohs and doritos, cheez-its,  and well, all things orange, quite simply, beautiful, and in a lot of cases yummy!  Finishing up the scavenger hunters theme at ESN of "orange" this week, I have chosen Nancy's Doll Closet.  She makes all the American Doll clothing that she has in her store.  And any little girl would love to own any one of these outfits or accessories that Nancy offers.  I chose this lovely dress.

American Girl 18" Doll - Julie - Orange Dress

Those beautiful orange barrettes really sets the whole dress off don't you think?  And the nice lace ruffle around the bottom of the dress is so delicate looking and is just lovely, a very nice touch.  If you are in need for American Girl doll clothes for your girl, visit Nancy, I'm sure you'll find something that she will adore. Visit all of us at Ecrater Stores Network for your Christmas shopping! 

Put a Twinkle in a Little Girls Eyes

It's cold and snowy here in Colorado, grey skies, nothing "twinkly" or "twinkling" going on outside here today!   But "twinkle" is the theme for the scavenger hunters at ESN this week so I took a tour of my fellow hunters stores for some twinkle inspiration.  Everyone has so much neat stuff, whether it twinkles or not.  The holidays are right around the corner and you never know what you mind find at any of these awesome stores.  I found this beautiful Fairy Tea Set at Nancys Doll Closet.

 

 Nancy makes clothing for the American Girl 18 inch doll, but she also has very many accessories, from tea sets (this is just one!) to hair accessories, boas, flashlights and well, just tons of other doll things.  Put a twinkle in a little girls eyes for her birthday or Christmas or any other occasion with a gift from Nancy.  And stop on by all the other fine merchants at Ecrater Stores Network, you may find other items that will put a twinkle in your eye, or someone you know!   Okay, time to bundle up and head out into the cold, brrrr!  Have a great week-end everyone!  And thanks for stopping by!

Polka Dots

Today is the last day of the dots theme at ESN scavenger hunters.  We all had great takes on the dots theme, but I noticed no one said anything about polka dots, so that got me to thinking (I do that a lot don't I??) where did the term "polka dots" come from.  What a fascinating ride I had through the internet on that googled term! I didn't do extensive research (hey, I'm a busy unemployed person at the moment!) But most sites I visited seemed to agree that it came about around the 1840's when the dance the "polka" was all the rage, which started in Britain. Clothing manufacturers were creating all kinds of dresses, hats, scarves, etc. with dots on them and somehow because of the popularity of the dance "polka dots" was coined and stays with us to this day.  I absolutely love what Christian Dior had to say about dots back in the 1950's; you can read it for yourself here:  Story Behind Polka Dots

So, in my quest for a scavenger hunter with "polka dots" I came across the exact thing I'm talking about.  Here is a lovely polka dot and stripe (somehow, stripes and dots ALWAYS go together) American Girl Doll outfit from Nancy's Doll Closet.  Nancy makes all these cool clothes herself!

American Girl Pink Stripe/Polka Dots Sundress Set

Those Who Labor Over Their Handcrafted Wares

I've never been very good at crafting anything when it came to textiles and such.  I can barely put a photo album or scrapbook together.  I can, however, craft stellar meals of French and Moroccan cuisine (including the famous Moroccan mint tea, with the requisite elaborate pouring from the pot included!)  Spending fair amounts of time in both countries I have learned how to cook with labors of love.  The ESN theme of this week is Labor Day.  Well, I've already had my say about Labor Day and what it means to me on Monday.  So I'm just going to go ahead and feature two lovely ladies who are members of ESN who labor probably almost every day making their items for their stores.  There is Embroidery Fashions Boutique who specializes in embroidery on tee shirts, hats and other items.  Her stuff is pretty cool and I bet it takes a lot of labor to make all the things she does, not to mention to find the items to do this stuff on.  Here's a sample of her work.  Pretty cool for Halloween, eh?

I'm here for the boos

Then there is Nancy's Doll Closet who designs beautiful American Girl Dolls dresses and accessories.   Both of these handcrafters deserve a Labor Day off!  Hope you did enjoy it girls.

 American Girl Doll Short Set