u/HoarseNightingale

I'm in the annoying 3 months (hopefully reduced for other medical reasons) to see if my 8 incidents per Hour (which haven't happened since) mild obstructive apnea) for other medical reasons this might fix a few sleep issues I have

The mask reminds me of wearing a diving or snorkel mask underwater, and the Muse S Athena which I wear with it makes it hard to wear with my glasses. I use the Muse S Athena deep dive program because when it notices I'm waking up it plays the music again, helping me stay asleep so the mask works well with the sound scape. And then I remembered a life hack I use because I have very bad eyesight. I use my cheap prescription goggles to see in the shower and prevent shampoo in my eyes. And it's enough vision that I can do things like find my real pairs of glasses when they go missing. I'm going to try to wear these with the full mask and muse s Athena because i wake up to use the bathroom and now I have a solution to be able to find the things I need in the bathroom and the bedroom when I wake up. And maybe I'll have fun dreams.

I thought this would be fun for those of you who had to suffer through the CPAP despite little chance of success.

This doesn't work 100% because I have to move More than I'd prefer for the bells to jingle but it's definitely better than nothing. The collar is made for people and I bought loud bells designed to help you hear your dog if they run ahead of you in the woods etc.

I'm waiting for my lab tests to be approved. I'm not convinced that I'll even make it to the MSLT
- I fall asleep quick but I have no idea if I go into REM fast. But we'll see. In the mean time nothing is to ridiculous for me to wear or try to stop falling asleep in the bathroom. My tambourine necklace didn't work - they need to have much more force then my body slumping to make noise.

Hey Doll Friends,

I have a question for you. I have gotten a few more followers in my insta, and I really mean a few. But I’m trying to decide how to do the glowup relaunch I’m planning. Since I do have a number of dolls whose identifies and disabilities are not going to change over the course of the series I was thinking of doing one post per dayish (pain and sleep have been complicated recently so it might take a few days between postst) of a photo(s) of one and a bit about them. That way people know I’m actually taking photos and maybe they will get pumped for the unnecssarily giant story I’ve created to start things off - a small local fashion show where the dolls are going to be doing accessiblity audits and planning for people with different disabilities. I’m very excited to share this story because it will show a lot about accessibility but is also fun. A lot of my posts won’t be fun because they are related to my blog on health care ownership by the patients - not their doctors.

I don’t know if I should introduce those characters early just so that new posts are showing up on the account, or if I should wait and introduce them during the big complicated story.

Since the disabled Barbies community reflects my target audience for the insta I want to know your opinions.

The introductions would be one to a few photos of the individual character. Jules for example would be shown in his normal work clothes (with a much better backdrop) and I’ll add alt text and captions.

Jules is shown on his wheelchair on what is clearly a bed with big furniture and a bureau behind it. He is black with green extremely short hair and has purple eye makeup, lip color, and a purple manicure. He is wearing an orange tank top with white sweatpants that have orange cuffs. His feet are in gold shoes. (I feel like this is too much alt text normally but Jules breaks the normal Ken mold enough that I think it’s worth spending two lines on his particular look - what do y’all think? I know I’ve seen professional influencers describe themselves with far less text who also look distinctive).

Fashion

I've gotten 4 fashion line capsules. 3 of them have me nice bags and shoes and I'm happy. The 4th had all Commons but they are commons that match. This is a wonderful batch even with the hat being a little extra. But I feel like someone filled this capsule very intentionally. The orders didn't match in the same way although the items worked ok together. This was series 3 by the way.

I'm not planning to collect mini brands - I just really like the sneakers and bags (ok the heels are heavenly but I've only gotten one pair). I'm curious because if the fashion capsules often or always match the two bags together they are a better option than I realized.

Sneakers - a bit and a strike

I got two sneakers capsules expecting them to be similar to the ones in Fashion. The Airwalks were a tight squeeze at first but they really look great on my favorire Ken's feet.

The second set was gigantic - purple Reeboks.The sneakers area much too big for both Kens and Elphaba Barbie (whose feet are huge). They are too big for my ily 4ever 12 inch dolls. The hat looks cute but the sneakers will only look good in the box. I can use them in a diorama scene but can't use them as footwear.

Is there any standardization in the sneakers capsules? Did I get one each of two sizes (the Airwalks are in the photo) or are they a bit all over the place?

