Dolly Lifehacks!

Rubber bands made for Rainbow Looms are awesome for doll hair. They don't break easily and they come in tons of different colors!
Some jewelry boxes can become great doll dressers!
Photo storage boxes make wonderful dolly clothes boxes! You can usually find them on sale at Micheals/ Hobby Lobby!

 

This might be just me, but I generally don't like the texture of sticky tac/poster putty for eye putty and holding wigs. However, I found that kneaded erasers work just fine for that role, and don't get all gunky if you're weird with textures like me!

 

Stores like Michaels and Jo Annes tend to have sections where they have shadowbox/scrapbook accessories as well as areas with charms of things like bottles, clocks and other more retro or industrial items that make the perfect props if you have smaller scale dolls.
They also tend to have little sections full of things for miniatures that would be perfect for anyone with yosd like plates of cookies, books, art easels, ect...

I also use the pillow that my doll was wrapped in from the company as a sun shield when transporting him from place to place while I'm waiting for a bag.

 

I have a few large gacha capsules that I use when transporting things I don't want to be broken. They're good for shipping stuff too, and can easily be filled with packing material along with the item you're sending.

 

You can find doll-sized things in the darnedest of places if you keep your eyes peeled! I found Santa hats at Bath and Body Works this weekend for $1 apiece that fit a size 6-7 head perfectly.

 

Reviving this thread because I needed to share this!

So I recently started working at Michaels, and with Halloween almost here there are a bunch of sales on everything, so I bought some stuff just for fun.

There was a cheap pack of eyeball decorations, and I'm surprised at how good they looked! You get 4 small green, 4 small blue, 4 big green, and 4 big blue, so that's a potential 8 sets of eyes! I have no idea how big they actually are in mm, but here they are demonstrated on my Senior Delf head.

(If they look a bit wonky, that's because I'm holding them in. I didn't have any putty on hand.)

And that's not all! They also have costume wings for kids/babies that actually work pretty well on SD sizes. They're kinda cheap looking, but could easily be spray-painted and customized.Here are the bat wings on my SD13 boy.


And if you have any little witches or ghoulies this is an especially great time to go prop hunting! They're small for yo-sd scale but could work well for tinies. Here's some miniatures with a 26cm Apollo Island Doll and an off-topic 11cm Nendoroid Doll body for reference.

 

Some threads just need to be resuscitated.

I'm surprised no one mentioned food erasers. You can find them in scale to fit just about any size doll.

Also don't discount the lip glosses in cases that look like drinks, soda bottles, or candy boxes.

Pom keychains from Dollar Tree make pretty good wigs. It takes about two for a tiny and three for MSD. I don't have an SD sized doll but I imagine it would likely take four. The wig in my avatar is made from these and you wouldn't believe how silky soft it is when the product that keeps the pom fluffy is washed out.

When you're cruising the dollar stores, don't just look at the keychains and such; you can find mini props in the most unexpected places. Check out the party aisle and even the wedding section for mini versions of plates, glasses, even silverware!

I found Chaeri a perfectly in-scale guitar at DT too, in the toy section.

When changing eyelashes, toothpicks work great for scraping off the glue residue. Just be careful around the painted areas.

Everyone raves about Riri's lashes. I painted the lower ones with a straight pin. Very carefully, of course, so I didn't scratch up the surface. It made beautiful delicate hair-thin lines!

 

My only "hack" is that a layer of clear nail polish topcoat instantly revives scuffed, cloudy or scratched doll eyes. I've tried it on resin and acrylic eyes, and it works perfectly for both and leaves them with a smooth, realistically glossy finish.



(Junk resin eye before (sanded) vs after a generous layer of taco)

(I don't know if the topcoat is removable, but if I'm using this trick then the eyes are already ruined, so...)

 

Best hack I have is using large tripod carrying cases as bags for SD's and 70cm dolls. They have securing straps and everything, like 20 bucks for a good padded one on Amazon. I am absolutely making a permanent word doc of a ton of these juicy tips!

 

Hmm, dolly hacks...

