Reborn Baby Doll Store

If you are interested in making your own reborn dolls then you are surely in for some fun times. It can be quite rewarding especially when you get to putting the finishing touches to your newborn baby doll.

To help you avoid some common pitfalls, here are the leading 3 tips to remember.

Remove all traces of factory paint and hair

It is vitally important to make sure that you remove all of the factory markings from the doll you are reborning. This will include any and all factory paint as well as the dolls hair and eyelashes.

It can be quite a lot of work to do this, especially considering some dolls have a huge amount of glue inside the head in order to hold the hair in place, but if you leave anything on the doll it will ruin the look of your finished doll.

You dont need to use a purple wash

In the early days of reborning, many people applied a purple wash inside the dolls limbs. This was to give the skin a slight blue tint which helped to increase the visual outcome and make it look more real.

However, it was soon found out that the paint used in the purple wash will, over time, penetrate the outside of the limbs and can lead to the outer paint layers being tainted. Of course, this ruins the entire doll.

For this reason, it is best to not use a purple wash and instead you should focus on building up the paint in a series of layers on top of each other.

Dont use sand either

One of the last things to do is to add some weight to the dolls body and limbs before you put it back together. However, you should try to avoid using sand as the weight where possible.
If the containing bags leak it will no doubt come out of the doll and end up making a mess.

his can happen without any damage to the bags as sand is rather fine and can spill out the top if it comes loose.

Also, if the doll contains sand, you may find problems if you want to ship your doll overseas(if you sell them) it might get rejected by customs and excise, which has been the case several times already.

These 3 things will help you to get the most out of your reborning. Of course, you should mainly focus on having fun and enjoying what you are doing.

Making a magnetic/modified pacifier for reborn dolls  

Here's how I have been making magnetic plastic pacifiers for use with reborn dolls: [removed][removed]

Supplies: a suitable size plastic pacifier, sharp craft knife/scissors, super glue, 2 appropriate size strong magnets (Earth/Neo magnets seem popular),colored felt cut in small oval or circle (to cover magnet once glued) Clip the rubber or silicone nipple off the pacifier by pulling it away from pacifier body and snipping with scissors or craft knife (careful!)

Sometimes I like to leave a bit of the nipple material and stick the small magnet to the plastic inside the left over area. (allows for the paci to look like it is actually in the 'dolls' mouth with a bit of nipple showing. Works great for parted lips.

Before gluing the magnet to the pacifier, chose which side/pole of the magnet will be glued down...as the opposite side/pole with go inside the dolls head, behind the lips. Some pacifiers will have a ridge where the nipple meets the plastic. If you need it to be flush/flat you will need to trim away excess plastic before gluing on the magnet. Carefully use the craft knife to 'whittle' away the plastic, use care that the knife does not nick other areas of the pacifier while you cut! Some pacifiers need a bit of a divot (hollowed out)area for the magnet to sit in. Don't give up...it can be done!

Once the magnet has been glued and secure, cut an appropriate size piece of felt, I like to use a wine or dark pink color, to cover the exposed magnet preventing scratching of the painted lips.  NOTE: Please use caution handling any custom made magnetic pacifier. It has been made known that magnets can interfere with electronic equipment, computers, credit cards and pace makers. Magnets can be a danger to young children who may swallow them. However, with appropriate care and storage, magnetic pacifiers can be a great prop for reborn dolls!  

To glue a magnet inside vinyl head, behind the lips:

 (NOTE: some like to have a piece of felt glued behind the lips BEFORE applying the magnet, for added material protection, this is up to you.)

Be sure to use an extra strong magnet in this case! Have the doll's head upside down on your lap (easy to hold between your knees) use a q-tip/Popsicle stick/toothpick anything to reach in the doll's head to the lip area, to apply the glue, (I use super glue for added strength, the gel kind works great!) A small amount is all that is needed. Be sure to apply the glue right on the lip area, like between the lips, hold the head up to a light to help see thru the lips.

Once the glue is applied on the inside, have the prepared pacifier, or another magnet ready to hold against the doll's lips ON THE OUTSIDE. This is where your knees (or protected clamping devise) come in handy. Grasp the doll's head, with the neck opening up (in your knees or other holding source) and drop a small magnet inside the head. Then hold the opposite magnet or prepared magnetic pacifier to the OUTSIDE of the dolls lips, exactly how you think the pacifier looks the best on the lips, not to high or to low, like, right in the center. Tip the head to allow the dropped magnet to tumble towards the doll's lips...waalah...the magnet will be grabbed to the vinyl by the outside magnetic pacifier (or opposite magnet.)

Allow the two magnets to stay applied until the one inside is secure. If you like (and I always do) glue a piece of felt INSIDE over the doll's mouth area BEFORE putting stuffing/weighting material into the head. This prevents the magnet from possibly snagging on the stuffing, or other material.

Want to make a fake formula or juice bottle for your reborn doll? See my article on fake reborn doll bottles!

Stay tuned to more reborning tips from The Baby Doll Boutique!