Vinyl

I was so excited about vinyl but I found out they were not full songs moments before buying them. I love the idea of them and I actually believed they made working discs that small. That could explain the length of the songs. I'm guessing now that actually the player gets a code from the disc and just has all the songs on it. I could be wrong.

Anyway I'm curious who is into them and likes playing them. People who do very short videos with small figures? Real vinyl collectors? People who like the look but don't actually put them on the player?

I now have been diagnosed with very very mild sleep apnea. I barely qualified for treatment. But y’all know that is probably 3 months of my life where my sleep might improve a tiny bit, but more than that is unlikley according to my sleep doctor.

Why do I need adbice?

Every morning my partner finds me in the bathroom asleep despite many different tactics to prevent this (I wish I could get my phone to turn on a timer every time I go into the bathroom but it’s not a space where it can get a signal that is bathroom exclusive). He has to argue with me every morning, often frequently, about whether I need to get back in bed. This morning I was actually awake for the argument which was more aggressive than usual because largely asleep me was more beligerant than usul.

What this means is that very small arguments turn into fights without me having any clue as to why. And my partner is a very sweet man. But after spending a good chunk of the day (these arguments aren’t only in the morning) arguing me back into bed, a very simple argument gets heated quickly. I know why, he knows why, we both love eachother very much. He fights with me to keep me safe.

I didn’t manage to use the CPAP last night. It’s not a normal thing for me yet and I was planning on brushing my teeth when I woke up in about an hour, and I didn’t and I didn’t remember the CPAP. I’m hoping that using it more might make me morre alert because I have to free myself from it or take it wth me, but this is all so hard. I’m in the bathroom long enough to fall asleep because of two things

1. I have IBS-C

2. Anything that I can do to make the seat uncomfortable might end up causing me real pain when I fall asleep on it. (I have been having to sieve my urine because of kidney stones which I think are now all gone because the surgeon says so but that is why I have that photo). I have plenty of hospital experience when it comes to collecting pee for other health issues and usually the vessel is uncomfortable. This one was VERY uncomfortable. (there are purpose made sieves for this - don’t risk having to throw away a nice sieve) And then I remembered how often I’ve fallen asleep in an uncomfortable way and then woken up hours later. I can’t let the metal ridge be there if I fall sleep - it could really damage me.

What can I do? Does anyone have an idea? I have tried singing/talking during the bathroom time and while it sometimes works my username isn’t a randomly assigned group of words. My speaking voice is very weak and gravelly from an odd speech disorder I have which was caused by LPR. So often reading aloud is just exhausting, I’m not going to hop on the phone to someone on the throne, and I’m finding the singing is sometimes very hard too. I have a note telling me to do this and to set the timer but I’m used to them now and don’t listen to them. Like I said - I’m not really awake during this stuff.

Does anyone have an idea that doesn’t require me to be disciplined or listen to notes or him? I need to end these fights when I’m asleep because he’s exhausted and has every right to be.

it’s no fun being told that you need to stay at the hospital when you weren’t prepared to. It’s even harder when it’s clearly not a surgical ward. Surgical wards oftens have people only around for one night and they have to be on the ball when it comes to every medication - anyway it was a rough experience. It’s still rough. i’m in a lot of pain.

But I thought I’d share us as a couple without the masks on now that we are home. This is us sitting on a brown and tan couch next to eachother. And it’s clearly on our actual couch with the remote behind us. We don’t actually sit this way but I need some more props to show how we do sit together. Some cuddly moments are in our future.

It’s amazing to me how much adding glasses that are simliar to ones we would actually wear and changing the hair style has transformed especially my partner’s doll but mine as well. Although in fairness to 2019 me that was before I stopped wearing contacts because I wasn’t leaving the house. I have quite bad eyesight and the peripheral vision that contacts give me is much better. But my eyes are enjoying the break.

My partner is an aircraft engineer and he paints 28 mm wargaming miniatures. We write LARPs together. This isn’t a story, it’s who we are.

I am still working on finding him a shirt that suits him but the glasses, the hair style, and somehow the mini brands airwalk sneakers, they kinda add the character and remove the “barbieness”. I don’t think there is anything wrong with barbie core but it’s not us. The outfit she has on is very me. My high tops are mini brands. My partner said the only issue is that the red is missing from the hair. I know it’s very hard to dye this kind of hair and I wouldn’t have gotten this doll if I was willing to root and cut the hair. ButI think we definitely look much geekier. I apologize that I’m not giving much alt-text. I’m in a lot of pain and it’s been a day of confusion and serious feelings of being gas lit. But we are styled the same as yesterday just without the KN95 mask.