• I wrap the middles of plastic/resin chopsticks I picked up from an Asian market with a dollop of artist/painter's tape (usually a round mound about an inch/2.5cm wide), and then use that to hold heads I'm face upping in place. I cut the flaps and cut grooves into the sides of old Amazon boxes to use as a surface to rotate the head on while spraying on sealant coats, and also set them while the sealant is drying.
• I've made some great finds for benches, chairs, etc. for my SDs to have seating at thrift shops. Small book shelves also make great wooden couches.
• makeup brushes are great to use while applying pastels for faceups.
• Those mini, single shot bottles you can pick up at the liquor store work great for bjd scaled bottles.
• Plastic shot glasses work pretty nicely as doll-sized drinking cups.
• Mini clips they sell for kids are great as doll sized hairclips (especially MSDs)
• Sometimes, if you look in gardening decorations, you can find cute benches that work well for MSD and smaller bjds.
• I've invested in some of those cubicle storage shelves that you can fit those cloth drawer sets into for storing a lot of my supplies/bjd stuff in. I took advantage of some space under my computer desk to stick one of these for that extra storage.
• Big, flat plastic bins work as storage space for doll stuff under the bed when no other place is available.

Heh, I guess I had more then I thought

 

If you check Ikea's stationery section, you'll find a lot of 3 black chairs meant to be screwed to the wall to hold letters. They are perfect for small 1/6 dolls such as Fairyland Littlefees. If you go to the Kiddies' section, you'll find 2 different boxes dedicated to doll's furniture and a printed background made of hard cardboard. Good for Fairyland Pukifees. In the kitchen department, their shot glasses and egg cups are not far off the SD size.

Check the Christmas decorations section in the more expensive stores that are attuned to flashy Xmas trees. I have found an unbelievably cheap wire bench for my Fairyland Pukifee this year and you can often find sledges for the same size. In fact, you can find a lot of sledges for 1/6 dolls.

In Europe, Flying Tiger stores are great for smaller size furniture and various other goods.

If you are lucky to be near a TK Maxx/Homesense (Europe/Australia), the furniture and decoration sections are treasure throves. They have a lot of 'My Generation' type of dolls, including plastic goods by the same brand that can be useful for both MSDs and SDs.

If you have the chance to get to any 'Maisons du Monde', have a look. Especially in Lyon, France. They often propose smaller size furniture that can be used for MSDs. They follow the same Design style than the Human size furniture. A store to be cherished when it is at its best.

Happy Xmas shopping!

 

I do the same thing, but with scarves! Not funtional ones, but fashionable ones. Ive tied one around my girl a few times and it looks like an awesome robe. Ive also cut the end off of another and used it as a wrap for a bikini outfit.

 

I've got a few-
White polymer clay can be used as eye putty, and comes off easier than poster tack.
I keep a pair of tweezers with my doll eyes to help get tiny heads off and on.
Shipping boxes can be cut and taped into base forms for upholstered furniture.

 

The only problem with that is that polymer clay contains plasticizers that can interact unpredictably with both eyes and resin.

 

Thanks @vicemage , I didn't realize that. So eye putty substitute that should only be used for a few minutes at a time. Not very helpful, sorry!

 

There's a lot to keep track of in this hobby, no worries, @Leo Pheonix! The other tips were great though

 

Both magic erasers and polymer clay eventually harden, making them less ideal for eye putty. I've recently discovered Mack's silicone ear plug putty, from the pharmacy aisle. » Pillow Soft® Silicone Putty Ear Plugs It's not as sticky as eye putty, and seems to last a long time without hardening. It's also cheap, which is always a plus, and comes in a handy case.

 

Kneaded eraser is my favorite eye putty. And you can use it to remove smudges and dust then just stretch and roll it back good as new

 

I also use silicone ear plugs on all my more recent dolls and find they work great on most eyes, but with one caveat:
Don't use them on silicone eyes! They can actually soften and ruin them! Any other type (so far) seems to be fine.

Edit: I don't know if this counts as a hack, but many anklets make great SD-sized necklaces, and their charms are often smaller and more in scale than ones on bracelets.

 

Loving these tips! Super helpful, thank you everyone.