Scuba Diving - overview for American Girl Doll

• Tank
• BCD (Boyancy Control Device)
• Regulators and console
• Mask
• Fins
• Snorkle

Scuba Diving regulator for American Girl Doll

See all my other free diving tutorials

What you need

• black soda bottle cap (coke zero cherry, has it, I believe)
• black wire from an old charger or something (about 1/8" - 1/4" diameter, mine was 1/8")
  alternatively you can use 1/4" black irrigation hose
• Polymer Clay (FIMO, Sculpy) in black, yellow, red and color of choice (mine was green)
• hot glue gun
• ModPodge Dimensional Magic
• 1 small nail (3/4" long)
• small 3/4" diameter compass (found on ebay) optional
• 3/4" wooden dowel piece or similar (used to make the console impressions)
• regular ModPodge (recommended to seal console pictures) optional
• black plastic jewelry string
• 2x 23mm Lanyard hooks (optional)

How to make the first stage (attachment to tank)

1. Take the bottle cap and drill a small hole in the center (diameter of nail)

2. Drill 4 holes into the side of the bottle cap  (diameter of wire)
    The nails just show where the holes are located
    You don't need those nails (except if you would use a hose instead of a wire)

How to make the second stage (mouthpieces)

1. Take 1/4 of a black polymer clay packet and roll into a ball

2. Flatten one side of the ball (diameter should be around 1")

3. Take a pencil with an eraser and push into center to create a dip

4. Bake

5. Take your color of choice of clay (in my case green and I will from now only say green)
     and roll out to 1/8" thickness
     Cut a circle about 3/4" in diameter or slightly smaller and add onto black ball
     Create indentation from before

6. Make a small black ball the diameter of the indentation and push it into indentation, flattening slightly

7. Take a knife and cut 3 slits, exposing the black from underneath

8. Bake

9. Repeat for another mouthpiece, this time use yellow instead of black.
    This will be the emergency mouthpiece which is ALWAYS yellow

10. Take a small drill and drill a small hole into the left side of each mouthpiece
     the size of the wire.

 

11. Cut a 9" piece of wire and glue into hole of GREEN mouthpiece.
 
12. Cut a 11" piece of wire and glue into hole of YELLOW mouthpiece.

How to make the console

1. Take green polymer clay and create a block 3" x 1" x 1/2"

2. Take a 3/4" dowel and make 3 indentations about 1/8" deep
    If you use a real compass, make the last indentation deep enough to fit the compass.
    Bake.

3. Download the pictures here and print onto white paper or card stock (no scaling)
    The console pictures should be 3/4" in diameter
    You can pick either metric or standard, both are included

4. Cut your choice of depth meter and air pressure and optional the compass interface

5. Seal all images with ModPodge (both sides) and glue into holes. Let dry
    If you don't seal the card stock, the clay color will come through as you can see on my pressure gauge

6. Fill indentations with ModPodge Dimentional Magic

7. Drill a hole into the end (see where nail is sticking out to indicate hole)

8. Cut a 11" piece of wire and glue into the hole.

How to make the connection to the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device)

1. Cut a 8" piece of wire

2. Take the black plastic jewelry (lacing) string and start wrapping 1/4" from one end up
    Go about 2" up, then wrap around back down again to create a second layer
    Glue the end in place. I used instant glue (adults only though)

3. Take black polymer clay and create a 3/4" x 3/8" x 1/4" block

4. Take a small amount of black polymer clay and create a tiny ball, less than 1/4" in diameter
     and press to one end

5. Take a small amount of red polymer clay and create a tiny ball, less than 1/4" in diameter
     and press to the bottom half of one side

6. Bake

7. Drill a hole into the other end (where there is no ball)

8. Glue wire with the side that is wrapped with the jewelry string into hole.

Assemble all onto first stage

Optionally you can thread a Lanyard hook onto the wire with the console and the wire with 

the yellow regulator (this will be use to hook them into the BCD)

Strip all wire ends about 3/4" and thread through holes in bottle cap in the order bellow.

Assemble as the picture shows, the order is important !!!
Always bend the red wire one way and the black the other way and glue in place.

Add small nail through center of bottle cap and attach to tank.
Attach bottle cap to the silver wooden piece, on the opposite side of the on/off knob.

