2026 Goals For The Year

The big one is getting back into crafting. I was a little burnt out after a few back-to-back years of being a vendor. I always sold very well, which did make me happy. It just wasn't what I wanted to make, so that kind of burned me out. What you want to make, what people want to buy, and what people are financially able to buy don't always match up. Now I'm free to just make whatever I want for my own collection. ^^ I'll probably still bring my crafts to swap events as feelers, but it'll be way less pressure than actually making things with the intent to sell.

I think otherwise, mostly just some collection maintenance. I'm not really tempted by any dolls outside of my collection.

So far, out of six total BJDs, two have faceups that I LOVE. Two are currently with a faceup artist I have total confidence in. I think I'm going to send the other two to her as well. Thankfully they're not blank, but their faceups just aren't my style. I did take nice photos of them to immortalize their current looks, so I don't really feel bad about them being wiped now that that's done.

There is also my Momonita. She has an awesome collection of clothes. Unfortunately, she has just one pair of shoes to go with it. I'm more crazy about the fact that they actually fit her than the style, so even that one pair isn't amazing. I also want to get her a wig that isn't just something I put together in 30 minutes. This year's shopping mission was my Baby Kumako, who I'm happy to say has a pretty great wardrobe now. Next year's will be Momonita.

 

Now here on the last day of 2025 its time to look forward to 2026
Last year I didn't get all done (if anything). A lot of things happened, that took my time from my dolls... so this year I set my goals lower and hopefully make it easer for my self

* I have some floating heads now. if I could get 2 bodies for 2 of them, that would be great!.
* All floating heads and 2 dolls don't have faces, would like to try to get just one done in 2026. ( never did a face up, so that going to be a challenge. or send one out, don't know yet)
* Hopefully sell 1 or 3 dolls, I have unfortunately fall out of love with, they deserve to be loved by others .
* Her DOA I would like to make doll profiles. maybe 5 in 2026?
* Have my marketplace application get accepted her in DOA, have waited nearly 8 month now. (I had to answer a question again.). don't want to stress the team, så I just try to wait patiently . but when it reach one year I should probably contact them.

2025 was wild on so many sides. I have found nearly all my grails this year. that hopefully means not so much buying in 2026. - not a goal, just a hope .

 

Are you getting new dolls?
Probably not, but you never know. I might, but I don't have any current plans.
Want to sew up some clothing?
Always. I enjoy sewing. I want to try to make sure all my dolls have wardrobes that feels somewhat complete, so that I have all the things that the character in question should have. No deadline, though. It's an ongoing project.
Try your hand at modding?
Maybe I'll finish my Imp (a resin soul Ming. he already have most of his mobility mods done, he still needs wings and tail.)
Give new face-ups?
I have several dolls that could do with a new face up, but none of them are urgent. We'll see.
Make that perfect prop?
Oh, there are always props to make. I don't know about perfect, but props will happen.
Take a lot of pictures?
I wish I was better at this. I will try.
Organaize better?
Not exactly better, but more. My collection is growing out of their clothing storage, so yes I need a few more boxes.
Something else?
I want to make more backdrops, furniture and other larger props for photography. Luckily, most of my plans are for the 1/6 crew, so it won't take up too much space.

 

I am sewing more doll clothes! This means less doll stories but I'm ok with that. Doll photography will continue!

 

While I may not be excited for the coming year, I am oddly looking forward to making up a list of doll-related goals for myself. Let's see if I can set some realistic and achievable goals this time around.

