Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #10: Christmas is . . . Holiday Hairstyles

Day #10???? Say what now????? 

Yep! It’s Day #10 of TDOC here on American Girls in Alaska. Today I will be doing my first ever hair tutorial! I will be showing you two cute holiday hairstyles, as modeled by Grace and Emily!

Style #1: Flipped Braid Bun

Step 1: Braid your doll’s hair.

Step 2: Grab the braid by the end and pull it up. (My mom is holding it here, Grace’s hair is not floating.) 🙂

Step 3: Tuck the elastic part under the braid.

Step 4: Bobby pin the braid so that it stucks to the doll’s head.

Ta-da! Simple and chic!

Hairstyle #2: French Twist Braid

Step 1: Seperate a small section of hair from the doll’s head.

Step 2: Seperate that section in two.

Step 3: Cross the left section over the right section.

Step 4: This is a bit hard to explain, but you’re going to take hair from the rest of the doll’s head and add it to the the section on the left (the one that is hanging down).

Step 5: (Sorry, this one is a little blurry.) Pull the left section over the right one. (Like you’re twisting it, which is technically what you are doing.)

Step 6: Continue to grab hair and add it to the section hanging down before twisting that section over. If you know how to French braid, this should be very simple.

Sadly, my picture of the side of her hair would not upload, but it looked really cool! 😦

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you try these styles, send pictures to americangirlsak@gmail.com!

Just a friendly reminder, tomorrow is the last day to enter my giveaway. 🙂

Countdown to Christmas: Two days!

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Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #9: Christmas is . . . Ice Skating

Day #9 already!?!? Can you believe it?!?! I can’t wait for Christmas!!!

And, in the spirit of the season, I did an ice skating photoshoot of Molly! If you like this photoshoot, check out AG Doll Adventure’s ice skating photoshoot here. Coincidentally, we did ours on the same day!

The poem, Frozen Floor, is one I wrote myself. I hope you enjoy it!

A mirror

With no reflection

Step, glide

Wind in face

Thrilling

Exhilarating

Slice of blade

On frozen floor

Swish, swish

Free

Flying

Not wobbling

Soaring

Skating

Arms, legs

Flying free

Twirl, spin

Can’t fall down

Cold air

Can’t breathe

Graceful

On the frozen floor

Did you like it? I wrote the poem about a month ago, but I never realized how well it would fit with this photoshoot.

Quick story, when I was skating, there was this boy there who was like, “Mom, there’s this girl taking pictures of her doll.” Why is it that people don’t think that dolls are for bigger girls, too??? Amiright???

See you all tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas: Three days!

Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #6: Christmas is . . . Sledding

And . . . we’re back, with TDOC Day #6!!!!!

CHRISTMAS IS IN SIX DAYS PEOPLE!!!!!

In the meantime, here’s a cute photoshoot of Grace and McKenna!

“Ahh!”

“Erm, Grace? I’m still here!”

What is up with her hair???

See you guys tomorrow! Hope you enjoyed the photoshoot!

Countdown to Christmas: Six days!

Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #5: Christmas is . . . Warm Clothes

Happy-Almost-Christmas, friends!

Today’s TDOC post is a winter lookbook. Not all of these looks are Christmas-themed, as I don’t have very many Christmas clothes. I would love it if you guys commented on which outfit you liked the most!

First up, we have this lovely outfit Morgan is modeling! She is wearing McKenna’s school outfit, a sweat that I’ve had forever, and a headband I made!

Here’s Emily! She’s wearing coveralls that came out of nowhere, the True Spirit AG meet outfit shirt, the Real Me AG meet outfit pants and shoes, and Emily’s Holiday Outfit necklace. Sorry the shoes aren’t showing.

Molly is wearing her meet outfit skirt and shoes and Molly’s Holiday Outfit sweater.

Lastly, Lindsey is wearing some random AG pants that totally don’t fit her, her meet necklace and meet sweater, and the shoes from an AG Easter outfit.

Alright, that’s all for the outfits! Don’t forget to vote on which one you liked best in the comments!

Countdown to Christmas: Seven days!

Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #4: Christmas is . . . Baking

Hi, everyone! It’s Grace here! Today, we’re going to be making some delicious Christmas cookies!

Bonus: this recipe can actually be followed and used to make real-life cookies! However, American Girls in Alaska is not responsible for any injury, damage, or death that will not occur while making these cookies, but she has to say that just in case anyone does anything stupid.

