bayleafmaria

[bayleafmaria]

Keeping Childhood Friends

So, this post is a little different than the first few of custom American Girls (though you can say hello to Sorcha on the left side of the photo) and a little more of a piece of my story.

Why I collect dolls. And why I cling to my childhood vinyl and plush friends into adulthood.

To put it simply? Kids can be fair weather friends. Dolls and plushies are always there with lots of love and cuddles, ready for play time even if all your friends are too busy for you.

My best friend was as loyal as her mother allowed and we spent the majority of our childhoods together, yes. But most of my other friends? I was a second thought, the go to when everyone else was busy. Or the one who got hung out with when their parents needed a break, so they called my mom or invited me over to make use of my skill for keeping my fellow kids out of trouble. 

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the handful of vaguely younger friends I accrued playing mother’s helper - but I was always aware that their parents let me spend 3-4 nights in a row with them because I was the “safe” friend who could be counted on to act my age and look after the younger kids. Be a good example, so to say. I was also aware of the friends who were only my playmates when their parents shunted them onto my mother.

So, on the days when I didn’t have my best friend and I hadn’t been called on to babysit or befriend someone via my mother, I would find myself feeling very alone. Not lonely, per say, just alone. So, I would tumble into my imagination, games and stories with my toys.

My dolls and plush friends became some of the closest and best friends I would ever have. When I wanted to play, they were never busy. When I wanted to cuddle, they never resisted me.  When I talked, they always listened and never tried to shut me down or shut me up. When I wanted to read, they were content to snuggle up in bed beside me. I came to love my time with my dolls and plushies. I came to treasure the hours spent making up stories, styling and tending to my toy friends.

And now as a (slightly dysfunctional) adult, I find it a comfort when life gets hard to bring out a few dolls and do their hair, change their clothes, make things for them, take photos and make up stories. It releases the stress of the day when I can sit down with my dolls and “play” for a little while. Putting together my latest custom, opening up a new addition, repairing an old friend. It’s all just relaxing for me.

Some people question why I choose to spend my time this way. Why I take my dolls out of their packages and play with them instead of saving them to increase their value. My answer is this: Why do you play video games, draw things, go fishing, watch TV, whatever your hobby of choice is? Because it’s fun, relaxing, comforting, familiar, exciting. Because it’s the thing that makes you smile and helps you wind down and find yourself under the shell you wear for the world. That’s why I spend my free time with my dolls. And why I will always treasure the childhood friends who still sit with the rest of my collection.

There you have it...the heart and soul of my doll collection is that I love my loyal plastic friends, I enjoy spending time with them and they help me cope when life gets too hard to handle.

[bayleafmaria]

There are a lot of tales of old Ireland. Tales of what came before, of castles and treasures and what was once considered the magic of Ireland.

One of these tales in particular is about a Princess. She was the light of Ireland, her name reflected that. She was called Sorcha of the clan O'Reilly.

Now, the thing about Irish women is that they have a sixth sense. A unique bond with those they hold dear, like a web of silver threads spreading from their hearts to the hearts of those they're truly close to, binding them together.

Men can have a version of the Irish sense too, mind you it's usually a little bit off kilter and often not as strong, a side effect of being the male twin in a pair.