• The Purge. Something I've talked about and wanted to do for so many years now. This is the most unrealistic of my goals but an important one. I want to really take a hard look at the dolls I have and make some hard cuts. I have more than I can manage and would like to lower my numbers a bit. I also want to be realistic about dolls I will likely never 'finish' and who have been sitting as a blank WIP for years. To make this hopefully achievable, I'm going to say I'd like to sell (or at least list for sale, as I know selling is harder these days) 5 dolls. Any size but must be a full doll to count. (and this does not count if I reshell a doll as mentioned further on)
• Faceups. A goal that I set last year and will likely always have. I'd love to finish painting all my own dolls that still need faceups, but again, to be realistic while still pushing myself a bit, I'm going to say I want to at least finish 6 faceups. Priority goes to dolls that are not mine that I promised ages ago to paint. (I'm so sorry to my friends who are waiting still )
• Modding!! This is a big one, but I'd love to try my first additive mods this year! I have a list of dolls who need elf ears either attached or sculpted from nothing and I've been too scared to try it thus far.
• Repairing or replacing old peeling vinyl. I have a lot of old vinyl doll pants/boots/jackets/etc that need to be repaired or replaced. I HAVE a repair kit. Let's actually use it this year!
• Last goal is a very strict NO NEW DOLLS. I've never gone a full year without buying a new doll but this coming year is the year, I can feel it. (helps when you have no fun money LOL) I will allow myself the exception of replacing a doll IF and only if I sell a doll first. Example being if I wanted to remold a character into a new shell. But I'd have to sell their existing shell first to fund the replacement. I did this once last year and it worked out great!

That's more than enough goals for the year I think so I'll stop there. Generally speaking, I hope this hobby continues to spark joy and carry me through dark times. I hope the year ahead is better than we all expect. ♥

 

Are you getting new dolls?

Hitting the ground running because I have to have Giselle and her preorder is gonna be in January. I also have a torso stand I want to order. It would have been a December order, but Dollyplanet's website is acting funky and I am waiting for them to respond with a fix or letting me order by e-mail. edit: nevermind, the torso ended up being a New Year's Eve order.

Want to sew up some clothing?

Always. I need to have less naked babies. lol

Try your hand at modding?

Knowing me, something will probably get dyed.

Give new face-ups?

So many. I did not do nearly as many as I was planning in 2025

Make that perfect prop?

My eternal battle with hard surface modelling continues.

Take a lot of pictures?

Yes, but I don't know if anything will be like good quality photography lol

Organize better?

Yeah............. I need to sell some stuff and that requires going through everything...

Gonna sculpt more heads also.

 

Personal circumstances are going to make this a difficult year for me, so I'm going easy on myself in terms of hobby goals...

Curating the dolls

• Have as many dolls "photo ready/meet ready" as possible: having an acceptable faceup, wig, eyes and outfit – if they're missing something integral which makes me not want to take photos of them or take them to a meet, they're not there yet
• Avoid the "I could do this myself" fallacy and buy/commission things that are beyond my skill level or that I don't enjoy making

New dolls

• Saying "no new dolls" isn't a reality for me – try to stick to "2 dolls must be made photo-ready before buying a new doll"
• Recycle any money from doll sales into doll funds for when something I really want comes up

Cutting down the floating heads and bodies

• Wait for the parts I have on order for 2 of these (ANS61 for AS Hua Rong and Switch DongGyeong for IOS 65F). Sell the 65F body and Hua Rong head if the hybrids fail before sunken cost fallacy kicks in
• Keep an eye out for ideal parts for the floaters instead of rushing into buying "good enough" parts – the secondhand market is so slow that if I buy something that doesn't work out, I'm unlikely to be able to sell it

Faceups and mods

• Practice when I have the time, energy and right weather
• Use Moonlit Wonder and Tianba's books to learn new skills
• Paint my new head (Switch Gyoha)
• Get some Milliput or Apoxie Sculpt to practice the mods for Gyoha
• If possible, redo my old faceups which I feel I could now do better on
• Stretch goal: gaining enough skill to wipe some artist faceups on secondhand dolls that aren't to my taste and redo them

Sewing

• Stick to my fabric no-buy: no fabric unless it's for a specific project I've made a successful mockup for. I have fabric at home!
• Have a workable kimono pattern for all my doll sizes (currently working on SD10/13)
• Stretch goal: also work out patterns for haori, hakama and monpe
• Get a handle on basic shirts and pants for the Big Boys with incoming patterns
• Try casual basics for the SD10/13 girls with my existing patterns

Photos

• Keep practicing with the camera (2005 Panasonic Lumix FZ20 DSLR)
• Go out for more photoshoots when time and weather allow
• Get the dolls "photo ready" so I want to take photos of them