The supplies you will need for this recipe are: 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 eggs, and sprinkes.

But before you mix anything, preheat the over to 375° degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 1: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix well and set aside.

Okay, I’ve got it!

Step 2: In a large bowl, using a hand-held mixer or a firm wooden spoon, mix the butter until it’s creamy and lighter in color.

Step 3: Mix in the brown and white sugars.

Step 4: Add the vanilla and eggs. Sorry the eggs weren’t showing in the ingredients picture!

Step 5: Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.

Ta-da!

Step 6:  Make little cookie balls that are the size of the rounded part of the spoon.

Like these here!

Step 7: This is my favorite part! Flatten the cookies slightly and shake holiday sprinkles on top.

Step 8: Place them onto ungreased baking sheets and bake them for 8-12 minutes!

This is how the cookies turned out!

Sorry some of these images are weird, the camera wasn’t focusing right. It was going in and out and in and out really fast.

Anyway, a bonus picture to show you the giant mess these made!

AGs in Alaska had to wipe her hands on tissue paper for wrapping presents before taking pictures.

Anyway, hope you guys liked this post! If you make these, shoot us a picture or two at americangirlsak@gmail.com, or through our Contact Page. 🙂

This recipe is from The First Book of Baking by Jeanne Besser, and the recipe credits go to her. 🙂

Alright, see y’all tomorrow! Au revoir!

Countdown to Christmas: Eight days!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #2: Christmas is . . . Time for Tags

Hello, fantastic blogging elves! It’s time for Day 2 of TDOC! Remember when I did that huge tag post last week? Well, do you recall . . . the most famous reindeer of all . . . sorry, nope. Do you remember me saying that I couldn’t do one of the tags until I had my decorations up? Well, if you don’t, shame on you, because I did! MWAH HA HA!!!

Sorry. Anyway, I was tagged for the Holiday Tag by the Blogging Doll Sisters. Thank you guys so much! Here are the rules for the tag:

• Answer all questions honestly
• Take at least 5 pictures of your doll or doll-sized decorations for the holiday (Thanksgiving or Christmas)
• Tag at least 2 other bloggers with doll blogs
• If you have more than one blog, then DON’T TAG YOURSELF
• You need to ask at least 5 questions

Here are the questions they are asking me!

1. How many dolls do you have?
2. Which holiday do you like better: Thanksgiving or Christmas?
3. Would you rather have Christmas before Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving before Christmas?
4. Do you like pumpkin pie with or without whipped cream?
5. Do you like gravy on mashed potatoes?
6. Do you open some presents on Christmas Eve, or all of them on Christmas?
7. What do you think you’re getting for Christmas?

Here are my answers:

1. I have seven dolls.
2. Christmas! Thanksgiving has a lot of food . . . but then again, so does Christmas. I love the holiday spirit and cheer. It’s just a great time of year.
3. I like having Thanksgiving before Christmas, because no offense Thanksgiving, but Christmas is a bigger deal. I like having Thanksgiving because the start to the holiday season, with Christmas at the tail end. (New Year’s: You’re forgetting about me!)
4. With whipped cream, of course!
5. Definitely! I had some really good gravy this year.
6. I open a couple of presents on Christmas Eve.
7. Well, I know for sure that I’m getting an iPod Shuffle. I won’t tell you how I know this, but I promise it has nothing to do with me. 🙂 I am hoping to get some doll clothes, too.

Those were super fun questions, guys! Now, onto the pictures!

I took a few extra pictures of the doll tree for this purpose.

I really love this one!

Hang a shining star up on the highest bow . . .

Or zip-tie it. 🙂

Okay, okay, it’s not really a zip-tie, it’s one of those green metal ornament hangers that I unbent and used it to attach the star on.

Human view!

Excuse me, Crystal, why are you not facing the camera?!

Crystal: Hey , I was distracted. Lindsey was making faces at me. 😦

A close-up of the tree decorating.

I hope you guys liked those extra bonus pictures!

For this tag, I am tagging:

AAG @ designsbymaelyn

Laura @ addyl0ver

If either of you girls can’t do the tag, please let me know so I can tag someone else!

