Rekindling the love without emptying the wallet

Guessing your boys have some kind of clothes, right?

Take them out and just hang out with them when you do have some spare time? Like, in the evenings while you're having supper and watching the news or something? Or when you're reading or online or whatever?

 

Take pictures of them. You don't need to make new wigs, or face ups, or clothes to still enjoy your dolls. Photograph them, make a stop motion movie.

 

Find things just around the home that are either funny or look good with them and take photos. Being in Florida im sure you have great scenery around you, why not take somebody out and snap some pictures .

 

I just sit there and look at 'em. After awhile, I get that uncontrollable grin-and-glow, & I say out loud, "Goddamn, you guys are just so cool."

 

Well, the easiest and least expensive answer to not looking at them very often is to have them on display. I can easily go for ages without doing anything with my dolls, but since they're on display I see them every time I'm in the rooms where they're kept.

If you don't have the time/money/desire to do anything active, then don't. There's nothing wrong with just using your dolls as home decor.

 

Change the clothing when you have time, sit with them while watching TV, take one out for some pictures...all I can think of.

 

I keep the flame alive by keeping my dolls packed away. I don't have much room to display them anyhow, and they're safer out of the light, and this way I don't get tired of looking at them. Sure I could sell them, but I like having a few stashed. I take them out and fuss over them, and sometimes bring one out to sit on my desk and keep me company while I work.

I don't have the mad obsession about the hobby like I did when I first discovered it, but that's the nature of time and feelings, I suppose. I have had a great time, and I still enjoy it, though on a lower key. Sometimes I too miss the passion, but it's not going to come back, so fond memories will have to suffice! XD

In general, I feel tremendously lucky to have what I do, dolls and other things! So I don't see much point in lamenting how I feel now versus then.

 

Can you use the stuff you do have and mix it all up? Eyes, wigs, clothes, shoes? May give them "new" and different vibes entirely. It may be humorous too!
Also: put odd couples together and take an odd couple out to a nice place to take sweet or silly pics?
You could maybe get cheap prints made of your shots, and make a "silly-doll-couple-pics" bulletin board to make you grin, even if you don't want to have the actual dolls on display all the time ...

I go through phases with them too. Life's very full and hectic and sometimes stressful life events take precedence over dolls... then after a while I have time and energy again and sort of re-discover them. But I do admit it helps when I can buy them something new, this is true. Or make it. I am sorry you don't have that luxury right now, I hope maybe just changing things up a bit helps anyway..

 

I've been wondering the same thing lately. I wonder if its normal to just lose interest and never get it back. I haven't been active in the community for a couple of years, yet I come back from time to time (mainly to scout for new drama) and I'm always surprised at all the new people I see posting. I hardly see any of the familiar faces on the forum anymore and wonder if they too have lost interest and drifted away.
I miss the obsession I once had and a part of me really wants it back but I don't know if I've just grown out of it or what.

 

Maybe do one of those photo theme challenges. I been thinking about giving it a try myself.

 

I've had Marc for 3 years. He hangs out in a dark shelf (he likes it) that he has all to himself. He's protected there, and it's also a spot I can see easily. When I first had him, I didn't have the skills or talent to make things for him. So he sat for a while untouched because I just couldn't afford to buy something or was able to make anything.

Hobbies, regardless of what they are, do require some time and some money invested. Sometimes it just takes longer to get or buy things to rekindle that flame. It takes me months just to get an item I can't make. Since most of my budgeting doesn't leave a lot of room for dolly things as well.

I'm not very good at making outfits, but I do take a little time between studying and working to get a part of something done. It may not be a whole lot of time, but it's enough to make me feel better about having my doll. Especially when that one thing is all done, and I can take a photo of it to share!

When I know I have a solid break in my schedule, I usually spend some of it with my "toys" and other seemingly neglected hobbies.

My things usually tend to sit about for ages, untouched, but that one moment or two I can spend time with my things makes up for that long period of just sitting.

I find that the moment I pack something away, it's time to sell it. For me at least.

 

I do the same thing, honestly. This, however, is something I've done with every hobby I occupy. Hence the reason why I only have like 200 or so posts even though I joined back in 2008.

Recently, I threw caution to the wind and started doing the things I never thought I'd do, like sanding my doll's seams and blushing their bodies. As long as you don't expect yourself to be amazing at it at first, it's very relaxing and rewarding. Instead of feeling like they're just shelf decor, I see them as something more. I can't say I'm as active as some people. I don't really take them out and about or pick them up every day, but knowing I put work into them makes me feel more invested. The fact that I have very little clothing for them doesn't even matter much. I can see myself in my dolls, and I guess that helps a lot.

I've also recently discovered having a doll friend to talk with makes a big difference. Especially a close friend.

 

I like rearranging them. I keep them on a special set on my chest of drawers with a few props and bit of furniture, and every so often - once a month, maybe - I take them all off, put them on my bed, and dust everything down, including them if I haven't played with them much. Then comes the fun part - posing them! Which is also the hard part. I spend some time walking round them, thinking how I want them to look, what poses they're in, how to make them interact with each other and the set and the furniture. And then I set it all up and pose them. This can take over an hour because I have to make sure they're secure and looking natural at the same time. I'm dead-against stands so that means very careful posing. By the end of it they look like a group of people relaxing, all in characteristic stances with props just for them, and I love it because it makes them so real and brings out their strong presences. It's relaxing, even if it's a bit infuriating and scary when they play dominoes and all fall down, it helps you bond and understand their bodies and characters, and most of all - it's completely free!

 

It is really nice to read through everyone's responses. I, too, have hit a bit of 'hard times and dolls' lately - mostly due to some financial strain from the Holidays and also an upcoming move.

I'm going to have to try some of these suggestions! Thank you, Satoru, for your original post!

La

 

I think I've fallen out of love with my first doll. I got her because I just couldn't stop coming back to her, but now that I've got the doll I originally intended on I just don't feel up to playing with my MSD. I feel really bad about it, too. I've tried doing mods on her (the number one thing i LOVE to do with my dolls) a new faceup, a new wig, just about everything. But she's just not what she was or what I wanted her to be when I first got her. She's beautiful and definitely not like most of the dolls I see around, but looking back, it just seems like she was a placeholder for the doll I really wanted and I've wasted a lot of money on clothes and accessories that don't suit her at all.

I could never sell her, though.

 

Everyone has really good ideas. Taking photos, moving your dolls around and switching up looks with any wigs, eyes or clothes you have can all help. Having a doll friend, even if it's only online, also helps rekindle that love. If your dolls are characters in a story, try writing something. I think a lot of us go through periods when we're not as inspired or have lost that connection with the hobby, so you're not alone in trying to figure out what to do.

 

I don't know if you have a doll group to meet up with but it helps to get out and mix with other dolls. For the lasts several years I've attended a swap meet put on once a year by a local lady. Swaps are a good way to not spend money but get different wigs or clothing or even eyes, and if you have stuff you don't want anymore you clear out the old stuff holding you back.

I wasn't really loving one of my dolls until a friend found her a wig that made me go, wow! Now she's got the right attitude and I love her again.

There's also nothing wrong about changing the style of your dolls, I was crushed when my daughter let her "first" generation of dolls go. They were heavily anthro but I had bonded with them. But it turned out OK. We played with those dolls, she sold those dolls, and now we have a new crop of dolls to love and enjoy. She writes the back stories and I take the photo stories!

I hope you find your spark again!