Organisation

• If possible, buy custom storage for dolls and doll-related items (probably an Ikea Pax or Kallax system. This also relies on working with my family to clear old furniture/appliances/etc out of my living space)
• In a perfect world, I'd work on a small diorama setup, but I don't think that's a reality this year

Props

• On hold unless they're character-significant (pending diorama/display space) or I have a very concrete photoshoot plan

Other

• Go to as many meets as possible with the lovely local group
• Set up a website for my own image hosting and doll ramblings (also a deterrent against doomscrolling)

 

I hope I don’t jinx myself, I’m very bad at keeping goals when I make them

Are you getting new dolls?
Nothing planned, but that’s not a no either. First few years I was in the hobby I collected a few a year. Last year after a very long hiatus, I got five new ones, pretty much doubling the size of my collection. Granted most were second hand, but still! I can slow down lol.

Want to sew up some clothing?

Yes! I hope to continue sewing for my dolls this year. Even more I’d like to begin making some shoes — an embarrassing number don’t have shoes right now.

Try your hand at modding?

Sort of. Not quite modding, but fixing up a damaged doll. There was one I got last year for very cheap, I love him but he’s got some weird mod/damage someone else did that I’d like to fix. I would have liked to have done that this past year, but I have had some health issues getting in the way.

Give new face-ups?

Yes! I whole bunch of my dolls desperately need some new face-ups. This I wanted to do last year but the weather was horrible for doing them. Now it’s too cold. Hopefully I can get these done in the spring time before the humidity is horrendous.

My doll Gremory has been bare-faced for a while. The cheap/damaged doll will need one. I’d like to do face-ups for both of my Rozen Maiden girls. Two of my Souldolls need some fresh faces. My Luts Bory girl also desperately needs a new face-up as it’s become a bit faded. That’s seven dolls that need face-ups, oof.

Make that perfect prop?

Not making a prop, but I wouldn’t mind getting a few more dolly chairs, even if I don’t make them. My housemate had gifted me a doll bench/chair thing he found on eBay and it fits three of my dolls. I love it so much and would love to get some more furniture like this for my dolls.

Take a lot of pictures?

Yes! I haven’t been too harsh on myself for this last year because of health issues. I’m having surgery in a month though so I am hoping that helps a problem I’ve had, or at least make it not so debilitating. So many times I’d make a new dress for my dolls and not feel well enough for weeks, and I’d never get around to taking pictures.

Organaize better?

Yes

Something else?

Hopefully this doesn’t count as advertisement since I am neither doing it yet and am not ready to start soon, but I hope to start selling doll clothes I’ve made at some point. Not sure if I will be ready for that this year, but it is a goal of mine to do that eventually!

 

I need doll stands and thinning out the collection. I need to get a better understanding of what I want. What still has magic to it?

Are you getting new dolls?
It's GOING to happen, isn't it?

Want to sew up some clothing?
I need to, but I don't know how.

Try your hand at modding?
Sanding...sanding...
1: Sujan's left thigh channel, sand to almost 5mm, b) check elbow for sanding (arm does function as intended)
2: 1/5 doll body: a) right knee - minor sanding, b) check wrists and ankles if sanding needed, c) string tighter, d) sand neck shorter this year?
3: 1/4 doll body: a) joint peanuts needs sanding, b) wrists and ankles needs sanding
4: tighten string on one large doll, wire legs of two large dolls
5: might throw a wire into a couple of 1/4 dolls (for one it's investment worthy, but with the other it might not be worth the adventure of unstringing her to tighten her legs)
6: body blushing on 1/4 dolls??

Give new face-ups?
Yes, but I've never been an artist. (I'm tempted to find an artist for a couple, though.)

Make that perfect prop?
.

Take a lot of pictures?
I need a better place than floor, for pictures. Where should I photograph, now?

Organize better?
* Staring at doll with new self made face up but now only one eye. Shrugs about being able to accomplish that. *

Something else? (not sure yet.)

 

I’m trying to spend more time with my dolls this year, first and foremost. Most of my goals are craft oriented.

