Spring Reviews: Sunshine Gardening Bench

The Sunshine Gardening Bench is the ideal accessory/set piece. The bench is compact, easy to set up, and the accessories offer many options in terms of posing and playing.

The bench comes with two flowering plants in soil, two flower pots, a birdhouse, watering can, spade, a miniature beehive, two packets of pretend seeds, three paper butterflies, and a sheet of ladybug stickers.

The flowers are primary made of fabric and wire. The flowers are somewhat fragile--one of the orange flower heads may need to be re-glued before long.

The soil is realistic looking and features little worms!

The little bird is firmly glued inside, I tried, but it is not going to come out of its home.

Watering can is plastic and technically could hold and pour water.

The bench has two hooks for tools but offers only a single spade. This feels like a cost-cutting measure that is quite frustrating at this price point.

The paper products are cute. I have not constructed the paper butterflies yet and I may save this treat for next spring.

The ladybugs are intensely cute. I wish I had an extra set of the ladybugs--I hate to break into this pristine set of stickers just yet.

I am quite satisfied with this set even with the issues of the fragile flower head threatening to fall off and their head-scratching decision to skip the second gardening tool for that other hook. 

Overall, I give the Sunshine Gardening Bench an A-. The compact footprint of the bench means it is easy to display and just as easy to store. I also love how it coordinates with the Sunshine Garden Outfit and I look forward to finding other ways to play and coordinate with this bench.

Spring Reviews: Sunshine Garden Outfit

Spring is here and the girls are breaking out the skirts and shorts to celebrate. A new offering this spring from AG is the Sunshine Garden Outfit.

Today's poppet is Lilja, a lovely #55. Her outfit consists of a knitted tee with an asymmetrical neckline, checkered shorts, bright lime-green sandals and a purple flower hair tie.

The sandals sold the outfit for me--the lime-green is fresh! The buckle is decorative and the shoes secure with velcro under the ankle strap.

Second favorite after the sandals is the canvas checked shorts. The pattern and colors honestly remind me of a pair my father wore back in the early 1970s--definitely a vintage/nerd factor that is so retro as to be cool again. Note the real pockets!

The flower hair tie is pretty standard and not essential, but I was glad to have it for my poppet's hair.

Solveig (aka Saige) joined in for a bit of fun with mix-n-match, and we discovered a green tee in the closet that was a perfect fit for this outfit. The "Nature Girl" tee is from GOTY Lanie's collection. 

Solveig and Lilja are poppet-sisters, but hate dressing matchy-matchy. So swapping out the tee on one of the outfits was a perfect solution.

The Sunshine Garden Outfit is super cute and bright. I am not a big fan of the exposed serged edges of the tee and would have preferred a symmetrical tee, but this is not a big issue overall. The winning pieces are the shorts and shoes:  the shorts have great mix-n-match potential and the lime-green shoes offer a huge kick of color. A.

Waiting for Grace: Santa's Helpers

Santa's helpers are busy all over the globe tonight and Lilja and Coconut are lending a hand! 

Lilja is wearing Santa's Helper outfit from 2007, a red velour dress with white faux-fur cuffs, a matching Santa hat, plaid scarf, and finished off with shiny black boots.

The bottom of the flared skirt is embroidered in a gold thread and the waist is trimmed with a black belt and silver-tone buckle. The belt is not removable as it is secured to the back of the dress and also tacked in front at the buckle. The belt, interestingly enough, is actually made of a black elastic which has held up well so far.

Assisting Lilja is Coconut, who is wearing the Holiday Accessories from 2003. Coconut is sporting his own little Santa hat secured by an elastic band and is pulling a sleigh with a tiny present perched inside. This set also comes with a small magnetic snowman that Coconut can carry in his mouth (not pictured).

The boots for this outfit are outstanding. They have a velvet-like strap and a buckle detail at the calf. They secure in the back with velcro. I have paired these boots with modern outfits (usually short skirts) with great results.

Coconut pulls his little sleigh, the red velvet reigns attaching to him by a red collar with gold trim and decorative jingle bells.

I just love this little fellow, his facial expressions are so winsome.

Lilja's Santa hat is snug but not too snug and the faux-fur is full and plush. The plaid scarf is secured around her neck by feeding one end of the scarf through a buttonhole near the other end of the scarf. 

This Christmas themed outfit is wonderful if a bit more like a costume than a holiday dress a little girl would wear to an event. Like Starry Night, I also prefer this outfit on my dolls with older personalities. But when it comes to joining in to help with Santa's other elves, it is the perfect outfit for the occasion.

Lilja signs off with wishing everyone Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, especially to Grace Thomas, the next GOTY. 

Today was a big day for Grace as AG has uploaded many images of Grace, her clothing, and accessories which are publicaly viewable online though not yet linked to their online storefront. So many images to contemplate! More on Grace's collection itself when I am able.