This sense is the magic of Ireland. And Sorcha's was strong. One of the strongest in the land...

~~~~

"Don't be wanderin' too far, darlin'" Sorcha heard the familiar voice of her favorite lady in waiting call out, her Auburn curls whipping across her face when she spun around.

"I won't go far, mam. Just to the cottage at the edge of the woods is all," Sorcha called back to her, bright green eyes full of mischief.

"I'll believe that when the farmer's cattle sprout wings and fly south for the colder months, ya trouble maker," The lady pushed a couple of curls back into the band that was supposed to hold them back as she watched Sorcha trot off into the woods, her staff strapped at her back and wild red curls flying in the breeze, "Be back fer dinner so I'm not explainin' to the queen again that her little princess has gone runnin' amok! And don't ya be goin' anywhere near tha Sorceress's cottage either!"

"Relax, Aislynn," Sorcha's answer came as an echo, a soft pulse of affection from the girl accompanying it and pulling a some from Aislynn.

Sorcha ducked past a few branches, words she knew better than to say escaping when her hair caught on one of them.

Several minutes later, she stepped into the clearing at the edge of the trees, staring at the cottage ahead of her. One hand reached back to loosen the staff from it's strap while the other adjusted the slightly crooked circlet she wore atop her unruly curls.

After a moment, Sorcha stepped over to knock at the door, waiting for the woman inside to shuffle toward the door and open it.

"Princess. I felt your power…you are strong. So strong," The old Sorceress's voice was quiet as she greeted Sorcha, "Come inside, I have much to show you…"

[bayleafmaria]

The Making of Sorcha

Forewarning for you....there was one more photo in this set, but I’ve been told a doll head with no eyes is too creepy, so we’re going to skip a few steps in this process... One of my favorite ways to add new friends to my doll collection is to customize them myself...this particular little Princess was my first full custom (well, that’s a lie...she’s my second, but the first was truly an experiment. I didn’t take process pictures of Sky). She started her life as a beat up second hand Just Like You #3 doll whose hair was cut and very dry and her eyes so scuffed she’d have been blind.

First step was actually cleaning her vinyl and her body, the second was adding freckles and a little fresh color to her face, to give her life. This shot is step three...replacing her scuffed and damaged blue eyes with these beautiful Enigma green eyes I bought on Etsy (note to self, find the store). This was not a complete success the first time out and I wound up buying an identical pair of the same eyes to try again, since I broke the first pair completely.

Step four...releasing the wig (from ZaZou Custom Dolls) from its hairnet and trying it on, it wasn’t glued down yet in this shot (and if you’re wondering, E6000 adhesive...tacky glue is preferred if there’s any chance you might want to take the wig off later, but if I put a wig on my doll and decide to glue that sucker down, it’s not meant to come off so I use the stronger glue), this was the trial shot. Then I put my phone down and added glue. 

Hint: Apply your glue directly to the inside of the wig cap, not the doll’s head. If you put the glue on the head, you will accidentally drag the wig through the glue and have to wash the hair, which, with curly wigs, is not always practical or easy. Glue inside the wig cap, not too close to the edges, you will not get in her hair as easily.

Then it was time to put her back on her body...on an American Girl from the era Sorcha is from, that’s easy...she has the string at her neck that allows you to slip her head into her body and pull tight/tie a knot to secure her head to her body. Before I did that, though, I set her head aside for the glue to cure and went to work on tightening her limbs and adding new stuffing...I had to toss the old stuffing when I cleaned her, it smelt a little funny and I had to soak her cloth body to clean it, so I just tossed it. Standard polyfil pillow stuffing will do, and you’ll want a large paint brush handle or knitting needle type thing to push the stuffing into place...takes quite a lot of stuffing for a little doll.

Et viola, we added the Celtic Princess outfit from Carpatina Dolls to finish the look, and there you have her. Sorcha O’Reilly, Princess of Ireland. Still missing a couple of accessories, but I didn’t get those done until the following week...

The final look, complete with her staff, crown and wolf pup. Isn’t she something?

[bayleafmaria]

Meet Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom. A customized American Girl doll with a new wig and new face paint, plus the American Girl Grecian Goddess costume.

In reality, Eliana "Athena" Katsaros is a math nerd with a love of history and a creative streak. If she had her way, she would spend all her time exploring the ancient world, finding out what happened and why it happened.

In Xander's eyes, Eliana is a Goddess with Athena's wisdom and Aphrodite's beauty. His Goddess. Eliana still thinks of herself as a Goddess-in-training, she's still getting used to being called Athena. But Xander makes her feel worthy of sharing the Goddess's name with just one smile. She will learn to be the Goddess he believes she is in time.

[bayleafmaria]

Angela's Tangents

Bay note: I would like to introduce my friend Angela, our resident doll restoration expert. She'll have two separate series, Angela's Tangents and Dolly Doctor.

--*--*--

Angela here. Today's tangent is going to be about age limiting, maturity and dolls.

I collect dolls, I have since I was twelve. I'm in my twenties now and my collection comes in around five hundred distinctly different dolls, everything from Polly Pocket's Fashion Polly dolls to American Girls and a few dozen things in between.

When I was twelve, girls still had their Barbies and played with them too. Nobody was ashamed of having Barbies or Bratz, it was more a question of whose dolls were prettiest, who had which playsets and what ones were most recently released.

