I've had so many projects interesting me lately that I've been doing very little posting here on the blog. I keep posting the photos I take as I go along and save them as drafts and keep going along with the projects. I am now a member of several doll related groups on Facebook and every day I am inspired by the creativity of my fellow doll craft enthusiasts. Too inspired! There are so many great ideas!
So one thing I've wanted to do for a while now is to convert a female doll into a boy doll. You may wonder why I don't just purchase a boy doll outright but honestly, they are pretty rare in the 18" doll market, or any doll market really. I suppose it's because dolls are mostly played with by little girls (or their mothers! Teehee!) and little girls like to 'pretend' themselves, not little boys. So they are rare and, therefore, very expensive. So, my solution was going to be to find a female doll with a face I felt could work as a boy.
Low and behold, I was looking up Tolly-Tot Dolls on eBay for pure research purposes and I come across this doll.
I'd never seen this doll mold before from TollyTot's and I have looked at them for quite some time being as they are generally one of my favorite 18" doll brands. I am sad they no longer make them because I think they could give American Girl Doll and all the other big brands a run for their money. I digress. So this poor doll was at a very low price... Mainly, I suspect, because she looked kind of, well, dirty. I am not afraid of a little dirt though and she came with several outfits along with her which were probably worth what they were asking for the whole lot! Not to mention that I felt her face was going to make a perfect boy doll face! So I plunked down my Paypal money and had her start her postal journey to the Doll House.
I may have underestimated exactly how dirty she was though. You might have to look closely at the photos but it's almost as if someone painted a room with a roller and spattered tiny bits of paint. All over her limbs, every one of them. I was pretty disgruntled because she was listed as 'Excellent condition' and she was far from it!
Never one to back down from a challenge, especially when restoring and reinventing a doll is involved, I set to work with my Norwex Magic Eraser. Norwex doesn't have harsh chemicals like the ones you get from the grocery store do. No I don't sell Norwex, I just love their stuff. I have one of their cloths specifically for to clean my dolls. It is amazing, what it alone with water can get off the dolls! Sorry for the mini-commercial, but when I find a product I like, I endorse it all over the place.
See what i mean? FILTHY!!
There was even a spot on the body of the doll. *grumbling*
It took the entire Norwex Magic Eraser (it was brand new when I started cleaning doll!) but she came completely clean!
So as not to confuse the poor doll... At this point and going forward and I am going to start using the proper pronoun. Here he is, all cleaned up and ready for a hair cut.
**IF YOU ARE A CHILD: NEVER CUT A DOLLS HAIR WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM A PARENT!!**
I knew I wanted his hair cut, it was going to be my first option for changing his hair look anyway... Figured if the cut didn't go, I would just cut it all off and put a boy wig on him. I'd found one on eBay for a good price that I'd bought and had set aside for the hopeful eventuality of finding a doll to convert. However, I know nothing about cutting hair, human, doll or otherwise. I knew I'd do a terrible job! Well... Lucky for me, I have amazing girlfriends!! One of them just happens to be a stylist who loves me enough to take a stab at cutting a boy cut into a plugged doll head of hair.
Here she is, doing an amazing job! I am so grateful that she helped me out!
So... After she was all done, he was perfect!!
The girls were so excited to get a brother!!
Here they are, all having dinner together! I have decided to call him Joshua John. After my favorite guy in all the world and my favorite book of the Bible! He can go by J.J. for short. I think he looks like a J.J.
Well that's it for this post! You'll be seeing a lot more of J.J. in the future!! It was so much fun creating a boy that I know I'll make another one as soon as I can find another likely candidate! I already have a spare boy doll wig...
See you next time!
XXOO
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