The Flickr Americangirljewelry Image Generatr

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2013 Saige Copeland

I had a pretty good idea of what earrings I would make for these two outfits before they'd even arrived. Since I had issues with my first Mercari order, I had plenty of time to mull over inspiration. Anyways, the ensemble on the left is Saige's Tunic Outfit. The belt that is attached to the shirt has a little fringe with beads. This is what inspired the pair of earrings I designed. I had leftover cord from making Colleen's Courtney doll fringe earrings. This time, I decided to try a something a little more adventurous...I added beads. I tied three strands of cord onto each large jump ring. This created six strands of fringe on each earring. I left three plain, but then the other three I added beads to. I secured them with little crimp beads (since it would have been very difficult to knot the ends. I did apply glue and twist the ends of the fringe, to keep the cord from unraveling (I also add glue to the knots around the jump ring so that won't come undone either). I alternated the colors of beads, so the three strands wouldn't be identical. I chose colors that complimented the embroidered details on the collar.

I couldn't resist breaking out my beloved pom poms for Saige's Pajamas. I figured that the texture of the pom poms would correspond well with the fuzziness of her slippers. I tried both pink and orange pom poms. In the end, I felt that the orange ones worked better. These dusty purple beads are a near perfect match to her top. I got these from a 98 cent baggie at Walmart (the pom poms are from Michael's if you are wondering). The little colorful balls are the same as those on the Tunic Outfit earrings. These little guys always come in handy!

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2013 Saige Copeland

Can't you tell I had too much fun designing earrings and accessories for Miss Saige?!! I admit, I pulled out ALL the stops for her. Saige is an artist in her stories, so I figured she would approve of all the extra bling. I thought from the get go that my leaf mold would be perfect for earrings to go with Saige's "Meet" outfit. The problem with said mold is that it does not have a silicone plug for a hole. Thus, I wouldn't be able to use resin with that mold, if I wanted to make earrings. Colleen suggested using polymer clay instead. I was inspired by the belt on Saige's dress. So I mixed orange, yellow, and red polymer clay together to create this ombre. When I was packing the clay into the mold, there was some leftover glitter stuck inside the silicone. I loved how the gold glittered in the light. After the leaves finished baking (with eye pins already inserted for attaching the jump rings), I added more glitter in the UV resin top coat! These might be my favorite pair of American Girl earrings I've designed yet!!!

I had to make THREE pairs of hearts for Saige's Sparkle Dress (on the right) before I finally got the perfect ones. I had never used my heart mold before, so there was a learning curve. First, I had to figure out how much glitter and confetti to use. The gold confetti was actually purchased at a thrift store. Someone had donated a set of little containers filled with different colored confetti. I knew this would be great to use with resin, so I forked over the $4 for it. I got the glitter/confetti ratio right for the second set of hearts. The problem I had was that the earrings were too thick. This meant I couldn't fit my largest jump rings through the holes. I didn't want to have to order larger jump rings (why spend the money when I don't use my largest jump rings much as it is?). Finally with the third pair I got the thickness and design just right. I used my second set of testers as hair clips, which you can kind of see in this photo. I know it's probably a bit much for most people's taste...but I love this pair of earrings too. And most importantly, Saige approves!

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2013 Saige Copeland

I grouped these two sets of earrings together since they both utilize silver charms. The fashion on the left is Saige's Sweater Outfit, the one on the right is her Parade Outfit. I squirreled away a pair of cactus charms one at a time, as they turned up in Walmart's 98 cent baggies. The large charm packs are often quite pricey...and you have to buy TWO in order to construct a pair of earrings (that can mean spending $8 to $10). When I noticed that the 98 cent baggies had charms in them as of late, I began to hoard them whenever I was grocery shopping. I was so excited the day another cactus charm turned up. I immediately thought of Saige and her Parade Outfit. I thought the desert cacti would compliment the western theme of her Parade Outfit. I also didn't want to do anything overly flashy with this ensemble, since I'm lucky enough to also have the separately sold cowgirl hat. I try to keep a balance with accessories (although I admit I often get VERY carried away). I chose some orange beads to pair with the charms, to pick up the colors from the awesome print of her shirt.

Saige's Sweater Outfit gave me very 2010 indie vibes. I was a teen in those days, so I remember seeing outfits like this one on real people (often paired with long necklaces and feather earrings or hair charms). I felt very inspired by this ensemble for that reason. I decided that these "hope" charms and wooden beads would suit the indie feel of this getup. The wooden beads are from a 98 cent baggie I bought at Walmart back in 2012. I used almost all of them over the years (mostly on my western themed Bratz). In fact, I didn't have a second yellow one to pair with this outfit...that's why I ended up choosing red wooden beads. I wanted to incorporate all the bold colors from her cardigan into the jewelry. That's why I also have magenta and yellow plastic beads, instead of sticking to just the wooden ones. I also should mention that the holes in the wooden beads are quite wide, so smaller beads are required anyways so they don't slide over the head pins.

