The Prince Gets His Name

George Alexander Louis also known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

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Make Your Own Doll-Size Composition Books

Xyra Getting Crafty

While the girls are at camp, I've been thinking about school supplies.

On a recent trip to Staples I saw this great plastic protector cover for composition books. It even has a zipper pouch to hold a pencil or other small items. They were only $1, so I bought one to try. [It's really a nice product; fits well and should extend the life of the book a bit. ]

I removed the cardboard insert and placed the plastic sleeve over my book and was struck with a brainstorm...the black marble parts of the insert could be used to make doll-size composition books.

What you will need:

• Composition Book Storage Jacket (You'll use that for yourself)
• Jacket insert
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors (or paper cutter - get parental supervision for a paper cutter)
• lined paper

Since I'm making 4, I found that the center section of the jacket insert was perfect...3 inches wide. So I cut along the left side of the white box on the blue portion.

Then I cut along the right side of the white box on the pink side of the insert.

Flip the strip over so the plain brown side is showing.

Measure intervals of 2 inches on the long edges and draw a straight line between the two dots.

Cut along the lines to make four book covers.

I created and printed lined paper for inside, but you can use regular lined paper*. I trimmed the borders then cut down the center line so I had two strips 3" wide.

Take 12 of the 3x2 slips of paper and fold them in half.

Put one of the covers on the outside and staple.

Voila!

Enjoy!
Best wishes,
Xyra

*On the lined paper measure a strip from the left border line and make a mark at 3 inches and again at 6 inches. Do the same at the bottom of the sheet and draw a straight line between the dots making two strips.Then mark the the length of the strips at 2 inch intervals. Cut so you get twelve (12) pieces measuring 3"w x 2" h. 

From Cabin to Castle

Total Camp Redecorating!

Our branch of Camp Doll Diaries is taking this In the Castle theme seriously. The camp leaders got everyone together and proposed the project of the day...redecorating the cabins to be more castle like.

First, take down all personal artwork.

We carefully removed our posters and drawings. I put the smaller ones in a great little art portfolio (it's not finished, but easy to use.)

Second, take out all furnishings and rugs.

When everyone was back together again the camp leaders let us choose our "castle" poster and decor.

We chose Raglan Castle in Wales. Look at the picture closely...can you see why we chose this one?

This is our castle. 

Take a look back at earlier posts...can you find and name 3 differences?

Later in the day we all headed over to the recreation hall.

Roz and Gus were surfing the net looking for more royal baby information. They were laughing at the video of the "First Royal Wave."

Lanie and Debbie were working on the latest camp word search. Looks like it is almost done.

The rest of us just looked at cards and magazines while chatting.

We're still dressing nicely and having English foods for our meals. Love it!

Have a great day!



It's not too late to send your dolls to camp. Head over to Doll Diaries or the Camp Doll Diaries archive and look through the posts to chose your favorite activities. Remember, the previous weeks' giveaways are no longer active, but you can have fun doing the other things.

Thank you to everyone at Doll Diaries and their many contributors for some really great activities and printables. You're amazing.

#DollDiaries #CampDollDiaries #HRHPrinceofCambridge

Back in the Cabin

We Should Have Been The Wildcat Cabin

After a great dinner we headed back to the cabin for some night time fun. As we got settled down another wildcat made herself comfortable. We're so used to the cats coming and going we don't even hide from them anymore.*

Roz had given us a create-a-story to fill out. We had fun doing it.

Lanie did the asking and writing. "I need a noun."


"Banana." Kirsten said. Then she went through the rest of the blanks. It was fun and a fun story.

I'm not sure if you can read this or not. If not, leave a comment and I'll retype it for you in another post.

Then we decided to write letters home.

Lanie wrote to Great Aunt Lanie:
Dear Aunt Lanie,
We are having such a great time here at camp. Not a dull moment.
You wouldn't like all the critters that make their way into our cabin. 
The food isn't nearly as good as yours, but we don't go hungry and our glasses are always full.
Last week we took a road trip to a botanical gardens! You would have LOVED that. Lots of coli, black-eyed susans, phlox, wisteria, and more. Just beautiful!
Thinking of you.
Love,


Kaya wrote to Nana Kestrel:
Dear Nana Kestrel,
How are you? I hear you are getting ready to go west. Have a safe trip!
We are having good time at camp. Guess what? We are in the Bison cabin. Isn't that cool? I hope you see one when you are in Wyoming.
Our cabin is always filled with wildcats and we have seen lots of birds.
And the botanical gardens trip last week...you would have loved that too.
Best wishes,
Love,


