Hot Hobbies & Toys How-Tos
How To: Do a hippie hairstyle on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a hippie hairstyle on your American Girl doll. To start, you will simply take the side of the hair and braid two braids into it. Pull these across the back of the head and then repeat on the other side of the head in the same exact braid. Next, you will pull these braids all together and then braid these together going all the way down to the bottom of the hair. Tie this off with a rubber band at the bottom. This will finish up your hippy hairstyle, enjoy and...
How To: Style hair on an an American Girl with long wavy hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to style hair on an American Girl w/ long wavy hair. First, brush the hair out and then grab the top left section of the hair. Split this into three and then twist these together. This will be like a French braid, but you will be twisting it as you braid. Continue this until you reach the bottom of the head, then tie it with a rubber band. After this, do the same thing on the other side of the head. Then, tie it with a rubber band in the back and you're done!
How To: Make a somersaulting robot
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a somersaulting robot. You will need: a gear box, 1.5 v DC motor, battery holder for AA, and a few gem clips. First, glue the gear box onto the battery holder and then glue the motor shaft in. Next, glue the gem clip on the pistons of the gear box. From here, add a broken eraser to the gem clips. Next, add another jumbo gem clip to the motor and you will get to play with it! This is a fun little robot to play with, enjoy using it and making it do tricks!
How To: Do a double twist flip on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a double twist flip on your American Girl doll. First, part the hair down the middle and then brush it out. From here, pull out the rubber band one side and then split the middle of the hair in half. Push the rubber band with the hair through this, then tighten it up. Do this on the other side of the hair to make them both even. This will finish the hairstyle on your doll! The great thing is that you can do this on dolls that have short hair or long hair and ...
How To: Do a basic French braid on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a basic French braid on your American Girl doll. First, comb the hair back on the doll and then take the top section and split it into three. From here, you will start like a regular braid, going over three times. After this, you will take a little bit of the hair from one side and pick it up. Add this to the section that is closest and pull it over the middle piece. Continue to do this on the opposite side and then go back and forth. As you go down, you will...
How To: Make a robot car
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a robot car. To start, you will need to prepare the sensors by placing in the pins and soldering. After this, you will need to connect the wires to these and solder them into the correct places. Use a map to find the correct placement for everything. After this, you will take your sensor boxes and bolt them into place on the base of the car. From here, you will need to use a band saw to cut out the cover for the car and the sides/back. Glue the sensors i...
How To: Do a cute hairstyle on an American Girl with short hair
In this video, we learn how to do a cute hairstyle on an American Girl w/ short hair. First, brush the hair and then take a small piece from the front section of the hair. Twist this and then pull through and tighten with a rubber band. Then, part the hair in the middle and start the braid the other side of the hair until you reach half way down. When finished, you will put ribbons on each side of the hair and then brush out the excess hair in the ponytails. This will finish this really cute ...
How To: Weave ribbon into your American Girl doll's hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to weave ribbon into your American Girl doll's hair. First, grab the hair in the front of the head on just one side. After this, you will tie it with a rubber band. Next, repeat this same process on the other side of the hair. Then, do this again behind the first rubber band on each of the sides two times. Tie these together in the back, then tie in with a ribbon of your choice. Make a bow and then use another piece of ribbon to tie into the hair, finishing at t...
How To: Do a twisty updo on your American Girl doll
In this tutorial, we learn how to do a twisty updo on your American Girl doll. First, brush your dolls hair into a ponytail. After this, take a piece of the hair and twist it around with your finger until it curls. Then, take a clip and clip the twisted hair into the ponytail. Now, take another piece of hair and do the same thing. Continue to clip the hair up and repeat doing this on all the pieces of the hair until there is no more left. You will have some hair at the top and it will look cu...
How To: Do a French braid wrap around on your American Girl
In this video, we learn how to do a French braid wrap around on your American Girl. First, brush the hair out and then grab the section on the right side of the hair. Split this into three sections and then start to braid down four times. After this, you will start to French braid the hair, adding more hair in as you go down. Incorporate the middle strands in and go to the other side as you continue to braid. Pretty soon, you will incorporate all the hair into the braid. Finish this off by ty...