For him I started with Ken Fashionista 138. There might have been other Ken’s with long hair but this was the most accessible. I got him second hand - sadly only because I love rainbow tiedye. Long ago someone asked me my favorite color and I was trying to figure out how to explain that I love them all and he said “it’s rainbow tiedye”. The shorts are one of the set I had to get to get the KN95 shorts. I would prefer to have cargo shorts but what can you do. I washed out so much glue, and I haven’t trimmed the hair yet. It’s longer than he usually wears it because he has to look more coiffed for work. I would have loved to have gotten a doll with his gorgeous waves but he always combs his hair straight. This is him. He is more tan than my guy, and oddly seems slimmer now. I got his body from “I’ll come with you” Ken movie collectible”. I wish the roller blades weren’t yellow, and that he could still enjoy blading. Where we live bikes rule the streets. And there isn’t any place he can skate anymore for pleasure where he isn’t constantly being almost mowed down by “on your left”. I wanted to get good at rollerblading but I wiped out bad enough the first time we bladed on an incline. I had the same problem with roller skates. In the rink - I wasn’t great but I was confident enough. But my whole neighborhood was hills and even my garfield roller skates couldn’t make them not terrifying for me.

Anyway - I’ll be adding some photos soon of this surgical journey. I wish I could say I’m looking forward to it, but it’s been really rough. I kept being given different answers, and tomorrow I’m going to have to choose whether to work more with my PCP during my televisit on my current kidney stone surgery pain (8/10) or to talk about mixed messages on how important the fact that every time I dozed off in the presurgical area my blood oxygen nose dived. That’s why I was at the hospitaln last night and despite the fact that this morning I was still as low as 80, I did get discharged. I’m not scared but I’m exhausted. It’s very weird to watch different parts of the medical care team argue over whether you are safe to be discharged. I’m pretty sure I am.

I don’t know how to express the fun thing that happened during surgery - but something did. If people are interested I’ll explain in the comments. I’m sorry this post is so photo lacking.

Thanks for everyone reading. I decided that I should fill people in since I was in the throes of things last night. Tomorrow I might have to post a photo out of excitement. My speech therapist is arriving!

I couldn't find a good photo to paste these photos to but I wanted to show my closest friends that I know they are with me. My closest friends these days are half of, or the whole of, the US away from me. It's because since we can't see each other we don't try to wait for those opportunities. Instead we text all the time when they have time. Most of my photos with them will be both of us on our phones in a split screen. The first photo is the opposite - he has been my partner for 24+ years. This is the 5th surgery he's been through with me. He thankfully can pay the bills and save for retirement until I can start working. He is only home because we were both too tired to goof off and he needs more sleep.

The first photo shows a messy pixie cut curvy girl in pink/red/yellow spandex pants with a matching to from phase 3 of the yoga MTM dolls. She has gold rim glasses and the rest of her face is covered by a purple N95 mask. She's in a hospital reclining Barbie chair. These are usually found in places people are getting fluids or giving them. The bottom does not have a leg rest. But they are pretty close to the real thing. Her shoes are high topped sneakers.

Next to the doll (mini me) is my partner. He's a tan looking man with long blond hair in a low pony tail. He's got glasses on too with black rims on the top only. He's wearing an N95 mask as well and is moving his arms as if he's telling a story. He has a blue t-shirt with flowers in cream and a pair of orange shorts. He has Air walk shoes on from a mini brands sneakers ball but the other pair I got are too big for Barbies and Ken's. A backpack (mine) is at his feet.

The second photo is mini me with a tanned redhead from the first MTM line, pretty and slim. She is wearing a red and white tank top and black capris, with white ballet flats. She is also wearing an N95 mask and has her hand on my hand. She's my best friend from Highschool on and lives in the Rockies where we grew up.

The third photo is mini me with a less tanned blond haired woman who has a pale pink streak in her hair. She's using a pink wheelchair which looks great with the pink and white baby doll dress (filmy pale fabric for the skirt, topped with a cream crochet looking top with yellow and purple flower like images). And she's wearing multi colored sneakers. She is gesturing to me.

