Dolls and Zit Cream

 This is a picture from May that I never posted to the blog.

I was doing zit cream treatment for the secondhand dolls.

I covered any stains on the vinyl with zit cream and then Saran Wrap. The zit cream was over-the-counter 10% benzyl peroxide.

I covered their bodies with grocery bags if they weren't being treated, in case of birds or something.

Then I put the dolls out on the porch to soak in the sun.

I think I treated a total of seven dolls. I did GOTY Nicki, Josefina II, Isabelle, Mia, Angelica (JLY 26), Sophie (JLY 32) and Rachel (JLY 12.) 

It took several days of treatments. Each doll got 3-7 days. I replaced the zit cream if it totally dried up. Usually each application of zit cream lasted two days before drying up.

Some of the dolls have lost all of their stains. Some still need a bit more treatment. But it really works and they really look better!

I didn't take before and after pictures. It was overwhelming enough putting the dolls out each day, taking them in at night and checking progress.

I don't know what to do about Mia, who has pink staining around her eyebrows. Zit treatment on her would fade the eyebrows as well at the stain. I just treated her legs.

The Corolle baby doll you can see on the right didn't have any stains. I am trying to get rid of a persistent smell of cheap perfume, and hoped that sun exposure would help her. She has been soaked in baking powder, run though the washing machine, washed with vinegar and soaked in the sun, and she still smells. Originally she smelled like cigarettes and cheap perfume. Now she only smells like perfume, so I guess that's progress.

Adding Wefts to Doll Wig

 This was inspired by someone on Facebook who posted about adding colored wefts to the existing wig of an American Girl doll to give a more interesting look.

I bought hair clip-ons on Amazon that were attached to barrettes. Most of the colors available were neon and hurt  my eyes. I bought the pink because it wasn't neon.

I had found this Just Like You 32 at the thrift store for $35. I decided to use her because I wasn't attached to her at all, and I thought this was a low-risk project. 

Honestly, there have been so many blonde haired, blue eyed dolls throughout my childhood, that they are not my favorite anyway. It was rare even to find a brunette doll, and that made me excited because I am brunette.

I took the hair clips and used an embroidery scissors to remove the clip part. This left me with just the wefts of hair.

I did not remove the wig from the doll's head. I just lifted up sections of her hair. There are wefts sewn in rows on the wig. I hand sewed the pink wefts in between the existing wefts of the wig, while it was still on the doll's head. I went all around the doll's head in a row. This took four wefts.

I tried adding wefts to her bangs as well so that they would have some pink, but that just did not go well. The added weft stood out stiffly at an angle and did not incorporate. I was able to remove it again.

The rest of the wig looks good, I think. It's a subtle look, which is what I was going for.

The wefts were longer than the rest of the wig, and I had to trim them. That was scary for me. I do not think of myself as skilled at cutting hair. But I did it, and I think it looks fine!

I think if I had a hair iron, it would help integrate the old and new hair a bit if I flat ironed it all together.

I am pleased with this project. I am trying to come up with a name for this doll. She has more personality now.

Removing Painted Eyelashes

 I knew that when I got Maritza and Makena, I would want to remove their painted eyelashes. These have been a sore spot with me ever since Nanea, and I particularly dislike the ones on the World By Us dolls.

Luckily, I saw a post on a forum about using "Windsor & Newton - Brush Cleaner & Restorer" to remove markings from doll vinyl. I bought it at Joann. It cost $8, but I was able to use a 50% off coupon. The cleaner was in a locked case at the store I went to, and I had to get an employee to unlock it so I could buy it.

I used this on the dolls with a toothbrush, so I could control where the fluid went.

I used a dry paper towel to wipe their faces clean after removing any sections of face paint.

I was able to use this successfully on Maritza, Makena and Corinne.

I like all three doll much better this way! I think it looks best on Makena in particular. It makes her look older.

Funnily, one of my friends misunderstood me and thought I was removing their eyebrows.

She said she thought that this was a bad idea, but she was going to support me anyway. I agree, it would have been a bad idea! Although I wish that Maritza's eyebrows were slightly higher on her forehead.

Usually, when I get a new doll, I enjoy them a bit as they come before I make any changes.

 But I knew that this was a change that I wanted, and I am very happy with it.

Saving Samantha

Both of my Samanthas have had missing limbs for at least two years now.

You may be wondering, why do I have two Samanthas?

Samantha number one is a Pleasant Company doll that I got on ebay when I was in grad school.

She was my third AG, and a childhood dream.

More than a childhood dream, I did not dare dream for more than the two dolls I had, Felicity and Anne.

Then I got the second Samantha, also on ebay, more recently, as part of a plan to give each of my cousin's daughters an AG doll when they are old enough. The girls in question are still a bit young for this and I am not sure how/ if I want to do this.

Amway, the Pleasant Company Samantha, which I had already worked on once, lost both arms and a leg, and the second Samantha lost a leg. Plus her remaining limbs were wobbly.

Call it The Curse of the Two Samanthas. It could be a Nancy Drew mystery.

Dolly First Aid

What do you do when your photo session goes wrong?

Right after I took this picture, Laura fell in the creek, face forward.

Removing Toe Nail Polish from Dolls

So the next step that I needed in fixing up my garage sale finds, Kaya and Julie, was removing the nail polish from their toes.

For this, I needed two items: a toothbrush and non-acetone nail polish remover.

It was a simple procedure: I took off their clothes and scrubbed the toes with nail polish remover, using the toothbrush.

Kaya's Beauty Treatment

My Future Custom Kaya's hair was definitely a mess when I got her. It's been cut in the back, just at the nape of the neck, and although you can hardly see it, this gives me the impetuous that I need to re-wig her.

She's the doll on the left, and she needs help.

What I hope to find is an Ivy wig or one that looks like it. This may be hard to find.
The closest  wig that I have found is Monique's China Doll wig, and it needs to be cut shorter.

In the meanwhile, I don't want Kaya sitting around looking like a cast member of Annie.

I also felt that since this wig already has problems, it is perfect for experimentation.

So I boiled her hair.

Zombie Dolls- the fine art of doll restoration

Warning: there are no actual zombies in this post.

There are, however, nude dolls in pieces.

Saturday was my first time experiencing doll restoration, under the extremely friendly guidance of mcooper.

I wanted to document the process to help others. I didn't get as many photos as I should have, and I don't necessarily know all of the technical terms. But here goes!