To start out, a few modifications

So I finally admit that I have a collection...and have started to display it in my house.  My main concern was that my kids would want to play with MY dolls (they do) but so far it hasn't been a problem.  Plus, taking out a few and working on them a few at a time, displaying them a few at a time, then rotating them keeps it new to me and keeps me out of the stores (well, at least the expensive ones).  A few of my projects...

Mimi Bobeck--starts out with bad hair (not just unattractive, but it melted when I poured boiling water on it) and horrible makeup,  as seen on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Mimi-Bobeck-Drew-Carey-Show/dp/B000N67OXW
Now with new hair, new make up, and new clothes (although you can't see them in the pic)

You may not be able to tell from the photo, but the makeup removal was awful--I read somewhere that you could use a dremel and a light touch to remove paint...and while this is true, you can also grind away part of the face that way.  I don't recommend.  I was afraid to use acetone and do a clean slate, so I tried to dremel off just the offending makeup....but it left the surface rough and funky.  But it looks fine from a distance.  I have another mimi, though, and I'm going to do a clean wipe on her since I've gotten my courage up by doing a face re-paint on...

This Mulan.  She was the type with the white painted face (for going to matchmaker), and while I tried to just use acetone on the white makeup, I wasn't able to get all of the white makeup off without wiping her eyes too, so I just did it.  I'm very happy with the results.  Still need to tackle her hair, but the face makes me happy.

My third project was my dreadlock wig--I had looked into ways of making dreadlocks using the doll's own hair, plus gel and glue (disaster), saw a tutorial for making dreads out of wool (which my kid and husband are allergic to), then finally saw Limbe Doll's tutorial for making a dread wig.  It was just what I was looking for. 

This was the result.  I didn't have any knee-highs, so I used a sock, but it still turned out really well.  I'm excited to actually be getting projects DONE instead of just thinking about them and researching them.  It helps a lot that I can actually leave my dolls out now and the kids don't start running around with them.  But of course, in the future, they'll probably be helping me...  Well, helping me MORE...