I've learned that when I'm planning on looking for a photo image for a background I should make sure that the foreground will work with it.

I'm thinking of making my partner a she shed out gb of those weird Barbie vacation homes where you can't close the door on the toilet. Or maybe one of the giant dream closets with a desk in it. Any ideas? My studio has my desk, my keyboard, my recording equipment, shelves covered in craft supplies and a few more instruments. The windows are streaming with light which hits all my prisms in the windows and becomes rainbows. I have a small closet for my clothes. I own a ton of clothes but I'd rather have the space be used for all the things that I use when creating. I'm happy to take off the stickers and repurpose things. I just want it to be easy to set it up, and not to have to spend a fortune on 3 laser edged walls.

Jules/Jewels is a medium height, Black person. Without the wig they go by Jules he/him. With the wig they go by Jewels and their pronouns that they use as a performer are"nobody's business". "With a name as beautiful as mine, what do you need a pronoun for. Just use my gorgeous name. Jewels. Jewels. Jewels."

The long black wig with lucious Botticelli curls may be the definitive look of Jewels, but the real indication of Jewel' presence is the sass. Jewels is standing at the mic, waiting for a sound check before his friend Johanna, who has hearing loss arrives. The last thing anyone wants is the feedback to go straight into the hearing aids. Jewels has eyes that sparkle along with the purple on the lids, matching her manicure. Jewels' body definition is impressive, with arms full of ropy muscles which are well shown off by the sassy but strong power pose they are affecting as I try to snap some shots to get the light right in the space. The hands are at Jewels' waist which is covered in a resplendent red satin Spanish style dress, with 3 layers of ruffles. Jewels' is wearing golden color work boots. The heels are on their way due to arrive tomorrow.

In addition to a wired mic Jewels has a seafoam green wheelchair to the left. The mic stand is extra sturdy and can be used as a standing aid should Jewels need it. But the wheel chair needs to be very close in case of an emergency. Jules has used a chair for far longer than he has been able to put weight on both legs. He can move much easier and faster in his chair.

Jewels may be bringing both the look and the charisma swagger needed for the dress, but today is a practice run to find out if his friends and family can be in attendance. More on that later. This photo is for the posters and the socials and apparently I'm now in the way.

........

I think I'm going to need to separate the text to describe the scene from the text that tells the story of the scene. I have the story of the accessibility audit all in my head and I have the other dolls that are part of the audit and the performance ready to go. But I don't have the space for the whole group of dolls and enough clearance to make sure nothing else is in the photo. I might need a background photo to make it pop but I have some other ideas. I just need my studio and desk back. This weekend my partner is going to do the last thing that needs to be done to be able to move furniture around.

What do y'all think of the look on Jewels etc?

i’ve been trying to figure out ways to distinguish my mini me and my mini me’s younger self. So far it seems like there aren’t many options for Athletic caucasian bodies (I’m glad they have added this body type in any skin shade. I can wait.) But I’m wondering if Mattel has made any movie tie/in dolls that are articulated and young looking - not just for my doll’s rebody but for other parts of my project.

But in addition to younger look dolls (which I can use Skipper/Chelsea/Stacie for even though the same faces will get old) I’m in the market for older looking dolls.

I have a major project which is to do dioramas that relate to the stories of people I know and people I’m interviewing for my upcoming health and wellness blog. The photos are old but if you want you can look at the insta in my bio. I will probably restage and then rephotograph a lot of the ones that are there. Especially things that are clearly a couch, and our floor….. The blog is about living with chronic illnesses and disabilities. I plan to buy one of the fake bellies on Etsy so that my dolls can be pregnant but I’ve never solved the issue of not having any older looking dolls. I’m currently not buying anymore dolls because I added a lot of dolls to try to cover the disabilities and illnesses I knew I was covering (for friends of mine I have designated specific dolls but many are just part of a cast who will be playing a doctor one week and a grieving widow the next. But they all look young.

The fact that they even made the Opal Lee doll is really exciting to me. Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible is very likely to be on my wish list… she looks so regal. Maybe Rebecca from Ted Lasso? She doesn’t look older exactly but her face is different enough from most dolls and something about it reads ‘graceful middle aged woman’. I imagine with all the movie tie dolls there are others that should be on the list.

