Magical Merchandise: Disney American Girl Dolls

Happy Monday Friends!  It has been SO long since I've done a post about Disney merchandise.  Although I've saved photos of products here and there over the past year and a half, there's absolutely no way that I'll ever get "caught up" with them.  But I would like to get back into posting about merchandise more regularly.  So today I've made a special selection to get back into my Magical Merchandise Monday blog segment.

I believe I've briefly told you about my obsession with American Girl Dolls when I was younger.  Felicity was my absolute favorite, but I also had Samantha and a doll that looked like me.  I would spend hours pouring over the catalog when it arrived in the mail.  I always loved the little miniature foods and accessories.  Even as I grew older, my American Girl Dolls were very special to me, and I've taken extra care of them.

So you can imagine my surprise when one day, I opened my email inbox to discover that American Girl was making Disney Princess dolls!  It's like a dream come true!

In July of 2023, AG released three limited edition American Girl Doll Collector Series dolls to coincide with Disney's 100th anniversary celebration.  (I had every intention of posting about the dolls on here... and then a few weeks later my world came crashing down.)  The first three dolls released were Rapunzel, Belle and Jasmine.  Swarovski partnered with AG for the collector dolls and they had tons of sparkle and details on their outfits.  The dolls were limited to 4,000 of each design and they retailed for $300.

At the time, I remember thinking that $300 was a little more expensive than what I would want to spend on one of them.  But looking back, I wish I had splurged and gotten Rapunzel.  The intricate details on her dress are absolutely stunning!

But thankfully, I didn't totally miss out as this was only the beginning of the Disney and American Girl collaboration.  Since the original collector series, AG has also made more standard play dolls for little girls.  So when I saw these... I knew I had to get them.

In February of 2024, they released the first general dolls: Tiana, Ariel and Cinderella... along with other outfits and accessory packs (with sidekicks!) for each of them.

In July of 2024, they released limited edition versions of Anna and Elsa as part of their Frozen American Girl Doll Collector Series dolls.

In August 2024, I was pleased to see that Rapunzel was back, but it was a simpler version of the doll instead of the Swarovski collector design.  However, I didn't care because I knew she would be mine someday.  She also had accessories with her release.  The only disappointing part of her release is that Rapunzel didn't come with another dress option like the original three general dolls did.

Back in November they released Moana to coincide with the release of Moana 2 in theaters.  The doll is beautiful, but Pua and Hei Hei really steal the show!

And this was where I thought today's posts about new Disney American Girl Dolls was going to end... but I happened to check my email less than 5 minutes before I had this post scheduled to go live at 2:30 PM and they have literally just released a general Belle doll.  (Talk about some good timing!)  So after a few quick adjustments and additions to my post, here's what the Belle doll released today looks like!

Aren't these adorable?!?!?  I'm obsessed... and I'm confident that American Girl will be releasing more of the Disney Princesses as time passes.  I can't wait to see who is next and what other outfits, accessories and side kicks she'll have available!

The reason I picked this for my first Magical Merchandise Monday post back, is that I am now the very proud owner of two of these Disney dolls.  For Christmas this year, I asked Santa for a lot of smaller paints and crafting supplies... but my "big items" were Rapunzel and Cinderella.  So Christmas morning, I was transported back in time 30 years as I delicately opened Rapunzel (from my Mom) and Cinderella (from Jeremy).

The dolls are so beautiful.  I won't lie, even though I knew what they were when I was opening them, it still made me a little bit teary eyed.  It brought me back to being a kid and feeling all of the wonder when I first opened Felicity and Samantha.  And the two accessory packs I got took my breath away.  Rapunzel's little paint set is perfection, and Cinderella's pink dress tugged at my heartstrings.  That scene of the mice and birds making her pink dress will always remind me of my Nana.

