How Beth & Elle found out they were sisters!

AT PINE LAKE SUMMER CAMP

Hello, I'm Jose, what's your name?

Hi, I'm Elle.

Wow you look really familiar...hhmm.

Looks like our bunkies are here already, I hope they are nice.

Oh, they are really nice, they are my sisters, Beth and Emma!

We are ALL adopted.

C'mon, let's go look around.

Ok!

Emma & Beth enter cabin...

I was sure I put it away in here!

Let's keep looking.

 It's not over here...

 Emma!  Can you please help me!?!

Hey, I just wanted to try out my bunk.

Hmph! I'll go look in the craft room!

Ok.

Beth leaves...
Elle enters.

That was fast! Hey, wait a minute, how did you change your clothes so fast?  And braid your hair?

Excuse me? Have we met?

Oh my!!You're not Beth!
 Jose! Beth! Come back in here!!

Wow, you two look exactly alike!!

Really? do you think so?

Do we really!?!?

That is SO weird!

We'll talk more later, it's time for arts & crafts.

Jose, what are you making?  A blanket??

No, it's a scarf, why?

I love making jewelry.

Hey, me too!!

Later....

When is your birthday?

February 8th.

Me too!

Where were you born?

Athens, Texas.

ME TOO!!!

We have to write to our Moms.  

You have a Mom?

Yeah, sure.

I have been in a foster home waiting to be adopted.

Hey I'm adopted! I'll tell Mom all about you and see if she can help!

Dear Mom,

I met a girl here at camp who looks just like me and we have the same birthday and everything.  Do you know if I had a sister before you adopted me?  She lives in a very loving foster home in Texas. Her foster parents, Mom & Pa Waiters, wanted to adopt her, but they are getting older and felt she should be with a young family. They have fostered LOTS of kids over the years on their farm.  She never knew anything about where she came from.  She said she was put in foster care as a baby, and I was adopted, could she be my lost sister?

Elle with Pa and Ma Waiters

Dear Beth,

I am SO excited to hear you may have found your sister!  I contacted Mr & Mrs Waiter's in Texas and it looks like she may be your long lost sister!  You were both born in a small hospital, and put up for adoption, but there was a fire and in the confusion of the evacuation you and your sister were separated and put in different homes.  We are going to adopt Elle and she will join our family!  The Waiter's would like to consider you both as their grandchildren and want you to come visit their farm every summer.

I love you both so much!  Tell Elle I am looking forward to meeting her!

Love, MOM

This is the BEST CAMP EVER!!!

Grandma & Grandpa dolls from:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/172572787/glass-blue-eyes-grandpa-and-grandma-two?ref=exp_listing

Two new dolls arrive!

Step, step step...

Beth, peek out and see who is coming up.

It's Mom.  She has someone new in her hand!

Two someones!

 What do you mean? someone new?

Two new dolls!

Let's go see who they are!

 Hello up there?  Who are you?

We are here! Come up!

Oh, look how lovely you are!

Oh, thank you.

I am Emma and this is Beth, who are you?

I am called Raggedy Ann and this is Belle.

Where did you come from? 

We were at a thrift store together, Belle and I.

This lady picked me up and I knew right away she would take me with her, 

she had a little girl with her too!
She did, and a few seconds later she saw Belle and picked her!

I was SO happy.
I couldn't remember how I got there, but I was glad to leave.

I saw a book over there that had my picture on it,

I wonder if it will tell me where
I came from before?

Mph, here let me help you.

Thank you!

Ooo, careful! ooph!
I'm OK, I am full of fluff.

"Marcella", hm, that's me, but who is that boy doll!

Marcella was a girl who lived a long time ago!

Look!  That's me stirring the pie! There's that other boy doll again!

And there he is again! Oh dear I think I am forgetting something...

Don't worry Raggedy Ann, we'll help you figure it out.

Let's get Molly! She was in a thrift store too!

Oh Thank you!

Later that night...

Raggedy Ann, we brought Molly!

Hello Ann, I am Molly.  

I understand you came from a thrift store too?

Oh, yes, please come up so we can talk.

...so, there we were in a thrift store and 

we can't remember how we got there.

I thought about it a lot and

I think we dolls forget our past, so we can't be sad.

I was in a thrift store too, I was set out with the dishes.

I was covered with dust and dirt.

Then our Mom saw me and grabbed me!

I knew I was safe, and so are you.

When I came here Mom washed my face and hands and washed my hair.

She washed my velvet dress and I got a girl to love again; Sophie.

I don't remember how I got in that store, but I am pretty sure

I had a girl before who loved me too, but I am here with Sophie and Mom now

and they love us all.

But, Molly, there is this boy doll in the book, I think he's my brother.

I feel like somehow I must find him!

Ann, don't give up hope, we will see what we can find out, OK?

to be continued...

The story continues! click here!

Easy Doll School House

Our schoolhouse is made from a tri-fold display board 

from an office supply place, about $5.

I painted the bottom 1/3 (approx.) with craft paint.

I printed images from the web for maps and artwork, 

but you can always draw your own!

The whiteboard is the back of a package box. I folded one edge

to the front and made a pen rail. Since this box was heavier I used hotglue to attach it.

The border is bric-a-brac ribbon.

Sophie thought it looked like school border.

We attached this ribbon with Elmer's glue to cover the edge of our paint.

All the posters and our flag are cut out from 

printer paper and attached with gluestick, it doesn't make 

the paper wavy or bumpy.

We used some of our "American Girl" and "Our Generation" things, 

but made some pencils, rulers and worksheets ourselves.

(See our tutorial! click here)

 We borrowed some furniture from our doll's kitchen for

the desk and bookcase, but a shoe box turned on it's side would work just as well.
(Look back at the dollhouse pictures and see if you can find what we used.)

The aquarium is just a tourist giftshop item.

These are our collection of AG books and some of Molly's school supplies.

How to Make Doll school supplies

 This is a tutorial for easy school supplies for your dolls.

Work sheets, Pencils & Rulers

PENCILS

 First, for pencils, you will need a 3/8" slim dowel

and some colored pens.
Lightly sand the entire dowel to smooth it.

Using a pencil sharpener, carefully sharpen one end of the dowel

and mark at 2 1/4".

 Cut off dowel at about 2 1/4 inches

GET PARENTS TO HELP WITH THIS PART!!

 Sand the cut end until it looks like an eraser

 Color the body of the pencil leaving both ends blank.

Color the eraser end pink.

 I used a brown marker for the metal band.

 Then color just the tip of the pencil to make the lead.

VOILA a pencil!

RULERS

Rulers.  I started by copying some ruler images from the web.

Shrink them in a publishing or Word program to a good size to fit dolls.

 I decided I liked the colored rulers best, so cut them out.

They should be about 3" long.

 Use a glue stick to glue the images to a

 thin cardbord like from a cereal box.

Cut them out and your done!

WORKSHEETS

Here are some pages I made for the worksheets.  

Feel free to print them and cut them out.  

This should cover an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

HAVE FUN!!!