🍓 🍰 Re-Rooted Strawberry Shortcake Doll 🍓 🍰

Demonic Angel 1975

Re-Rooted Strawberry Shortcake Doll

Hair was an absolute mess when I got her, chopped to pieces so I re-rooted her with some vintage Barbie Refill Saran I had ...

It's slightly different in colour & I have made it a little longer than her original hair.

I have also added extra to it so it is thicker and fuller than the original and also so much Softer!

Strawberry scent added to hair.

Paint on mouth is a little chipped so maybe she could do with a touch up but I wasn't feeling that brave!

Hat and Dress are original items.

April 26, 2009

Doll Hair and How To Re-Root It - Tutorial

If you've got a doll who needs her hair replaced or even just one or two plugs, ad you are unsure how to re-root the hair yourself, check out my Squidoo Lens Tutorial.

In it I let you know about the different types of hair that are available and show explain how to attach it to your doll's head and includes links to websites where I buy my favourite types of hair to use.

One day, I may get around to copying the entire thing here, (if I can remember where I put all the images I used that is!) but for now, you can just click on the link below the picture, and it will take you straight to the Lens page.

http://www.squidoo.com/customisingdolls_dollhair

Above all, have fun!

The Story of My Pullip - Before and After!

I bought my little girl in 2009, from a seller who had her listed on Buy it Now as a customized Pullip.

Sadly she was unsure which one she was, although she did mention in the listing that the doll  might be "Oren" or "Venus" and that she came with a stand, this turned out to be a metal one with "Pullip" in green, on top of the base, and "Jun Planning" - "Made in China" underneath, hopefully this may help someone to I.D her for me... Please!

The Seller had two Pullips for sale (both customized), and while I liked the other one slightly more, I procrastinated too long and discovered she had been sold by the time I made up my mind to buy one, now though, I am glad that I did as I hated the "face-up" on my little girl so much that she became the perfect candidate for giving Pullip Customization a go on!

She also has a weird problem with her eyelids, they weren't working, I discovered this was due to the spring being rusty and snapped inside, so I replaced it and they worked...But here's the catch, they only work when the top of her head is off!? 

I have tried several ways around this I'm still not 100% sure what could be causing this issue, I even removed the eye mechanism, took it apart, completely cleaned it and inside the head ad replaced it, still no joy... the only thing I can think of is if her eye chips were not placed properly and are slightly raised causing the lids get stuck and not be able to cover the eye, but I've check this and it doesn't seem to be the case as the mechanism works fine and the lids cover the eyes, but only as I've said, if the top of her head is missing!!

Here's how she looked her "Sale Photo" ...

Pretty bad huh?!

But the wig she was wearing was beautiful quality, so soft and in certain lights it has a purpley sheen to it. I nearly kept it for her to wear after I'd done something about her "Face-Up" but with her eyes being pink, I thought I'd keep it for someone else as I didn't really like her as a "Pink - Overload" doll anyway, plus I have a number of "big eye" customs I'm working on so it's always handy to have a spare wig, especially such a beautiful one!

Her outfit was whipped off straight away, it was apparently designed and bought from a well known Seller, but I didn't think it worked very well together, and definitely not on this girl, so off it came!

I modified the eye make up, it was mostly pink glitter?! 

As were the lips, they were just awful and took ages to wipe clean...

What I did love about the eyes was the shape of the eyebrows, with their 2 small dots after them (not sure why they had to be pink as well though!) and also the tiny diamante in the corners of her eyes above the nose, so I decided to keep them, I was going to do something about the eyebrows (change the colour possibly, once I had decided on and purchased a new wig for her.

I removed all of the glitter from her eyelids and repainted them, and some more of the glitter was removed  from the well above the eyes, I liked the eyelashes though so I decided to keep them for a while.

Here's how she looks now:

I decided on this curly  back wig, with purple streaks, which I think suits her so much better than the pink one. It also makes her eye colour more intense, and the detail of her eye make up is much more subtle now, but due to the wig, is somehow more apparent, without being "In your face" as it was before!

I don't really care that her eye's don't blink, I don't really try and use this function on her anyway, in fact I had forgotten all about it, until I took her wig off for the above photo and rediscovered the button to work it!

Her eyes move from left to right, without any issues, and as the "blink eye" function is not one that can be locked and held by the doll for any length of time (when it works!) it's not something I would use in photographs anyway, so it's certainly no hardship at all! not having the ability to use it

Her body holds poses very well and isn't swingy or awkward in any way. It also appears to be a "Type 1" so I guess that would most likely make her a "Venus" as opposed to "Oren" who I believe has a "Type 2" body (don't quote me on that!) also "Oren" I have just discovered was limited to 500 dolls Worldwide and came with a "Certificate of Authenticity" - numbered I believe... 