Dolls in photo (from left to right):
-Girl of the Year 2011 Kanani Akina
-Felicity Merriman

Since Lissie has such an elegant hat to wear with her Riding Habit, I didn't want her earrings to be enormous or distracting. I still had some of these gold bars leftover from a necklace I deconstructed years ago. Seriously, I've had these links since I began making jewelry in 2012. I believe the necklace was once my grandmother's. She had a ton of cheap costume jewelry that was perfect for my dolls (and it's great that they have a little part of her with them, since she was a collector of dolls too). I did add tiny green beads at the end of each link, to tie in the color of the outfit. I recall that these came in one of those assorted 98 cent Walmart baggies, circa 2012. I'm almost done using all of them, but I was surprised to see I had a matching pair of these rectangles.

Kanani is wearing her Beach set. I know that jewelry for swimwear isn't practical. But dolls are just glorified models, and it would have been a shame to leave this ensemble bare. It's especially plain since I got it secondhand, and I don't have the factory headscarf or shorts. I thought I'd keep the earrings tasteful...well, kind of. There are several bright colors utilized in the print of the swimsuit, which inspired my choice of beads. I went for all round ones, since they remind me of bubbles (fitting for beachwear). The light pink ones at the bottom were also from deconstructed jewelry. I used a similar color combination of beads for the earrings I made to go with my childhood Girl of Today Bubble Robe!

Dolls in photo (from left to right):
-Girl of the Year 2009 Chrissa Maxwell
-Girl of the Year 2011 Kanani Akina

I was so excited to design earrings for both of these ensembles...I knew I could use some of my gaudiest charms. Both the sunflowers on Kanani and the hearts on Chrissa were from a $5 tub of beads I bought at Walmart in 2022. I am so glad I decided to take a gamble on one of those packs (well, technically I got two, but one tub was just plain, different sized round beads in rainbow colors). I could tell from glancing in the tubs that some had better assortments than others. I spent several minutes studying all three of the sets in stock, and ultimately chose the one I guessed had the best stuff for doll jewelry making. Sure, the beads are made for kid's crafting, so they are lower quality. But it honestly doesn't matter for dolls. It's all plastic anyways, so it's not going to tarnish like cheap metal would. Depending on the way you dress them up with supporting beads, you can make the cheap ones look quite spiffy. Chrissa is modeling her "meet" dress here. This was a delight to construct earrings and hair accessories for, since it is so feminine and colorful. These pale pink hearts were PERFECT. I also grabbed some tiny yellow beads to pick up the yellow from the floral print. I had recently bought a 98 cent bag of all dusty purple beads (from Walmart). They matched the little belt and trim of this dress flawlessly.

When I initially sorted through the $5 Walmart bead tub, I had some misgivings about the sunflower charms. I was concerned that they may be too large to get away with using on American Girls (certainly they could not be utilized for standard fashion dolls...even those with larger heads). I decided to keep them anyways, and not give them to my sister for crafting at her second job (that's where all the pony beads went). As soon as I saw these sunflowers, I knew they'd be PERFECT for Kanani's "meet" dress. Funnily enough, I didn't own this getup at that time. I have just fondly glanced at Kanani dolls over the years, and contemplated buying her. I admit, that part of the fun of acquiring new Girl of the Year dolls is designing them jewelry. When this dress turned up for $5 at the flea market a few months later, I remembered these flowers. They do rotate around quite easily, since the holes are so wide (they are meant to be strung). I also had to make sure to use smaller beads beneath the sunflowers, so they wouldn't slide right off the head pins. I had to ensure that the smaller beads weren't going to be eaten by the sunflowers either. I chose light blue and pink round beads to match the print of the dress. Sure, they are on the gaudy side, but I LOVE how this pair turned out.

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2021 Kira Bailey

I struggled to design earrings for Kira's "Meet" Outfit and her Koala Pjs. It's not that the ensembles themselves are not inspiring. Rather, there was SO much I could create that left my mind running in circles. For Kira's "Meet" getup, I knew I didn't want to construct anything outrageously gaudy or huge. I know that this pair probably ticks both of those boxes (being tacky and quite long). But for me, these are rather toned down. She is supposed to wear a hat with this look, which is why I didn't want anything too obtrusive dangling from her ears. I knew right away I wanted to use different shaped, colored, and textured beads. Her "Meet" outfit is a mishmash of prints and styles. I especially love the tribal like designs on her tie dye tank. Her boots are also boldly colored with orange and teal accents. I played around with several different beads to use as the center of each earring. In the end, I thought that these simple, wooden, olive toned beads would be the best choice. They match the color of her skort flawlessly. Plus, I think the wood adds to her outdoorsy themed collection. I knew I wanted to incorporate the cubes--they were a new bead acquisition at the time I made these earrings (from a $5 tub I got at Walmart). I chose them in purple, to compliment the tie dye. The orange and teal beads were obviously meant to accent her awesome boots. The teal beads are exceptionally cool since they have a marbled design (which picks up the tie dye too). I salvaged these from an old necklace years ago!

