Hearts and minds? Extra pieces inside your doll?

I don't remember what company/sculpt it was but I remember seeing a doll years ago that the s hook thing inside the head that kept the head attached was sculpted to look like a brain

 

I love this idea! I do also remember some company doing the brain on the inside of the head.
One of the dolls I have been sanding on and restoring had mold inside of him..if that counts?

But really, I think that having something like beads strung inside or something pretty and delicate is pretty cool, especially on a doll that you know that you're keeping forever.

 

I actually adore this idea.
It's honestly really sweet.

And the doll with a brain is Soom Idealian! I have one and his little brain amuses me to no end. Hehe.

 

Spiritdoll have a little metal cross inside them as an authenticity thing. It's attached to the resin but inside. Kinda cool.
I've seen several artist cast dolls with interesting S hook decorations from gems to coloured resin balls and all sorts which is cool.
and yes, the soom brain hahaha. Hilarious.

I'd be worried about anything loose rattling around but you could definitely stick paper or something inside the body cavity or the head. One of my dolls came to me secondhand with a piece of paper in her head saying what she was, presumably for the previous owner's reference.
You could even write their name in there or something, to remind yourself heh.
Or birthday/arrival date and so on?

If the certificates were small enough id' be cool to be able to store them IN the doll but sadly most of them are pretty large. I don't think any of mine would fit.

I've stored eyes inside a head while waiting for a body and eye putty to arrive before now heh. You could totally store any alternate eyes in the head, especially if you puttied them to the inside so they didn't rattle about. Could be useful if you have a doll who has a whole... eye changing thing.
You could do tiny accessories too for transport.

But you reminded me of the Living Dead Doll Wizard of Oz set where the Wizard comes with a literal brain, a heart and most hilariously, a small velvet bag with two ball bearings inside.
<_<
*snicker*

The brain fits into the scarecrow's head cavity though sadly the heart doesn't slot into the tin man and the lion must hold his lil' bag.

How cute would a little heart or something mark of authenticity be though? like, a teensy little molded heart inside the chest of the doll, even just a little like... metal or plastic flat panel inset into the resin on the inside like spiritdoll's crosses.

I do really wish doll companies WOULD mark their bodies in some way and that'd be a cute way to do it.

 

Oh! There is an artist who sculpted a little heart on the inside of their doll's chest! But I can't remember who it was. I just remember being so pleased when I saw the photo!

My Ex Machina has a heart sculpted under her little removable chest plate. But that is on the outside of the doll.

 

I think that would be soom idealian!

 

I don't normally put anything inside my dolls, but one time when I was on vacation, I stuffed my extra cash inside my boy's chest when we went out because who would ever look inside a doll to steal money??

 

I don't keep anything inside my dolls, I never thought about it and can't think of any reason for me to want to do it. I do remember however that SoulDoll had the first LE Hye (or fist releases) with a sound/music box, or something like that with a heartbeat. I thought that was super cool, and was highly delighted by the idea of that little gimmick. I can't recall if it was inside her head or chest, but I believe the very few owners who had her mentioning it wasn't that audible at all. I almost want to say it was a breathing sound as well, but that's probably just my old-fart-creepy brain going weird places. DX

I also recall reading some people keeping tea bags inside the heads to make their dolls smell like tea; I would personally be afraid of staining and bugs (because some are attracted by certain scents, and I'm terrified of them). I do like the idea of giving my resins a different scent, since I am not a lover of chemical ones, and I keep all my resin dolls in their boxes -- most of them still strong of PU resin. However, I rather not risk staining, I rather just put up with the chemical scent for a while. DX

 

Years ago I lost a doll out of my back pack on the freeway. I put a piece of that doll in her sister’s head to remember her by.

 

I had never thought of this, but I'm actually really tempted by the idea of sticking a little padded heard in their chest cavities!

 

I know it was a running joke some years ago where some people would have those little pencil erasers shaped like brains and they'd keep them inside their doll's head XD
I don't usually keep stuff inside my dolls out of an abundance of caution, but sometimes if I'm traveling with them I will keep their extra parts in their head just to cut down on the likelihood of stuff going missing!

 

I've stored excess eye putty inside head caps before and s-hooks with no home, but that's about it up until now.

Here's the sculpt referred to in one of the comments above: Little secret of a big doll

 

I really like that idea, keeping something special inside a doll
Never thought of it before.
Love the idea of a padded heart in the chest cavity ❤ ♥️

 

Doesn't Doll Chateau have a doll with a heart sculpted on the outside of her chest? Different design, similar idea.

 

For anyone interested, Souldoll Hye and her beating heart can still be seen here, there's also a description of how it works. They mention it is hard to hear, it's kinda cute they way they put it.
When I got mine, I did not choose that option, though, I thought it might make handling my doll a little too complicated, and then always having to change the battery, you know...^^
Souldoll did actually offer it for a period of time for the double line dolls, also for the first boy, if memory serves.

Personally, I don't put anything inside dolls, I don't want them to assume a smell that might be hard to remove, or have anything rattling around inside when I move them, nor do I want anything to get stuck inside them and hamper moveability or cause long term damage because I forgot about it being there

 

Oh, that's lovely! The one I saw was a different artist (I think it was a small type of doll and was just sculpted instead of inlaid). I really like this one too. It's such a magical little detail to add. I love how this one looks suspended in the clear resin.

Oooh, yes! Wasn't she an angel too of some kind? With wings?

Oh wow, that page was so nostalgic to look through, thank you so much for posting it.
That image of Hye all curled up is forever in my memory. I remember being so amazed by it when it came out!


I'm enjoying this thread so much! Somehow it really aligns with the sentiment I feel about dolls. I don't know if that makes any sense...but just that special feeling and little hidden details from the artists and owners are the best.

 

@purple_monkfish I'd be curious to see the SpiritDoll cross if you have a pics.

@Lady Ravenswood Are you thinking of MSD Body- Female B45-016 – Denver Doll Emporium This dollzone body? I know LUTS also did their steampunk/steelhearts themed dolls in a similar way, but I don't have the Luts link.

 

I've considered it! I have a doll with an odd number of eyes, and usually keep his extra in his head, but that's for convenience and not out of love

If you search for threads on Haunted BJDs, you actually find a fair number of people who put sage/crystal/rosemary/etc inside their dolls for spiritual protection. I think that’s interesting!

There's also a thread about having a perfume associated with your doll, and being able to leave this perfume on a card (or somehow in a sachel) inside the doll.

Its also been mentioned to have contact info inside the doll, if taking the doll out

Can't think of either thread off the top of my head, of course, but they could be fun rabbit-hole searches if you're interested!

I love the idea of leaving a little token inside your doll, out of personal meaning.