Here are your questions:

1. Do you stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve?
2. Are you traveling anywhere for the holidays?
3. If you could travel anywhere for the holidays, where would it be?
4. What is your favorite holiday food of all time?
5. Does your family have any holiday traditions?
6. What do you want for Christmas?
7. What is your favorite Christmas song/carol?

Okay, that is it for the tag! Thanks again to the Blogging Doll Sisters!

Countdown to Christmas: Ten days!

The Twelve Days of Christmas, Day #1: Christmas is . . . Decorating

Okay, merry reindeer! This is the moment you have all been waiting for!

CHRISTMAS POSTS!

I’m sure you have all been thinking, “When is AGs in Alaska going to post Christmas stuff?” Well, never fear, that day has finally arrived!

For Christmas 2017, I am doing The Twelve Days of Christmas. Two things: one, I am not copying anyone else who does The Twelve Days of Christmas (TDOC, because typing the whole thing out takes, like, three extra seconds), I have actually been planning to do TDOC for a while now. Two, I am aware that the actual TDOC are actually after Christmas, but I don’t want to do twelve Chrismtas posts after Christmas.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, we’re going to get started with TDOC Post #1!

Presenting . . .

Our Christmas Tree!

This is the bare tree, before we decorated it! It went from an ordinary tree from the forest (okay, Michael’s), to a lovely decorated tree in thirty minutes!

I don’t know why this picture is blurry. #c’estlaphotovie

Anyway, Crystal is stringing lights up on the tree. She used mini twinkle lights and they are soooo pretty when it lit up!

Also, some of these pictures are super dark and some of them aren’t. It’s weird. 😦

I swear the lights were on in my the girls’ room when they did this!

 

Time to start putting on the ornaments! Michael’s has a great selection of mini Christmas decorations. Or at least they did when I the girls bought their supplies. At this time of December, they’re probably all out.

Here, Morgan and Molly are placing the little balls on the tree. (Again, the lights were on, my curtains were pulled back, and I had a lamp for extra light! Grrrrr. At least you can see how pretty the lights are!

WHY IS IT SO BLURRY????

Crystal: AGs in Alaska, stop taking over! We get it that you don’t like the bluriness!

AGs in Alaska: Don’t you sass me, young lady!

Crystal: (dramatic sigh) Fine!

And this is Crystal putting the topper on the tree! Isn’t it beautiful? Notice how it’s more like zip-tied and less of “put on” the tree. That’s because Crystal bought a topper that was was too heavy for the tree!

Crystal: Hey, all girls make mistakes.

Time for presents!

And this is what the finished tree looks like! For our first-ever tree, we think it turned out pretty great. What about you guys?

AGs in Alaska: Okay, I’m taking over now.

Crystal: Noooooooooooooooo!

Okay, everybody, that’s it for our first TDOC post. We will have one every day until December 25th, when I will do our epic Christmas photostory. And trust me, it will be epic.

Toodles for now!

Countdown to Christmas: Eleven days!

While I Was Away . . .

Prepare yourselves, people. This is going to be one big blog post.

Remember how I had all of my posts scheduled for the month of November? Because of that, I was unable to do tags or awards. Now that’s it’s December, I can do the SIX awards and tags I’ve been nominated for!!!!!

That’s right! SIX!!!

Like I said, long blog post.

However, there is one tag I will not be doing until later on this month. It is The Holiday Tag, and I was nominated for it by the Blogging Doll Sisters. The reason I am not doing it today is because it involves having holiday decorations up and mine will not be revealed for another week or so.

Because I have five entire tags/awards to do, I may not be able to nominate/tag the specified number of people for each one. Sorry about that. I’m aiming to select two-three people for each.

Without further ado, let’s get started with the Blogger Recognition Award!

Here are the rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Write a post to show your award.
Give a brief story of how your blog started.
Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
Select (up to 15) other bloggers for this award.
Comment on each blog to let them know you nominated them and provide a link to the post you created.

I wwas nominated for this award by Bella. Bella is a super-sweet blogger, and I love to read her posts! If you haven’t already checked her blog out, it’s definitely worth your time. 🙂

I started American Girls in Alaska right after I finished my previous blog. I really wanted to have a blog, so I got my mom’s permission and started thinking about what kind of blog I wanted it to be about. I was trying to decide between a pet blog or a doll blog when Loren from Happy House of AG inspired me to start a doll blog! I realized how fun it would be to do one.

