The American Girl Advent Calendar

It's time for the third installment of the advent calendar series!  For those who may have missed the previous reviews, I started by looking at a My Life As doll and her calendar, then enjoyed some time with an Our Generation girl and her calendar.  Of those two, the Our Generation experience was more rewarding.  However, I've yet to look at the behemoth of the 18-inch doll market: American Girl.

My last American Girl doll review was the Girls From Many Lands post that I wrote in 2024.  However, those dolls aren't conventional American Girl dolls, so maybe it doesn't count.  Before that, I looked at Gwynn Tan in 2022.  Gwynn is a 14-inch doll, though, so maybe she doesn't count, either?  I think the last classic, 18-inch American Girl doll that I reviewed was Eliza, way back in 2017.  She was a Create Your Own American Girl, who I ordered when that concept first launched.

I decided to mirror my experience from eight years ago, and so another Create Your Own doll will join me as we look at the 2025 American Girl calendar:

Create Your Own American Girl doll ($275).

When we moved from Maine to New Jersey in 2020, I gave away or sold all of my American Girl dolls.  This included Keira, my very first American Girl, and also Eliza, my Create Your Own doll.  I think Eliza went to live with the daughter of our local postal worker.

Here are some photos of when I first opened Eliza's box:

She was a cutie with short red hair, mismatched eyes, and a nice floral dress outfit.  I remember being quite impressed by her presentation!

Anyway, I was feeling nostalgic for Eliza a little while ago, and so I decided to see if the Create Your Own feature was still available on the American Girl site.  It was not.  I can't remember exactly when that was, but I bet it coincided with the original tariff announcements.  I was pretty bummed.  I figured I'd missed my chance to have that experience again.

However, I went to check again in November, and the dolls were available!  I choked a bit at the price, which is now a whopping $275, but decided to create another doll.

All of the outfits were different this time around, and there was a special red dress that I think was probably only for the holidays since it's gone now:

I was also excited to see more face mold choices.  There were all the faces from before, and also the Kaya mold!

I knew immediately that I wanted the Kaya mold because I like the Kaya doll, and I also like the idea of a face without exposed teeth.  "Gopher teeth," as my husband calls them.

It would be nice to see the Nanea face in the Create Your Own space someday, too, since that's my favorite mold of all.

Another addition is untraditional hair colors, like this bright purple option:

I wasn't quite brave enough to choose that--especially not with the red dress!

In the end, I chose a red wig (of course), and a freckled Kaya face with mismatched eyes.  I probably should have chosen the red dress while it was still an option, but I liked another ensemble better:

There was no opportunity to name my doll at the end, or choose any characteristics for her.  I enjoyed those parts of creating Eliza, so I was a little disappointed.  And I had a name all picked out, too: Georgie!  I guess I've been watching too much Heartland.

I added Georgie to my cart, took a deep breath, and made the purchase:

Eliza cost $200 in 2017:

So the $75 increase was a big shock.  An inflation calculator told me that $200 in 2017 is equivalent to $265 in 2025, so I guess it's not that bad.  But it's still insanely expensive for a play doll.  It's ten times more expensive than the My Life As and Our Generation dolls.

To be fair, though, you can get a regular Truly Me American Girl doll for $135, so the Create Your Own dolls are a big indulgence.

Georgie arrived in a large red box that's very similar to Eliza's box:

It says "Designed by Toy Box Philosopher" at the bottom:

That's me!

There's a fancy red satin ribbon on the right side that keeps the box closed:

The box is great for storage, which I love.

The front flap opened to reveal a completely red interior, with a big AG star on one side, and Georgie herself secured to the back with a few rubber bands:

I can't say I had an excellent first reaction to Georgie.  It wasn't love at first sight:

Something's off.

She feels well-made in my hands, with a hefty weight and excellent balance.  And she is exactly what I ordered...but I don't know.  There's something about her that didn't click with me right away.

She has silky-smooth red hair that feels nice and looks good, but the color is more muted than I expected:

It's probably just that this is a lovely natural red color, and I've been looking at dolls with exaggerated red hair.