Waiting for Grace: Vintage Visions

The holidays are in full swing around the house now and the girls are all trying to decide which dress or outfit to wear for their upcoming group photo. One of their favorite holiday dresses is the Brocade Holiday Dress from 2013. Lilja volunteered to model the dress today in our vintage holiday highlight.

But her dress from 2013 is only a year old, isn't that stretching the definition of "vintage" even by American Girl and Pleasant Company history? Well, Lilja is posing next to Tree & Trimmings, Holiday Ornaments, and Perfect Presents from 1998. Totally last century, last millenium, even!

I could look at this dress all day. The pattern of the brocade is particularly clever as the gold highlights are actually tiny stars, a nod toward AG branding.

My favorite detail is the rosettes and velvet ribbon.

The sequined headband is a bit oversized but the florette of sparkle has grown on me over time.

Cream colored tights and classic AG slipper style cream colored shoes with a silver bow finish the ensemble.

The Brocade Holiday Dress has a coordinating off-white faux fur shrug as part of the Holiday Accessories. This satin lined shrug also coordinated with the other tea length holiday dress from 2013, the ruby-red Sparkle Holiday Dress with a mesh "bubble skirt."

The brocade dress is simply stunning and has looked charming on every girl who has worn it. The girls have two of them in the closet just for this reason. 

A Vintage Holiday Review: 2009 Fancy Flower Outfit

It might only be November, but I am starting to bring out the holiday dresses and preparing my girls for the holiday season. The 2009 Fancy Flower Outfit is a very recent acquisition for my collection and I spent over a month scouring secondary marketplace sources to find the entire ensemble. How I absolutely adore this dress!

Lilja, otherwise known as the stunning #55, is modeling this dream of silver taffeta covered in ribbon embroidery.

The dress has a layered skirt and comes with a pair of matching embroidered taffeta shoes and a white fax-fur shrug (see below for shrug).

The ribbon embroidery is truly unique and the effect is breathtaking.

The shoes are also made of taffeta and this choice is wonderfully understated--quite different from the many faux patent leather or glittery shoes of the more recently released holiday dresses from American Girl. The shoes also have a velvety elastic band across the top.

The white faux-fur shrug is the final piece of the outfit and it adds a touch of holiday glam. I believe it is one of the more successful shrugs--it really enhances rather than distracts from the dress. In fact, I love the Fancy Flower ensemble both with and without the shrug, something I can not say for all of the recent holiday "dress + faux-fur shrug" offerings.

The only downside to this ensemble is that it more delicate than many other AG holiday dresses and may not hold up to play by young hands. The workmanship is marvelous and every detail crafted and sewn with precision, however the materials of the outfit require some extra care in use and in storage. The fabric (taffeta) shoes are wonderful, but need to be stored so that they hold their shape when not worn. The fabric flower on the faux-fur shrug is prone to ruinous fraying on the edges. And the dress itself shows wrinkles easily and the ribbon embroidery easily crushed. 

But I can not be swayed from my love of this dress. The extra care and fuss is worth it and I am satisfied to know that while this dress will likely age quicker than other AG holiday dresses, that it will likely age with grace with just a little bit of extra care.

I may have a difficult time getting Lilja to wear anything else but the Fancy Flower dress between now and the holidays! This dress was well worth the long search. It is already a classic and sure to be a perennial favorite here during the holidays.

Grade: A+ 

Summertime Review: Skateboarding Set (2014-

AG has released new summertime play outfits for the dolls. In the spirit of trying something new, Lilja (#55) has taken up the longboard.

The Skateboarding Set includes a sporty jersey dress with a mock tee, jersey leggings, high-top sneakers, and a skateboard. The set also includes stickers (for the skateboard) and a rectangle "Brave" charm. (Hairbands not included.)

The jersey dress has a drop waist and a darling mock cowl at the neckline.

The jersey leggings feature a star motif on the right leg.

The faux-leather is soft and flexible and the high-tops are lined with soft fabric. It took only minimal effort to slip these shoes onto Lilja's feet.

The top side of the skateboard has a realistic rough texture for grip. The board has flexibility throughout the belly of the board and even is capable of tilting slightly side to side like a "real" skateboard.

The underneath reveals a fairly realistic "wheels and trucks" construction.

The AG designers added an elastic strap to use during play. This is a nice touch for active play, though it is quite possible to pose a doll without using the strap.

Lilja shows off her ability to balance on her new longboard!

If I had any one criticism, it would be that the set does not include a safety helmet. The only option in the store at the moment for a helmet is the "Skates & Gear" set, which consists of inline skates, guards, and a helmet. The helmet from that set does reasonably coordinate colorwise, but it is not an exact match to the Skateboarding Set.

Overall, the design, construction, and playability of the Skateboarding Set are all top notch:  A+. The skateboard is very realistic and the outfit is a daring and new design.