How To: Do a ponytail veil on your American Girl doll
In this video we learn how to do a ponytail veil on your American Girl doll. To start, you will take the top front section of the hair, then brush it back. After this, you will tie it in a rubber band and then repeat these steps on both sides of the head. Then, you will take the hair that's in the ponytail of each one and split it into two. From here, you will tie these with another piece from another side and then tie together with a rubber band. do this once more on the very back and then t...
How To: Clean your American Girl doll's skin with a magic eraser
In this video, we learn how to clean your American Girl doll's skin w/ a magic eraser. First, soak your Mister Clean Magic Eraser and then squeeze the water out. From here, undress your doll and put its hair up. Then, take the eraser and rub it onto the doll's skin to clean it. Rub it gently and scrub any parts that are especially dirty. If this isn't working, add on some baking soda and scrub it further until all residue is gone. Continue to do this throughout the entire doll and then when f...
How To: Care for your American Girl doll
In this video, Sarah tells us how to care for your American Girl Doll. Tip number one is to not put any product on the doll's hair. The next tip is to not wash the hair on the doll unless you absolutely have to. Don't put pressure on her hair as you brush it, use a light touch with a comb. If your doll has frizzy hair, you can clip off the frizzy area with some scissors. If you get a mark on the doll, you can use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on her without damaging the skin. If you don't have tha...
How To: Do a single French braid on your American Girl Doll
In this video, we learn how to do a single French braid on your American Girl Doll. First, brush the doll's hair back and make sure it's smooth with no bumps. After this, grab a small section of hair at the top middle of the head. Split this into three pieces and then start braiding like normal. From here, grab some hair from one side of the head and braid the hair sections over each other. Then, grab hair from the opposite side and braid the sections over each other. Continue to do this, alt...
How To: Fix your American Girl Doll's loose limbs
In this tutorial, we learn how to fix your American Girl Doll's loose limbs. If your doll doesn't stand up very well because her limbs are loose, you can re-string her. First, take the knots off from around the head and then pull the head off. After this, take out all of the stuffing from the doll. From here, you will find the inner limbs with the elastic pieces on them. Take a rubber band and tie it around between the gold piece and the white piece. Do this for all the limbs, then stuff the ...
How To: Make playdough for your kids
It is a rainy day and the children are bored. What can they do? Mom has a great idea, make play dough. You have all the ingredients in the house.
How To: Do a "Downy dunk" on your American Girl doll
In this tutorial, we learn how to do a "Downy dunk" on your American Girl doll. First, take a small plastic container and pour some Downy into the container. After this, lay the doll down on some stacked up books and then dip the hair into the Downy. Avoid touching the Downy onto the skin or on the base of the head. Next, you will use a spoon to help cover the parts of the hair you need it to cover. When finished, rinse the hair out in the sink until it's all removed. Dry the hair when finish...
How To: Restore Your American Girl Doll's Shiny Silky Hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to restore your American Girl doll's shiny silky hair. You can wash and condition the hair, use a flat iron on the lowest setting, trim the ends and fly-aways with scissors, and more! If you have done all of this and it's just not shiny enough, you can help fix it. First, you will put a plastic bag around her body. After this, this is the bag so her skin won't be affected. Now, cover her face with a towel so just her hair is left. Now, take some Son of A Gun spr...
How To: Do a fishtail braid variation on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a fishtail variation on your American Girl doll. First, brush the hair out so it's smooth and then take a section from the top right side and top left side. Cross these together on the back of the head and then grab another piece of hair. Start to braid these together and push them from side to side. Alternate grabbing pieces of hair from each side of the head, making them as big or little chunks as you want to. As you continue to cross the hair, you will rea...
How To: Do your American Girl Doll's in a ballet bun
In this video, we learn how to do your American Girl Doll's in a ballet bun. First, you will need to brush out your doll's hair and put it into a low pony tail or high, depending on where you want the bun on the head. After this, take the hair and twist it around the rubber band base and then take a thicker rubber band to tie around the bun to keep it in place. You can then place another rubber band around for decoration. This will finish the simple bun, which will be easiest to do on a doll ...
How To: Make a stop motion video with your American Girl Dolls
In this video, we learn how to make a stop motion video with your American Girl Dolls. First, you will need to get a tripod to place your camera on and move it around. After this, put your doll out and then take a quick picture. Then, move her arm a little bit taking pictures one by one. You will be moving her, going out of frame, then coming back into the frame. When you're finished, load the pictures onto your computer and then choose all the pictures that you want to use. From here, you wi...