My two pieces of advice are  . . .

DON’T let blogging take up all of your time. You can easily get sucked into your WordPress reader and notifications bar, replying to comments and whatnot. Get all of your schoolwork/chores done FIRST.

DON’T let other blogger’s blogging styles make you feel like you should change your own. Don’t compare your pictures, writing styles, etc. to yours. You are a unique blogger – don’t change!

The bloggers I choose to nominate are . . .

The Blog Dolly!

and . . .

Twintastic AG!

Congrats, girls!

My next one is a tag. It’s called the Fall Themed Tag, and I was nominated for it by The Blog Dolly. Thank you so much, Jenna! Jenna has an awesome blog that just got a new customization, so definitely go check it out. 🙂

Here are the rules:

These are the questions Jenna is asking me:

Q: What is your favorite fall drink?

A: Vanilla Chai tea. I drink this year round, but it seems to fit best for fall.

Q: Apple cider or pumpkin spice?

A: Pumpkin spice!

Q: Pumpkin pie or apple pie?

A: Apple apple apple!

Q: Red, orange, and yellow or yellow, white, and orange?

A: Yellow, white, and orange.

Q: Scary costumes or cute costumes?

A: Definitely cute.

Q: Your favorite part about fall is…

A: The chill in the air, promising that snow is just around the corner.

Q: A football game or football shaped cookies?

A: Since football is less interesting than watching paint dry, I’m going with cookies.

Q: Favorite fall outfit?

A: A cozy sweater and my favorite pair of jeans, with some fuzzy socks.

Q: Do you love the colors or the scents of fall?

A: The scents.

Q: Pre-made fall crafts or DIY ones?

A: I’m not super crafty, but I’m going with DIY.

Q: What is your AG dolls favorite fall outfit?

A: The one Emily is wearing here.

Okay, that’s alll for the questions!

I have decided to tag The Blogging Sisters and AG Doll Adventures and Lizzy!

Have fun, you guys! Your questions are . . .

1. What is your favorite color of leaf – red, orange, yellow, green, or brown?
2. Have you ever done a fall photoshoot?
3. What is your favorite doll sweater?
4. What is your favorite part about Thanksgiving? That is, assuming, you live in the US.
5. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, or pecan pie?
6. Did you know that there was no pumpkin pie until the second Thanksgiving?
7. Do you like Halloween or Thanksgiving better?
8. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
9. Did you go anywhere for Thankgiving?
10. Did anyone visit you for Thanksgiving?
11. Was there snow on the ground where you live for Thanksgiving?

Okay, that’s all for the Fall Themed Tag!

And now, we’re moving onto the New Blogger Tag!

I was nominated for this by AG Doll Dreams. Thank you so, so much! The rules are:

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and link their blog

2. Answer the questions they gave you

3. Nominate at least 3 new bloggers

4. Ask at least 5 or more questions for them to answer

Her questions are:

1. What do you like most about AG dolls?

Their hair and facial features, as well as their unique personalities.

2. Why did you decide to start a blog?

I have blogged before, and I love connecting with my followers!

3. Do you shop on Etsy?

No, I never have. But I have checked it out before.

4. Do you follow any non-AG blogs?

Yes.

5. What’s your favorite jungle animal?

Cheetah!

6. Indoors or outdoors?

In the summer, outdoors. In the winter, indoors.

7. Do you like being tagged?

Of course!

I am tagging:

Kaitlyn

Dazzling Dollies

The AG Homeschooler

My questions for you three are . . .

How do you come up with ideas for posts?

What is your favorite type of post?

Who/what inspired you to start blogging?

Is it difficult to manage school, family stuff, chores, and blogging?

Why is blogging important to you?

Have fun, girls!

Now, onto the Blue Sky Tag! I was nominated by The AG Homeschooler – thank you so much! The rules are:

Thank the person who nominated you.
Answer the 11 questions.
Tag 11 new people.
Give them 11 new question to answer.

Q: Do you like Lab Rats? If so, what’s your favorite episode?

A: No, I have never seen it.

Q: What are you wearing right now?

A: My PJ’s.

Q: Would you rather have the power to rewind time or pause time?

A: Rewind! Definitely rewind! I would go back and fix embarrassing mistakes and relive happy moments from my childhood.

Q: What job would you be absolutely terrible at?

