Dollcraft

I am white women. I collect dolls of color. I try to do it for good reasons. I grew up with Barbies. My sister and I only had one black doll- a 1990's Steven (black Ken). In our stories he was married to our one black-haired doll, a Kira. (She could be interpreted as Asian/Pacific Islander.) No adult told us those two belonged together, or that Steven shouldn't date the white blonde dolls. (And we were certainly not taught that dolls of color were bad or ugly.) I was raised to be "colorblind," but when you never talk or think about racial issues, bad messages can be sent accidentally. These are often subconscious messages, or schema . Accidental Race Lessons White is normal. White is beautiful. White is good. I know these may sound over the top, especially if you are a white person raised like me. Give me a chance to break it down. I'll use myself as a prime example, but hopefully I can show this happens. (Perhaps you had a different life exper...

Dear Mattel:  Everything does not need to be pink and purple.  Also, your sculpture/designers do amazing work. It deserves to be seen! -Love, Ginger Fear not, plastic can be repainted. I found a wonderful clawfoot bathtub for $1.50 at a thrift store. (My husband says it's called a slipper tub, as in Cinderella's slipper, describing the higher back.) How beautiful it would look in normal colors!  You need: Barbie furniture steel wool spray paint super glue protective plastic or newsprint optional: beads to replace missing knobs optional: clay or tape  optional: paint thinner I disassembled the tub just by pulling hard or banging against something hard. (The tube was harder to remove- I wedged a tiny screwdriver from a watch repair kit along the inside to break the hold) I cleaned the tub and scrubbed it with steel wool. (I think it would have been wise to remove the little painting with paint thinner, but I didn't t...

Finding a good articulated 12" doll is an ongoing challenge, and when it comes to male bodies, action figures can be a good solution. GI Joe is the most famous action figure, yet they are hard to find new or in the 1/6 scale size. Older GI Joes are collectable and can be unaffordable for casual collectors like me, who simply want a diverse doll world. I have recently purchased several "World Peacekeepers" dolls. They are available at Big Lots for $13 or $20. I haven't seen them anywhere else yet, and their  website  doesn't seem to sell online. I recently purchased a doll made to resemble a black or Latino man. There is also one Asian option I have been unable to find so far. Power Team Elite: World Peacekeepers Action Figure  Action Figures is just a silly name for "boy" dolls with "boy" themes: fighting, guns, police, rescue, etc. The wikipedia article on GI Joe says that they came up with the term Action Figures because "boys...

I've found a lot of amazing guides for styling hair in ways that reflect the human black community. Here are the ones I have tried so far. hanging out the the sisters Afro I used this wonderful guide from How to Play with Barbies.   It's a modified boil-curl that you pick apart with your fingers until it's fluffy. I made my dolls 'fro very large- I had intended to trim it more, but it's so big and bold, it feels wrong to tone it down! (I'll probably trim it down...) Reading for a boil curl picked out to perfection Dreadlocks Another How to Play with Barbies guide uses the doll's original hair and an iron . The guide says it takes 20 minutes- it felt much longer to me! But the results were a lot of fun- works great with doll hair that's already in bad shape. I even melted away the stump of unwanted bangs. The final result is rather stiff, but it has a unique quality I like. For a yarn re-root , check out this video by My ...