A while ago, when I shared my oldest daughter’s McKenna American Girl birthday party, I told you I would show you how I made the gymnastic hoops we gave as favors for the girls who came to the party. Today, I’m finally going to show you the tutorial for this American Girl craft.
It is an easy craft. It does take a little bit of time but it is not difficult. It is a good project for watching a TV show. McKenna, just couldn’t wait to start using her gymnastic hoop!
The supplies for this craft are very simple. Yay for that!
- 1 – 8″ hoop – (affiliate link)We got ours at Hobby Lobby. They are metal
- Glitter tape(affiliate link)
~ mine was 3/8″ wide (I was able to make 4 hoops from 3 spools of ribbon) - Hot glue
~ mine was 3/8″ wide (I was able to make 4 hoops from 3 spools of ribbon)I got the idea for this craft from Sew Crafty Mommy: American Girl Gymnastic Accessories. I, as I usually do, changed it a bit from the way she made her hoop.
Using the glitter tape, start at an angle. Going in whichever direction is most comfortable for you to work.
To give the tape a polished look and keep going at the same angle. Once you wrap your glitter tape a few turns, you will need to start folding the tape over to take up the extra material. If you don’t do this part, the tape will get off and not look uniform. As this is glitter tape, it is more stiff and has more texture, so you will have to almost pinch the tape to make this fold.
After pinching or folding the tape, wrap the next layer of tape around the hoop. Keep going pinching/folding as you need to in order to keep a uniform look as you wrap your glitter tape.
Do you see how this method give a polished, finished look to the hoop?
When you reach the end or are back to the beginning, use a small dab of hot glue to ensure that your glitter tape does not come loose.
Now you have pretty gymnastic hoops for your dolls!
Our dolls couldn’t wait to get busy learning fun ways to use their hoop. They sure came up with some inventive moves!
McKenna really enjoyed using the hoop. Do you see how we matched the color of the glitter tape to one of the stripes in her leotard…aren’t we clever? It was a McKenna birthday party after all!
Felicity didn’t want to be left out, so she found a way to use the hoop while on the balance beam. Both McKenna and Felicity are quite the show stoppers!
McKenna has quite a lot of upper body strength and balance! Impressive!
The gymnastic hoops were a great favor to give to the girls who came to the party. Hopefully, their dolls are enjoying the hoops as much as our dolls.
Now just to tease you…I’ve shown you the hoop. We also made a gymnastic ribbon for our dolls.
How creative!! These dolls and girls surely have fun! C3
Thanks, Mom! We do have fun!
KC
So creative and adorable! Even though my daughter doesn’t play with her AG dolls any more, I want to make one of these for her. 🙂
Thank you! My girls have had fun with them. 🙂
KC
So cute and creative! Love it, KC! :o)
Thanks, Brenda!
KC
we have the gymnastic set – this makes a great addition to it! (but we don’t have mckenna, lol!)
Boo, on not having McKenna (well only if it was something she wanted)..but, Yes this makes a fun addition to the gymnastic set.
KC
Super cute! I am going to need to show my daughter this. Pinned!
Thanks, Diana! My girls are enjoying it. Hope if you decide to make you, your daughter enjoys it as well.
KC
Adorable. My girls would love these!
–Gena
Thank you!
KC
my daughter has an American Girl doll and just recently started taking gymnastic lessons so now when the AG catalog arrives in the mail she crushes on all the gymnastic stuff. She would LOVE this! Thanks for the idea.
That is so cute! I hope, if you make it, she loves it!
KC
So fun!!! Thanks for the tutorial, Lisa
Thanks! Your welcome for the tutorial.
KC
What a fun idea! My daughters would love this! Thanks for linking up with LWSL this week! Can’t wait to check out your other projects 🙂
Thanks! Thank you so much for the feature as well as for hosting!
KC
Awwww, how fun! I love to see cute AG doll crafts. Thanks for sharing at Pinworthy Projects.
Thank you and Thanks for hosting!
KC
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!
Katie @ Simply Clean Living
So glad you love it!
KC
How cute is that… fun for girls! Thanks so much for sharing at Super Saturday Show & Tell… I’m SO glad you came to (link) party with me! https://www.whatscookingwithruthie.com xoxo~ Ruthie
Thanks! Thanks so much for hosting each week.
KC
This is very cute! My daughter would love this! She would be so proud of herself too that she could make it! Thanks for sharing this great idea:)
Thanks! Aww..how sweet it would be for her to make it and feel so proud of herself.
Love that!
KC
Found your post on Made by You Monday. How cute!! I will be looking through all your American Girl themed posts, so many cute ideas! My niece loves her American Girl doll and would love some of these accessories and crafts. Thanks for sharing! New follower from Sarah Lynn’s Sweets!
Thank you! We have fun with our AG dolls. So many things to do with them and make for them. 🙂
KC
Oh get out!! This is a fabulous idea! Will be doing this with my daughter. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I love your comment! You put a smile on my face…thanks! I hope you and your daughter have a great time making this and have fun playing with the hoop as well.
Take care,
KC
I love this idea! My daughter just had a MaKenna party two weeks ago- wish I had seen it then!
Cute and thrifty-love it.
Thank you! Too bad you didn’t see it in time, but you could always still make one for your daughter. Maybe just for fun or for a little gifty for something coming up.
Take care,
KC
Super cute! I love all of your american girl doll crafts!
Thanks!
KC
These are sooo cute I will definitely be making your crafts
~love from sherry ag white !
Thank you! I’m glad you like them and I hope you have fun making them. 🙂
I love this! Christmas is going to be super tight this year and this will make a great gift for my daughter. She doesn’t have any American Girl dolls, but she does have several of the Walmart and Target brand dolls. She loves playing with them. She saw the gymnast set in the AG magazine and wanted it. So my husband and I are going to make her some gymnast stuff for her doll. I am also hoping that my husband will have time to make her a “closet” for her dolls’ clothing (and it would be nice if it has a few drawers to put the shoes and other stuff in).
Oh Thank you! I’m so glad you left me a comment! It made me so happy to read your post and know that I am able to help give you a low cost and fun gift idea for Christmas. I’d love to see the closet you make. If you need other low cost ideas, I have a bunch of them on my site. Just search the site for American Girl Doll. I hope your daughter LOVES the gymnastic hoop and has a fantastic Christmas!