do you want to talk about dolls?

None of the dolls in this brand were given names. They are referred to as Brunette/Redhead/Blonde, in either Starter dolls (standard articulation at hips/elbows/head) and Deluxe dolls (bendable knees). The specific doll I got was the Starter Brunette.

She was brand new in the box, and it looks like she was probably never removed from her packaging. She was gently tied in with white satin ribbons rather than those awful plastic straps.

Time to free her from her box and take off her hairnet.

She's in perfect condition. She has a full vinyl body and is very heavy. The vinyl itself is dense and smooth with a matte finish, so much so that she almost looks like she's made of porcelain. Her skin has no shine to it at all. It's a bisque color with rosy undertones.

Her long curly brown wig is lovely but imperfect. It's rather dry on the ends.

Her glass eyes are gorgeous. They do not open and close. She has inset eyelashes.

But I think the side part isn't working for me, so how about we try a center part?

I think this gives her a younger look! Later I'll try to get her wig off and move it over so that she has a center part, but for now brushing it to the side works fine.

Looking at her undressed, I think she looks skinnier than American Girl dolls, but definitely not as slim as my Magic Attic Club dolls. Her head turns, and her arms and legs move outward as well as forward and backward.

Here she is side by side with one of my American Girl dolls, Eugenia. I think I'm right about their size comparison.

They had a fashion show to find out for sure just how similar they are! Eugenia can wear New Girl's dress just fine. It velcroes in the back and isn't too tight. New Girl is wearing an American Girl brand dress, and it fits almost perfectly--it's just a tiny bit big, and definitely not in a noticeable way.

Here's Eugenia wearing the cute sandals that came with New Girl. They're a pretty close fit.

And here she is next to (her cousin? half-sister?) Rose. To my eye, they very much look related.

Here she is in Maplelea brand clothes. I also did some brushing and reshaping of her curls.

Hello all! My lovely Dimitria is a PC AG Addy Walker who has been customized and restored by me secondhand, however she has her pleasant company original wig. The texture and condition of the wig is important, if it's too thin/brittle/straight it won't turn out right or could possibly damage your hair.

If it's the correct type of hair, it's a safe and reversible process that is protective as well as a beautiful black cultural hairstyle.

I have compiled this tutorial from my lived experience as a black person and experience in giving myself yarn braids, however if you run into issues that aren't fleshed out in this tutorial, here are some additional general tutorials and information on yarn braids:

https://minibraidmethod.com/2012/06/how-to-parting-on-a-grid/

https://www.rookiemag.com/2013/09/diy-yarn-braids/

https://youtu.be/maA-MlLENhw?si=ctYXuToTLWmNBLqI

Materials:

• Black (or your desired color) 100% Acrylic Yarn (Link to one I used [X]) *This is extremely important to have 100% acrylic, some yarn textures can bind itself to the hair, making it extremely difficult to remove.

• Spray water bottle

• Doll Brush (Metal bristle preferably)

• Sectioning/rat tail comb

• Hair Claw or Salon Styling Clips

• Scissors

• *Curlers, optional but I recommended them as they help the braids to look more full overall.

• *Crochet Hook/Weaving Pick, optional to feed the hair in if you have difficulties.

• *Murray's Beeswax - optional to smooth hair. Murray's Beeswax is used for styling locs, braids and twists. I applied a very small amount to the beginning of the braids and the ends as well as a very thin amount over all the braids before putting them in curlers to steam/boil wash.

Preparing the Yarn:

The first thing I did was find an object, it can be a crate, a stool or chair, a cardboard box, etc that is long and sturdy enough for you to wrap the yarn around to prepare it to cut.

You want it to be a bit longer than your dolls hair overall to make sure you don't cut their ends whenever they are removed. This is going to depend on your dolls hair length so it will just depend. For me, I used one of my lap desks that was perfectly the right size for Dimitria's length:

Once you are wrapped a while, cut all along the same end, this should give you your prepared yarn:

(This isn't an exact science, it's more guestimating, you absolutely can do a lot of planning to the exact amount of braids you want and calculate the strands on that but um... Not me 😳 - If you run out (I did from the picture above), you can just prepare more. I did this about one other time then I had a leftover that went into my yarn scraps. ♻️

Braiding:

A few things to note, luckily this type of wig cap makes it easier to section for braids as following the wefts creates your horizontal sections until you get to the crown. You can make bigger braids by adding more yarn. (more strands = thicker braids/sections) I wanted thinner braids so I only used 2 and ended up with 52 braids total. Make sure you mist and brush the hair out before you start and as you go as you create your vertical sections.

Using 2 strands, link them together evenly like so:

Then, create a loop like so, taking care to ensure the link is at the top and the ends even:

You then feed the hair through, using your hands or a tool, make sure to keep the link in the middle as you tighten the loop around the base of the hair.

Using the middle hair as its own section, braid all the way down until you run out of hair, then split the yarn into 3 sections and continue to braid down about an inch. This is where you can use a very small amount of the beeswax or even simply water to smooth the ends of the hair to aid the transition of hair ends to ending yarn braid. Then, create a single strand knot at the end to secure the braid. After finishing all the braids, trim the ends about a centimeter past the knot.

Curling:

The method depends on your choice of curlers, I used plastic snap curlers this time, perm rods would also be a great choice.

I added a small amount of beeswax to the ends as I started the curler to help it stay formed. Make sure to only use a couple braids on the curler, as the braids are thick on the curler when wrapped. Some places where I wanted more detail that frame the face, I only used one braid to create a more springy spiral. I then steamed the braids with my handheld steamer, using a rag to protect her face. Just to be safe due to the thicknesses, we also did a boil wash. Be sure to try any excess moisture after!

WAIT AT LEAST 24 HOURS/UNTIL COMPLETELY DRY TO TAKE CURLERS OUT.

Finished Look!

Ta-dah! Ready for Spring!

Thank you so much for reading!