Goodbye McKenna...

Heyy guys! So McKenna's first item sold out a few weeks ago and now a lot of her collection is sold out. What isn't sold out is back-ordered except her books and DVD which will be out after she's retired. McKenna Brooks was a very popular doll, especially since the Olympics were this year. I remember seeing her picture for the first time at the very end of December 2011 and thinking she'd be a great doll to add to my collection. (At the time I had 3, almost 4 dolls as I would end up getting one very soon.) Now, I have 6 (due to 2 surprise dolls) and am glad I stopped myself from getting McKenna. Not because she isn't an amazing doll, she is so pretty and I love her hair. I just wasn't totally into the gymnastics theme of her stories. I actually used to do gymnastics and if I still did, she would definitely have been one of my favorite dolls. However, I don't do gymnastics anymore so she wasn't the best fit for me, but she's a super amazing GOTY.
It's actually really hard to believe that McKenna will soon be gone :(
We'll miss seeing you so much McKenna, but you'll be remembered forever!

The Lovely McKenna

Her beam and bar set

Her amazing loft bed

I love her school outfit!

Her fancy outfit - my favorite outfit of hers :)

So these were some of my favorites from her collection. Leave a comment letting me know your favorite McKenna item and what you loved about her.

Goodbye McKenna...

The Result Are In! Poll #5

Heyy guys! I held a poll on my blog for the past few weeks. Since Saige is a really big topic now in the AG community, that's what I made the question about.

21 people voted and here's the results:

The Question... Will You Be Purchasing Saige?

Definitely                                      (52%)    11 People

If I like the rest of her collection    (14%)     3 People

Maybe...                                      (28%)     6 People

No                                               (4%)       1 Person

So that's what you voted :)

My opinion: I think that I will be purchasing Saige. I started saving for her in August :) I was just so excited for a new GOTY. When I found out that she would be into art it just made me 10x more excited...I love art: some of my favorites in art specifically are drawing and coloring.

Have a new idea for a poll? Leave a comment down below and in the results for the poll you'll get a shout-out. 

Thanks for reading/commenting!

AG Crafts: Super Scrapbook Kit Review

Heyy AG-Lovers :)  Back in April, I got the Super Scrapbook Kit from American Girl Crafts. I took some pictures of the kit and I'm giving a review.
To begin, the kit costs $32.99 at full price. I got mine on sale with a coupon so I payed about $22. You can purchase it online at the official EK Success Brands American Girl Crafts website, Amazon, or most craft stores that carry AG Brand Crafts nearest you.
It looks like this:

Super Scrapbook Kit

The description:

What it says on the cover

Next, it says everything that the kit comes with.

The Kit's Contents

There are 660 pieces to this kit and in case you can't read it, it says:

1 scrapbook album

20 designer scrapbook pages

1 photo stencil

352 stickers

13 bubble stickers

66 journaling stickers

106 cut-out shapes

20 gem stickers

64 adhesive foam squares

Here's a a look at the stickers that it comes with.

The stickers the kit comes with

As you can see, there are many components to this kit. I highly recommend this kit and think that it's a great addition to any crafting collection. 

Do you like scrapbooking? Let me know down below.

Thanks for reading/commenting!

GOTY 2013 Events at AG Places

Heyy guys! I was on the American Girl website the other day, and noticed that they had posted the special events for her in 2013.

Her debut is January 1,2,3, and 4 - Girl of the Year 2013 Debut. It says," Celebrate the arrival of our newest Girl of the Year! She's a spirited girl who uses her imagination to create art and inspire change. At this special event, your girl can be among the first to learn about this new character's world. Join us for demonstrations, crafts, free giveaways, and more.

Other events include Girl of the Year 2013 Crafts and a Scavenger Hunt.
Girl of the Year 2013 Crafts - "She can discover her creative side with our newest Girl of the Year! Join in the fun during this free event, where your girl can make crafts inspired by the stories of our newest contemporary character.

Girl of the Year 2013 Scavenger Hunt - "Learn about our newest Girl of the Year! Your girl will go on a fun-filled scavenger hunt, collecting fun facts about our Girl of the Year 2013 along the way. Plus, she'll get a free American Girl poster at the end!

The way that they explained her made it sound like her stories will be more about art than horses. "...spirited girl who uses her imagination to create art and inspire change."

Another event they have is the GOTY 2013 Celebration.
Girl of the Year 2013 Celebration - "Join us to celebrate the arrival of our newest Girl of the Year! At this special event, girls will learn about this new contemporary character, make fun crafts, and enjoy a delicious meal. Includes an American Girl book to take home."

For exact dates and times, check the American Girl website Store section. It may vary depending on which AGP you go to.

Thanks for reading/commenting!

My Opinion/Detailed Review on Saige GOTY 2013

Heyy guys! I have a post on Saige already, but this post will be more about my opinion of her.