Today, I see an abundance of two behaviors:

A) Kids at twelve years old asking if they're too old to play with toys/own dolls/collect dolls. Because society's expectation is that twelve year olds be more concerned with appearance and whether they have the latest iPhone or designer clothes. They'll be mocked and made fun of for owning a symbol of childhood like a doll or a plush toy.

B) Teenagers and adults alike confessing to th internet that they have a doll collection, but they keep it hidden from the world because someone might think it stupid or immature of them to have dolls at their age. They can tell the internet because the internet is full of folks like them, who love these 'childish' things, yet feel like the world will look down on them for it.

The way I see it, a kid playing with dolls at twelve or thirteen is one kid who isn't busy starving herself to fit into the smallest size or getting into trouble online. It's a kid being a kid, that's all.

And adults who collect? Tell me something, adult collectors...how many of you started out buying a doll or toy you either had or couldn't get as a kid and still wanted? How many of you are right there with me, holding onto the last scrap of your innocence and the days before adulting became your new normal?

I know I am. I own American Girls because I didn't as a kid. I bought Solo in the Spotlight repro Barbie because I had the McDonalds one as a kid and loved her. I still have my very first Sparkle Beach Teresa doll and several other childhood friends I held onto. Because they bring me comfort and joy. Making new things for my dolls and buying old dolls to restore...that's what makes me happy.

I don't think there's an age limit on dolls. Nor do I think dolls are a waste of time. Just because I don't come home from work and decide to spend the rest of my day deep cleaning the house every day does not make my choice of pastimes a waste of time.

So...there you have my tangent. Thanks for listening.

-Angela

[bayleafmaria]

Aralyn

'It doesn't belong in our waters,' Aralyn's voice echoed in the minds of the other mermaids nearby as she swam up to examine the large, snowflake shaped thing that had landed in the ocean above their city.

'Do not start a battle you cannot win, my daughter,' A male voice echoed in her mind, warning her away from the floating object although she dismissed it without a second thought.

Swimming toward the surface, Aralyn broke out of the water, the patchy scales over her torso glittering in the sunlight. Kelp tangled, dark blue tinted hair glued to her face, her clouded eyes almost hidden from view until a claw-like hand shoved it out of the way behind an ear.

Staring up at the spires of the large city, a hiss of aggravation escaped the mermaid, electricity sparking out of her fingertips to skitter across the water toward the city.

This thing did not belong in the ocean, her ocean. And she would do everything in her power to rid their world of it.

[bayleafmaria]

Courtney (left) and Emma (right) have both been treated with Turpenoid for the dreaded Glue Hair. Can you see the difference?

[bayleafmaria]

Glue Hair No More!!!

So, this is for those of you who have had a Mattel doll in the last several years that has come down with the dreaded glue hair problem. When your doll’s head is full of hard, sticky glue that seeps out into her hair and makes it all sticky, clumpy and nasty.

Baby powder only works on the ones with light colored hair cos’ it leaves a dusty residue. Ditto for cornstarch. A lot of the suggested cures are toxic, nasty chemicals that can remove the doll’s face paint if you get it too close and they don’t always want to work the first, second or third time out. Even good old trusty Dawn dish soap doesn’t cut this greasy mess. But this does:

Turpenoid, pictured above, is a natural, nontoxic cleaner and conditioner for paint brushes --meant as a solvent for oil based paints!

It’s nowhere near as harsh as degreasers and other cleaning chemicals and it has conditioner meant for synthetic bristles built into the formula. The best part? It won’t take your doll’s face off and the fumes won’t suffocate you!

The cleaning process for doll hair is a two to four step process depending on the amount of glue ick in your doll’s hair.

1. Start by pouring some Turpenoid into a tupperware or other dish of your choice - I used a disposable tupperware- and dip your doll’s hair into it. Work it around with your hands the same as you would to clean a paintbrush and don’t be shy about getting it on the doll’s scalp too, where the glue seeps out from.

2. Now take your doll to the sink -- and make sure you use COLD water only!!! Hot water will only make the glue seepage worse as it softens the glue inside the head! -- Add some Dawn dish soap to her hair and lather it up real good and bubbly before you rinse.

**If your doll’s hair feels odd between your fingers after it’s rinsed, don’t worry, That’s as much from the sticky glue that has come off on your hands as anything. I repeat those two steps a second time for safety, just to be sure the remaining ick feeling IS what’s on my hand and not the doll’s hair.

Final step is to lay your doll out on a towel and let her dry thoroughly! 

Thanks to the brush conditioner in the Turpenoid, your doll’s hair should come out not only clean but soft and smooth as new and easy to brush.

Here’s a Rapunzel doll I did the Turpenoid wash on last night~

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl6PAUjHvnS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[bayleafmaria]

Welcome to the Blog!

If you've seen me on Instagram, you know I am an avid doll collector and that my collection is not limited to one type of doll. It's in fact a scattered mix of all types of dolls.

If I can manage to keep this blog up, you will meet some of the main characters soon who will guide you through various types of posts here.

Top to bottom: Aang and Carson Beckett, Bailey "Bay" Maria Roberts and Karina "Kari" Brooks

...Will introduce you to more later 😉