There are lots of gifts for girls to choose from, no matter what the occasion is. In giving a gift, you need to consider the age of the celebrator as well as her hobbies and interests because as girls get older, they tend to like different things. But some of the most wonderful gifts for girls include the following:

1. Dolls – Whether it’s Barbie, Karikito Kids, Corolle, Bratz or Sasha dolls, you can be sure that most girls love to play with dolls. Dolls are a young girl’s best friends. They talk to them and sleep beside them. They can bring them wherever they go. Baby dolls tend to bring about a girl’s nurturing spirit, whereas older-looking dolls tend to give girls a certain model that they can take good care of or look up to.
2. Dollhouse - If the little girl you’re giving a gift to happens to have a lot of dolls already, try giving her a dollhouse. A dollhouse may help develop her spatial and organizing skills. It usually comes with other small toys to fill it up just like chairs, tables, a TV set and even a tub. Imagine how fun and exciting it is for a child to design it, and later play with it with her dolls inside!
3. Role Play Set – Girls love to dress up and play where they could play “pretend.” Among the most popular role play sets is a play doctor set which comes with a stethoscope, thermometer, medicine bottles, reflex hammer, syringe, blood pressure gauge and many others. The set usually includes a carrying case. There’s also a dentist role play set and a cashier role play set. There are so many possibilities with this kind of toy, and the more the accessories are, the more exciting it gets.
4. Storybooks – Story books that are actually also coloring books are a favorite among girls. This helps them appreciate art more and encourages them to experiment with colors. There are so many storybooks and coloring books available for children so you can choose a personal favorite which you wish to share to the child.
5. Musical instruments – Giving a child toy musical instruments will stimulate their interest in music. Who knows, she might eventually get a real musical instrument soon! The most common ones include electric toy pianos, guitars and drums. It is easy to find these things in any gift shop; you might not even need any assistance from the sales staff. A toy piano is usually more exciting because children love to push buttons in general, but remember that it’s likely for something like this to need batteries so make sure you also get a couple and include them in your gift.

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Are you looking for the most perfect gifts for girls? Visit http://www.giftbasket4kids.com/_e/page/1064/girls_section.htm today!

When you think of Barbie, you think of Mattel as the manufacturer and the owner of the product. However, not many people know what the origin of Mattel is and how it came to produce their best-selling Barbie. Based on revenue, Mattel is the largest toy company in the world. They produce high quality toys with different trademarks, such as Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, Barbie dolls, board games, and they even tried producing video game consoles back in the early 80′s.

The Mattel trademark origin was derived from the names of its founder, named Elliot Handler and Harold “Matt” Anderson. The names Matt and Elliot were combined and they ended up with the trademark called Mattel. When Elliot Handler’s wife, Ruth Handler, became president of the company she established the Barbie product line, which became a huge success for the company. In fact, 80% of Mattel’s profits came from Barbie sales.

On its early days, Mattel originally produced dollhouse accessories and picture frames. After the success of the company’s dollhouse lines, Mattel concentrated on manufacturing toys and became publicly owned in 1960. Throughout 1960, Mattel purchased small toy companies that manufactured unrelated toy product lines. At 1966, Mattel purchased a small manufacturer of low-quality plastic lunchboxes which was used for manufacturing new kinds of products out of formed plastic.

Because of the formed plastic technology, Mattel were able to develop an innovative toy car parts that made their toy cars roll further and smoother. Because of this, Mattel opened a new line of toy cars called Hot Wheels. Up until today, Hot Wheels are still very popular. With different designs and great quality toy cars, Hot Wheels became one of the hottest selling toy cars in the world.

In 1987, Mattel distributed the NES or Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe. During those times, Nintendo didn’t have a European office and because of this, the early European versions of NES were called the Mattel version. Later, Nintendo opened its office in Europe and distributed the NES version. However, the only difference between the consoles is the Mattel or NES branding plaque on the face of the entertainment console.

Mattel was also responsible for distributing NES products in Canada. However, a court case resulted in making Nintendo the sole distributor of their NES line in North America and the co-branding with Mattel was stopped.

In 1993, Mattel merged with the Fisher-Price (also a well-known toy company) and purchased Tyco Toys, which was the third larges toy manufacturer at that time. The toys from the manufacturer that Mattel purchased were trademarked with Mattel.

Today, because of the different toy companies associated with Mattel, you will see that they produce different kinds of toys with the Mattel trademark. There are quite a lot of toys that bears the Mattel trademark today. From Hot Wheels to their Barbie product line, you will see the Mattel trademark in these products.

For most people, the Mattel trademark means great quality products that their children will definitely enjoy playing with. Mattel produces different kinds of toys for all ages and gender. Combined with the latest technology, Mattel can offer you the best toys available in the market that can last a long time. You can also expect Mattel’s toys to be intricately designed and manufactured that it ca definitely attract children of all ages.

