Halloween Dolls: Have you checked out Blackfood Daisy? She has some wonderful dolls.

http://www.blackfootdaisy.com/holiday.htm

Marsha, Newark, CA

Hoops: In the sewing accessory part of the fabric stores, you will find horsehair braid, used in real size garments, for making hems stand out. You can dye it and it is good for a lot of things - hats for one.

Charlean

Hoop skirt: Use the white thread covered wire available from DIY florist supplies. If you are unable to buy this in your neck of the woods, I'd be very happy to send some to you. You glue it to the inside lower edge of the petticoat or skirt. In the case of the petticoat,it can be glued to the right side, depending on how you want the end product to be formed. With the wire attached, you can shape the skirt/petticoat into nice folds. Can be used in many circles from top to bottom of petticoat - with an even distance BTW the circles. This method (gluing wire) can be used in any length fairly full skirt.

Elise

Witch Doll Kit: Have you ever seen Dolls & Miniatures magazine? It comes out 4 times a year and is published by Viola Williams & Laura Johnson. It's a nice magazine for miniature enthusiasts of all levels of expertise, with lots of tips on creating and also show and tell type articles and not too expensive! You might find someone who does kits in there. The address is 1040 Bentoak Lane, San Jose, CA 95129 to inquire about subscriptions.

Betti from MS

Glue in Doll’s Hair: I would remove the hair as well and re-wig the doll. If you don't want to do that, could you replace the hat with a better one covering the glue mark? One more idea, if you don't want hat on her at all...you could make curls to cover the glue spots or pull some of the existing hair up and over the glue but this time take some thread that matches the hair color and SEW the hair into place. Sewing acts like miniature hair pins to secure the hair. Tip: When you use glue on hair... never push down with your finger...use toothpick large needle, or other pointed tool, as it leaves a glue mark. Always use a thick, white, tacky glue that says for use with fabrics because it will be flexible and clear when dry.

Laurie Sisson

Raggedy Ann stripes: The easiest way to make those striped stocking legs for the Raggedy Ann doll is to wrap red and then white cotton alternately around your leg wires. This gives the red and white striped stockings look. The best way to wrap without threads coming loose is to whip it, but my powers of description are not up to explaining how to whip rope, without a diagram. Find a sailor or a boy scout and ask them for a demonstration of whipping. Otherwise just glue the threads as you go along.

Barbara B

Raggedy Ann stripes: I use different red/white bands of bunka around my Raggedy Dolls legs for the effect of the stockings.....and it looks really cute!

Wolfie

Doll Wigging: Speaking of doll wig glues - I use Aleene's Tacky as often as not. If you want to make a removeable wig, or if you are nervous about how the wig will turn out, you should use a square of cling film about 6"x6". Place the middle of the film on the top of the doll's bald head, smooth the film down tightly and tie it around the neck with a pipe cleaner. Now make your wig. When it has dried a bit - not too early! - undo the pipe cleaner and remove the film and wig from the head. Let dry really well, then carefully ease and pull the film out of the wig. You *must* use Tacky glue for this process. I used to use this method to make doll wigs for sale. However, there are so many sizes of doll heads, so many colours of hair, so many styles, that I gave up making wigs. Now I sell a wig kit which seems to do the trick.

Joy Parker

Animal Dolls: Leslie Frick was profiled in the Summer 00 issue of "Dolls & Miniatures" magazine and her work (all kind of animals) is out of this world!! She can be contacted at 25996 Balsam, Franklin, MI 48025. Please mention the "D&M" article if you write to her... and if you can find a copy of that issue, be sure to look up her work because you'll be very impressed, I'm sure.

Viola Williams

Broken Limbs - I have had great results in gluing porcelain limbs back together, that customers have broken on their dolls, using Qwik Grab. Just a very thin coating, put the two parts together pull apart, put together etc, until it starts grabbing and then take a fine blade knife and trim away any excess after it had dried overnight.

