Back in 2007, I was cleaning my attic and came across a beloved vinyl and hard plastic doll of mine from when I was just 6 years old. The heat of the attic and the horrible quality of the hair to be begin with made her have quite an afro! I took her downstairs, shaved her head, and glued on a wig. She looked so much better and happier, and the rest, I should say, is history! Something inside of me finds pleasure in making dolls, or anything really, look prettier and display-worthy. Of course, since that day of gluing that wig onto my precious doll, I have taught myself rerooting doll hair, and find great joy in working with all types of dolls. I have had experience in working with every type of material used in the manufacturing of dolls, from the earliest papier-mache dolls from the 1880's all the way up to the vinyl dolls of the 60's and 70's. My motto is to do the bare minimum and only work with the parts that are damaged, rather than refinish the entire doll itself. 

This beautiful Nancy Ann Style Show had severe paint damage due to a melt mark on her otherwise pristine face. I only refinished that one part and left the rest of her face original and untouched.

​recreating a new wig out of another:

Missing lashes were replaced and a previously botched paint job by another restorer, perhaps her mommy many years ago, was redone. Period-appropriate clothing was put on her.

This poor Dollikin had a missing part of her nose. A simple remodeling of that one part was enough to bring her back to her original glory.

Another shot of the Dollikin's new nose

This poor little doll had missing fingers. I remodeled the fingers and repainted them, and now she is able to hold things again :)

Sometimes a simple restringing is all that is needed. This is a Roddy doll from the 1950's.

This Barbie clone from the 1960's had faded vinyl on one half of her face. I recolored that area and restyled her hair into the original swirl hair, identified by the large forehead of hers.

Eye rust removed

1960's Italian doll restrung and carefully cleaned.

This Nancy Ann Style show had very bad mold all over her face, but careful cleaning revealed pristine facial paint all intact.

This rare walker doll from the 1960's had hair that looked like a nightmare. Now she is all ready to go to the dance.

This cute little Toni doll had cheek blush that was damaged. A simple recoloring and restyling of her hair was all that was needed.

This doll was my very first rerooting project. She was entirely bald...now she is as cute as can be.

Remodeling of a missing ear on an early 1950's Dydee baby.

The Horsman doll company in the 1950's through 80's had horrible, cheap saran hair on their dolls, and this Ruthie was no exception. A heavy conditioning treatment and recurling brought her back to her original cuteness.

Dollikins have a very complicated stringing of their bodies. Restringing them is a long and tricky process.

This poor little Toni doll was in pieces and had mold all over her body and face. Her hair was in the original set though which was wonderful, so hair was left intact

After she was cleaned, Her facial paint revealed much damage due to the mold, so her features were retouched. Now she is ready to be dressed and handed over to her owner.