I really love that Georgie's teeth aren't showing, but there's something about her face that bugs me:

Here's what Georgie looked like on the American Girl site:

She looks cuter there for some reason.  Maybe it's that the professional lighting is better?

I tried pulling Georgie's hair in front of her shoulders, so it's more visible:

This helps, maybe because it makes her face look narrower?

I think maybe my problem is that her eyes are hard to photograph.  They're small and set back into her head so the light doesn't catch them very easily:

Dead eyes.

Compare that to Eliza, whose eyes are really easy to see:

But her freckles are nowhere near as realistic.

Anyway, I ordered Georgie with all of the extras that were available, since this is the best way to get the full value out of these dolls.  So she has earrings in both ears and a hearing aid in her right ear:

The hearing aid is removable, and inserts via a peg into a hole in Georgie's neck:

I also ordered freckles for Georgie, and different colored eyes.  I knew from my experience with Eliza that the brown and hazel eye colors have matching iris patterns, so I chose those two colors again.  

There's brown on the left:

And hazel on the right:

Notice how large and fuzzy Georgie's eyebrows are!  This is a big change from Eliza, and I love it.  Eliza's brows were quite dainty by comparison:

Eliza's eyebrow.

Georgie's red wig is nice, and I appreciate that the cap is hard to see.  There are shorter hairs close to the scalp that cover the fabric areas.  You could even put pigtails into this hair:

However, the hair sheds like crazy!  It got everywhere while I was shooting this review.  I hope there's still some left next week.

Georgie came with the City Style outfit that I chose for her.  This consists of a jacket, a tee shirt, black leggings, and red sneakers:

The jacket is the most interesting piece in the mix.  It has a grey corduroy body with bright blue pleather sleeves:

There's a working zipper down the front, with a few loose threads on one side:

I found the zipper tricky to use.  It gets stuck at the bottom:

I like the contrasting fabrics on this jacket, but it feels very lightweight.  Also, I don't really like imitation leather on doll clothing because it can degrade and crack over time. 

Still, the construction of this jacket is very nice.

Here it is from the back:

And here's a peek at the stitching on the inside:

All of the edges are reinforced and everything is precise and neat.  It feels durable.

Underneath the jacket, Georgie is wearing a white graphic tee shirt:

I might like her face a bit better without the jacket?  Not sure why that would be true:

The front of the tee shirt has an abstract image of a basketball net:

And there's a full-length velcro seam in the back:

The leggings (or maybe jogging pants?) are all black, but they have little grey stripes on the cuffs:

I was worried that these might have stained Georgie's legs, but they did not.

The red sneakers are made out of stiff imitation leather, and they have black elastic laces that don't have to be tied.  They're very easy to use, which I appreciate.

The shoes have white treads with some texture and the American Girl logo:

Underneath her shoes, Georgie has the American Girl star molded into the bottom of her left foot, and "one of a kind" written on her right foot:

I mean, she probably isn't one of a kind.  Or maybe she is?  I guess with all of the different combinations, it's unlikely that two people design exactly the same doll.  But I'm sure there are a lot of other of Create Your Own dolls that are very similar to Georgie.

I hadn't thought much about underwear, since it isn't mentioned on the Create Your Own site, but Georgie has a pair of boy short underwear:

I was surprised to see this style!  I wonder: is this the norm for American Girl underwear now?  I like them, and they fit with this outfit.

I put Georgie back into her full outfit for another few shots:

She's certainly growing on me.

Here's Georgie alongside Our Generation Aubrie and My Life As Peyton:

From left: Our Generation Aubrie, American Girl Georgie, and My Life As Peyton.

Two big things stand out to me here.  One is that Georgie's hair is less red than the other two.  It's a more realistic shade, but it doesn't have as much visual impact as Aubrie and Peyton's flame-red locks.  The other thing is that Georgie's eyes look like two black holes.  I can only detect the slightest hint of color, and I can't see any sclera.