Which beggars the question, why on Earth would anyone want to customise her... and with crazy amounts of pink glitter too?!!

One day I may get around to adding some colour back to her lips, I did consider a "natural wet look" to them, as though she had just moistened them, but I really like them as they are for now, and occasionally when I think "I'll make those lips of hers look more life-like" I get a slight sickness feeling at the thought of going near her with pink... even if it is a natural shade!!

Yeah, I know that's completely crazy, but I can't help it!

I somehow feel those eyebrows suit her hair more now, but I do still get the urge to paint them more life-like and brown too, but then again, I keep thinking, it would be such a drastic change, from pink to brown, that I may just end up hating them ad wishing I'd left them alone!

Also, I haven't worked out what I would do about the little cream coloured dot that follows behind the pink one at the end of each eyebrow, and I guess until I come up with an idea of how to incorporate that into her "new-look" eyebrows, I'll just leave them be for the time being at least!

I tried her in so many different outfits, before I decided on this "Barbie Bat Girl" catsuit from 2003, I was planning to make her a blue hood, black mask and yellow cape to go with it, maybe one day I'll get around to it too!

The crazy thing is, she has now been wearing this outfit for a few years now and I have to say I think the "Super-Hero Look" suits her so well, what I found weird was, today I went checking up on Pullips to try and get a positive I.D on her once and for all, and I discovered that last year Groove released an Exclusive Bat Girl Pullip Doll of their own.. so it seems I'm not the only person who realised how stunning a Pullip Version of that DC Character would be!!

Here's the Promotional Pictures for her, taken from www.comicvine.com 

Hmm, I know Brown or at a push Auburn hair is really the legitimate colour for Bat Girl, but well I prefer my girl in this role, but then again, I would say that being a proud Mum an' all!!

So Off I went again to look at Pullips (any excuse) trying to find the above image to post and what do I discover? ... There is an "alternative"  version  of the doll above!

This one's called the "JP Version" which means she was made for the Japanese market, well more precisely for their "Wonder Festival" which I think may be similar to Comic Con - again don't quote me!

The Japanese Version has Blue hair... yes Blue!! 

More precisely Blue with black streaks...hmmm... very strange, I almost got my girl a wig in those colours, same style and streak size as she is wearing but blue and black, I also toyed with the idea of a bright green and black one, before I finally chose the purple and black one she is wearing... funny though huh?!

Here she is without the mask:

I have to admit, I much prefer these costumes to my "Barbie" but meh what can you do without a team of designers and people handy with sewing machines?!

I will be on the look out now though, for a "Stock Outfit" from either, fingers crossed they have the same body dimensions or it will be a waste of cash, also I guess it's not so likely I'll ever find one, after all who would buy an exclusive just to whip it's clothes off and sell them?

Reunited Love-Birds!!

                               Whoever said on top of the wardrobe is no place to find love?

Kermieeeeeeeeeeeee!!

One day on Dolls More Dolls...

I saw this post from Evelyn...

I clicked the picture and fell in love!

Jules asked Evelyn if she'd put one into swap for her, but Evelyn said she was happy just to send her to someone who'd love her... It seems Jules regretted swinging the one she had as a child around by her legs until they fell off and I guess wanted to make amends by rescuing a poor unloved!

I liked the idea of a challenge too and after falling in love with the one on the left, asked if I could re-home one myself...Evelyn, kind soul that she is agreed and decided she'd keep the middle one as a project for herself too so yay they all had homes and now I just had to be patient and wait for a parcel to arrive to see which one I would get.

A few days later, my wait was over and yay! - Evelyn sent me the one I wanted!

Five days after Evelyn's "Poor Orphans" post, she was finished and ready to make her debut!

And here she is....as she was and just after she began her ordeal at the hands of sweet-little Herbie!

Just out of the packet and looking a bit unsure of her new surroundings! 

Pretty Face...Hopefully the marks are removable!

       It turned out they were easy to remove with nothing more than a bit of soap and water!

Weird Hairdo!

          I just had to take that down and wash it, it was so dusty and musty smelling :(

Aww...her legs poorly :( Never mind Herbie'll fix it up!

Her poor little leg had the stuffing held in with sticky tape :(  the fabric on her legs was so flimsy, that I really had to be careful not to rip it more while removing the tape...
Her dress and body was stained, her legs were dusty, as was her air and she had a musty smell from the aged stuffing too, poor thing... all in all I'd say she was a perfect candidate for a make-over!

And so to work:

After examining her I realised I wasn't gonna get away with a scrub and new hairdo,  but I like a challenge so I began to check her out fully and decide where I'm going with this restoration...seeing as she'd already lost a lot of sawdust (SAWDUST??) from her leg...I decided Jules' Idea of the restuff was just what she needs.... The plan was to salvage as much of the original as I could so it ended up being a case of see how it goes as we go along!!