Sylvia in Big D

Make a policeman's hat. (Works for any uniform hat) Using one of those round, metal edged key tags (the ones with a paper middle) stretch the appropriate color of felt over it, and secure tightly with a rubber band, easing out al the folds. Soak with Stiffy. When dry, cut away the head hole on the side where the excess felt was in rubber band. Make hatband by gluing a strip of felt to paper and glue to hat top. Make brim from tape from a Dymo Label maker tape. You will need to coat edge of felt with tacky glue and then attach the brim with cyanoacrylate (super) glue. Decorate with a little emblem.

Alice Zinn

Doll's Wig: I just took a wigging class taught by Jackie Caron. Wonderful teacher and super nice person! We had the option of doing the wigs directly on a doll or making a wig. She had cut out what looked like a mushroom cap out of leather. The cap is glued onto the doll's head (or I suppose any type of round form the size of a doll's head would do) and then you wig. Then, very carefully, you remove the wig from the doll head - the wig will be attached to the cap.

Marsha, Newark, CA

Wigging Instructions: Use bond Grrrip for gluing hair on dolls heads. If the dolls are porcelain with china painted features, you can not hurt them. You could boil the heads in boiling water and not hurt them. If they are plastic don't boil in water ever. Lay a line of glue where you want the part to be, meaning side part or center part, with tail of hair hanging down in face. Draw on each side of head in a pie shaped wedge down to the ear and fill in with Grrrrip. Let this tack up for a minute. Always remember, the Glue line is the hair line, so extend the part hairs to the hair line. For the part only use 4 or 5 strands of hair for the part.

Carefully, separate about 3/16" of grouping of hairs to lay from one ear to the other ear with hair hanging below both ears. Now run a bead of Grrrip on hair hanging down in face by laying doll in your left or right hand and using thumb and first finger to hold the strands of hair hanging down in face, apply glue to side that will fold back over hair you have laid across the head, as this will be the part of the dolls hair. Do not use over 4 or 5 strands of hair for the part. Take a Hat Pin and press the parting hair down into the hair to make a good bond all the way down to the GRRip on the porcelain, that went from ear to ear.

The back of the head is bald at this point. After the main hair is glued to where it does not move around, carefully taking the Hat pin, work the hair from both sides to back of head to cover the head. Now lift hair on back of head and apply Grrrip under hair to the hair line, remembering the Glue line is the hair line. If the glue line is too far back on the head the doll will look like the wig needs to be pulled forward, and if it is not down far enough on the neck, and you want to make a French twist or upsweep she will look bald at the back.

If you are wigging a child, and want bangs lay the bangs down first. Then proceed as before.

If you are wigging a man, use the narrow end of hair for the short side of hair, and proceed as before.

Hair can be waved by using the mini pleater and following directions as for a mini pleater. This is Doreen Ruffs mini pleater, I am talking about.

Do not ever cut hair bluntly across when you are working with a bundle of hair, pull apart where you want it parted, by grabbing hold of one end with one hand and about 6" away grabbing hold with the other hand and pulling. This way there will be no stubby ends.

To make curls, use knitting needles and wind hair around needle by anchoring hair to needle and turn the needle not the hair. As you turn the needle keep hair straight and taunt, but not real tight, and over lap the hair above just a tiny bit. This will keep it from looking like a spiral, but looking like a curl.

Now holding needle with hair on it, hold it in your left hand and get right hand fingers wet, dampen hair with right hand fingers, dipped in water. When curls are dry, just slide off needle and cut to length needed.

If Shirley Temple curls are desired, now is the time to give the doll a hair cut by chopping the hair off at the neck line, and the go back to doll head and place curls where needed to finish hairdo.

Sylvia Brinkley

Fairy clothes tip: Take dried honesty seed pods (aka silver dollar plant aka lunaria) and stamp out circles using your average file paper punch. This makes rounds of a crisp translucent material, perfect for making tiny fairy dresses, stuck on like fish scales etc. On reflection, would also make good scaly fish dressing too - Mermaids To Go? Yeah, OK, it will also drive you crazy, but we were born to suffer for our art. Practical experience shows that it's easiest to stamp out whole seed pod and remove translucent layer afterwards - one gets a crisper cut that way.