You guys probably saw this right away, but it took looking at this comparison picture for me to figure out why Georgie's eyes don't work: there's not enough white showing.  It's shark-like and a bit spooky.

There's something about my lighting set-up that's exacerbating this, too.  If you look at Kaya in her promotional photo, there's a little bit of sclera showing:

The pupils are huge, but I can see some white.

Other American Girl dolls like Nanea don't have much sclera showing, either:

But her eyes are wider.

Anyway, I can't dwell on this for too long because we have a whole advent calendar to open!  But I wish Georgie's eyes were brighter and more visible.

I'm eager to get to that advent calendar, but first I should very quickly show you the accessories that came with Georgie.

They were all stored inside an elegant red box:

There were six different accessory options when I was shopping, one of which was Christmas-themed:

I probably should have gotten the Christmas accessories since they're no longer available.  Also, this is an advent calendar review, so the theme would have fit nicely.  But I opted for the more versatile "relaxed to the max" set.

Here's everything that was in that set, along with the glasses that I chose for Georgie and a sign language guide that accompanies the hearing aid:

I've seen this sign language guide before with Eliza, but it's a nice inclusion:

The glasses also happen to be the exact same raspberry glasses that I chose for Eliza!  They come with a fleece carrying case:

I chose these specific glasses because they match Georgie's tee shirt and shoes:

Even though the glasses aren't part of an advent calendar, I wanted to snap a quick comparison shot with the glasses that I got in the My Life As and Our Generation calendars:

From left: American Girl glasses, My Life As glasses, and Our Generation glasses.

The My Life As glasses are still the best.  They're the most sturdy, and are also the only ones without lenses.

The accessory set came with two bracelets, a button, concert tickets, a rainbow drink, a handheld gaming system, and a backpack:

The gaming system is what attracted me to this set.  I love my Nintendo Switch, and this looks similar:

I like games with cats, too.

The back of the console has the American Girl copyright and a 2022 date: 

I wonder if this has been in the Create Your Own accessory lineup since 2022?  I haven't been paying enough attention to know.

The sides of the console have little circular grips.  These only fit over Georgie's pointer fingers:

So she can hold the game with her fingers and "play" with her thumbs:

Both of the bracelets in the set are made out of imitation leather.  One is silver with a metal heart on it, and the other is purple with three braided strands:

The button is yellow and says "Girl Pwr let it rock."  There's a rose and a black triangle in the middle:

The concert tickets are a cute addition, but both tickets are for the same seat:

Somebody's going to be disappointed.

The drink looks like a huge rainbow slushie, with a clear straw coming out of the lid:

Georgie can hold this fairly well, thanks to the flexible clear handle:

The last item is a black and white checkered backpack:

It opens with a star-shaped zipper pull and can hold a lot of the other items in the set:

The backpack fits over Georgie's shoulders and looks reasonably comfortable:

Overall, my experience with Georgie was very similar to my experience with Eliza.  The designing process had fewer steps, but I would say that the quality of the doll, her outfit, and all of the accessories is comparable.  It all just costs $75 more.

Okay!  Now it's finally time to take a look at the American Girl advent calendar:

This calendar costs $55, so it's about twice as expensive as the other two options.  It's not any larger, though.  It's comparable in size to the My Life As calendar:

American Girl advent calendar (in back) and My Life As calendar (in front).

And it's much smaller than the Our Generation calendar:

From left: My Life As, American Girl, and Our Generation advent calendars.

This calendar is the prettiest to look at, though.

There's a cardboard sleeve that covers the entire calendar and protects all of the perforated windows.  The front part of the cover has a picture of a gingerbread house:

In the top right hand corner, there's a small picture showing the actual calendar and it says "24 days of baking delights:"

So we know that this is a baking-themed calendar.  I was excited about this because I love food-related toys!

The bottom of the box has the Truly Me logo and the name of the calendar, which is apparently "Baking Spirits Bright."  That's a cute play on words:

The back of the sleeve has a photo of two American Girl dolls in a big kitchen.  There are also some photos of the items in this calendar, so I'm going to quickly look away!

No peeking!

