Tiana's Makeover

Shrinking Tiana's Head

Recently I've found both Disney and Mattel versions of Tiana in Thrift stores and decided to purchase a few of them.  I’m glad I did purchase some because Mattel stopped making them and I'm not a big fan of the Hasbro version.  The Mattel and Disney versions have distinct differences.  Initially, it took me a while to warm up to the Princess because of her over sized head.  I decided to shrink the Mattel version.

The Tiana I chose to make over had a bad case of "glue head."  There was so much glue that over time it had begun to seep out through the holes into the hair which caused it to became extremely gummy.  I repainted and flocked her head after a full acetone shrink.  Here's 3 of my makeovers with natural hair styles.

Partial Makeover for Zipporah

Zipporah/Bumble-Bee Hybrid

This is Hasbro’s Zipporah from the Prince of Egypt doll line with her original body. The doll as limited articulation so I decided to do a head swap.

I painted her mouth closed using acrylic paint then used an inexpensive brand of eye shadow to tint the doll's existing makeup.

I sealed her face with Mr. Super Clear.  Her complexion is a perfect match with Mattel's Super Hero Girl Bumble-Bee.

She’s wearing a dress I made from a headband purchased at the Dollar Tree and Ever After High shoes.

Bumble Bee's Makeover

Bumble Bee's Makeover

Bumble-Bee is another one of my dolls that went through a series of transformations.  The first 2 head shrinks were done with diluted acetone.  She's pictured here with Disney's Tiana who is also receiving a head shrink.

Undiluted acetone was used in the final shrink but that stripped most of the factory paint.  I removed the rest of the paint and returned her to the original body.

This is the latest repaint.  I may still tweak the eyes a bit.

Bumble-Bee/Barbie Hybrid

I tried a normal sized Barbie head (Grace from the SIS collection) on the Bumble Bee body to see how it would look.  Her proportions are reminiscent of Nytiri’s from the motion picture Avatar. The other doll pictured with her is a Mattel’s Star Doll head on an Articulated Fashionista body; both purchased from Thrift Stores. 

Star Dolls were a nice concept, kind of like a 3 dimensional paper doll.   Doll play has progressed since the age of multi-media and most collectors like to take pictures of their dolls in real life settings with the dolls in a many different positions. I've seen a lot of these dolls that have been placed on articulated bodies.

Naomi's Makeover

A new look for Naomi by Olmec Toys

This doll is a gift to me from my sister.  Naomi, by Olmec Toys was produced in the 90’s.  She's the best friend of Imani who was the main character in this doll line.  This doll has somewhat of an overbite that, to me, makes her facial mold uniquely appealing.

 

She’s been the subject of many experimental repaints and as a result, has gone through a series of transformations since I received her in 2015.

With help from a few internet tutorials, doll play for me has also become repaints and makeovers.  I tried to save the original eyes and but ended up removing the entire face.  Since her hair was already braided,  I set the waves with hot water.

After purchasing a few more art supplies I was able to give her a more realistic look. I also used regular eye makeup to shadow and highlight her face.  I'm satisfied with this latest repaint.