Welcome to the second annual Little Miss Playthings contest!

What is this?

Little Miss Playthings is a photo-taking contest named after the American Girl Playthings forum. Want to enter? Awesome, keep reading.

How Do I Play?

1. Read the ENTIRETY rules.

2. Send in an entry form and a photo. You'll find the form at the end.

3. Start taking pictures! You will take one photo for each of the five categories (you'll find a list below).

4. Have each entry in by the day it is due. You can turn it in earlier then that, certainly, but DON'T TURN IT IN LATER!

After that, I will post the pictures and people from all around the Internet will vote on which picture they like best! More on voting once the rounds start.

What are the rules?

Here we go, in no particular order:

• Any doll may enter. American Girl, Not American Girl, historical, modern, whichever.

• Boy dolls may enter too.

• Your doll may wear anything in the photos she (or he?) likes. If your doll wears the same thing in each photo, that's fine. If your doll wears something different in each photo, that's fine too.

• Only one photo per round.

• Other dolls may be in an entered photo, however, the doll in the contest must be clearly visible. Don't stick the doll at the bottom of a doll pile.

• Please, no nude, bleeding, or otherwise gross human parts in the picture. After that, anything goes.

• You need to enter your appropriate classification. See below.

• No photo may have a side longer than 500 pixels. Any entry with a side longer than 500 pixels will be resized

• You may color correct photos, resize photos, or crop photos. You may NOT enter photos with other obvious Photoshop effects.

Classifications? What the snap?

There are two classes this year--one for participants over 18, one for participants under 18 WITH NO ADULT ASSISTANCE. Both classifications will compete separately. Every voter will be able to award points in both classifications.

If you are over 18, or you are under 18 and receiving help from someone over 18 (for example, a mother helping her daughter take photos), you must enter the over 18 classification.

If you are under 18 and not receiving any help from anyone over 18, you may opt to enter the under 18 classification. You will need to submit proof to an American Girl Playthings moderator that you are under 18, along with permission to enter and/or receive prizes from a parent or guardian. Of course, you can always opt to enter the over 18 category too.

If not enough people enter into the under 18 classification, all under 18 entrants will be placed into the over 18 classification.

Both classifications will receive prizes, and both classification's prizes will be of equal value.

What are the rounds?

Two are the same, three are different. Here we go!

Round 1 -- Color: Rock this one down however you want. You can choose a monochrome theme, or a spiffin' color pallet. Are you showing off your doll's favorite color? Maybe she has a wild hair color? Or maybe her clothes have something special and colorful? This one's wide open, so do what you want.

Round 2 -- Outside: Everyone and their brother loves doll outside photos. Get a shot of your doll playing, running, jumping, or doing anything outside. Keep in mind that for this category, you'll need to use some wits to score serious points -- to stick out, you'll need to do something different besides be Photo #423 of A Doll Looking At Flowers.

Round 3 -- Night Time: What goes on in your house at night? Wild pajama parties? Popcorn popping? Truth or dare? Or do they go outside at night? Or do they fall asleep before sun down? You show us, you're the photographer! (Please use caution if you plan to go outside at night to take pictures.)

Round 4 -- About Me: This photo needs to be about your doll's personality and/or talents. Let her show off her hobby, or maybe a particular skill she's good at. You would know, you wrote those six books about her, right? *coughcough*

Round 5 -- Anything Goes: This is a picture of your choosing. You might opt to send a photo of your doll in a nice nature setting, or maybe doing something silly. Anything! The sky's the limit!

Of course, these are suggestions meant to get you thinking. You'll do much better if you come up with something wholly original. (Hint: If you work to be very, very original, your photo will stand out from everyone else's, making it easier for you to get votes.)

When is all of this due?

Our calendar:

YOUR ENTRY FORM IS DUE: June 27th

ROUND ONE ENTRIES ARE DUE: July 6th

ROUND TWO ENTRIES ARE DUE: July 13th

ROUND THREE ENTRIES ARE DUE: July 20th

ROUND FOUR ENTRIES ARE DUE: July 27th

ROUND FIVE ENTRIES ARE DUE: August 3rd

WINNERS ANNOUNCED: August 10th

Remember, you can send a photo in before the due date, but you can't send one in AFTER! All entries are due on their date at Midnight Eastern time!

No photo may have a side longer than 500 pixels. Any entry with a side longer than 500 pixels will be resized.

If this is too much to remember, please mail Little Miss Playthings to be put on the Google Calendar. (You use Google Calendars, right?)

How do I enter?

Either email the following to Little Miss Playthings or, on American Girl Playthings, send a private message to beanbunny with this information:

Your Name (an Internet handle is fine):

Your doll's name:

Anything you want us to know about your doll (what sort of doll is she, what's her personality/story, what does she do in her spare time, what's the name of her pet turtle, so forth):

A photograph of your doll. No photo may have a side longer than 500 pixels. Any photo with a side longer than 500 pixels will be resized.

Classification (Under or Over 18 -- Remember, Under 18 people MUST submit proof and permission to an American Girl Playthings moderator as outlined in the Little Miss Playthings rules):

Thank you very much for reading down this far! If you have any questions, please send them to Little Miss Playthings or, on American Girl Playthings, send a private message to beanbunny.

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