Man...Just look at all that hair!!

 Her hair was stunning, it was such a shame I had to wash it and remove all those beautiful curls, but at least I found out how beautiful she looked with it flowing down around her body! There was no way around it however as her fringe was literally stuck up with dust and grime that it had to be cleaned...

Looks like a pretty little mermaid *grin*

She looked so pretty it was a shame I had to wash it, as I knew that most of the curl would drop out along with the water.

I removed her Original dress and placed it in vinegar for several hours to fix the dye in, before hand washing and drying it ready for her to put back on.

Oh The Inhumanity!!

:( I don't think she likes it here much :( and it's about to get worse...much worse!! 

The following three pictures show all the removal of the sawdust, wood shreds, wood chips, bark and paper that they used to stuff her with?!

I had to make sure I had ever last piece out before she could be re-stuffed with wadding , if I had left a single piece of stuffing inside the doll would eventually start to smell musty again... It too bloody ages too!

There's just so much and it smells funny too :( wonder what kind of tree that comes from ?

"Hey Wot You Doing to Me?"

 Poor thing looks so shocked...I almost have guilt!

"Now You Gone too Far!!"

But Sweetie You've gotta take it out before you can put nice new stuffing back in...

                                  oh dear I don't think she understands!!  

"Hey Let Go Of My Intestine"

*soothes* There, there little one it's for your own good!

*Herbie quickly removes hands in case she gets bitten* :(

"Oooo I'm loving my new body..thank you!"


"You're very welcome sweetie, it looks so much nicer than that tatty old one doesn't it? See Herbie just wants what's best for you so dry your eyes and stop thinking about how I took out your stuffing" *kiss* 

To cover the fabric on her torso, I chose a piece of vintage White towelette, covered in a tiny red rose pattern; that was made in the 1950s.

:( "My legs are different colours...hurry up with that needle will you?" 

When work began on Looby's legs... I noticed after sewing her leg up it becomes obvious, she would need some new fabric to the legs too....so I begin hunting for the perfect fabric (as close to the original red & white stripe as possible)...

I found some red striped Linen, that I thought would be a close enough match. When it arrived and I tried it against her leg fabric, the drastic colour difference between the original and replacement cloth was so apparent, As I chose Linen, it is a very strong replacement fabric as well, so no more leg rips for this little Looby!.

"You like my new bloomers?"

I found a pair of "bloomers" that I had taken off a Bisque Doll, before using it for Ooak, and tried them on Looby. They were a perfect fit!

"I have a new hairstyle too!"

After seeing how much hair she had and how lovely it looked down and crimped, I had to make leave it down :)

Most of the curl had gone due to my washing it, but I still think it looks better down...well that and the fact that I totally forgot how her original style was put together, I remember thinking it was a weird way to plait it, but that's all I can remember really. 

The Result for me, is one very pretty doll who still looks like her vintage original, but smells nicer and is softer too!!

Vintage Ideal Doll Copyright 1974 Made in Hong Kong Drinks And Wets

Just bought this little girl, I have been looking for her for years, I had one of these as well as a Teeny Tiny Tears doll when I was small, and I loved them both so much, I have no idea what happened to either of them, but I have been trying to replace them both for about 10 years now! The problem is the doll has to be "Just right" I can't just say "Well it's a Tiny Tear" and opt for the older and Larger one, or get a brown haired one or something like that, it has to be exactly as I remember her or I just won't be able to love her in the same way!

Well yesterday I mailed a lovely seller on Ebay who had a famosa baby for sale, she looked similar but not quite, so I asked her some questions...while I discovered her doll is not the one I've been searching for (it was bigger too) her reply did prompt me to keep trying different keywords until I found something like her or at least some info on who is is and who made her...I got lucky - Very Lucky!

I found her... for $1.99!!
This works out to approx £1.24. The postage was $12.60, (approx £7.83).

Here's the writeup and photos from the listing:

This auction is for an Ideal Baby Doll that drinks and wets. She is in good condition free of any damage but could use a good bath. She is marked on her back. She measures approx. 6-1/2" long.

 Mine had on the exact same Romper Suit, so I'm sure it is the original outfit she was sold in!

 Even though her body parts are moulded all in one, it didn't distract at all and I remember her having an almost skin-like feel to her,

Here's another listing I found, I almost bid on this one, until I found my one on a buy it now...BUY IT NOW FOR £1.24??! 

Ideal Baby Doll is about 6.5 inches tall. It is called Baby Baby.

She had a bottle that is made of hard plastic and is square at the top of the nipple.