I will be interviewing professionals and patients who are older than I am. I’m ok with having the professionals look normal Barbie age. But there is a big difference between how people treat a young woman, a middle aged one, and an older woman. I am not in a position to buy more dolls right now but I’d like to have a wish list ready.

My photo is one where my minime is remembering being the younger version of herself. The present me has a curvier figure with a small belly. She is sitting on a bench wearing a studded boatneck tee with the old shera logo on it and embroiderted jeans with sneakers. She has an unevenly cut pixie cut in a number of shades of blond. The other doll is on the other end of the bench. She’s sitting looking straight ahead, trying to seem relaxed but her legs are betraying that fact that she’s ready to leave this doctor’s office if he does anything as unprofessional as the last ob/gyn she saw. She has the same mix of colors in her hair but the hair is long, and her body doesn’t have a belly, she is quite slim. She is wearing a coordinating headband to her outfit (the better to hide her unrethatched part) and is wearing a silver shirt with puffed sleeves and a pair of pink capris. She is clutching an unsual purse in pink and teal with a face and arms and legs. The fact is mostly hidden by her keyn ring that she has clipped onto the purse.

* The one exception is anything related to Harry Potter. I don’t want to get into an argument about people why I don’t want to take photos of dolls from that movie franchise. I ask that you just honor that I have a good reason for it.

Questions will be after the caption/image description below. I have a feeling people might want to know who we are wearing.

This is a candid of me with two of my closest friends at the moment. One has been the steadfast friend from high school and through college who lives in the middle of the country. The other is an instant friend who I'm very close to but she lives on the other coast from me. I'm sitting, in the middle with my jagged pixie cut, wearing stretch jeans by HauntCouture on Etsy. They have three same leaf embroidery at the waist as they do on the cuffs. I wish big me could wear these. The back half of the jeans has this super stretchy fabric that keeps the waist right where it should be but I can do any and all yoga poses in them as well. I've got on a boatneck shirt with studs on the top and a very weathered image of the original She-ra that I got from copioussparetime on Etsy. I don’t know if she still makes them because the shop is curently closed.

I'm wearing shoes from mini brands as is my friend on the right who is holding my hand while sitting in her wheelchair which is sadly too much taller than the bench I'm on to easily transfer onto. She's not wearing any makeup but her hair has a purple streak that sometimes looks pink. She's wearing a dress that I got by taking it from the Disney Parks ily 4ever Rapunzel based doll I have. It is a cute baby doll summer dress with what looks like a crocheted top with a pattern in it that might be stylized flowers, and a skirt that is made out of fabric similar to what ballet students wear as skirts to class. (She and I are both curvy, she is a color reveal glam doll, I’m the doll from Insurgent - Tris).

To my left on the bench my bestie from highschool, college, and ever since is sitting with her arm around me. Her red hair is resplendent in in the sunlight. She is barefoot (must have left her shoes at the picnic blanket) and is wearing a pair of jean capris and a red and white striped top. She works out a lot to stay healthy and that is clear from her trim figure.

We are all sitting in front of a brick wall.

Fin. [End of narrative]

I don’t currently have a space big enough to set up the dolls so the brick wall can be made taller and I am lacking green ground covering. I’ll need to retake this photo someday.

The hair my doll has is why I bought her. I had a pixie cut back then and do again. She was the only doll I could find that was at all close. But the story has her or someone else very unqualified lopping off her hair. They make it look jagged on purpose. I would love to neaten it up, but I think some of the layers are too short for that. I’ve been using that doll for 7 years to be my mini me so I’m very attached to it even though there are now short hair Barbies. I also bought the version from the first book/movie who has long hair - to represent me as a young adult. Does anyone have enough experience cutting doll hair to tell me if I have a shot of making this look good if I practice on other dolls to get the skill?

My hair is reddish, especially in the summer. But the doll has blond hair that isn’t just one color. It looks like it had highlights. I know some people have colored the hair non-permanently - I would love to be pointed to a resource to see if I can add a red glaze to her look.

I also am wondering if anyone here knows someone, or is someone who might do this kind of customization for a living that I could ship mini-Me and teeny-mini-Me to. Please let me know if you do.