Underneath the protective sleeve, the 24 perforated doors are visible:

These are designed to look like little kitchen drawers, but I wish that the compartments had been hidden within that gingerbread house picture!  That would have made the number hunting so much more fun.

The back side of the calendar has a picture of a pink kitchen:

This is a fun backdrop for Georgie:

But, again, I wish that the numbers had been hidden in this picture, rather than lined up in neat rows on the other side.

As it is, all of the numbers are very easy to find, starting with number one, which is right in the middle at the top:

Behind this door I found something pink!

It's a little mug decorated with a red American Girl star in the middle of a white snowflake: 

Inside the mug, it looks like there's some yummy hot chocolate with whipped cream:

All three of the calendars have had a hot beverage.  Here's a comparison of the three options:

From left: My Life As, American Girl, and Our Generation hot chocolate.

My favorites are the My Life As takeout cup (which has a removable lid) and the American Girl mug.

Georgie can hold the mug, but I found this a very difficult pose to create.  I had to jam the handle tightly over four of her fingers and then hold my breath and not bump anything:

That was a good start!  And the mug isn't really a baking item, so perhaps there will be more variety to the theme than I originally expected.

Let's see if door number two has a baking delight behind it:

Behind this door, I found something folded up inside a plastic bag:

It's an apron!

I like the striped pattern on this apron, and it fits around Georgie's waist nicely:

I wish it was a full apron, with a bib on top and everything, but this is fine.  Maybe Georgie is a neater baker than I am.

Most of the doors on this calendar are pretty small, but number three is longer than average.  I wonder what could be hiding behind it?

It's something red and shiny...

It's a mixing bowl!  And it has a pretty white snowflake pattern on one side:

The bowl is a nice size for Georgie, although she can't hold it very well:

There's no dough for me to sample.

With door number four, we're back to the small size:

I see a recipe!

It's an actual recipe for gingerbread cookies:

Well, it's an ingredient list for gingerbread cookies, at least.  There are no instructions for how to actually make the cookies.  That's too bad, because if I were a kid, I'd be eager to try this out!

This surprise feels comparable to the Santa letter in the Our Generation calendar.  It's paper, so not very durable, but the written details are fun.

Door number five is really big!  In fact, this is the largest door in the whole calendar:

I hope it's something really good!

Behind the door I found...

A rolling pin!  I was excited at first, because a rolling pin is a baking essential--especially if you're making cookies.

However, this rolling pin is incredibly cheap:

It's made out of lightweight hollow plastic, and there are no moving parts.  Also, the body of the pin is completely covered with a tacky-looking white sticker that has "American Girl" printed on it.  So it doesn't look like a real rolling pin at all.  

It's more like a rolling pin-shaped advertisement for American Girl.

The rolling pin is about the right size for Georgie, though, which is nice:

This was the first moment I started to scratch my head over the price tag on this calendar.  If that rolling pin had a cheap white sticker without the AG logo on it, it'd be worth next to nothing.  I feel like it should have been a working rolling pin made out of wood--or at least heavy plastic or vinyl that looks like wood.  I mean, this is a premium brand, right?

Let's see if door number six can cheer me up!  I love the number six:

Oh!  Look at this:

It's an adorable gingerbread cookie!

The cookie has white icing decorations on the front, with little pink buttons and a matching pink bow.

The back is plain, with the American Girl mark: 

I really like this gingerbread cookie, but it's very large for Georgie!  She's probably psyched to get a cookie that's bigger than her hand:

It feels more in scale with real humans--or this is more the size of gingerbread cookies that I've made:

The gingerbread cookie is larger and looks more realistic than the one that came with the Our Generation calendar:

American Girl gingerbread cookie (left) and Our Generation gingerbread cookie (right).

To be fair, though, the Our Generation cookie came in the same compartment as another cookie and a plate.

Door number seven is one of the bigger ones!  Although I'm learning that bigger isn't always better:

This is perplexing...

Oh, I get it!  It's a big sheet of cookie dough!

