To Wig or Not To Wig, That Is The Question?

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

So recently, as you know if you read this little blog regularly, I've been on a bit of a 'kick' where I am going to force myself to purge some dolls from my somewhat embarrasingly huge collection. Either that or force myself to make over whichever dolls I have that collect dust in their hair into dolls that I love too much to leave on the shelf. If that makes sense. So quite a few of my dolls have gotten makeovers into OOAK or One Of A Kind Dolls lately and I've been really having quite a bit of fun with it!

So Electra here really has always been a favorite because she is a Tolly Tot Doll and a doll named Rose was my very first 18inch doll. She was a garage sale doll but was my first 18inch doll, a gift to me from my daughter from her small collection way back when I made my very first upcycled doll clothes to use as a 'fit doll'. So even though they don't make them anymore, Tolly's will always have  a special place in my heart. I got Electra on eBay for a steal once but her hair was always a bit of a mess. 

I'd hot water dipped her hair and everything but it never sorted out the sad bushy frayed ends. I had always considered just cutting off the horrible ends but worried I'd mess up and make her worse and so she has spent her entire time in the doll house with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. However, I still loved her silver and purple hair and so I never really wanted to take the plunge and re-wig her. Until recently as I realized she hardly ever leaves the shelf or the doll rack and so it was time to do something about her hair. So, I ordered a 'white' wig (it was my mothers day gift from hubby cos he asked what I really wanted), determined to just cut off her hair and put a new wig on.

I saw in mail tracking that the wig would likely be here the next day and so I figured I'd get her out and perhaps cut her hair off so I'd be able to just put the doll wig on when it arrived. 

See? Isn't it dreadful?? There was no way she could ever wear her hair down with it looking like this. As I pulled it down, knowing I was probably going to cut it all off, I thought "Well, why not at least try to see what it looks like if I just cut off the damaged parts". So I did that...

And after I was done, I couldn't decide what I thought. Upon looking at the photos this morning (I cut her hair last night) I realize it likely needs to be 'shaped' just a bit better on the ends but... Honestly, I think she looks pretty cute like this. I am going wash it tonight and give her another hot water dip but.... I might just leave it as her hair. Like I say, I always loved the silver hair with purple highlights and so if I can manage to keep it, I likely will. What do you think? Be kind, I am not a hair stylist by any stretch of the imagination! I just tried to do what I've seen them do on my own head a hundred times... I pinned up the top portions and worked from the 'underneath' out. If that makes sense. 

All in all, I think she looks pretty cute! So let me know what you think? I'll show you how she comes out after her shampoo and hot dip too... If I don't end up using the pretty white wig on her, I am 99% certain some other doll in my collection is going to end up with it because it's super pretty too!

Better run!

Till next time!

XXOO

Heather

Makeover Time! Madame Alexander 18inch Doll Goodwill Find!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!!

I went into Goodwill on Monday on my way home from work... 

I found this beautiful Madame Alexander 18inch doll for only $3.99!! Score!!

Poor beauty had been very shabbily treated!! I try hard not to judge but I just can't imagine treating a doll so poorly. I try to remember that to many people dolls are just 'just another toy' and so are likely treated just like any other bit of plastic and fluff... I know my own daughter has, more than a few times, had her fashion dolls hair get into tangled messes. So it's all a matter of priorities, eh? The good news being is that this particular doll was in for a makeover and residence at the Doll House where all dolls are treated pretty well if I do say so... Teehee.

Her hair was in such disarray that I was a bit convinced that I'd just scalp her and give her a whole new look with a new wig...

When I got her home I was shocked to discover that not only was she wearing a nearly complete (no shoes or tights) outfit... But it was also her 'meet outfit'! Meaning it was the outfit she arrived in when she was new in the box. How did I know this? Because the stitches they put in the clothing to keep it looking it nice, but that also basically sews it on the doll, hadn't ever been removed. Isn't that crazy? Nearly the first thing I want to do when I get a new doll is change her clothes. Haha. Perhaps they didn't have any other doll clothes? Perhaps they didn't like dolls and got her as a gift and just tossed her into the toy box? Who can know? However that meant, to me, that I had just gotten a nearly new Madame Alexander deluxe doll for $3.99!! Why do I call her a deluxe doll? Because she has 'rubber' feeling limbs and a good armature... I will have to pull out a couple of different Madame Alexander dolls soon and show you the differences. They've been released by several different stores under different names and the quality differs depending on which they were. Once you get interested in 18inch dolls, it can kind of blow your mind the seemingly endless 'kinds' there are!! For someone who is a collector, like me, this is dangerous information. Because you end up like "I want one of ALL the dolls!!". Or one of each type and then one of each variety and on and on.... Then there are customs which opens a whole new can of worms! You see the hazard? Oh well, there are worse things to worry about than having too many dolls. Eh? 

