Book review: Marie Grace & the orphans

Yes, I realize I'm doing these reviews out of order, but that's the way it is, so let's begin.

Marie grace and the orphans tells the story of when a lady leaves a baby on Grace's doorstep in the middle of the night. Grace starts to take care of the baby, which she names Phillip. Eventually Marie grace takes Phillip to the orphanage, where she visits him everyday. That's the gist of it, if I say anymore I'll spoil the book.

My thoughts:
I loved the book!! It was quite interesting to read and kept me turning the pages. Another aspect I loved was that they didn't sugarcoat anything. It was, he was left on the doorstep in the rain. The book almost presents the reader with a hard version of reality. One criticism I do have is that the book doesn't feature Cecile as much as I would like to. Of course this is to be expected, as this is Marie grace's book not Cecile's book. However there's really nothing else bad about it.

Overall, I would really recommend this book, especially if you're a big fan of Marie grace and Cecile's story. The book is $6.95 from American girl.

My thoughts: Spring releases Feb. 2014

So I know you've all been wondering where this post has been. Sorry, I just haven't wanted to do this, plus there's a lot of stuff that came out.

We'll start with MAG stuff and then go to historical stuff. Grace didn't get anything new, but there's supposed to be more releases in March!

*All images are from American Girl and there is no copyright intended. Also all opinions are my own & I'm not affiliated with AG or Mattel*

"Shimmer and Lace party dress for dolls" $30

This is quite a cute spring dress. I like the sheer material at the shoulders and it's overall pretty cute. The color is also nice too. $30 is a bit expensive, but oh well.

"Pretty Plie Ballet outfit for dolls" $34

This outfit is one of 2 new ballet outfits that were released. Overall I really don't care, I don't own Isabelle and none of my dolls are really dancers. It's nice I guess, but ditto I won't be getting it.

"Pretty pink tutu set for dolls" $28

I love this ballet outfit much more than the one above. It's way more realistic, as this is totally proper dance attire, minus the rhinestone comb. It's also a much better price.

*Note that the 2 products featured above any be bought as a set for $68 or separately.

"Boho beachy swimsuit" $28

I have to say I really like this swimsuit. It's got a nice color palette, nice price and it's very simple. There's also additional hair bead accessories, but I will get to next. I also like that AG did something besides the swimsuit/swim accessories set up they always do.

"Beachy Hair beads for dolls" $15

These are stupid. Yeah, they're stupid. It's just yearn glued to a plastic clip, I can make these at home for free. Unless you just have to have these, don't waist your time on them. Or you could always get cheap clips at party stores.

"Sunshine garden outfit for dolls" $30

This outfit is SUPER CUTE! I really want it (and will be getting it), but feel it should be $28 and not $30, because the only accessory it has is a hair tie.

"Sunshine garden bench set" $68

Honestly, this is just kind of meh. I don't really see any point in it and with the above outfit it's $98 for the whole set. I also heard it's actually plastic, so therefore I won't be getting it.

"Sparkle jazz outfit for dolls" $34

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this outfit. Yeah, I said I didn't want the ballet outfits, but this is different. It's SO CUTE!!!! I WILL TOTALLY be getting this outfit.

"Soccer team outfit for dolls" $38

What can I say, it's just another soccer outfit. I like the bright colors I guess, but won't be getting it because non of my dolls are soccer players.

"Sparkle spa robe for dolls" $24

I think this is a very nice piece of clothing. It's a low cost and is great if your doll doesn't have winter pajamas. The hairbands are a nice accessory as well.

"Addy's dress and sewing set" $48

This is one of the first historical "special edition" outfits I'll show you in this post. I really like it, and the girl sized inspired outfit is almost perfect. That said, I probably won't be getting it since I don't have Addy, but I still like it.

"Modern fancy shawl outfit" $48

This outfit is great for Kaya! Yes, I would have preferred a historical outfit instead but this is just too cute. I also like the use of red as a fun, bright color. I will most certainly be getting this.

"Samantha's flower picking set" $48

This is Samantha's special edition outfit. Honestly, I don't think it's necessary. She already has like 2-3x as many outfits as everyone else. It also looks like all her other outfits, just pink. I won't be getting it.

"Samantha's special day dress" $32

I actually really like this dress. The main color is teal instead of pink, setting it apart from her other outfits. I might get this one day.

"Samantha's painting set" $36

This is way to small to be a proper accessory set. There's barely anything in it so it's way overpriced, but great for Saige owners that missed out on Saige's art set thing.

"Samantha's summertime treats" $45

Really? It's just like a goodie bag sized amount of items. Unless they're like stupendous quality just go get pink glasses from like the craft store.

"Samantha's outdoor serving set" $75

I hate this set. There's no accessories for it whatsoever, not even like a vase or something. It's too overpriced and the lack of accessories practically forces you to buy the "summertime treats". I have absolutely no interest in getting this.

"Samantha's travel coat and hat" $32

What can I say, more pink. It's not even movie accurate, much less historically accurate. I guess little girls will love it though. I just won't be getting it myself. (That's saying something considering I LOVE doll sized coats)

"Samantha's travel bag set" $28

Ok now this is cute. Being $28 I can see this being something that everyone can afford and that little girls will love playing with. I might get it, but probably not just because I don't have Samantha. It's ok though.