Scuba Diving BCD for American Girl Doll

See all my other free diving tutorials

What you need

• 1/4 yard black nylon fabric (also sometimes called utility fabric)
•  scraps of a different color nylon fabric
• 1x 5/8" (15mm) parachute buckle (got mine at JoAnn Fabrics)
• 2x 3/8" (12mm) parachute buckle (got mine at JoAnn Fabrics)
• 7" of 3/8" black grosgrain ribbon
• 5 1/2" of 5/8" black webbing (for belly closure)
• 9" of 1" black webbing (to hold tank)
• 3" of 1" wide black velco
• 4x 3/8" D-rings (got mine on Ebay, but you could even bend a paper clip)
• 1x 1" tri-glide (got mine I think at JoAnn Fabrics, not sure though)
• small amount of polyester filling (optional)
• spray bottle/small bottle used for the tank see my tank tutorial

How to make the BCD (Boyance Control Device)

1. Download pattern here

    This pattern is copyrighted by me, ReadCreations.
    For private use only !!!
    Make sure you have page scaling set to none !

2. Cut the front and back pattern from black nylon

3. Cut the 2 pockets from contrasting nylon. I used green.
    My green nylon came from an old kite and had already a side finished.
    I used the finished side for the top (slanted part) of the pocket.
    If you don't have a finished side, fold slanted part over 1/4" and sew a hem.

4. Fold back side of pocket 1/4" over and sew in place on front part

5. Take the 1" wide velcro and cut a 1 1/2" piece off.
    Take this  1 1/2" piece and cut in half lengthwise.

6. Take one of those lengthwise cut pieces and take velco apart and reassemble 1/2" offset
    Repeat for other lengthwise cut piece

7. Lay on shoulder piece about  1" from end, parallel to end.
    The velcro should only overlap in between the area 1/4" in from either side.
    Sew in place with a 1/8" seam to hold in place

8. Cover it all with the back piece
    Pockets and velcro are now sandwiched between the two black pieces

9. Sew all around with 1/4" seam, but leave most of the bottom open
    Only sew the outer 3/4" on either side of the bottom.

10. Turn right side out to hide seams

11. Optional: stuff small amount of stuffing inside the two front flaps
      This will give it the illusion the BCD is inflated

12. Cut 2 pieces of 3/8" grosgrain ribbon, 1" long each.
      With a small flame singe the ends to keep them from unraveling. ADULTS ONLY PLEASE !!!

13. Take one of those 1" pieces and go through a D-ring.
       Fold in half with D-Ring inside.

14. Insert ribbon with D-ring into bottom of BCD, 1" from either end.
      D-ring should stick out at the bottom.

15. Fold seams in and sew bottom shut with D-rings securely attached

16. Take the 5/8" webbing and cut a 1 1/2" piece, singe ends with flame. ADULTS ONLY PLEASE !!!
      Thread 5/8" (15mm) buckle (female piece) on it
      Fold webbing in half with buckle on it and sew onto doll's right front side

17. Take the leftover 4" of the 5/8" webbing and singe ends with flame. ADULTS ONLY PLEASE !!!
      Sew onto doll's left front side
      Attach other part of buckle (male piece) not shown in picture

18. Cut 4 pieces of the 3/8" grosgrain ribbon, each 1 1/4" long and singe ends.
      Take one piece and put a D-ring and a 3/8" buckle bottom (female piece) on it.
      Fold ribbon in a circle enclosing both D-ring and buckle,
      overlapping the ribbon by 1/4" on the back

19. Sew onto BCD 1/2" from the end. Sew between the buckle and the D-ring
      with buckle pointing up
      Repeat for other side

20. Take one of those ribbon pieces from step 17 and attach to buckle top (male piece).
      Fold in half and sew to shoulder strap.
      Repeat for other shoulder strap.

21. Take 1" webbing (9" long)  and sew the 1" velcro piece (1 1/2" long, soft part) onto one end
     of the webbing. This will be the tank strap.

22. Take the 1" tri-glide and fold other end of webbing around center post.
      Sew in place.

23. Take scuba diving tank (e.g. spray bottle from Dollar store) and wrap webbing around tank
      Thread webbing into tri-glide and fold back.
      This is where the rough part of the velco will be sewn.
      Mark the beginning and end of the rough velcro position (yellow and red needle below)

24. Sew rough velcro in marked position (marked with the yellow and red needle)
      When sewn it will look like this

25. Fold BCD in half to find center line on back. Mark with pins at top and bottom

26. Measure 1 1/2" from the bottom of the BCD on the center line.
      This will be where the bottom of the 1" webbing we just made, will be attached.
      Sew webbing in place (1/4" on either side of center line)

27. Finished BCD with tank will look like this

You are done !!!
 