This has wonderful detail, with the cracked edges, the sprinkled flour, and the shape, which looks like it's in the middle of being rolled out:

This was a very original surprise!  And it would be a really fun item for kids to have as they pretend to bake with their dolls.

Door number eight is also large:

But the surprise inside is very skinny:

It's a baking sheet:

The sheet is matte silver and has "baking spirits bright" printed in large pink lettering.  The lettering detracts from the realism for me.

The gingerbread cookie fits nicely on the sheet:

If the cookies were a more realistic size, you'd be able to fit a half dozen on there.

Sadly, I couldn't get Georgie to hold the sheet while the cookie was on it:

Maybe I ate the cookie?

With door number nine, we're back to another tiny compartment:

This one had something light blue inside...

It's a cookie cutter!

This is strange, though, because the cookie cutter isn't the same shape as the cookie:

The cookie has a skirt with little feet poking out, and the cutter has two separate legs.  That's either a really bad design choice, or it means that we're going to get another gingerbread cookie with a different shape.  And perhaps also another cookie cutter?

I found this discovery deflating.  First of all, I don't want to know what the other surprises are before I open them.  Also, if there are two cookies and two cutters, they should be packaged together behind the same door.

Let's see if door number ten has the other cookie (or the other cutter):

Nope!  This is something very different:

It's a little piping bag:

Georgie can hold this in her hand without any help:

I don't know, though.  It's a fairly boring item.  I mean, the concept is good, but the execution is underwhelming: it's a solid molded pice of vinyl.

Let me take a moment and explain where I'm coming from.  When I think of American Girl, I think of little accessories that blow my mind with their realism and detail.  Like the Science Lab set that I bought back in 2013, with it's working microscope, colorful beakers, readable text book, and little specimen slides:

America Girl Science Lab set (2013).

I want a piping bag that looks like a real piping bag!  With interchangeable nozzles or something that looks like a lump of frosting that I can put into and take out of a real fabric bag.  Is that asking too much?  Probably.  But I can wish for something more than an inert lump of vinyl, can't I?

Our Generation came closer to what I'm after in 2013 with Jenny's Gourmet Kitchen set:

Piping bag from Jenny's Gourmet Kitchen set (2013).

Before I get too crabby, let's move on to door number eleven.  It has a nice size:

This looks like a plate:

Yep!  It's a white plate with little red stars all over it:

The design is very pretty, and I like the subtle use of the American Girl star.  This plate has some dark scuffs on it, though:

But it holds the gingerbread cookie with room to spare:

Here's another reminder that the Our Generation calendar delivered two cookies and a plate in the same compartment.  However, the plate and cookie here are of higher quality.

I have a premonition that the half way point is going to be awesome: 

Awesome or not, this is certainly predictable:

It's the other kind of gingerbread cookie:

This one has blue buttons and no skirt, with a blue bow tie instead of a hair bow:

And it fits inside the cookie cutter perfectly:

It's great that the cookie cutter and the cookie match so well.  Kids could pretend to cut the cookie out.  It's too bad that the sheet of dough isn't large enough for a cutout of the cookie shape.  That would have been really fun.  And if the cookies had been smaller, it might have been an option.

Okay, number thirteen, what are you hiding?

What could this be?  It's very small and pushed up against the back of the compartment:

It's a jar of cinnamon:

This has practically no detail, though.  It's just a brown plastic cylinder with a black lid and a red sticker that says "American Girl Cinnamon."  I wish that the lid was removable or the sticker had more design elements.  It's very basic.

However!  You need cinnamon to make gingerbread cookies.  So I'm glad we have it.

Will door number fourteen have more ingredients?

I can't quite tell what this is...

It's a bag of cake flour!

This label has a lot of detail on it, including the instructions for how to make gingerbread cookies!

That's great!  Now I'm tempted to actually make the cookies to see how they turn out.  But ginger keeps me up at night, so maybe not.

The flour is a good size for Georgie:

And it has a decent weight, too.  I was curious about what's inside, so I cut the bottom of the bag open and this is what I found:

A bar of soap?

