Ghetto sleigh

The children’s crack American Girl catalog arrived in our mailbox last week and, since Graceful checked the mail that day, the girls got their hands on the coveted shopping publication before I could hide it at the bottom of the recycling bin. They took the news about Samantha and Nellie really well, although they did have a few things to say about the “greedy American Girl people.”

Not at all surprisingly, Graceful has carefully studied the catalog and made a shopping list.  Here’s what it looks like:

I told her to prioritize to only 5-10 items that she really wants and told her that she might get only one or two things or she might not get anything at all.  I know how much money that child has in her wallet.  If she wants something from the catalog badly enough, she can spend her birthday and allowance money on it instead of waiting to see if Santa ponies up.  (Santa remains undecided.)

Surprisingly, Elegant waited until this weekend to look at the catalog.  Knowing that she had to prioritize, she did.  It took a lot of thinking.  And erasing.  But she eventually came up with a list of only ten items.

My word, that girl is so stinkin’ cute when she’s being all serious and earnest.

One thing Graceful was absolutely salivating over was this.

It’s $159, not including the horse or the shipping.  Utterly ridiculous.

Does anyone here remember the doll tree house?

Now, does anyone want to guess what we did this weekend?

Oh yes we did.

Just in case you’re feeling creative, here’s how to make your very own ghetto doll sleigh in 10 easy steps!

#1 – Find the perfect box and make sure that your dolls fit:

The AG sleigh fits only two dolls.  Ha!  OURS will fit three comfortably or more if we load ‘em up like the Beverly Hillbillies going for a Sunday drive.

#2 – Cut off flaps and other bits of cardboard.

Tip: An X-Acto knife is much better and easier than scissors.

#3 – Paint.

Wet cardboard takes a long time to dry, just so you know.  This takes patience.  Please note what Elegant is doing in the background.

#4 – Consult the American Girl catalog numerous times.

#5 – Create sleigh runners.

We used some shims leftover from a previous construction project.  Attaching those to the sleigh was a major ordeal, I tell you.  We started off with the shims taped to the bottom.  As you can imagine, that didn’t work out too well, so we ended up attaching them to the sides.

#6 – Add embellishments.

We used silver paint as an accent color.  Doesn’t everyone have some of that just lying around?

Sleighs need bells, which Graceful strung up for me while I worked on other parts of the project:

We used red and green bells and attached them to the front.

#7 – Make a cushion for the dolls’ comfort.

The American Girl sleigh has a quilted velveteen seat.  The ghetto sleigh’s seat is made from felted wool I had left from this project, with cardboard on the inside for stability.  And, while the American Girl sleigh comes with a white polyester fleece and satin blanket, the ghetto sleigh has a 100% felted wool blanket in red, green, and cream.  I sewed parts of two sweaters together to create a mini Hudson’s Bay blanket — something you definitely can’t get at American Girl Co. or even L.L. Bean.

#8 – Dress the dolls appropriately. Everyone knows you can’t go for a sleigh ride in shorts and a t-shirt or a summer dress.  I mean, get real.

#9 – Find a way to harness the horses.

We’ve had these horses for years and years.  They’re stuffed animals, as opposed to the plastic horses that the AG empire sells — in other words, OUR horses are thoroughbreds, while the AG horses are piebalds meant for the glue factory.

For reins, we went with simplicity — red wool yarn — and didn’t worry about accuracy.

#10 – HAVE FUN!