Scuba Diving tank for American Girl Doll

See all my other free diving tutorials

What you need

• small silver spay bottle or shampoo bottle with cap (about 2" in diameter and 7" tall)
  you can spray paint the bottle silver if needed
• black duck tape (long enough to wrap around bottle once)
• small piece of wood about 1 1/2 x 3/4 " 1/4"
• silver paint
• black polymer clay (for on/off knob) if you can't use the spay bottles nozzle
• 1 small nail (about 7/8" long, needs to be long enough to go through the knob and into the wood piece)
• 2 small nails (to attach wood piece to bottle cap)

How to make the tank

1 a. If you use a shampoo bottle or similar, paint the bottle silver and the cap either silver or black.
       Set aside to dry.

1 b. If you are using a silver spay bottle (found mine at the dollar store) then you need to disassemble

       and modify the bottle a little.
       Unscrew the bottle from the head and set aside.
       Take the head and cut everything off above the cap (see dotted red line)
       Remove tube, or cut it off
       Take off the nozzle adjuster and set aside (this will be the on/off knob) (see red arrow)

2. Take the wood piece and paint silver, set aside to dry

3. If you don't have a nozzle, that you can use for the knob, make one from polymer clay
    To do that, take some black clay and roll into a roll about 1/2" long and about 1/2" in diameter
    Take a tooth pick and press along the side to create indentations
    Bake according to manufacturers instructions
    Drill a small hole through the center for the nail then continue with step 4

4. Take the nozzle piece and center it on the wide side of the wood piece slightly above the center

    Nail it through the nozzle opening onto the wood piece

5. Nail the wood piece onto the bottle cap or the cut off cap from the spay bottle

   Nail from the inside of the cap upwards into the wood.

6. Measure the circumference of the bottle close to the bottom
   Take black duck tape and cut a strip that is that length
   Cut the strip lengthwise to get a 3/4" strip
   Wrap around the very bottom of the bottle

7. Screw bottle cap back onto bottle

You are done !!!
       

Paris Trip - Crêpes for American Girl Doll

See my other free Paris tutorials

What you need

• beige polymer clay (FIMO, Sculpey)
• red, black and blue polymer clay for blueberries and strawberries
• chalk in brown hues (to color crepes)
• chalk in white (powdered sugar)
• a cup with a diameter of around 3 1/2"
• chocolate colored 3D paint (sometimes called puff paint)
• rough sand paper
• brush
• small drill bit

How to make the crêpes

1. Take beige polymer clay and condition and roll out to about 1/8" thickness

2. Take cup and push down on clay moving around to make the edges slightly rough and thin

    Make sure to leave the edges like that

 

3. Take the rough sand paper and press it all over the clay, do it on both sides

4. Take the brown chalk and scrape some into a power.
    Use a brush and carefully brush on the edges on both sides
    You can also give some careful color to the inside

5. To make the blueberries, mix some blue and black polymer clay and form very small balls

    About 1/4" in diameter

    Take a small drill bit and drill into one side a little bit and pull out making the edges of the 

    hole rough

    Optionally you can brush on a tad of white powdered chalk

6. To make the strawberries, use some red and cut it in small strips. 

    You can go all fancy and add some white polymer clay as well to make it look more real.

7. I would recommend baking the fruit at this point.

8. Take the baked fruit and add to the top half of the crêpes

9. You can either roll it 

10. Or you can fold up one side

11.Then fold the other side, being wider at the top and narrower at the bottm

12.Then fold the bottom up

13. Bake in the oven

14. Drizzle chocolate colored 3D paint (or puff paint) on and inside crepe, let dry overnight.

15. Optionally you can take some powdered white chalk and sprinkle on as well 

      to simulate powdered sugar (add this while 3D paint is still wet to adhere)

      Use white caulking (used to caulk windows and bathrooms and such) to make whipped cream


As an alternative, you could also use beige felt and cut out in circles.
Bake your polymer fruit and re-make your crêpes according to orders :-)

You are done !!!