#abjd

[mothysmenagerie]

I'm having a conniption over how much I 💖💝💞🥰😻 her.

[blazingsaza]

Day 14. Brave 🏹✨

The word "Brave" just screams "Merida" in my head and there's nothing I can do about it.

I guess Thalie fell in love w the statue like Ariel did ����

Thalie being a flower girl 🌼🌸🩵✨

[dollie-dream]

lottie {volks lieselotte} ❤️ changli {volks macha} 🫰🏼🍎

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Shoe Stay Last the Broke Way

Or, you’re a cheap bitch like me and have only basic materials at your disposal.

Hello, beautiful people~

Let’s create a shoe stay together.

(I’ve been corrected in my terms, it’s a shoe last. My bad if I confused any of you!)

Most every crafter has - Glue, water, plastic wrap, paper bags (or whatever you may have on hand,) and hot glue; That’s it, that’s your list of supplies. Perhaps a sharp instrument to cut away the mold carefully.

If you are like me, my crew is chronically shoeless. Shoes are expensive! I consider myself a decent seamstress though, so why not try shoe making? When doing this it’s a good idea to have a shoe “last” or a basic mold to help shape the shoes. I’m not a huge fan of handling my dolls every time I try and make something to fit.

Enter shoe lasts stays, the broke way.

First you need a volunteer. I chose the boy who had the bigger feet to basically provide a mold to all my other boys of similar size. This is Harper. His body is an April Story Senior. He’s got his pantlegs rolled up and he’s ready to go.

Let’s get messy now and act like we are in kindergarten. You want to make sure your doll’s feet are wrapped securely in cling wrap, covering a little above the ankle. We are going to paper mache over his feet. There are many recipes online for a mixture, but I personally use a mix of wood and white PVA mixed with a bit of water.

I alternated thin Kraft paper and paper towel for a couple of layers. Make sure each one is thoroughly dry before applying the next. Try and fill out some of the area above the heel and the arch as we want to keep this basic shape but not totally form fitting.

All dry! Now you need to carefully cut off the paper Mache. This can be tricky. Much like the paper Mache dress form we want to avoid doing damage to the doll during removal. Go slow and separate as necessary. I cut down the back of the leg and heel and about halfway down the foot. I was able to wiggle the mold off at this point.

Yay! Now that it’s off, try and ease the split back into place. I use tape as a temporary closure until I can go back and cover it with a final layer of paper Cache. You don’t have to, but I just like the clean look.

This last part is totally optional but I like to fill the cavity with some sort of firm support just to ensure the longevity of the cast. My doll forms are stuffed firm with yarn scraps and dryer lint. These though, I wanted something more solid. I’m not familiar with expanding foam nor do I have any on hand but what I DO have is hot glue. In the past I’ve made hot glue gems for some kids out of molds, so I know what I’m working with.

I cut the molds to an even height and started filling from the toe up to the arch. I let it cool in that upright tiptoe position for a bit before placing it flat and adding my little handle and filling it up to the top. I tapped them on the desk a few times while doing this just to make sure the glue settled firmly. I added handles just because, but you don’t have to. I used a cheap dowel.

Depending on what kind of shoes you plan to make (either soft formed or modern shoes with a formed toe) you can build up the toe areas to give yourself that sleek shape that modern shoes have.

Credit to @dollsahoy for adding on the buildup tip!

There you have it. Let the glue harden and admire your work. If you are going to use these to shape damp leather, remember to seal them with a water resistant sealant!

I hope this provides inspiration to someone.

Cheers and happy crafting.

[lolitaari-bjd]

Just thought I'd make a first post. Here's my very favorite girl Kiki🩷✨️

Kiki is a hybrid bjd. She's a Unoa lusis decent on a dust of dolls roze msd size body. 🎀

Faceup by tonocha. Tops by gyhm skirt and wig by me.

[kerosen]

tv man take me by the hand

[fatemoons]

Do you like these wings?

Basically suitable for all 1/4 bjd~

[lunarseelie]

[bug-memory]

Every cast Harold together in one photo! (or several)

I'm starting shipping this week! Time to send Harolds into the world. What chaos will they cause

[dollsorwhatever]

Wig (but long this time)

After my last customized wig failed to be long enough to work for my SD Mika, and after looking everywhere for super long synthetic mohair (doll grade kanekalon) wefts or even just a wig that I could extract wefts from and attach to my base wig, I realized that if I wanted super long hair, I would have to buy loose doll grade kanekalon and make the wefts myself with a sewing machine- a fact I had been dreading because I have never used a sewing machine in my life lol After a crash course on learning to use a sewing machine and watching a few tutorials, I went from this to this after a few tries:

What you don't see between these examples is the hour of near crying as I struggled to fold the hair in half to do the final stitches without it becoming a huge mess, until I found an extremely helpful tutorial that utilized a manila folder and a flat iron to fold and flatten the weft, something so obvious that I felt incredibly stupid for not having thought of it before then lol

Once I felt confident in my skills (and after more hair arrived because I stupidly used a bunch of it on my first attempts instead of using practice hair), I ended up making around 10-11 usable wefts in total from about five ounces of hair:

The color is a blend; the primary shade (This shade from Studiodollhair) is an exact match to the hair on the base wig I was using, and the secondary shade (from Dollyhair) is slightly paler and significantly longer.

I shuffled each hank separately to provide a nice tapered end (thanks to this tutorial by the same account as the wefting tutorial), and then combined them into two separate blends of slightly different color ratios to provide dimension, as well as a highly tapered layering to look like natural hair. My initial plan for this wig was about ankle length on my SD Mika (inspired by photos of women with super long hair in the 1800's) but eventually I chose to go as long as I feasibly could because why not lol Once I had my wefts finished, I stripped the base wig of 99% of its original hair (with the exception of the original hand tied parting and one weft at the base of the neck-again, for layering purposes) and stitched them on, mimicking the original layout of the wig, and then layered the remaining original hair to blend into the new wefts:

(Barbie for scale lol)

Very happy with it! By my estimation this wig is around 28", meaning it trails approximately 5" behind Mika when she's standing. I still need to wash and flat iron it (as well as clean, restring and dress Mika herself) but this project has been keeping me up at night for weeks so I am very happy to see it completed mostly, and I'm happy it motivated me to start learning to use a sewing machine! I look forward to playing with it more and dipping my toes into making doll clothes. A few years ago I would have abandoned this project out of fear, so I'm happy I saw it through to the end.

[janekolyadintseva]

Little friend 🐱

[pixxiecup]

ball jointed doll moodboard with lolita fashion , paper stars , and fruit tea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[maxahlia-dolls]

[dollie-dream]

lottie ♡ girlie in red (volks {btssb} lieselotte)

[lolitaari-bjd]

The past few months have been a blur. Suddenly having to pack up everything and move, working long nights for 2 months straight just to afford the basics and pay everything off 😩😭 Finally setting up my dolls and doll house again. Camilla looks great🖤💋✨️

I should really start posting here more. Just to use as my personal dump/blog 😅

[kerosen]

I put these giant jointed hands on him and the hooks got STUCK in the resin and I can’t get them off now LMAO

Ykw I’m not even mad about it anymore I think it works with his big head.