Warning ahead for naked dolls.
There happens to be a flea market relatively near my home. I had seen some relatively cheap dolls that looked like good TLC projects there before, but this was the first time I had decided to set out to find some dolls specifically to repair.
There happens to be a flea market relatively near my home. I had seen some relatively cheap dolls that looked like good TLC projects there before, but this was the first time I had decided to set out to find some dolls specifically to repair.
I picked up all four of these girls, and they are in surprisingly good shape! Most have good firm limbs and their eyes seem to be in pretty good shape, maybe sticking a little bit.
Furthest to the left, here's the one I'm referring to as Pink Lady because she came with what looks like pink nail polish all over her cloth body. I almost left her there, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it when I was taking everyone else.
She is filthy. I'm going to have to figure out how to clean her hair - some sections are black with gunk. As I started wiping her down, I found evidence that there had been some nail polish lipstick applied at some point.
She and Nellie are the grossest out of the group; I saw them there a couple of weeks ago, when they were marked at a higher price, and I think they've been sitting there collecting dust for a while.
I believe this is Kirsten. Maybe one of the American Girl of Today/Just Like You line that looks similar? The others all have American Girl stamps on their necks, but hers says Pleasant Company.
Her limbs are a little loose, and it looks like someone attempted to apply some eyeshadow. There was a little paint on one arm and some reddish stains on her legs. When I took her hair out of its bun, it looked like it had been cut.
JLY #26. Isn't she gorgeous?!? She's also in fantastic shape and I barely had to wipe down her limbs at all. Her hair is another story; I hope I can get it looking nice without losing those curls.
And Nellie. Nellie used to be one of my dream dolls; I ended up creating Larkin based on, among other things, my favorite traits from Nellie. She's pretty grungy too.
So far, I have started wiping them down. The great news is that all that gunk and dust has been wiping off pretty easily - even the "eye shadow" on Kirsten! There are a few marks I haven't been able to get off yet, and I'm sort of dreading the attack on their hair, but Kirsten's (?) wig is already choppy, and I think the straight hair may be more forgiving.
I was concerned about Pink Lady and Nellie's cloth bodies; they were pretty grungy, too. So I beheaded and unstuffed them, put their bodies into a pillowcase, and am going to try machine-washing them and then letting them air-dry. We will see how this affects Pink Lady's nail polish stains.
I don't know if you can tell very well from this photo, but their stuffing looks very different. Pink Lady's was in lots of small fluffy clumps. Nellie's is much more flat and in large, distinct sections.
The plan is to get these girls fixed up and move them on to new homes. One may be staying here for a custom that I have in mind. We shall see.