Helen Cottrell

Removable Victorian Wig: These are not my instructions for a removable wig and unfortunately I don't remember where I got them in order to give the person credit.

Needed:

Doll head or equivalent size bead

Plastic wrap (for a removable wig)

Thin muslin material (for a removable wig)

Viscose or other wigging material

Sewing thread to match viscose

Button thread or rubber band (for a removable wig)

Tacky Glue (Gold bottle)

Corsage Pin

1. Use a dolls head or the equivalent size bead on which to form your wig.

2. Place a piece of plastic wrap over your form, make sure that the plastic goes completely around your form or down the neck of a head, in order to tightly tie the plastic with some button thread or secure with a rubber band.

3. Place a piece of thin muslin over the plastic and secure as you did the plastic (do not glue).

4. Apply glue (tacky in the gold bottle) to the entire head making sure that your hairline is defined.

5. Use a small hank of viscose (not too thick) draped front to back.

6. Apply a small amount of glue in the center of the viscose you just applied and then add one hank of viscose from side to side

7. Allow to dry thoroughly.

8. Using sewing thread the same color as your viscose, tie a circle on top of the viscose around the entire head following where you want the hairline. Make sure that this is tied securely.

9. Gather all the hair up on top of the head, at this point be sure to check hairline to be sure it is off of the face. If hair needs to be combed, use a corsage pin to straighten it. Tie hair on top of head (like a pony tail) with another piece of sewing thread.

10. Cut the ponytail off leaving enough hair to flatten to top of head and glue down.

11. Using another hank of viscose (not too thick) shape a figure eight or a round bun and glue it to the top of the wig over the ponytail you cut off.

12. If you would like to add side curls or back curls you may do so now. Side curls may be easily made by twisting very thin hanks of damp viscose around small knitting needles that have been sprayed with Pam. Allow to dry hourly and slide off needles.

13. Allow wig to dry hourly before removing from form.

14. Remove plastic and trim muslin. Coat muslin with glue using a brush, allow to dry.

This description is for making a Victorian type wig. The same principles may be used to style a wig in several different ways. If you want to make a wig directly on your doll's head just follow the instruction from number four to the end.

Marilyn of Michigan

Redoing Resin Figurines: I simply snapped off the wings. I also removed all the other little things attached to the fairy (bucket with frog you will see in my next months DM project). To do this, I used a razor saw in combination with a Dremel Moto Tool and assorted attachments. And then touched up any bare spots with acrylic paint. Remember to use a good protective mask when re-doing resin pieces, and work in a well ventilated area...I usually do this job outdoors.

Joann Swanson

Fairy clothes tip: Take dried honesty seed pods (aka silver dollar plant aka lunaria) and stamp out circles using your average file paper punch. This makes rounds of a crisp translucent material, perfect for making tiny fairy dresses, stuck on like fish scales etc On reflection, would also make good scaly fish dressing too - Mermaids To Go? Yeah, OK, it will also drive you crazy, but we were born to suffer for our art. Practical experience shows that it's easiest to stamp out whole seed pod and remove translucent layer afterwards - one gets a crisper cut that way.

Helen Cottrell

Brooch: I've been using single stud pierced earrings for brooches. Some are very small. If you want to buy a really small pair, the baby ones are nice. The pin at the back can be cut off some. Instead of the bulky backs that come with them, I use the tiny plastic keepers that come with lightweight French hook types.

R. Roweblue

Redoing Resin Figurines: I simply snapped off the wings. I also removed all the other little things attached to the fairy (bucket with frog you will see in my next months DM project). To do this I used a razor saw in combination with a Dremel Moto tool and assorted attachments. And then touched up any bare spots with acrylic paint. Remember to use a good protective mask when re-doing resin pieces, and work in a well ventilated area...I usually do this job outdoors.

Joann Swanson

Brooch: How about using the magnetic earrings that give you the pierced look without the hole? You could place the back behind the shawl and the earring part looks like a fancy pin.

Alberta