Lalaloopsy Peppy how to make her Pom Poms or for any doll

Lalaloopsy came out with a doll named Peppy Pom poms. She is wearing a cheerleading outfit but came without her pom poms. I am going to show you how easy it is to make your own pom poms.

Materials: 2 colors of yarn, piece of cardboard and scissors
Cut the cardboard in a 2" by 2" square.

Cut a length of yarn 7" long and lay it across the cardboard cross wise like in the picture.

Hold the 2 colors of yarn together and wrap them around the cardboard as shown in the photo below.

Continue to wrap the yarns around the cardboard as large as you think you want your pom pom to be. You may have to experiment and make a few to get one the way you want it. I wrapped mine as full as the picture below.

Then take the piece of yarn that is horizontal that you layed on the cardboard and pull in and tie it into a knot. Make sure you pull it in as tight as you can. This is what holds all those yarns together.

 After the knot is tied securely then take a pair of scissors and cut the other end. This makes the pom pom. Picture below of cutting the loops. Do not cut the cardboard. Just cut the yarn.

Take the tied end and shake the pom pom out. This fluffs it up.

Notice in the picture above that the pom pom is not even on the ends. You want those ends rounded. So hold the strands of yarn in one hand and trim them with the scissors. Cut small amounts off the ends to even it up.

Once you have evened it up then lay your doll down and take the ends of the yarn that you tied the knot in and wrap it around the dolls wrist and tie a knot. Do not make it tight on her wrist like you did on the pom pom. You want the pom pom to stay on her wrist but be able to come off. 

 Your pom pom is now finished and ready for play. You can use this method for any size pom poms. Just start with a larger size cardboard or wrap it more times on the cardboard. If you would like me to make a pom pom for you then check out my duds for dolls website. Price is $3.50 for a set of 2 pom poms. Link to the Lala page is: 

 http://www.dudsfordolls.com/lalaloopsy/lala.htm

Tips of Cleaning dolls, Doll Hair and Doll repair

1. Pantene shampoo is what I use to wash my doll’s hair. You can also use a mild dish washing detergent such as Ivory. Wash as you would your own hair only do not get any water or soap in doll’s eyes.
2. Downy Dunk for synthetic doll hair or wigs: Pour Downy or other fabric softener into a bowl. Lay doll down on her back and place hair inside the fabric softener. Leave it over night. I wrap the doll body in a towel to keep it dry before soaking. In the morning or whenever you get a chance, take the doll out of the fabric softener and use a cup, hold doll’s head over the sink and pour the water over the hair. Be very careful not to get any water in the eyes. The water will ruin most eyes. When all the fabric softener is rinsed out then towel dry. Use a doll brush and brush the hair. Either let the hair air dry or roll it into rollers and let it sit until hair is dry.
3. Boil Perm: Use perm rollers and papers to permanently curl a doll’s hair or wig. Use papers on the ends just like on human hair and roll up in the perm rollers. Wrap the doll body up in a towel. Hold the doll’s head over the sink and pour the water over the hair only. Do NOT get it into the doll eyes. Immediately pour cold water over the rollers. Then let the doll sit and it may take 2 days for the hair to dry. But let it air dry before removing the rollers.
4. Armour All for dull wigs. Spray armour all or other products for car vinyl on doll hair. Wrap the body and face in a towel. Do not let any of the spray get on the doll’s vinyl. It will make the vinyl shiny. If the doll has a wig then remove the wig and do this process. Brush it through the hair and let dry. The hair will shine like new.
5. Oxy 10 acne cream for removal of ink and other spots from vinyl. It is available at any drug store in the acne meds department. I use the cream. Put it on the spot or spots. Set outside in the sun. Be sure to cover up all other parts of the doll before setting it out in the sun with a towel. It may take up to a week for removal. Repeat if needed.
6. Non acetone nail polish remover will remove some spots. Test this and oxy 10 before using on a part of the doll that does not show.
7. Soft scrub without bleach is great for cleaning the dolls. I put some on a wash cloth and wash the dolls vinyl. I rinse out wash cloth and rinse with clean cloth. Towel dry and you have a nice clean doll.
8. Oxy clean is perfect for cleaning doll clothes. It will take stains out and the yellowing out of vintage fabric. I have used it on many vintage doll outfits and it takes the yellow out and makes them look brand new again. I put a half scoop into a bowl of water. Stir it up and then let my clothes soak in it. I check on it every half hour. If the stain or yellow is out then I rinse with clear cold tap water. Hang it to dry or lay it on a towel to dry.
9. Goop glue is great for gluing doll heads back on dolls. The My twinn doll heads often come unglued from their neck connectors. Goop glue and gripper plyers will hold the head on until the glue dries.
10. Use tacky glue to glue wigs back on dolls. You can also use double sided tape if you want to remove the wig periodically to change to a new wig on the doll.