It looks like a bar of soap, but it's a solid vinyl rectangle.  I find it fascinating that the designers put some molded flour-like detail on this bar.  I guess they assumed that there would be people like me who would open the outer wrapping and see it?

The flour is much better than the cinnamon, so now I'm eager to see more ingredients!  Door number fifteen might deliver:

Oh, yeah!  I see butter:

This is a block of yellow vinyl with red lettering.  It looks very realistic:

Now we're cooking:

Door sixteen is longer than the average door, so I'm thinking maybe some milk?  Or sugar, perhaps?

I was on the wrong track.  It's a spatula:

This is necessary for making cookies, but a little boring as a surprise:

Ho ho hum.

Georgie thinks it's fun, at least:

I'm ready to flip something!

Door number seventeen is bound to have more ingredients, right?

Ooo, maybe...

Yes!  It's a package of brown sugar!

This package has some detail, although it's very lightweight, so it doesn't feel at all like real sugar.  There are polyester fibers inside, which I could tell by squeezing the bag, but it's also written on the back:

I won't have to cut this thing open.

I like the sugar more than the cinnamon, but I wish it was better.  I think perhaps the Make It Mini food sets are raising the bar to a very high level.  Those miniatures are even smaller than the American Girl items, and yet the detail is much better.

This Make it Mini bread is a good example:

Make it Mini bread loaf.

The bag is well-decorated with lots of text (including a nutrition label) and cute designs.  Also, there are detailed slices of vinyl bread inside, and the whole thing closes with a mini bag clip!  It's amazing.

But this calendar is not delivering at that level, and we're getting close to the end.  Here's door number eighteen:

And this is...

Wait, what?

It's another gingerbread man cookie.  I'm not even going to dignify this with its own picture.  Duplicates aren't cool in this format.  If you're going to have two identical items, put them in the same freakin' compartment.  Especially with a $55 calendar.

Next, please:

Door number nineteen is another predictable item:

It's the cookie cutter for the gingerbread woman:

Which is another perfect fit:

That's great and all, but the novelty of the concept has already been used up.

With only five surprises left, I'm getting a bit nervous.  Where's the big ticket item or "wow" factor with this set?  Is there even one?

Give it your best shot, number twenty!

I see some light blue...

It's molasses!  It's nice to have another ingredient:

Again, though, the details here are scant.  The lid doesn't come off and the label is very simple.

I felt like I was rushing through at this point.  The calendar had started to lose its appeal.  I mean, I'd love to have high hopes for number twenty one, but it's getting hard: 

Well, this actually looks interesting...

It's a set of colorful measuring spoons!  I love these!

Georgie can't hold them very well, but they're still really cute:

The last three doors are all in a row in the middle of the calendar, and they're all the same size:

I opened door twenty two first...

And found a spoon:

This could have been packaged with the spatula.  It doesn't have much of an impact on its own.

Door twenty three had the anticipated double gingerbread woman:

At least this wasn't the grand finale.

And the grand final is...drumroll please...

Another mug of hot chocolate:

We end where we began.

But this time the mug is blue.

So we have two mugs:

Four big cookies with two cookie cutters:

Some of the ingredients that are needed for the gingerbread cookie recipe:

No milk, ginger, cloves, baking soda, salt, or cinnamon candies, though.

There's a small collection of baking items:

The sheet of cookie dough and recipe:

And also the apron, which Georgie is still wearing.

So this is everything in the set, not including the apron:

I'm underwhelmed.  For a $55 set, each item should be worth about $2, and I don't feel like that's the case here.  Another approach would have been to have a bunch of cheaper items, and then a larger, more impressive toy to make up the difference.

Take this baking set as an example.  It also costs $55 on the American Girl website:

It has about sixteen smaller things, but also a large, working stand mixer with two different attachments.  That mixer makes it worth the price--or maybe not worth the price, but at least something I'd consider for that price.  And those dog cookies are adorable...and not repetitive.

However, given that you can get a fully-stocked kitchen island from Our Generation for $55:

I know what I'd choose.