How To: Manage your American Girl dolls' curly hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to manage your American Girl dolls' curly hair. First, you will need a spray bottle with water in it to spray on the curls. If you can't brush it, that's fine, just run your fingers through it. If you can brush it, run your brush through the hair after spraying it. To curl her hair, you will separate the hair into sections. Then, you will curl the sections by rolling them around the finger to create a spiral curl. When finished, the hair will look gorgeous and l...
How To: Do an adorable hairstyle on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do an adorable hairstyle on your American Girl doll. You will need: two ribbons and four rubber bands to do this. First, brush her hair all the way out so it's smooth. Then, part the hair into two sections on the left and the right. After this, tie the right side into a high ponytail and then tie the left side the same way. From here, you will shape a bun into the top of the hair band and then let the rest hang down. Next, you will tie a ribbon in each side into...
How To: Pierce your American Girl dolls' ears easily
In this video, we learn how to pierce your American Girl dolls' ears! Start out by taking a pencil and marking the ear where you want to pierce it at. Then, take a thumb tack and poke it through the ear where you marked it with the pencil. Then, pull it out and do the same process to the other ear. To help, pull the hair up in a ponytail so the hair is out of the way while you're doing this. Next, give the doll to an adult and grab a #42 drill bit. Put the drill into the same hole and then ge...
How To: Do a cute Easter updo on your American Girl doll
In this tutorial, we learn how to do a cute Easter updo on your American Girl doll. To do this, you will first take the hair from the top of the head and section it off into smaller pieces. Then, repeat this same step throughout the head of hair until you have a bunch of different ponytails. From here, you will need to braid these together using three of the ponytails. When finished, you will tie the ends with rubber bands. This will complete your cute Easter look for your American Girl Doll!...
How To: Do a really cute hairstyle on your American Girl
In this tutorial, we learn how to do a really cute hairstyle on your American Girl. First, brush the hair out and then pick up the hair from the top of the head. Brush this and then twist the hair and push it up so it creates a poofed effect. You may have to do this several times to get it right. Then, clip the hair into place and grab the right side of the hair. Twist this until you reach the base of the neck and tie it into place. Do this on the other side and then combine both sides togeth...
How To: Recycle a plastic bottle to make a toy bottlebocket
In this tutorial, we learn how to recycle a plastic bottle to make a toy bottle rocket. First, take a large plastic bottle and a sharp knife, then cut it in half. After this, take the side with the cap on it and then paint on the inside of the bottle. You can paint whatever you want on the inside, feel free to use different colors and get as creative as you want! From here, take some bottle caps and poke holes in the center of them. Then, string these together by pushing a string in the middl...
How To: Recycle plastic bottles to make a toy windmill
In this tutorial we learn how to recycle plastic bottles to make a toy windmill. First, cut the bottle in half so you just have the cap end of it. Then, use the scissors to cut strips in the plastic, all running next to each other. Once you have all of these cut, pull the strips out so they are flared away from the cap. Then, twist these so the are all going backwards from the cap and place a stick on the bottom of these, connecting with the cap. Now you can use these as a toy windmill, enjoy...
How To: Do mini buns on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do mini buns on your American Girl doll. Firs, you will grab a section from the top half of one side of the head. Then, you will put a rubber band around the hair. From here, you will twist the hair around the make a bun, then secure it with another rubber band. Repeat this on the other side of the head so there are two buns on the top of the head. This will look cute on the front and the back! If you want, you can keep going and make two more so you have four m...
How To: Make a small, easy, functional telescope
In this tutorial, we learn how to make a small, easy, functional telescope. First, glue a lens in place with glue underneath a piece of cardboard with a circle cut in it. Then, cut this into a circle and tape it to a paper towel holder. Then, you can wrap this in some paper mache around the cardboard. Then, wait for this to dry and spray paint it with gold and black paint. When finished, you will have a functional telescope ready to go and use! This is cheap and a fun project to make with chi...