So, if you are looking for a high quality toy for your children, you should consider purchasing toys with the Mattel trademark imprinted in the box or on the toys. With this trademark, you can be sure of the quality of the products and you can also be sure that your children will enjoy playing with it for a very long time.

Whenever you are looking for the perfect toy for your children, go to your nearest toy store and look for Mattel products. The Mattel products will be marked with the Mattel trademark which can easily be spotted among the different available toys available in the market today.

Always remember that if you are looking for the best kind of toys that can provide maximum entertainment for your children and is safe for them to play with, Mattel toys are your best choice. They manufacture toys for different age levels and they also manufacture toys for both boys and girls.

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Want to find out about althea plant, arum cornutum and other information? Get tips from the Gardening Central website.

I’ve been saving my hand made vintage doll house for a granddaughter, but my final grandchild was born recently and it is another boy. So now I’m making this wonderful doll house available for some lucky little girl. It was built around 1934; I knew the girl it was made for, a friend of my parents. I was born in 1939 and the doll house was given to me about 1946. I remember playing with it for hours on end! The condition is great, as the wooden structure of the house is very strong and well made. It is 29-1/2″ wide, 24-1/2″ deep, 23-1/4″ high. There are 3 areas that have movable doors and a wonderful staircase with attached railing that goes from the bottom to the top. All the windows have the original glass and the walls have the original wallpaper. The house is wired for electricity and has the original ceramic ceiling fixtures, one with a light bulb still in it. The cord is sticking out on the side where I once cut it off. Shame on me, kids can be naughty! The doll house trim was originally painted blue. When my daughter started playing with it in the mid 1960s, I painted it pink for her. The pink paint is peeling in a few areas, as it was water based over the oil based blue paint. If you desire, I’m sure all the pink can be readily removed. There is a bottom piece (see photo) that hooks on to close up the house and at one time there was another piece for the top, but it disappeared long ago. In the bottom piece, the window and part of the frame are gone; this can easily be fixed. Oh yes, what’s left of the vintage furniture is yours! There is a photo of Abraham Lincoln that needs to be rehung in the living room. There are 2 large oriental area rugs that I bought for my daughter in the mid 1970s. I know that the new owner will have many happy hours fixing up and playing with my unique one of a kind doll house. Don’t let it get away from you! Please e-mail me (HALSLL@COMCAST.NET), Sally, or call 847-432-0002 with any questions or if you wish to make an offer. Due to size and weight, it should be picked up – or shipping can be arranged (fairly costly).

Making Miniature Food   by Lily Morgan

Children like doll houses and miniature foods are a source of joy to most children when added to their doll houses. It may however prove too expensive to buy miniatures especially when in large scale. A parent or grandparent should thus think of making miniature food crafts for their child’s dollhouse. Miniature food is made from different materials that may include floral arrangement foam, beads and polymer clay. One may be required to have polymer clay, carving tools or toothpick, small paintbrush and liquid varnish. To make water melons, one should begin by pinching off part of light red or pink polymer clay and then make an egg which is approximately one inch long and half an inch thick. The next step would be to even out the interior of the pink egg which would be the base and the inside of the water melon. One should then roll out a thin part of the green clay making it very thin but even. The base of the pink water melon is then wrapped in the clay (green). One can then use cornstarch on the fingers to make even the watermelon’s wrinkles. One must make smooth the green clay till there are no seams found.

The next step would be for one to roll a thin part of the green clay in a shade that is lighter than the rind of the watermelon. One can then utilize the blade in cutting the narrow and tiny strips of the clay that is lighter. The liquid gel for decoration is then used to make secure the strips that surround the green egg. One should make sure that he or she has the watermelon photograph or a real one to act as the reference when placing the rind designs in the correct places. The miniature watermelon has now been made and to slice it one can use a sharp blade, the same way one could have sliced a real watermelon. However, one should not slice the entire melon but up to a quarter or a half of it. To come up with different designs, one can make a slice on the centre of a melon, ensuring that as many pieces, slices and halves of the watermelon have been made.

On any place where the red part of the melon is being exposed, one must place black clay seeds that should however be very tiny. To do this one can use a blade or a toothpick, cutting dots of black clay and placing them on the sides of the slices using the gel. The carving tools are utilized in making scratches on the red flesh of the watermelon to bring out its texture. Dollhouse cookies are made by using polymer clay, beads, sand and acrylic paints. They are very simple to make using polymer clay and since one is not required to use much material, a variety of cookies can be made. Different colors can be used to make the cookies that may include cadmium red hue, cobalt blue hue and zinc yellow. Liquid gel is blended with colors to bring out glazed effects.

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Learn more about the fascinating world of miniatures. For a great selection of wooden doll house kits, visit www.TheMagicalDollhouse.com today.

I love to put my miniature food in my dollhouses for my dollys to eat and chat about dollhouses over.