My favorite pieces from this set are the cookies:

Despite the duplicates.

And the measuring spoons:

As much as I love the measuring spoons, I can't help but remember how there were equivalent spoons in the massive Our Generation kitchen set that I bought for $62 back in 2013:

Jenny and her Gourmet Kitchen (2013).

The thing that's nice about the American Girl set is that there are enough pieces for kids to recreate the process of baking Christmas cookies, even if some of the steps and ingredients are missing:

And if you already have the big American Girl kitchen (or the Our Generation kitchen, for that matter), these accessories would be nice filler.

In the end, the four inches of snow that we got in New Jersey this week ended up being more exciting than the calendar.  So, I took Georgie outside to investigate:

Oh, wow, what is this stuff?

She had a wonderful time tromping around in the (rapidly melting) snow.  And while we couldn't quite build a snowman, she was able to form some icy snowballs:

It all sticks together!

My primary goal for taking Georgie outside was to see if I could use the direct sunlight to showcase her eyes more effectively.

She certainly looks better in the sunlight, where it's easy to see the wonderful mismatched color in her eyes, but there still isn't a lot of sclera to be found!

Bottom line?  It was interesting to go back and experience Create Your Own American Girl again after all of these years.  I had a fun time designing Georgie, and was happy to see a new face mold, new hair colors, and a whole new assortment of outfits and accessories in the mix.  I was practically giddy as I waited for Georgie to arrive.  My initial impressions of her weren't good, though, especially because of the proportions in her eyes.  She has dead-looking eyes.  But the eyes look better in person, and I've grown to appreciate her.  I feel like the overall quality of the doll and her accessories is good, but it's still very difficult to justify the nearly $300 price tag.  You can get two regular American Girl dolls for that price...and still have some money left over.

The calendar itself was not a great experience.  I literally got bored at the end because I knew what too many of the remaining items were going to be, and the few things I didn't anticipate were not very exciting.  It's not that all of the items in this set are bad--some are very cute and well-made.  However some things, like the rolling pin, spatula, spoon, cinnamon jar, piping bag, and baking sheet, are very basic.  There's nothing special about them.  The rolling pin is an especially good example of this because of its cheap construction and tacky sticker decoration.  I expect a working, realistic-looking rolling pin from American Girl.  The highlights of the set for me are the nesting measuring spoons, the huge gingerbread cookies with their perfectly-matched cookie cutters, and that lump of partially-rolled dough.  As much as I enjoy the cookies and cookie cutters, dividing that concept among six different compartments felt like stretching a good thing way too far.  I might have enjoyed this calendar more if it was in the $25 price range, but for $55 I was not amused.

When I compare this calendar to the others that I've looked at, a few things stand out.  The American Girl mugs of hot chocolate look much more appealing to me than the strange hot chocolate from the Our Generation set.  The cookies--while huge--are more realistic as well.  The American Girl cookies are also worlds better than any of the baked goods in the My Life As calendar, and I like the AG baking theme more than the abundance of cosmetics in the My Life As set.  But I had the most fun with the Our Generation calendar.  I loved the diversity of surprises, and how I never knew what was coming next.  That calendar also had a couple of stand outs, like the skates, jewelry, and pie, and there's absolutely nothing equivalent in the American Girl set.

One positive thing that I can say for the American Girl calendar is that it's easily the best looking calendar out of the bunch.  I like the colorful gingerbread house design on the front, and while the individual calendar doors are nothing special, the kitchen design on the back is a nice touch.

Here are the basics:

Best toy: for me, probably the measuring spoons, lol.

Worst toy: the rolling pin...or maybe the spoon.

Number of okay surprises: 18

Number of great surprises: 0

Duds: 6

Excitement rating, out of 10: 5

Aesthetic rating, out of 10: 8

So that brings me to the end of my advent calendar series...or does it?  I actually have one more doll and calendar pairing that I would love to complete by the end of December--depending on how the holiday chaos plays out in my house.  So perhaps I'll be back in a week or so with that review, but if not, I wish you all warm and happy holidays!