"Samantha's garden gazebo" $200

Now the item everyone was waiting for, the gazebo. From a play perspective, it's nice. It's big and open and pretty much free to do anything you want with it. On the other hand:

• It's $200 when it's way easier to make it yourself at home
• "flashing lights" Oh great so they had light shows in 1904?
• NO ACCESSORIES!?!?! You're going to end up (with shipping) Spending over $300 on the whole scene with Samantha, her dress, painting set etc. etc.

ON the flip side it is on back order, so I guess people really want it.

"Rebecca's seashore set" $48

I really don't know what to think. On one hand the dress is ugly. What makes it ugly is the tie on the front and the clashing of those 2 shades of purple. On the other hand it's cute, and I like that AG is bringing back the beach sets for historical characters.

"Kit's chicken keeping set" $48

This outfit is really cute, and I like that it's more Kit like than last year's floofy dress. One thing I don't like however is that it isn't really good for chicken keeping, it's just too nice. But the stuffed chicken makes it all worthwhile.

"Julie's skateboarding set" $48

This is SO CUTE!!! I also think the print on her shirt used to be available at the crea-tivi-tees station. It's also a super colorful outfit and very well put together. If I can I'll totally be getting this no matter what.

" Julie's mix-print maxi dress" $28

Now this outfit is not special edition, but I love the price! It's got 4 accessories, 4 ACCESSORIES!!! Now if every outfit was put together like this, AG would have much better business I don't however really like the bracelet, it's just like Kit's; plastic and stupid.

And that is a wrap! Overall, this release gets a 4/5 as it could be improved with more outfits for Caroline/Josefina. There are however rumored to be another wave of releases in march, so get your wallets ready.

Ever after high: Holly O'hair review!

Ok, I've waited long enough. Here's part 2 of my review, Holly!

Now Holly, while not being my favorite is still a beautiful doll. In fact, I think she'd be great if you wanted to customize her face.

Holly O'hair: Daughter of Rapunzel

Holly's close up. She's actually got a really nice face.

On first impressions Holly is amazing. Her hair is SUPER LONG. She's also got plenty of play value.

Before we get to the doll though, let's take a look at accessories:

Holly comes first of all with a gold stand and brush, as all royals do. Then she had a cute bag:

A close up of the bag

The bag by itself

Honestly I like Poppy's bag more. This bag here has really no play value and very little detail. It's more to look pretty than anything else, but it does tie the outfit together.

Now onto Holly's hair:

The close up of Holly once again.

Holly's hair is super long , as you can see in the very first picture I posted. NO doubt she does have some competition, such as Bonita femur from MH. Still, it's longer than average. Her hair was also a hassle to get looking nice, I had to put conditioner and shampoo in it multiple times. Her hair is in a simple let down hairstyle with a small braid behind her ear. I can see this easily getting destroyed during playtime if it's not pulled back.

Holly's Purple crown

Holly wears one hair accessory and that is a purple crown. Now it does come secured with elastics, I took those off. The crown is ok, I just wish it had more detail than a purple piece of plastic.

I also have some up close photos of the crown which I forgot to put here and will add below.

Holly's hairbrush earring

The same earring on the other side.

Holly's earrings are hairbrushes, which is very fitting. They really have no practical use though, just to look nice.

Another close up of her earings.

Holly also has this necklace, which is pretty. Though I feel it's also
unnecessary.

Close up of the necklace. I believe it's supposed to be flowers.

Here's some up close photos of the crown. For no paint it does have ok detail:

The next thing on Holly is a super cute bolero. Sorry for showing the same picture like 3 times.

The bolero on Holly

The bolero alone from the front.

and Alone from the back.

The bolero is cute, and if they had a human one I would totally wear it. I also like the trim, that's nice.

Holly then has two bracelets, a pink one and a nice gold one.

Holly's bracelets

Both bracelets alone

Holly's pink bracelet alone. ( I'm so proud of my zooming work)

Holly's gold bracelet alone.

Now we finally move onto her dress:

Apparantly, I never took a photo of Holly in just her dress.
Just look at the first photo for how the dress loons on the doll.

The dress from the back.

Close up of the bodice.

Close up of the bodice from the back. (More nice zoom work!)

The pattern on the back of the dress

The pattern towards the middle of the dress.

Holly's dress is BEAUTIFUL!!! It's got a very nice sparkly top with a high-low cut skirt. It also closes all the way in the back and doesn't slip down like Apple white's dress. The pattern on the skirt is also beautiful. This dress can be very aesthetically pleasing.

Next, tights. Holly, unlike Poppy has a normal ordinary pair of fishnet leggings. 

Holly's fishnet leggings. :(

I'M SICK OF IT!!!! Of my 10 basic EAH dolls, 4 have the same leggings. That's 40% of basics in my colection have practiacally the same pants.

Now moving onto Holly's belt, which I skipped over.

Once again, I didn't take a photo of the doll actually wearing the belt.

Here's Holly's belt propped up on a shopkin. (with more fancy zoom work!)

The belt is nice, it's like one of those it looks good with the dress, but the dress looks just fine without it.

Here's Holly's shoes from the front.

And her shoes from the side.

Holly's shoes are really cute and have AMAZING molded detail. Notice the heals are little towers; how adorable! I actually like Holly's shoes a bit more than Poppy's.

Before I finish, I know I talked about how long Holly's hair is, well here's a full picture:

Her hair is longer than my hand!

Overall, Holly is a great doll.I know she and Poppy are perfect sisters.