Saige Girl of the Year 2013

So here is Saige. She's very pretty and I like her a lot. At first, I wasn't sure if I like her dress, but now I think it's very cute. Her boots are my favorite part of her meet outfit. I like the belt on her dress. I think that her clothing will have a more "earthy" look to them, which I think will be a fresh change to McKenna's colorful wardrobe. As much as I do enjoy McKenna's colors, pink, blue, and green, I think it will be nice to have a doll with more earthy tones, which I what I would expect for Saige. Her boots are so cute, and you can see a close-up below. I like the way the straps on them criss-cross near the ankle.

Saige's Meet Boots

Saige also has earrings! I was very excited to see this because I think it would really cool for a GOTY to come with earrings. Even though you could get a doll's ears pierced after purchasing them, I think it's cool that Saige comes with them. There are two pictures below. The one on the left shows a close-up of Saige's face and you can see the earrings. The picture on the right shows a small bag attached to the side of the box which could hold extra earrings. What do you think is in the small bag? I think it's an extra pair of earrings. Here are the pictures:

Close-up of Saige and her earrings

The small bag on the right of the box

You can see in the picture above that Saige also has freckles. They are under her eyes and across her nose as well. I think her freckles add a special touch to her and are extremely cute :)
Saige has auburn hair. It's brown-ish red-ish color and I love that her hair comes in a braid. I'm hoping that it has a little wave to it, and since her hair comes in a braid, I think it will. I like dolls that have slightly wavy hair because it looks styled even when it's down and you can still style her hair. I think the length of her hair will be about mid-waist. Since her hair is braided and still in the hairnet and is laying over her shoulder, I think that it will be longer once it is taken out of the hairnet and un-braided.

The rest of her meet outfit is really pretty too. I think it will be a dress however it could be a shirt tucked into a skirt. The belt on the skirt part is really pretty. As I said before, I think Saige's wardrobe will be more "natural". I like the ruffled look and her sleeves are half-length.

Saige GOTY's Meet Outfit

So to wrap up this "review", I'm really excited for Saige. I think that she will be the next addition to my doll collection and I've already begun saving up for her. I was pleasantly surprised by her hair color! It's such a pretty auburn color.e

So, what is your opinion on Saige? Let me know in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading/commenting!

Budgeting Money for American Girl

Heyy AG lovers!  Today I'm going to be sharing with you some budgeting strategies I use when it comes to American Girl.  Whenever I decide I want to put aside money for American Girl or purchase something from AG, I count all my money.  So, what do you do after you've saved all this money? Do you spend it all? Do you keep saving?  These are questions I think about, because while saving money is a popular topic, budgeting doesn't seem to be out there as much. So I put together this post  :)

1. Count Your Money
   This post will help most if you have a lot, maybe over $200, because that's when budgeting your money can become more important.

2. Wishlist
    Creating a wishlist can be fun, so put together a list of what you'd like most. From there, you can figure out what you would like to get. Put in some non-AG items too :)

3. Saving What You Have
    Put aside some money to keep saving, if you'd like. That way, you still have some money and you have a starting point for saving after you've spend some money.

4. American Girl/Non-American Girl
    My suggestion would be to put some money aside for non-ag items, like clothing, other hobbies you're interested in/toys , camera, etc. I love art, so for me these other things include art supplies. Try putting 1/4 of your money aside for other items, and keep the remaining 3/4 for American Girl. If you have many other interests other than American Girl, try half for AG and half for whatever else you'd like. Take the non-AG items from your wishlist and put that with your money.

5. American Girl
    AG is expensive, so take a look at the AG items on your wishlist and total the cost. If you have less money than what your wishlist costs, split your list in two. Things you'd like most, and things you want but can wait. This way you're not permanently removing anything and you can get it at a later time. Now, you're ready to order or buy AG items.

5. *Remember*
A few things to remember:
*AG releases and retires items. If you're worried that something may retire soon, get that first. Also, they release new items. If you are around a time when you know AG usually releases new things, wait to see if you like anything from the release.

*You don't have to spend all your money at once. It is okay to keep saving some if you'd like.

*Remember what you like most. If you didn't originally want something, don't "talk yourself into" an item just because you have money for it, if you don't really like it that much.

If you'd like to see Saige, see my post here: http://ag4ever365.blogspot.com/2012/11/saige-goty-2013.html
Now that you know what she looks like, maybe she's your next item to budget money for :)

How do you budget your money? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading/commenting!

Saige GOTY 2013 with Picture

Heyy guys! A photo of the doll Saige is here! Who/where/when the photo was taken by is unknown, and Doll Diaries has the photo on their website. I decided to share my opinion. Here she is:

She's so pretty! She has a fair complexion, different than what most people thought she would have. Since the book description said she lived in New Mexico, people though she would have a more Hispanic complexion. So I must say that I was surprised to see what she looks like. She is very pretty though!! She has blue-ish eyes (2 year in a row!) and brownish hair. I was surprised that she had blue eyes though...McKenna and now Saige do, that's two Girl of the Year's in a row. He hair is brown, although it looks like it has some brownish-red in it. Her meet outfit is very cute. It looks to be two separate pieces, although it may be a dress. Her horse is on the cover with her and you can see the Meet book better here. 

Also, I apologize for not posting in a while....my family's house lost power due to the storm.

So, do you like Saige GOTY 2013? Leave your opinion down below :)