Tuesday, July 19, 2011

D.I.Y. Natural Dolls


I was so excited to try the Natural Hair for Dolls Tutorial that I went out yesterday and bought a couple of straight haired So In Style Barbie dolls. I did it a little differently than Kristl but all methods produce beautiful results. A absolutely loves all her new dolls!

Below are the two dolls I purchased. Grace (blue dress) and Chandra (white tee). I bought them both at Walmart. Grace was almost $8 and Chandra was almost $12.



Pipe cleaners in

I started by parting off a small section of hair. I wrapped the end of the pipe cleaner around the section of hair near the roots so it would stay put. I then rolled the hair on to the pipe cleaner. I left a little space inbetween as I rolled the hair on. Once I got to the ends I folded the pipe cleaner over the ends then wrapped it around once or twice and cut the remainder of the pipe cleaner off. I continued this process for about 40 minutes to an hour until I was finished. I then dipped her hair into a pot of boiling water for a 10 count,as Kristl mentions in her tutorial. I left the pipecleaners in overnight. I removed them in the A.M. and separated her curls. I cut all the straight ends off.
Pipe cleaners in/the back

After removing the pipe cleaners

The back after removing the pipe cleaners

Separated the curls and viola! Big hair!

The back

For Chandra, I knew I wanted a different curl pattern, so I did the same exact process as above, only I parted off much larger sections so she didn't have nowhere near as many pipe cleaners in her hair. After dipping her hair into a pot of boiling water I only left them in for about 3 hours, removed the pipe cleaners and separated the curls.

Pipe cleaners in

And out

Separated

Natural dolls!

Grace and Chandra after their makeovers.

Don't forget to check out Kristl's blog! How to Play with Barbies
Posted by Beads, Braids & Beyond at 11:03 PM

44 comments :

  1. Tiffany: Diva LocksJuly 19, 2011 at 11:08 PM

    Oh I love it! I am so going to do this to the diva's dolls, thanks for the post!

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  2. K.A.BJuly 19, 2011 at 11:11 PM

    That is awesome. I will definitely have to try this for my daughters.

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  3. DanielleJuly 19, 2011 at 11:21 PM

    Oh, I love it!!!!

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  4. AnonymousJuly 19, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    AWESOME! When I have kids, their dolls will definitely be getting this kind of treatment.

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  5. MissFannyJuly 19, 2011 at 11:37 PM

    awww and they definetely look better with big natural hair!!!Good job :)

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  6. The Woman InsideJuly 19, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    Great job!! Thank you soo much for posting this!

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  7. RicesPieces3July 19, 2011 at 11:43 PM

    They honestly do look better; this is so cool I love it! Beautiful job!

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  8. AnonymousJuly 19, 2011 at 11:50 PM

    Brilliant! Can't wait ot try this!

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  9. HotchocolettJuly 20, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    the bestest ever!! gr8 job!!

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  10. Mama MJuly 20, 2011 at 12:18 AM

    This is amazing!!!!!! Can't wait to try this out! Thanks!!!

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  11. The Modesty MovementJuly 20, 2011 at 12:32 AM

    I feel so much pride looking at those dolls

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  12. KikiRocksKinksJuly 20, 2011 at 12:40 AM

    Walmart, here I come!

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  13. kristlJuly 20, 2011 at 8:50 AM

    this is so great. I absolutely LOVE what you've done! It gives us MORE options. As we all know, there are many different hair textures "out there" and this really gives us the ability to choose different textures. I am so excited to see so many people interested in black dolls with natural hair. They are SO BEAUTIFUL.

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  14. Toya | The Limerick LaneJuly 20, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    This is a great D.I.Y! I will be doing this real soon for my nieces!

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  15. BoysandgirlsnaturalcurlsJuly 20, 2011 at 9:46 AM

    I wish the Walmart here carried these dolls I look almost everytime I go and can never find any grrr :(

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  16. MikkimuJuly 20, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    I absolutely love this and will be making over a couple of dolls for my nieces. Thanks so much for posting this!

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  17. MarloJuly 20, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    That is incredibly cool. I have to try it.

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  18. KrisJuly 20, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    Those are awesome! Great job! This sounds like a project to maybe do with DD.

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  19. UnknownJuly 20, 2011 at 11:12 AM

    I may have to do this!!! This is just amazing and the cure to my issues of not finding any barbies with textured hair!! YAY the dollar store by me sells those IN STYLE Barbies affiliated with Rocawear :) Thanks so much for posting this!

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  20. Precious HenshawJuly 20, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Oh my gosh I absolutely love this!! Wish my mom knew about this back when I was playing with dolls!

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  21. AliciaJuly 20, 2011 at 12:19 PM

    These girls look so GLAMOROUS this way! I love it. Thanks for sharing!