A: Politician/President of the United States. I am really not very commanding and I don’t like to hurt people’s feelings.

Q: If you ruled your own country, who would you get to write the national anthem?

A: I would probably write it myself, since I’m a writer.

Q: Would you rather have a unicorn horn or a squirrel tail?

A: Oh, geez. A squirrel’s tail, because I could probably hide it.

Q: What one thing can you not live without? (Besides the necessities)

A: Books! BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!

Q: Would you rather be an adult your whole life or a kid your whole life?

A: Wow, this is a really hard one. I’m going to have to say a kid, because you have less responsibilities.

Q: Would you rather be locked in an amusement park or a library?

A: I think this was pretty much covered in the one thing you cannot live without question. XD 🙂

Q: What’s the grossest food combination you can think of?

A: Froot loops, milk, and ketchup.

Q: If you were challenged to a duel, what weapons would you use?

A: A sword, and probably a long-handled broom.

Okay! Those were really fun to answer! I have decided to tag:

Sam

Clara

You get the following questions to answer:

What is your favorite thing to drink?

Hors d’oeuvres or a five-course meal?

Have you ever flown first class?

What was the scariest thing you have ever experienced?

Do you blog on a computer, phone, or tablet?

What is your favorite part about your blog? (Comments, design, post types, etc.)

How many followers would you like to have by the end of the year?

What is your favorite type of shoe? (Heel, sneaker, flat, pointe shoes, flip-flops, etc.)

What is your favorite sport?

What is your favorite holiday, and why?

Do you think it’s okay for older teens/adults to like dolls?

Have fun with the questions, everybody!

Lastly, I was nominated by Jenna, The Blog Dolly, for the Versatile Blogger Award! (VBA for short.) Thank you so, so, so much!

The rules are as follows:

Thank the person who gave you this award.
Include a link to their blog.
Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the VBA.
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Okay, I cannot nominated fifteen people, so I’m going to do as many as possible, and then anyone else who wants to do it is welcome to.

Madi Grace

Stuffie Adventures

Emmie

Samantha

Jewel

Olivia

AG Doll Dreams

Bella

Okay, everyone! That is it for now. Wow, this post took a long time, and if you read it all the way through, A HUGE CONGRATS! And if any of you are unable to do any of the tags, my feelings will not be hurt. If any of you who weren’t tagged/nominated want to participate, go right ahead. 🙂

I’ll be back on Monday! See you guys soon!

-AGs in Alaska-

The First Snow (A Photoshoot)

Sooooooooooooooooooooo . . .

It snowed!

Actually, it’s still snowing as I write this (Saturday). And I’m hoping by Monday (the day this is supposed to publish), there will be even more snow!

Because I can still see you, evil leaves. Autumn is no more, and the clouds shed their frozen tears upon the Alaskan landscape! Mwaa ha ha!!!!!!

Wow, I just realized how dramatic that sounded.

Fall to winter here is really weird. It’s like, leaves, leaves, leaves one day, and the next, it’s twenty degrees and it feels like Christmas!

Like I said. Weird.

Anyway, I really, really wanted it to snow by Monday (which, by the time you read this, is today), because when I planned out ALL of my October and November posts, I told the weatherman that he needed to predict snow by the twenty-third.

Actually, I just screamed at weather.com.

Just kidding. I didn’t do that, either. I’m not a crazy person.

By six o’clock, I realized that it was getting dark and I needed to go take pictures before the snow melted. Because it does that. A couple years ago, it snowed in September, melted, and then didn’t snow until exactly one month later.

*Sigh*

I got Morgan all ready to go outside for a photoshoot. I was actually inspired by Loren to do a snow photoshoot. You should really check her blog out, if you haven’t already. She’s actually the one who inspired me to start my own blog.

Okay, this is the longest introduction I have done before a photoshoot, so let’s get on with it!

Presenting . . . The First Snow!

Morgan!!! WHY ARE YOU NOT IN FOCUS???

Alright, guys! That’s it for today! But, never fear, I’ll be back on Thursday. Until then, au revoir!

Wait, wait, wait! I almost forgot!

I HAVE THIRTY FOLLOWERS!!!

Thank you so, so, so much for supporting me and my blog! The girls and I love you all. XOXO 🙂 🙂 🙂

Has it snowed where you live?

Better question: does it snow where you live?

Are you excited for the holidays?

-AGs in Alaska-