I like all 3 dolls a lot, but I think this color reveal doll is pretty cool. Her clothes turn into a bathrobe and she comes with a sheetmask. But now that I’m taking pictures of her I realize that she is one of the few barefaced dolls I’ve ever seen. You have to touch her face with cold water to her makeup. Her hair has a pink streak that looks purple until you warm it up with a hair dryer or your hands. She is a very underappreciated doll I think. I an shi glad I found her and got her instead of Daisy because it seems like no one gets her bangs go stay styled m my friend loves dying getting pink streaks and is curvy I got her wheelchair second hand. And the d doll was cheap long enough that I bought a second one and sent to my friend with a wheelchair. I can't afford to do that for all my personalized dolls based on friends but I think she's the one who loves having one the most.

My mini me’s younger self still needs that part rethatched but she also needs a body. Preferrably an articulated one. She’s supposed to represent me when I was a teen and early college age. I was already developed by the time I was 16 but I want her to look obviously younger.

I haven’t heard of or seen any Athlete MTM or articulated bodies. As far as I know there aren’t any extra articulated skippers. Mine has articulated knees at least.

I could do a petite instead, but I haven’t seen many of those in either. I only own two and one I can’t rebody so she’ll have to be a standing only paramedic.

Thoughts? She’s Tris from the Divergent collectors series, shown here wearing a shirt from Mattel, pants from one of the random clothes clone companies on Amazon, and the jacket is from the Rapunzel I have and am not done enjoying playing with her hair or Tiana’s for that matter before I give them away. Tiana is wearing the adult mini me’s vest/shirt - Tris from Insurgent.

Edit: The internet was wrong the hair is Saran according to the people commenting. Thank you!

first photo is from Mattel - the second is my in progress hair cut.

The person I'm making the doll for gets a stacked bob which I know I'm not skilled enough to do. So I'm very slowly cutting the hair shorter. I've found a lot of videos on the subject. But I'd love some opinions because the person she represents has a low maintainance haircut because she is legally blind. She can blow up the photo of the doll on her phone but she doesn't see well enough to want to deal with her hair.

My first question is How much of this pretty fluffy volume come from it being crimped and how much is it the Saran?

Her hair feels so soft and fluffy which isn't necessarily bad. But I'm worried about a serious triangle head look if it's going to have extra volume regardless.

Since my friend isn't being picky - what do you all think? Should I cut it shorter? Should i use heat to get rid of the crimped look?

I was a child of the 80s and I loved that look. My mom and I spent hours crimping it. However doing it for a doll is going to be a no go unless someone knows of a really tiny crimping iron.

Has anyone done a restyle of this doll? Does anyone have a specific video with styling information for the Saran hair they'd like to recommend or any other advice?

I know if a hot style were to get rid of the volume a bob would be possible. But I know if I try that I'll be constantly trying to even out every piece of hair. But maybe there is something in-between her short hair and the dolls short hair. (She has not given me an opinion on the crimped look. It's not her fault - she didn't ask for a customized doll.

Thank you to everyone who has been kind and helpful with their experience. I'm in the doll styling phase of the work of moving from a 6 doll collection to a 25 doll collection. It's a lot to do to get them all picture ready. And soon it'll be rebodying day.

I managed to get these out with just 30 seconds or so of my hairdryer on low aimed at the ear. Now time to cut off that barb.

Before I ask questions I should say the second to last photo is one I found online. I have not managed that look.

I have a few wig styling needs, a hair glue ken styling question and then a hair cutting question.

The first question is about the wavy wig in the first two shots. I am doing a custom disabled doll for a friend who has twice lost all her hair due to medicine caused alopecia. My dolls are mostly for telling stories of people with all kinds of disabilities. She said that this wig has a very close texture to the hair that she has now. (I know the wig isn’t seated attractively, I was planning on just using the photos to show her the wig options)

The wig needs some styling I think. While I love it it looks like not great second day hair, if you’ll pardon my curly girl phrasing. I’d like to spruce it up, but I have no idea how to acheive this wavy look with rollers. I wanted to know if anyone has suggestions on how to get it back to this style if I boil wash it, or how to spruce this one up. This wig and the one in the following two photos will always need a bit of product I think to keep it from being frizzy. I think the blond one is in good shape as long as I can find some way of calming the frizz. I know some people are rerooting the parts and that’s amazing. But my project is a photography project - not a doll transformation one, so I’m likely to move the part by just not putting it on straight.