- I’d like to sew and customize more clothing.
- Learn wig making. Make a wig!
- Try some furniture and accessory crafting.
- Continue to buy secondhand as much as possible.
- Commission faceups for floating heads.

 

I achieved most of my 2025 goals so let’s see how 2026 goes!

• I’d like to participate in Volks USA FCS if there’s a sculpt offered that I like.
• Take more photos of my dollfie dreams
• Dress and display all my dollfie dreams as they’re almost all stored due to space
• I’d like to turn my DDH-09 into a custom Fancy Lala. I’m waiting on the wig but I’ll make the outfit.
• I’d like more storage solutions for my doll shoes. I have doll clothes and shoes in an IKEA cabinet I’d like to get behind the door storage for them
• I went overboard buying dolls in 2025 so I’d like to not do that again in 2026 LOL

 

I try to be realistic.
~ Go to UK mini Con in Reading 18th April 2026.
~ Do a face up for my Demiurge Dragon. Make a stylish wig for him. Make a set of clothes.
~ Take photos of the old face up, wipe, do a new face up for my Pygmalion Ha.
~ Get at least 1 hopefully 2 bodies for the 2 floating heads. Strongly depends on the financial situation. I know what I want, where to get it but put it on hold till I have a clear overview of the situation.
~ Get a 1/3 horse. The same as point above: know what, where, how. Waiting for clarity.
~ Get a 1/3 dog. Or leave it for later. NBD
~ Make la Robe à la Française / Versailles style dress. Powdered wig with all the possible decorations on top. Matching man's set or kilt set. Think "Outlander" where Claire went to the ball in the red dress and Jamie in a kilt. Except I have materials for yellow/light blue dress. This is a leftover from not fulfilled 2025 plans.
~ Make some more historical or pseudo historical sets for 2 dolls at least. Bridgerton/Empire style.
~ Take the dolls to interesting locations for lots of photos.

 

This year my goal is to spend more time with my current dolls. Over the years, I put more time into buying dolls then playing with them and I'd like to change that this year. I don't regret buying a bunch of dolls due to how much more expensive they'd be now with tariffs + some of the dolls I have were only sold for a limited time. But now that I'm decreasing my collection of everything (manga, figures, etc.), I'd like to appreciate what I have more.

Additionally, I'm practicing my painting skills so I can do my own faceups. This year I'd also like to do more creative stuff with my dolls like sewing, and knitting them clothes.

As for buying new dolls, I'm only getting one this year (hopefully I stick to my word). The giant salamander doll body for a head I got last year. I've been eyeing this body on red note because I've always wanted a plus size bjd and when i saw a bjd dealer was offering it to people internationally, I couldn't resist. Especially since they're selling the body in a tan skin tone. My plan is to use the head I got along with this body to make a short-stack gyaru. I've been seeing so many drawing of plus size gyarus on red note and love the idea!

 

I figured I should just repaste last year's goals, because all of them still apply. I am honestly happy because in December my workplace got a great work Christmas gift - a new board of directors, so I hope there'll be increased financial transparency, increased wages/salaries and less abuse overall. We have gone from a private "family business" to a proto-corpo uni and I couldn't be happier! I hope this will mean I will not have to treat my home like a Bed&Breakfast anymore but an actual home where I can craft, sew and doll!

Anyway, last year I had the following goals:

+ make SOME clothes
+ maybe make some wigs actually
+ take just enough decent photos to create dolly profiles on DoA
+ find new loving homes for my resin crew FS
+ avoid temptation to bring home any new resin.

So, the first 4 still apply unchanged. But the last one? I wouldn't mind another SD girl in the crew Just because I need some refreshment and variety But we'll see! I've been neglecting the current crew as is :P

Anyway, I wish everyone that their dolly dreams and goal come true in 2026

 

I am currently going through all my dolls, their clothes and accessories to sell them. It's been lovely looking at them all again, and looking through this forum too as I used to spend a lot of time (and money!) here.

