Changing the eyes: This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to change the personality of your doll. You will need to open the head. Most bjd's have a head plate that is held on by strong magnents. Remove the putty holding the eyes in. The eye will either come out with the putty or slip out easily alone. Different companies have slightly different shapes to their eyes and all are made by hand resulting in very slight variations to the basic size. You will need to experiment. I am willing to try any Masterpiece or Soul Doll eye in any doll for you as long as I have one on hand. I can then send you out a photo of how it will look. You are able to change the gaze direction of your doll at any time. You can adjust the direction of the eye once it is in the head just by gently pushing or manipulating it to where you would like them. Then secure the putty in firmly. You can reuse the putty that your doll originally came with. You may also use an artist's kneaded eraser or silicone ear plugs.
Adding or changing the eyelashes: This also is an easy way to customize your doll. Any eye lash will do-and there are many. Depending upon the size of your doll, you may even use human lashes. Tou will have to remove the adhesive that is on all lashes. Acetone or Goo Gone works great for this. I like to shape my lashes with cuticle scissors. They are angled and make an easy cut towards the middle of the lash. Once you have them cut to fit, drop a dab of clear drying, water soluable glue on a piece of paper. Glue as simple as Elmer's will do for this. Take the lash with a tweezers, dip into the glue and place inside the eye socket. Make sure you place it back far enough not to see the eye lash base. Let that sit for a minute and then tap into place with a strong, round toothpick.
Now for the more difficult, but rewarding projects! Do not be afraid.
Taking your doll apart: You must take note of how your doll is strung and where the knots are. Most dolls are strung with one piece of string attatching the arms with a knot in the chest area. The legs will be a separate piece of string. These both will meet in the chest area. Here is where you will go in through the neck opening, with a crocheted hook and pull both strings, which will be 4 because they are tied, and pull them up through to the head. Some people use a locking hemostat at this piont to hold the strings in place. I like to use the handle of one of my wooden paintbrushes. There is a lot of tension at this point. You will be pulling the string tighter to get the "S" fastener in there. Using the wooden paint brush handle keeps those strings pulled apart and makes it easier to insert the "S". Usually you may reuse this same string. If your doll feels a bit loose in the stringing, you will be able to gauge exactly how to tighten by making the knot just a bit furthur in on the string. |
