Welcome Kaya!

Mom and I went shopping over the weekend and on a whim I decided I needed a new AG friend. When we got back to Mom's house DeeDee, Caroline, Emily, and Felicity (who was visiting) were all chatting and sitting by while Emily painted.

 

 

They looked up when they heard me walk in the room and noticed I wasn't alone. In my arms was Kaya! They jumped up and with reserved excitement approached Kaya who seemed a little shy and nervous. 

"Hello," said Caroline, "My name is Caroline and this is DeeDee, Emily, and Felicity." she said pointing to each girl. Kaya looked up at me searching for affirmation. I smiled and nodded. She turned and replied,

 

 

"I am Kaya. I am Nez Perce." 

It was clear to see Kaya was very different from the other girls. There was a definite cultural difference and a language barrier; she was still learning English. But the smile on Kaya's face told me she was going to be fine.

 

 

I explained the situation more explicitly and suggested the girls show Kaya their room and offer our new friend a drink so that they could relax and get acquainted with one another.

They talked for quite a while. I was impressed with how they creatively communicated and taught each other about their cultures and costumes.They quickly established a bond and in no time Kaya, in spite of her differences, was a part of our family.

 

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Later I took Kaya outside to do a photo shoot.  

I am so in love with Kaya's sweet face. I love that little smile and I think it is so neat that she is the only AG doll that does not show her teeth because of the believes of the Nez Perce tribe.

 

 

She is so unique and so rich in culture and obviously as American as you can get!

 

 

I read her books last year and LOVED them! I loved how Kaya blossomed and grew throughout her stories. If you haven't read them you need to! 

 

 

The day Mom and I went shopping I hadn't planned on buying anything and surely not a doll! However, I had been getting the urge to get a new doll and just recently something has been drawing me to Kaya. When I saw her in the store the pull grew stronger. I wandered the store thinking it over until finally I knew I couldn't leave happy without her.

 

 

Since then I have become more and more of a Kaya fan and I'm going to re-read all of her books (which I also bought lol).

She is my little buddy now. :)

 

 

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When we got back to my apartment that night Felicity helped me to introduce her to the rest of my girls. And just like with my mom's girl she blended right into our little family with ease. Kirsten has offered to help Kaya with her English, since English was not her first language either she was very eager to be an understanding tutor for Kaya.

Although Kaya will be spending a lot of time at my apartment I brought her home with the intention of making her my classroom doll (in case you don't already know I teach elementary art). She will get to come to work with me and keep me company everyday. I've been wanting a classroom doll for a long time and I think Kaya will be perfect for this roll! I've also decided that Kaya will be a time traveler like Felicity so some days she might show up wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes or maybe a frilly dress like Samantha... who knows! Oh I'm so excited to have my little Kaya!

Fancy Hair

We were getting ready for our Spring/ birthday photo shoot last night. I was so in love with my three original girls' outfits and hairdos that I had to share some photos of just them. First of all I love that each of them is wearing pale pink dresses with white pinafores! Aren't they to die for!!!!!!! They look so sweet and feminine. I spent quite a bit of time on their hair creating fancy braids so here is a closer look...

First is sweet Kirsten.

On Kirsten I did two small inverted french braids starting on either side of her part. When french braiding I only picked up and added on the hairline side. I followed along her hairline and stopped picking up more hair just below her ears then did a simple braid with the remaining hair. I then wrapped the braids to the opposite sides, tucked the ends in, and pinned them in place (kind of like Marie Grace's hair but with french braids). It ended up making a perfect circle for her daisy garland to fit around! :)

Next, we have darling Addy. 

Addy is sporting a similar styled braid but it continued to the back of her head and sits higher on her head than Kirsten's braids. Once the french braiding got to the back of her head I finished them by doing simple braids and wrapped them to the opposite sides as with Kirsten's. Then a topped it off with a big pink bow which was fastened with a bobby pin.

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While we are talking about Addy's hair I'd love to get feedback from you about something. I have done A LOT of playing with Addy's hair over the last ummm almost 20 years (that's scary to think about!) and she has lost a lot of hair over the years. She has some pretty bad bald spots making me consider re-wigging her. She is a pre-Mattel and I worry that re-wigging may devalue her. Not to mention a few bald spots makes her more "real" like the Velveteen Rabbit so I get sad thinking of her not being 100% original. Then again a fresh head of hair sure would be fun AND nice to play with. What are your thoughts? Have you done this? Is it worth it? Does it take away from her value? Pretty please leave me a comment on this topic :)

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 Lastly, we have the lovely Samantha.

With Samantha's hair I used two small sections on either side of her head and fishtail braided them by adding  little pieces of the sections at a time (like french braiding). I let the sections come together low at the nape of her neck then continued fishtail braiding without adding more hair and tied it off with an elastic hair tie. I set her rosette garland high on her bangs then tucked the ribbon under the initial braid and crisscross wrapped it over the rest of the braid and finally tied it in a bow over the hair tie.

I had so much fun playing beauty shop with them! I hope you have been inspired by our fancy hair. Thank you for viewing and please don't forget to share your feedback below about my re-wigging dilemma! 

P.S. I don't want you to think I have forgotten my girls' birthdays! We have a very exciting birthday party planned!!!! The preparations are still in the works (these outfits are part of the preparations). Look forward to seeing an awesome birthday party post in the near future!!!!