Maud Humphrey

Maud Humphrey

Thursday, May 12, 2016

How to "Recycle" Dolls...or What I Do With All Those Cheap Porcelain Dolls That Goodwill Seems to Think Are Worth a Fortune

Every Goodwill (or any other thrift store for that matter) seems to have shelves full of these dolls.  You know the ones I'm talking about--the generic, mass produced, made in China porcelain dolls with cheaply stuffed bodies and usually gaudy clothing.  And for some reason, the thrift stores in my area think they are worth gold and price them accordingly!  I see the same ones sitting on the shelves, week after week, hardly selling.  I used to walk by the these dolls all the time, hardly giving them a second glance.  I mean, $6.99 for a cheap, mass-produced porcelain doll with crispy, unflattering clothing?  Seriously?

And then, one day, a doll friend told me that she intentionally buys theses dolls so she can remove their shoes, wigs, eyes, or anything else that appeals to her.  WHAT???  Now why hadn't I ever thought of that?!?  I immediately headed to the closest Goodwill and for the first time ever took a good, long, hard look at these dolls.  Almost all of them had cheaply stuffed, non-articulated bodies.  Some of their wigs were hideous.  And the outfits...good gracious...there was hardly one that appealed to me.  However, almost all had cute shoes!  And some of the wigs were nice styles and felt to be of good quality.  So I started buying these dolls...but only the ones that had the 50% off ticket of the week.
The above dolls are the ones I've picked up over the last couple of weeks.  I chose them for their hair and/or shoes.
Lots of cute shoes and boots!

So, here is what I end up doing:  If you are at all squeamish about ripping the wigs off doll heads or tearing off tiny eyelashes, then this is probably not the project for you.  However, if you want to build a little stockpile of shoes/sock/clothes/wigs/etc. for your doll collection, then read further:

First, I remove shoes and socks/tights. Sometimes the socks are really cheap and just fall apart.  These I toss straight into the garbage.  If the only thing I'm taking from the doll is her footwear, then I re-donate the barefoot doll back to the thrift store.  However, if she has a wig or eyelashes or clothing I like, I remove these as well.  If the doll has clothing I don't want, I bag it up with other unwanted doll clothing and re-donate it as well back to the thrift store.  The bald, naked dolls go (gasp!) into the trash can.  I have to bury them deep because if my 7 year old saw them, she'd probably cry.  As it is, I do feel a little bit bad for them, but not too much.  I've thought about donating the bald dolls back to Goodwill, but would they even want them?  Could they sell them?  I doubt it.  And then they'd be responsible for throwing them away, which I don't think is very responsible on my end as the consumer.  SO...into the trash they go. 

Here is what I gleaned from the seven dolls up above:
Four nice wigs, one pair of eyelashes, one pair of tights, four pairs of socks, six pairs of shoes, one pair of boots, one darling little dress and bloomers set (nicely made) to fit a smaller doll, and one, completely, adorable little purse!  Three of the dolls are getting re-donated, (as I only removed their footwear) along with a bag of clothing that I didn't like. 

I realize that there are probably some people out there who like these dolls, collect these dolls, and probably can't understand how anyone in their right mind would do to them what I do!  However, I can only speak for myself in saying that I feel good to have kept some trash out of the landfills while also building up my collection of necessary doll items on a budget.

So, how about you?  Do you think this a good idea?  Would you/do you buy dolls for this same purpose?  I'd love to know that I'm not the only one out there! (Besides my doll friend, of course, who turned me on to this bizarre practice...thanks, Donna!)




4 comments:

  1. I've been reading some of your archived posts after coming to view your Alice in Wonderland post and I had to laugh at this one! I found two porcelain dolls for half off at our local Goodwill a couple months ago and thought the shoes would probably fit my Sylvia Natterer Minouche dolls that were coming in the mail. And they did! But before I was done I had also taken the dolls wigs and eyelashes and eyes for future projects. Funny to hear I'm not alone in this! Too funny! BTW, you ought to join Natterer's Playhouse on FB as they're always asking for photos and you take such beautiful ones of your beautiful doll dresses! Kind regards, Rebecca

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, so nice to know that I'm not the only one who "harvests" doll parts for other projects! Thank you for your kind comments. I will definitely go check out Natterer's Playhouse on FB. Thanks for letting me know about it!

      Delete
  2. I upcycle mass produced porcelain dolls into Gothic Girls and sell them on Etsy and eBay. You can check out my dolls under santas2sell (I also make Santas) and read how I make my dolls on my blog: creativedazewithgeri (since a link will probably be blocked) dot blogspot dot com. Also, you can sell the nekkid dolls on eBay. There are a lot of other people who upcycle porcelain dolls into zombies, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow...thanks for responding and showing us what else can be done with these dolls! I checked out your blog, and while "creepy" dolls are not my cup of tea, I certainly do appreciate all the time and artistry you put into your craft. It just goes to show that there are talented people everywhere, and so many different ways to enjoy dolls! Do you think I should be donating the dolls back to the thrift stores whose wigs, clothing, and eyelashes I've removed? I always thought that nobody would want them in this condition, and I didn't want to burden the thrift stores with my "junk". But now, since viewing your blog, I'm wondering if there are people out there who would buy these dolls? Anyway, thanks for stopping by!

      Delete