Bunchland

Polish artist Ilona Szwarc was immediately taken by American girls’ fascination with American Girl dolls

We don’t see or hear as much about American Girl dolls in Canada as Americans do south of the border, for obvious reasons. And yet somehow without necessarily even seeing any of the dolls up close, we know that they all come with elaborate back stories, have their own hospital (should your girl’s dolls lose an arm or something) and have a large collection of clothes and furniture you can outfit them with. Young Polish artist Ilona Szwarc has created a series of portraits of American girls with their American Girl dolls.

“When I first came to the US the phenomenon of the American Girl doll immediately caught my eye. Photographically it was a beautiful image — girls with their sculptural representatives, their twins, their avatars.”

Here are some of Szwarc’s portaits:  Read more...

Meri Perra blogs about the challenges she and her partner face in trying to raise their girls with feminist values

This must be what it feels like to be stuck in a time loop. Last week, two more chapters were added to the saga of Facebook versus the breastfeeding moms.

In a story that got less of attention this side of the pond, the social networking site apologized to a U.K. breastfeeding supply company, Express Yourself Mums, for shutting down their page because of
a “policy violation”. The violation: pictures of children play-breastfeeding dolls.

Like many parents, Express Yourself Mums co-owner Sharon Blackstone couldn’t resist posting a picture of her daughter, Maya, to Facebook. After giving her doll a naming ceremony, Maya announced her baby was hungry. Acting just like her mom, Maya began to “breastfeed” her doll. What’s a mom who runs a breastfeeding supply company to do other than take out her phone, snap a picture and post it to Facebook? It was like Maya was doing the marketing for her mom’s company.  Read more...

We came across this awesome tutorial on Black Girl with Long Hair

For almost as long as there have been Barbies, there have been Barbie’s friends. You know, Midge, Kid Sister Skipper, Teresa, Christie, etc. But aside from changing their hair colour and flattening Skipper’s chest, the dolls all basically look the same. But if Christie, Midge, Teresa and various other Barbie pals were created so black, ginger and Hispanic kids had a doll that better resembled them, why stop at hair colour?

Then we came across this post on Black Girl with Long Hair, who in turn got her tutorial from Beads, Braids & Beyond. Turns out, sisters are doing it for themselves. How cool are these dolls?

So sure, we could have just linked to their awesome results, but it looked like fun so we made our own natural hair doll following their tips. First, we acquired a dark-skinned Barbie.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. Nostalgia time! Did you go to sleepaway camp when you were a kid? Here’s what your summer camp experience says about you.

2. Breastfeeding controversies! A doll you can nurse and outrage at Ruby Tuesdays.

3. Can your toddler identify a sphere, cube and trapezoid? If not, better get them some tutoring.

4. How important is your kids’ appearance to you? Do you let them out of the house with messy hair and toothpaste-stained and/or mismatched clothes?

5. David Beckham admitted that the real reason his baby daughter Harper Seven is so named is because author Harper Lee is Victoria’s favourite. Sales of To Kill A Mockingbird have gone through the roof. And Prince Charles was worried that people would stop reading now that Harry Potter’s done.

Photo by friskytuna via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Kids learn through play. (Parents holding their kids back from preschool but feel torn/stressed because of competitive parents teaching their kids to read and write at a super early age.)

2. This Arizona mom is climbing through fastfood playlands and is disgusted by what she sees. She’s combined her playland investigation with a cross-country roadtrip to check out McDonalds, Burger Kings, Chuck E Cheeses and Chick-fil-As all across America. (A note to Americans and those traveling in the States: She says Chick-fil-A has been the most helpful)

3. Check out different herbal teas when you’re pregnant. Mint, ginger, rooibos, red raspberry leaf, lemon balm and others can help various ailments during your pregnancy like nausea, heartburn, inflammation and calming nerves.

4. Colorado daycare centres now have to provide dolls that represent at least three different races.  Read more...

Have you seen our new party blog? The following post was originally published on Today’s Parent:

Bunchland.com ‘s Creative Director Rebecca Brown has a daughter named Rose.  She loves princesses and dolls. Following a trip to the emergency room with a cut finger, she’s also fixated on hospitals. For Rose’s third birthday, her parents wanted to create a memorable experience for Rose and her friends that incorporated all of Rose’s interests. They came up with a concept and a totally doable way to execute their idea. So if you have a princess baby doll lover in your family, this party might work for you, too.

The Big Idea:

Princesses + Baby Dolls + Hospitals = The Princess Rosie Doll Hospital.

The Invitation:

 Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. The people who get mad about stuff are mad that there’s a breastfeeding doll. Via BoingBoing

2. You might have heard about a teen who faked pregnancy in her last year of high school for a final independent social studies project. Today, she was on Today talking about her experience. She said she was terrified of the big reveal at a school assembly after hearing nasty rumours and such, but her news was greeted with applause. Via Jezebel

3. GeekDad shows you how to create an heirloom toy for your kid, instead of shelling out $350.

4. In super-excellent news, some midwives in Zambia received proper training, the result of which being many babies were saved. How much did this crazy scheme cost? Just over $200 per baby. Basically, they doubled the number of babies who survive their first week. So can we get this project some more money please?  Read more...