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  22. HoneyMielJuly 20, 2011 at 1:04 PM

    You are a fantastic mother. I don't have any kids yet, but I wondered when I first cut my hair, what I would do with my own daughters hair when I have one.

    And then I discovered this blog.

    You have to understand. I know a lot of women, black, brown or light, whatever, who talk about how non-black/brown (lol) women have children with black men and don't know what to do with their children's hair. And I think that's B.S. Because I know a lot of those women often just slap a press or a perm in their daughter's hair and/or keep it in tight ponytails by age 7.

    I know that a lot of black or non- do this out of habit. But you, you actually took the time to research and figure out what to do, and I think that that is fantastic. It's something that many mothers of curly and kinky haired children just don't do. Because their mothers didn't.

    I still hear my curly headed half-Mexican sister telling me how my hair is pretty but someone else's hair (which was very like mine, but not as maintained) is bad or nappy.

    Thank you for your blog!! It's great. Sorry for the essay. I just had to tell you. Every time a mom says to me I don't know what to do with my daughter's hair, I send them here.

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  23. BraidwithMeJuly 20, 2011 at 6:10 PM

    They look great Nikki!! Thanks for sharing!

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  24. BCG'sJuly 21, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    Wow....they're beautiful!

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  25. ChariJuly 22, 2011 at 9:21 PM

    Aww this is too cute! I REALLY love this! Thanks so much for sharing!

    So, I am sharing! Lol! `Blessings!

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  26. Mrs JaiJuly 23, 2011 at 4:11 AM

    wow, this is such a blessing, to see a doll that looks like me. thanks for this

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  27. Alisa July 23, 2011 at 1:14 PM

    this is such a cute idea!! the dolls look great!

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  28. UnknownJuly 24, 2011 at 11:47 AM

    OMG! These baby dolls hair is HOT! Nikki, you come up with the most creative things to do. Toy makes should pay attention to what you are doing here. This would boost the confidents of so many kids. Keep up the AWESOME Work!

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  29. DionneJuly 24, 2011 at 2:10 PM

    Love...Love... LOVE!!!! I have a 5 year old and this is too perfect!!!

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  30. Karli K.July 25, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    oh my gosh!! This is genius!!! I'm sooooo going to do this!!!
    ~Karli

    www.curlyhairdoideas.com

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  31. BeautiDefinedJuly 25, 2011 at 12:54 PM

    such a wonderful post, I can't wait to try it on my 4 year olds dolls!!

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  32. Syrita MAugust 11, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    I love this! I love the way you are putting a positive spin on having natural hair! I wish I had known all this before I got a relaxer! This is a wonderful idea and will be using it soon!!

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  33. Style Chic 360August 12, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    WOW, fabulous diy!

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  34. AnonymousSeptember 4, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    Wow what a GENIUS! this is such an amazing idea, I"m the mother of a 2 year old and when she's old enough to play with Barbie's ALL her dolls will look like this. I hope you don't mind me reblogging this. (of course I will link your blog in the post) and here is a link to my tumblr
    http://millennialmami.tumblr.com/ Much respect!

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  35. AnonymousSeptember 5, 2011 at 2:40 AM

    Just Amazing!

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  36. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2011 at 4:21 PM

    which walmart can I get black dolls? im in Arizona??? smh

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  37. NandiOctober 2, 2011 at 1:18 PM

    Oh wow! Love the idea! I have a struggle finding darker skinned barbies or dolls in general for my daughter here in Sweden, just bought a few on my visit in NY. I might order some online and do make them naturalistas! I always stuggle with buying straight haired dark skinned Barbies. Thanks for sharing!!

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  38. The CEOJuly 12, 2012 at 11:24 AM

    I LOVE THIS!!!! This is sooo great. I'm ready to go to the store right now. :-)

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  39. UnknownJuly 12, 2012 at 11:34 AM

    This is too cute!!! I need to do this with my daughter's dolls. She'll LOVE IT!! THANKS!!!

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  40. BabycakesjkJuly 12, 2012 at 12:20 PM

    Is there a way to do more of a "Z" curl pattern?

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  41. K.JamesJuly 12, 2012 at 3:07 PM

    This is an amazing DIY project for outlet girls! O will never give my nieces, goddaughter, or future children a straight haired doll again!!

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  42. AnonymousAugust 1, 2012 at 12:02 AM

    Makes me want a litte girl!

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  43. Dressmefab.WordPressSeptember 23, 2012 at 3:24 PM

    How creative and adorable .

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  44. danielle dirksOctober 11, 2012 at 1:04 PM

    Thank you so much for posting, I wanted to share that we're discussing it in my Race and Ethnicity in American Society class here (with full credit/linkbacks):
    http://race.iheartsociology.com/2012/10/diy-barbie-and-natural-hair-dolls/

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