Making a Wood Chair for Lalaloopsy dolls or other dolls

I went to Joann's etc store to buy some fabric but had to look around at the sale items. I came across these wooden flowers that were already painted and on sale. The wheels in my head started turning and thought those would make adorable chairs for the Lalaloopsy dolls. I forgot to bring one with me so just guessed. A friend had given me the spools of thread for my birthday to use for a Lalaloopsy project. Well this one is just perfect. So your materials are size 5/8" spools and you need 16 of them for the chair legs. Joanns or Michael's stores carry them empty.  2 of the pre painted flowers in the Joanns craft section. They have several to choose from but I liked these. They also had some pirate things which I picked up to make Patch a chair also. That chair isn't done yet. You also need glue that will hold wood together such as Aleenes tacky glue or the Goop glue. 2 paper clips. These were pretty large. My husband had them in his desk. Look around your house and you might find some things you can use also.
1. I glued 4 of the spools together to make 1 leg. I did this 4 times. 

2. I unfolded the paper clip to make an L. Then glued it to the bottom of one of the flowers. The part that is the seat. I set is upside down to dry.

3. I glued the legs to the bottom of the flower. Let it dry.

4. Glued the back of the chair aka the other flower to the remaining part of the paper clip that is sticking up. Let it dry thoroughly. Now you have a chair.

Lalaloopsy doll sitting in the chair. See how cute she is. You could use this same technique and make a table to go with the chairs for your 12" Lalaloopsy dolls. Fun and easy. Children could make these easily at a birthday party. I have not tried hot glue but if hot glue works then it would be a very fast craft project.

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Creating A Doll Outfit from Stuffed Animals

You can create your own doll clothes easily from stuffed animals. Makes perfect outfits for your dolls for holiday displays. This one is for a bunny for Easter. I found the stuffed bunny at Dollar Tree for $1. It will fit a 12" doll. If you cut the feet off of the stuffed animal then it will fit taller dolls but be shorter on them.

1. Open up the back seam with a seam ripper and take all the stuffing out.
2. I took the stuffed animal's head off by rippng out the neck seam. You now have the body and head separate. See photo below.

3.  Cut just the face out of the bunny head or stuffed animal head. Shown below with the face cut out. Discard the face.

 4. Sew bias tape around the face opening and around the bottom of the head.
5.  Add Velcro or snap at the neck line to hold the new hood on the doll.
6. Sew bias tape around the neck edge of the bunny body. You can also turn under and hem if you would rather do that.
7. Sew velcro or snaps on the back.
8. Open up the hand are at the end so the doll's hands can come through.
9. I left the opening unfinished. But you can hand sew a hem in the hand opening if you want. Dress your doll and you have an adorable animal costume for it.

How to Make a No Sew Tutu for Any doll

It is easy and fun to make a no sew tutu for any doll.
You will need 1/4" wide ribbon. The length will be determined by the doll's waist measurement. You will need tulle in the color of your choice. Match the ribbon.
1. Measure your doll's waist and add 12". Cut a piece of 1/4" wide  ribbon that length.
2. I lay a ruler on the dolls body from her waist to determine the length I want the tutu. Double that length and add 3 more inches.

3. Cut the tulle the length you just determined from the formula stated in number 2 and width of 7". I made this tutu for a 12" Lalaloopsy doll. I cut the tulle 6" long by 7" wide.
4. Scrunch up the 7" side of tulle into your hand. then fold the 6" in half.

5. Take the ribbon and put it over the folded piece of tulle and open up the loop that is the fold. Shown in photo below.

6. Take the ends of the folded piece and put them through that loop shown in the picture above, making sure the ribbon is in the middle of the loop and the ends you put into the loop. Pull tight on the ribbon as shown in the photo below.

7. Continue steps 4, 5 and 6 until the ribbon has tulle on it that is the waist measurement of your doll.

8. You may need to trim the length of the tulle after your tutu is completed to even it up.
9. Tie the ribbon in the back of the doll into a bow. Now you have a new sew tutu that took you minutes to make.

Have loads of fun making tutus for your many dolls in many colors.

What is Sueding BJD dolls

I learned a new term and technique that Ball jointed doll collectors use called Sueding. If a joint on the doll does not move properly then you can suede it. You use a hot glue gun. If you are trying to suede the neck of a doll then you pull the head up so it is away from the neck. Put a little hot glue on the head and let it harden. Then allow the head to sit back on the neck. The head will then turn and tilt the way that you want it to. Vinyl ball jointed dolls are made by hand and pulled from the molds by human hands. Sometimes they are not pulled perfectly so the joints don't fit the way they should. Using this technique really works.