Kirsten wrote to Gramma Enne:
Dear Gramma Enne,
How are you? We are doing fine at camp. They put us in the Bison Cabin! Isn't that the coolest?!
Our cabin seems to be in the path of many wildcats, but we don't bother them and they no longer bother us.
We get to do lots of great activities and the food is pretty good.
The nature walks and hikes are a lot of fun. We had a hobo picnic one day. And the other night we made s'mores by the campfire and caught fireflies.
Last week we went to a botanic gardens that was quite lovely. It's hot AND humid, but we get to go swimming to cool off.
Much love,


I wrote to Xyra:
Dear Xyra,
We are having a blast. Thank you so very much for the care package. I think those tea bags will last us to the end of camp. Since today we had tea at breakfast and our theme this week is In the Castle, I think we can stock up at the dining hall. 
You would love the animals around here. We are being cautious though. 
Love and hugs,


That's all for today!
Have a great night!




*Note: If these were true wildcats (bobcats, mountain lions, etc.) we would not be in the cabin with them. It is best to stay far away from real wild animals. They are beautiful, but very unpredictable and you are invading their territory no matter where you may be.

You can still go to camp. Check out the Camp Doll Diaries Activities and choose your favorites. Or click the links above to see the instructions for those activities.


#Campdolldiaries
#Dolldiaries

Tea Set Giveaway!

Doll Diaries and The Queen's Treasures have teamed for an "In The Castle" Giveaway!

Everybody needs a great tea set for their dolls. Maybe more than one if you have a lot of dolls having tea together.

The tea set The Queen's Treasures is providing Doll Diaries for a giveaway is outstanding! 

The Fairy Fantasy tea set.

Head on over to Doll Diaries for all the details.

You know I've entered this one. :-D




#Doll Diaries
#The Queen's Treasures Fairy Tea Set Giveaway

Celebrating the New Prince

What a great day at camp!

Roz had us dress for breakfast! "This is a special day." She said, "Must look special too."

No other explanation until we got to the dining hall. Breakfast was set to honor the new baby Prince in England. 

We had English Breakfast tea. 

To eat we could choose cereal or an traditional English breakfast: eggs, potatoes, bacon or sausage, toast, and tomatoes. Beans and mushrooms were also available.There were some pastries too.

Congratulations to the Royal family in England on the birth of the new Prince!

Super Surprise! Plus

Felt Like a Birthday Present

Most of you know we follow Doll Diaries (you probably do yourself) and we have been participating in the Camp Doll Diaries activities. The other day, while catching up on posts we got a fabulous surprise in seeing Tea Time with Melody Q mentioned in the Picks of the Week Ending July 20.

We laughed, cheered, did a happy dance, left a grateful comment on the post, and emailed Gramma Enne (you'll hear more about her later). Then we went back and looked at the other featured blogs. What creativity and resourcefulness is out there?! We're following a few more blogs now.

Thank you to Hannah at Hannah's Hangout for introducing us to blogging and Doll Diaries.
And another thank you to Doll Diaries.

Royal Baby Watch Almost Complete

Big news from across the pond...there is a new Prince in the Royal Family! We don't know the name yet, but it was reported that the baby boy is 8 pounds 6 ounces. For more click here. Now we are just waiting to here his name. We raise a cup of English Breakfast tea to the royal family and the new baby!

Camp Week 8: In the Castle

Looking forward to all the great activities that will accompany the celebration of camp and they Royal birth.

Fabulous Giveaway!

Amaya at Fun with AG Fan has reached her 25 followers and is hosting a great giveaway sponsored by Mandy Sew Sweet. 

Head on over to see what you need to do to be in the running to win a gorgeous summer dress for your 18" doll.

Product Review: My Life Clear Sandals

Walmart has their own line of 18" dolls call My Life. We have the pink tea set from there (see our birthday post from January). Last time we stopped by we saw lots of cute shoes for a low price. The shoes are cute, fit well, and have neat detailing.

[Please forgive the pictures, the lighting was a bit off when I took these.]

However, there are two drawbacks. First, when we opened the package an intense plastic smell lingered in the air for a long time. the no longer smell, but those first few minutes were rather icky! Second, the plastic is rigid. There is little flexibility so putting them on and taking them off is a little difficult. I can't imagine trying to put on boots made of the same plastic.

Long post today! Thank you for hanging in there.
Have a great day!
Best wishes!