It's safe the say that American Girl has knocked it out of the park on these Disney dolls.  I am so happy they have partnered with Disney to bring these dolls to the current generation of little girls... and to those of us "big girls" who are still young at heart.  °o°

All photos are from the American Girl website, their facebook page or from marketing emails they sent me.  For more information, please visit their website.  (I also used American Girl Fandom Wiki to research information in this post.)

Disney Scrapbook Group

Are there any scrapbooking fans out there?  

I'm a huge fan of scrapbooking.  In fact, I probably have thousands of dollars invested in my supplies that I've collected since high school.  It probably comes as no surprise to you that I've got quite a bit of Disney scrapbooking supplies.

This is our (current 6/26/14) group photo. Find this and you've found us!

At the beginning of April, I stumbled across a group on Facebook dedicated to people who share the love of Disney and scrapbooking!  Being a member of the group is a lot of fun so wanted to share the information with all of you!  The group is called Disney Scrapbookers.  It's a closed Facebook group, so you'll have to request to join.  (The admins are quick so you won't be waiting long!)

There are so many things that make the group fun!  We share photos of our scrapbook pages to get ideas and inspiration from others.  It's also a great way to show off your layouts!  (Which we all spend lots of time on; why not show off our hard work to people who appreciate it?)  There are also giveaways, challenges, and swaps!

The admins do giveaways every time the group hits a membership milestone.  This morning we hit 250 members and we're having another giveaway!  In addition, some members also giveaway extra supplies or die cuts that they've made.  Usually, you simply have to comment on that thread and then a random winner will be selected!

I actually won the membership giveaway the day after I joined the group back in April!  I never win contests so I was really excited about this!  One of the admins sent me a wonderful prize package of handmade Disney World map coasters, a Disney scrapbook kit, and 2 packs of Disney washi tape!

One of my favorite parts of the group is trading layouts and cards.  We just started the sign up for the Christmas in July Card Swap.  Basically we will make one card for each member who signs up for the swap.  That means that each participant will end up with a ton of new cards!  And if getting a ton of cards wasn't awesome enough, you'll get ideas of new ways to make your own cards in the future!  Woo-hoo!!!

I recently participated in my first layout swap.  I was really excited about it.  My partner wanted a Princess Tiana design, and it was a little bit of a challenge to find things for the page.  I finally settled on using a few die cuts that I found at my local JoAnn Fabrics store.  Then, I found co-ordinating colors for the paper.  I also decided to make some (hand cut) die cuts of ponds, lilies and lily pads, and cattails.  I even used fuzzy paper for the cattails!  I absolutely love how my layout turned out!

My absolute favorite part of this group is the inspiration that I get from it.  I've had a lot of scrapbook supplies sitting in my closet for years now.  I'm so busy that I have barely looked at them.  But now, I'm going through them, organizing my supplies, contemplating new layout ideas and most importantly, I'm excited about it again.

In fact, I recently ordered two new Cricut cartridges from Cricut Machine: Happily Ever After and Dreams Come True.  Both feature the princesses, and they'll be perfect for scrapbooking our Disney Wedding and the New Fantasyland additions!  The cartridges were even on sale when I got them- for more than half off!  And I never would have known if another member of our group hadn't posted the link to the sale.

I also ordered supplies from Scrap Your Trip, which is the ultimate place to go to look for Disney supplies!  (Or for any scrapbooking supplies- they've got everything!!!)  I got paper and die cuts for our half marathon, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, the monorail, meeting Anna and Elsa, Chef Mickey's and Be Our Guest.  Once again, these were on sale when I ordered them (20% off) and I found out because someone mentioned it in our group!  I noticed today that they've added new designs... Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach scrapbooking here I come!!!

As you can see, this is a great group to be a part of if you love scrapbooking and Disney! You can even invite your friends to get in on the fun.  I invited Eliot's sister Elissa to the group and she and I have had a lot of fun shopping for supplies together while she's visiting!  I really can't wait to break out all of these supplies and to get to work!  °o°