Ah, Kira's Koala Pjs! I had such a deviously gaudy design in mind when I first ordered them....polymer clay koala charms!!! But in person, I realized that it might create a koala overload...considering the koalas on the shirt, the koala print pants, and the koala slippers. It also would have been difficult to make detailed koala charms that weren't too clunky (and my clay making skills are very amateur). Perhaps I can revisit the idea another time. Instead, I chose these long teal beads, from the same aforementioned Walmart tub. They are quite literally identical in color to the teal fabric. However, they are so long that I couldn't stack any beads above or below them (well, without risking the earrings being super clunky and draping over the dolls' shoulders). That's why I attached a second head pin of beads to each earring. This was so I could incorporate other colors from the outfit into the design--like the grey and white from the koalas. Sure, these are still ridiculous to wear to bed, but at least they are more mellow than my original idea!

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2021 Kira Bailey

The earrings on the left were designed to go with Kira's Adopt Don't Shop Outfit. I had contemplated doing a more literal theme...like polymer clay paw prints. But I reconsidered, figuring this would be too much for this awesome getup. This ensemble has several layers and has a little bit of a "tough girl" vibe (in my opinion anyways). Instead, I opted for more delicate earrings that had an edge. These dainty pink hearts came from a $5 kids bead pack at Walmart. It was a gigantic tub, containing nearly 1 pound of various sized beads. The pastel pink was the perfect color to match the lettering on Kira's tank, and the paw print bucket hat. I added dark blue seed beads around the hearts, to incorporate the color of the tie dye. As for the black chain, I thought this would accent the black flannel shirt she wears around her waist with this look. You can see I also used the same chain to make a necklace (shown in another photo). I think the daintier design with the jet black chain was the right choice for this outfit.

I went ALL out for Kira's Wildlife Care Outfit, shown on the right. Ironically, this is my least favorite of the pieces in her collection. It's a tad gimmicky for my taste. But before it even arrived in the mail, I had a vision of the earrings I wanted to make. I was at Walmart, perusing the arts/crafts aisles, when I spotted confetti glitter. This type of glitter is always awesome when used with UV resin. I noticed that there were not only different shapes of the confetti, but it was in a wide range of colors (which complimented the print on her scrubs). I have a few different large earring molds I could have used for this design. But I admit I'm OBSESSED with these oversized, very mod inspired, hoops. Despite how thin they are, there is enough surface area to showcase the confetti. I left the background clear, so the confetti stood out, rather than adding a colorant. This earring shape is so flattering on Kira, but also Maya and Lindsey!!!

Doll in photo:
-Girl of the Year 2021 Kira Bailey

Kira's Comfy Camping Outfit and Casual Outfit were a blast to design handmade earrings for. As you can see, I did not hold back when it came to using wildly colorful beads. Both pairs were made entirely from inexpensive tubs I bought at Walmart for under $5 each. I had similar rainbow colored ball beads, which I purchased years ago in a craft kit. But after making each of my contemporary American Girls bracelets, I was running low in certain colors. When I saw that you could buy an entire 1 pound TUB of them, I just couldn't resist. I'm always reaching for these rainbow beads...the variety of sizes they come in is super handy for making all kinds of dolls jewelry. The other shapes were from a separate pack, which was also under $5 (and about a pound of beads). These butterfly charms were almost an exact color match to the purple romper from the Comfy Camping Outfit. The yellow ball beads were too neon colored to match, which is why I opted for these more muted tear drop shaped beads. I'm happy that I had to use these, since their different shape makes the earrings more interesting. The butterflies have oversized holes (not meant for head and eye pins). So that's why I had to make sure to put a chunky green bead above and beneath them (otherwise a tiny bead would slip right through).

I played around for a while with different charms for Kira's Casual Outfit. I was inspired by the Australian map on this t-shirt. That's why I chose these colors for her earrings. I wanted to use wooden heart beads I had instead of plastic ones. But the holes on those were on the sides of the hearts (meaning they'd have been sideways on the earrings). When I spotted these new, orange hearts I was SO excited. They match flawlessly to the orange used for the Australian map. The purple and yellow beads pick up the details from this awesome headband. This outfit had so many different aspects that I could have created a number of earrings for it!