I didn't have anything to loose by trying to fix her hair.... I brushed it out as well as I could with my doll/wig hairbrush, washed and conditioned it and then hot dipped it and brushed it out again. In the initial brushing she lost a bit of hair but given that she was still in her meet outfit, I don't think she'd ever lost any before due to rough brushing or styling... She'd just been dumped into the toy box gotten Toy-Box-Dread-Locks very organically just like people get them in real life; by not brushing or washing or doing anything at all to her hair! Haha! So... Once I brushed it out, despite having lost a bit, it was still full and pretty!

Here she is, all cleaned up and brushed out....

And after her hair dried....

When I first found her I thought she'd look a lot like the other brown hair and brown eyes Madame Alexander doll I own named Mary.

But once I got her home, I realized that they weren't twins at all! I can't decide for sure but I think that they might even have different face sculpts...?

I've always thought Mary had a sort of middle eastern look to her... Hence my naming her Mary after Jesus' mother. I thought she could very well look a lot like Mary might have....

Whereas the new Madame Alexander, who I've decided to name Patti, looks a bit more like the 'girl next door' American, if that is a good description. I named her after my lovely friend Patti who I have breakfast and Bible study with every week because she looks a lot like her! 

Here she is with Mary and Nicky (the blonde, another MA doll) 

They are both so pretty! Do you think they have different sculpts? I can't decide!

Out of time! Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Till next time!

XXOO
Heather

A Vintage Gotz' Doll Joins the Doll House Sorority!

Greetings and Salutations Doll Friends!

I've always wanted a Gotz 18" Doll. They are so pretty and just a bit different enough than all the other 18" dolls there are out there that I wanted to add one to the Doll House. However, they are not come by inexpensively for the most part. On eBay they generally range from $40 and up, with the lower end of the range being dolls that need a bit of TLC in order to make them presentable again. The new ones available now are from Pottery Barn Kids and are around $100 new. You can find them here if you're curious what they look like. 

As many of you already know, when I am in the area of one my favorite thrift shops, if I have time, I always drop in and browse around for any of my regularly checked for items. Wait a minute... I feel a blog coming on with that comment... I'll have to come back sometime and tell you what sorts of things I look for and ask about yours! But that's another blog! Back to the Gotz dolls! I stopped into one recently and I look up to the top shelf and the first thing I see is her feet. I grabbed her immediately, before I had any idea what she was... Her dress was what I was looking at, at first. Here she is, in that dress!

Isn't she pretty!? I loved her immediately, before I was even positive what sort of doll she was. I really love the brown eyes with blonde hair combination, it's just so striking. When I realized she was a Gotz doll, I may or may not have jumped up and down squeeling like a little girl in the thrift shop I was in. Teehee. She was marked 99cents!! *happydance*

She was a bit messy... Her face needed washed... I was looking her over as I got home and as I was taking off her dress to inspect her, what did I find but....

She was signed!! She was made in 1990!! That was a great year for me and so it made me love her even more. No one could pry this doll out of my hands now! She was meant to be mine! I'd explain all the reasons but they'd sound sappy to you in all likelyhood and don't matter anyway. You know what a good year means... Some are better than others, right? I digress. She was SIGNED!! She was in great shape other than her face and limbs needing washed with a warm washcloth and her hair... I'll get to that...

Here is the tag in her dress so it is the original dress she came in!!! It is in beautiful shape, no tears or rips or anything! A bit dusty from display is all... I should mention that she is a bit different than the more modern day Gotz 18" dolls. She has a 'soft body that isn't posable really. I could install an armature in her I suppose, like I did here. I don't think I will though... I don't want to change her! She's 25 years old! 

Here is her neck marking. It reads Gotz 90 129/74

Did I mention her hair being a bit of a mess. Well, that was probably a huge understatement because her hair was a nightmare of knots and tangles. Really, should she have been any other doll, I might've considered it too much trouble and passed on her but... She is a Gotz. She needed to be restored!! So... Using several techniques I've learned from my doll friends on Facebook, I slowly worked her hair out. I started with a slow, bottom to top, section by section, slow deliberate detangling of her hair with a wire wig hair brush. It took a lot of breaks and patience. Then I shampooed her hair, not getting her scalp wet because I am nervous about plugged hair dolls getting water in their head and mildewing and, um, not on my Gotz doll. So I shampooed her hair with gentle shampoo, put in some conditioner as a 'cream rinse' so it'd be a bit more shiny, then I hot dipped her hair in this process although I was more nervous doing hers than I have been with any other doll... But.... It was worth it!! Here she is, all happy and restored to her former beauty!

I love her! I haven't named her yet... I want to pick something special. Stay tuned, I'll come back and update when I decide. You can leave suggestions in the comments!

That's it for now Doll Friends! See you soon!!