 

Creative goals:

• Sew clothes. Highest priority is to get the Dream Valley Collier finally clothed, should be easier now that I’ve completely changed her intended style and removed her tail.
• Make at least 1 bag.
• Make jewelry.
• Complete 3 more dolls.
• Create doll profiles for any doll that gets to a presentable state this year.
• Dye some mohair.
• Make 3 new wigs.
• Get my modded DollLeaves Ida’s modifications color matched to the resin.
• Do faceups for everyone that needs them. Seems like that will be Myrtle (I want to shell her back to Mystic Kids Vanetta)(also I might make her into Juniper instead who would need different color brows anyway), maybe child version of Willow (don’t really have to though yet as getting a new body for that head is very very low priority), the DL Ida and Dream Valley Freyja if she arrives in time for faceups this year. So, 2-4 faceups total.
• Sculpt horns on the Freyja head.
• Continue writing stories about my characters. Ideally start the story that’s ”canon” about the main group, as the first one I had started about them was more loosely based on them which I originally didn’t mind, but now that I know the characters better and there’s so much story that I really struggle to remember how things go in each version, I would like to work towards having only one consistent story.
• Take and publish photos more often! Late last year I switched photo editing softwares (or rather, from an editing software to a processing one, installed RawTherapee thinking it would be like Photoshop only to find out that all this time I had been using the less ideal kind of software for the type of stuff I’ve actually been wanting to do with my photos ) which got me feeling really inspired about photography as well after many years of feeling like it was a chore.

Goals depending on my financial situation, in order of priority:

• No new dolls first ¾ of the year unless the perfect shell for Leucothea, my mermaid character pops up. As much as I want to shell her I’m honestly hoping she won’t pop up before the end of the year though, as it seems my finances this year will be even tighter than last year and it might end up being a struggle to afford her even on layaway.
• Buy filters for the gas mask so I can actually do any faceups, unless of course I can manage to get all of them done using the one pair I have left over from last year.
• Buy buckles and whatever other various small metal things I don’t yet have for making bags etc. Ideally both in basic metal and golden colors at least.
• Buy materials and some more appropriate tools for jewelry making.
• Buy white alpaca for Havu’s wig.
• Buy more eyes. Rhodeia still doesn’t have what I want for her and the incoming Freyja might need some as well, though in latter’s case I do have some already that might work for her as I don’t have any set idea on her eye color. I also have some potentially suitable eyes for Rho coming in the same order as Freyja so if I get really lucky I might not have to buy any new eyes for either of them.

Other goals:

• Go through all the clothes and wigs and do some slight reorganizing, mainly separate out all the stuff I basically never use but have some reason to still hold onto anyway. Also I need to get around to adding name tags to the clothing boxes that still don’t have them.

 

Hi everyone!

I’ve been thinking about some goals in the hobby that I want to try working towards this year.

To start smaller, I definitely want to work on sewing and putting together multiple/seasonal outfits and just build up my dolls’ wardrobes a bit more.

I’m also thinking about display and storage since I don’t have a dedicated space for my dolls right now, and I have clothes and tools etc all in one tiny plastic bin haha. I have a nook with built-in drawers in my downstairs hobby/storage room, just perfect for a display area. (the whole room needs a rework but that’s beside the point lmao)

As for bigger goals, I am very interested in attending Resin Rose Expo this year. I would also really love to make my first secondhand doll purchase!

Anyway, I’m interested to hear what everyone is working towards in the hobby this year. Do you have grand plans or just going with the flow? Are you manifesting a grail? Are you trying something new? As someone recently getting back into BJD after a very long break, I’m excited to see where the hobby takes me this year.

 

Keeping the list short in the hopes it will actually be achievable this year.

I want to get all my unpainted heads a face-up (especially now they all hae bodies) and settled with wig eyes and at least one outfit.

Plus, no new dolls this year. There is no room for the ones I have (including most of the unpainted ones) as it is.

That's it.

The heads are being packed up to send for face-ups this week, so I'm off to a good start at least.

Teddy

 

I’m already in progress with my first goal! I’m remodeling my doll room now, paint, new flooring, new furniture soon. I’m excited to have a more organized space .

My other goal this year is to be very selective with new doll purchases, I’ve got quite the full house.