How To: Do floating braids on your American Girl doll
In this tutorial, we learn how to do floating braids on your American Girl doll. First, take a small section from the top right side of the head. After this, brush it out and split it into three parts. Then, braid over three times and take a piece from the top and instead of adding it in, put it in the front over her arm. After that, braid over and take a section from underneath. Add this into the braid and then go over. Now, repeat the same process by putting the section of hair to the front...
How To: Do a spiderweb hairstyle on your American Girl
In this video, Sarah teaches us how to do a spider web hairstyle on your American Girl. You can do this with any doll, even if they have short hair. To start, you will pull the hair from the front of the head back and then clip it in the middle. Next, take the sides of the hair and do the same process. Repeat this on the other side of the hair, doing the same process. Next, you will split the hair in half from each clip and then meet it up with the half of another piece. Continue to do this a...
How To: Do reverse French braids on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a reverse French braid on your American Girl doll. First, part the hair in half and put one half to the side. Then, take a piece of the front on one section and split it into three. From here, you will go under the hair instead of over like a regular braid. Then, start to pick up pieces from the sides on the left and right. Put it underneath the whole braid and then go under with it to the other side. Continue to do this until you reach all the way down the h...
How To: Straighten American Girl Doll Julie's braid
In this video, we learn how to straighten American Girl Doll Julie's braid. First, you will need to take the hair out of the braid and then separate that area. From here, cover the doll with a towel and brush her hair out. Wet down the area by dipping the comb into the water and brushing it in the hair. From here, you will bring the doll over to a flat surface. Then, lay some really heavy books down on top of the strand that needs to be straightened. Do this four nights in a row, then the hai...
How To: Solder wires to your rc car motor
In this tutorial, we learn how to solder wires to your rc car motor. First, you will put the flux on the out wires. Put a small amount on, but make sure it's evenly coated all around. After this, do the same process for the motor tabs. Then, tin the wire and then wipe off with a damp sponge. From here you will do the same thing for the motor tabs, taking the back off the motor tabs to make it easier to move around. After this, put the wire on top of the tab and pres with the iron. Now you sho...
How To: Do a fishtail on your American Girl doll
In this video, we learn how to do a fishtail on your American Girl doll. You will need a doll with longer hair to do this correctly. Brush the hair out, then grab two rubber bands and set aside. Start out by putting the hair into a ponytail with the first rubber band. Then, section the hair off to create a double braid in the hanging hair in the back. This will create a look like a fishtail braid. Continue to do this until you reach the bottom of the hair, then tie it with a rubber band. Enjo...
How To: Double french braid your American Girl Doll's hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to double French braid your American Girl Doll's hair. First, part the hair right down the middle so you have the left and right side. After this, pull one of the sides into a pigtail. Next, go to the other side and grab a small section from the top. Brush this out and then divide into three pieces. Start it like a regular braid, then start to grab hair from the bottom on each side, crossing it over the middle. Continue to do this until you reach the bottom of t...
How To: Construct a mousetrap car
In this tutorial, we learn how to construct a mouse trap car. You will need: wood, string, wood glue, duct tape, scissors, markers, a mousetrap, wheels, and a drill to do this. To start, you will lift the mousetrap up and tape duct tape around it along with a long stick. Then, tape this to a piece of wood. From here, you will glue together two sticks and then put wheels on the top and bottom of it. Next, you will lay the mousetrap on top of this and then push it. Then it will roll away! You c...
How To: Do a cute hairstyle on American Girl with medium hair
In this tutorial, we learn how to do a cute hairstyle on American Girl with medium hair. This is great for a doll that has hair that flips out at the bottom or hair that is curly. First, you will take most of the hair, except for a thin layer of hair on the underneath area. Put a rubber band around this part of the hair, then put a hole with your finger above the band. Flip the hair through this, so the hair is sticking up. Then, curl the hair under and clip it into place on the back to finis...
How To: Flat iron your American Girl doll's hair
In this video, we learn how to flat iron your American Girl doll's hair. First, heat up your flat iron on the lowest heat setting it has. Now, brush your doll's hair so it doesn't have any lumps or bumps in it. Clip the to of the hair up and then take a small section from the bottom of the head. Then, squirt some water on the hair until it's wet. Comb through the hair and then run the flat iron through the hair very quickly. Run it through again if needed, then continue on to other sections i...