When inserted into her mouth and pushed slightly, her cheeks pull in a little like she is sucking the bottle. 
Then if you turn the bottle when it is slightly pushed in, her eyes will close.She is from 1974.
 Markings on her back read B-6-B-52 


Mouth is open and looks like she is a drink and wet doll. Head does move side to side.
 Arms and legs are fixed and do not move. She is in a cute blue romper

I don't actually remember her being a "wetting" doll, but the thing I absolutely adored about her was that her cheeks went in as you pressed the bottle in and it looked like she really was drinking, I had forgotten about the "eye close function" but since reading it, I have remembered it so vividly.

I'm so looking forward to her arrival, from America, it'll be at least a week, but still, that doesn't matter, it's not like I haven't already waited a while so an extra week is nothing.

I'm looking forward to washing her and getting her back as close to how mine was when I last held her, I think the hair is made of the kind of ylon that Frizzes with age and then stays like that forever, or at least until a re-root happens, but I don't care, I have no plans to re root either unless on closer inspection it really is bad, but I'll just have to wait and see for that one.

I'll have to see if the Baby Born Bottles I have here are a fit for her, but ultimately I'd like to get a couple of those clear ones with pink teets and a "milk" coloured liquid in them that looked so real, that I used to feed her and Tiny Tears with.

Oh wow I've just remembered I called my Tiny Tears Tina ...Now if only I could remember the name I gave to this one too!

The plan is to get the Teeny Tiny Tears soon, so they can both snuggle up together like my little ones used to...Fingers crossed!

My Kurhn Dolls...

The first time I came across Kurhn dolls was in 2008, when I was rummaging through the dolly section of my local Charity shop and found this girl... at the time I had no idea what type of doll she was, and thought she must be some kind of very pretty clone! I bought her for 20p and posted for help in Dolls More Dolls on Multiply, but I got no answers, it wasn't until I posted her to Flickr that I found out, and within a month or two, I found an ebay auction for 2 others (1 bald Angel Kurhn, 1 partially re-rooted standard Kurhn with factory paint removed from her face, 2 bags of Nylon doll hair and a small volks head with red eyes, from a Seller in Italy!) I was the only bidder and managed to get them really cheap!  I blogged about them a few posts back... see quick links on right.

She came to me in this outfit, I'm not sure if it is her original one but the shoes and dress fit her so well it seems very likely it is.

I followed up my original post with this:

Here's the other two, I borrowed the photos and write ups from my Flickr Photostream:

Kurhn Re-Root in Kanekalon

One of 2 Kurhn's I got for re-rooting...this one had traces of this colour hair in the plug holes ... which I was pretty gutted the seller removed it in the first place...anyhoo I re-rooted it with Kanekalon which gives it a big effect!

I'm not sure if I want to finish the job and give her eyes tho' as I kinda like her like this!

She's finally finished!

Well I finally bowed to pressure and started work on her... I was going to go all "Day of the Dead" on her face only when I started to paint her eyes they came out a sexy shade of green!!

So here she is re-rooted and with a normal face-up too!

Kurhn Re-root in Auburn Redwood Saran

Hmmm...not sure if I should paint her eyebrows to match tho' ... they look a little blue right now :-S

N.B... I left her like this in the end, I realised I really like how she looks and didn't want to change a thing!

Rubber Donald Duck Restored 17th May 2009

Original Post on Dolls More Dolls, on Multiply - 18th May 2009, 9:02 PM

Original Post: 
I just finished him last night and as I'm really happy with how well he turned out I couldn't resist showing him off!
Sorry if the pic's are a little hazy I had to take them with my phone :(
Ooo yeah 2 things I noticed while I was sorting him out...He was made in Malaysia and is copyrighted to Walt Disney Productions...I can't read the date tho' :( maybe this helps with timescale I.D?

lilacmermaid wrote on May 18, '09                                        
Wow, that is really incredible, he looks great, you are a master with those paint's, forgot the name lol, but must get some, good on ya, Janet.x

kitschartherb wrote on May 18, '09
lol...thank you so much Janet...I'm really please with how he's turned out!!
Oh and yes...Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylics and a few coats of clear varnish to seal it. *Grin*
ievelyn wrote on May 18, '09
well done herbie, looks as good as new now : )
kitschartherb wrote on May 18, '09
Thanks Evelyn *Glows with Pride*
I couldn't have done it without your amazing intellect lol
ievelyn wrote on May 18, '09
I come in handy at times : )
kitschartherb wrote on May 18, '09
lol you sure do girl!
juliejunejulie wrote on May 18, '09
hell he looks nice..well done :)

kitschartherb wrote on May 18, '09
*Grin* Thank you Julie!

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                            Update - 3rd November 2012

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Look What I found on Ebay today!

Unfortunately the Seller had no information on him at all, not even a date, so he still remains a bit of a mystery to me, but at least now I have an idea of his value too!

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