Dolls in photo (from left to right):
-Girl of the Year 2015 Grace Thomas
-Girl of the Year 2010 Lanie Holland
-Girl of the Year 2021 Kira Bailey
-Girl of the Year 2012 McKenna Brooks

Grace and Lanie didn't really "need" necklaces to go with their outfits modeled here. But during the summer of 2021, I acquired a mold that had perfect things for them. I decided to play around with the molds and see if there were any outfits that the designs could match. Lanie was the perfect candidate for this butterfly. I experimented with some food coloring first. It bled out through the UV resin. I didn't want to chance it staining my doll or her clothes. So instead I tried another butterfly with just glitter. I LOVE the look of this with orange and pink glitter! It matches this ensemble flawlessly. I made the chain extra long since I thought the necklace would be more flattering at this length (the chain is recycled from a deconstructed human necklace). As for Grace, how could I resist using this Eiffel Tower mold?!!! It matched her "Meet" outfit too well to not try out. I happened to have glitter that was the perfect pinkish purple match. Honestly, a necklace was a bit much for this outfit, given that the shirt has a design on it. I just couldn't help myself though (and I couldn't make the necklace shorter based on the size of the charm).

McKenna's Fancy Dress was lacking bling. Since my doll is a shabby secondhand rescue, I figured she could use any added accessories for her ensembles. The gold charm came from a random necklace I found around the house. I swapped out the chain for this one with bar links. I didn't want this necklace to be too extravagant (it's just not McKenna's personal aesthetic). I think this dainty charm was just what the dress needed without overpowering it.

I've had this glittery dog bone charm for years. My friend, Lisa, gave me a few of her old necklaces around 2016 when she was cleaning out her room. She knew I could use the parts to make stuff for my dolls. The doggy bone always made me think of Grace, but it just didn't work for any of her outfits. I've thought of using it a million times over the years. But I always knew that there was a perfect outfit out there for it. Low and behold, during the summer of 2022, my beloved Kira joined the family. My favorite outfit of hers--the Adopt Don't Shop--was the candidate I'd been waiting for. Her corresponding bucket hat has little paw prints on it!!! I used the same black chain (purchased from Walmart sometime in 2012) that I utilized for her handmade earrings. I wanted the jewelry to have a slight tough edge to it, since Kira wears a black flannel shirt over her shorts. I thought about the kind of jewelry I'd wear with this outfit, since it's just the sort of ensemble I'd pick if I was a doll.

Doll in photo:
-Caroline Abbott

I'll be honest, Caroline might be my favorite American Girl to design earrings for! What can I say, I love making historically inaccurate jewelry for her many lovely ensembles. While I didn't pierce any of my other historical AG dolls (except Julie, and of course Ivy and Elizabeth who came with pierced ears), I knew that my shabby Caroline doll could use any extra sprucing up I could provide her with. She's the kind of doll that I think of jewelry designs for, well before I even own the outfits! The pair of earrings on the left was made to go with her Travel Outfit and her Spencer & Hat set. I love the shade of pink and the print of this particular dress. It was so much fun to design matching earrings for. The silver, metal lotus flowers compliment the flower print on the dress itself. I love the color of this marbled red bead, that is being cupped by the lotus flowers. It's almost the exact shade of red as the flowers on her dress. I added a few more pink beads to tie the whole look together. I really love how playful, yet sophisticated this pair of earrings turned out. They show up nicely against her platinum blonde hair too!

The pair on the right was made to be worn with Caroline's Holiday Gown. Within days of getting my Caroline doll, I already began to formulate ideas for this dress. Ironically, I didn't actually purchase the dress until October/November 2016 (several months after adopting Miss Caroline). I was really excited about this dress--putting my American Girls in their holiday attire is one of my favorite times of the year. I saved these purple marbled beads just for this outfit. It was hard not to use them, because they are so pretty (luckily, I had a few to spare). Ironically, a few days before finding a good listing for Caroline's dress on eBay, I found these amazing large purple and gold charms at Wal-Mart in the 98 cent section. I fell in love with them right away, and decided to hoard them for Caroline's Holiday Gown. To me, they look like her belt buckle--they also are extremely elegant. But of course I didn't stop there. Once her Holiday Gown arrived in the mail, I concluded that I wanted her earrings to be even more ornate. So I added these amazing, detailed, golden metal heart charms. These are the same ones I used for her Winter Coat & Cap earrings! I thought that using the same charms would make her earrings look that much more authentic and meant to be. These are probably my favorite earrings I've made for Miss Caroline so far...I had a blast making them (literally, I was drooling over the idea of putting them together).