To recap - How to recreate the waves if I boil wash the first wig? Is there a way using steam or something that I can give it more bounce without redoing the whole style? And is there any curl defrizzing product that I can use on the wigs. Maybe wig hairspray

Mulder’s hair is a glue style. It’s also starting to look bad because I didn’t just put him on a shelf, he’s a working Ken. I know that boil washing it is the way to get out the glue, but does anyone have an idea what I’m in for once the glue is gone? If I need to try to recreate his style should I use some wig hairspray? Again I’m looking for doll hair styling products.

The next photo is one I found online, and I don’t even know where I got it. I tried finding it with google search and found nothing. I love the look. The hair has bounce and looks like a real hairstyle.
The reason I’m showing it is that the last doll in the photos is a custom doll for a blind friend with a poodle guide dog. Her doll’s hair is way too long for any normal person to style, and she tends to wear shoulder length hair. I think the right call is to boil wash it and either ditch the crimp or cut it shoulder length and then try crimping it with a small crimping iron. This is not the only doll getting a haircut, and I have to admit I’m nervous about cutting the hair. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to create the style from the second to last photo? Would that work with the hair the doll in the last photo has? Is this something I should not try now because it’s a skilled style?

To recap second half: I need to boil wash Mulder - any tips on making his hair look styled after I wash out all the glue? Hair cutting tips - does anyone know how to cut a Barbie head of hair into a style as cute as the second to last photo? Opinions about the last doll’s hair? Should I cut it and see how it looks shorter? Should I boil wash? I would love to make it look like the photo before it but i’m guessing she has too much hair for that. Any other shoulder length hair suggestions for the doll in the last photo?

This isn’t my work but it is the work of someone else I’d like to promote. https://ebay.io/m/N7IMA4

She makes so much of this by hand and just loves making roomboxes. I wish that one of these were the right thing for my photography needs, but none of them are. I got permission from her to post them here. They fold up into boxes - and I think for what they are they are very reasonably priced.

Note - I have not purchased one from her so I can’t speak to durability or quality. I can only say that she puts her heart into their creation and it shows. I am working on projects that need to be very changeable, but I love every one of these.

Also I’ll say she is extremely approachable and willing to answer questions. I have a feeling she would be open to making something commissioned.

She doesn’t do social media, but I felt her work deserves more attention than it has gotten. So I would ask that you at least let her know if you thin her dioramas look as great as I think they do. It might get her to advertise them herself.

Unlike many of you I'm happy to have a doll be articulated if I can't afford an MTM to match. I need the dolls to be able to sit even if they can't sit all the way up.

I bought the doll on the right and though i still think whatever batch she's from is not as peachy as the Amber doll I'm looking to rebody, i think it will be close enough. I can always use scarves to cover the skin tone change.

But since the deluxe was delivered I'm not sure I want to anymore. The deluxe is beautiful and it would be a shame if I didn't keep that face. I have no specific attachment to Amber. I just liked her hair so much and she is fairly pretty. In the meantime I got a redhead MTM. So now I'm debating. Do I add another red haired doll? Do I give her away with the extra 2 blond rigid limbed Millies i didn't mean to buy but to get the two others i wanted i had to take them.

I'm wondering if the donor head would look good on the 3 headed doll I have shown here with one of the deluxe kit heads. Then I'd still have the chance to enjoy them both...

Any other ideas that don't involve buying another body, I've agreed to stop Shopping so much. I've been buying up a lot of dolls for two very specific and special projects so it makes sense to hold back.

Tl:dr I need to get some backgrounds printed up to avoid paying for another room box. What I need is a doctor's office, hospital rooms, and a background that will work for gym/martial arts.

In 2019 I bought a custom roombox made for me, with furniture that was all included and it was fully decorated. It cost me 42 dollars plus shipping on Etsy. I got busy and then got a new source of chronic pain so I took a break.

I decided to refresh some of the photos on my insta (chronicpainbarbie) because so many of the photos are clearly my floor or kitchen table. And I have plans to do a lot more photography and a lot of it is of dolls with other disabilities. But buying a roombox - just the walls still smelling of mdf and no decoration starts at 100. And that's a small box.

I have also realized that since most of my scenes to come are in a doctor's office and I have the equipment (I have the ambulance and other play sets but for my particular purpose using the ambulance as a doctor's office looks a little too Mattel. I have also gotten a lot of different workout playsets.

What I need is either a good source for backdrops in general that might work, and also if you know of particular ones for my purpose. I'll be using depth of field most of the time to blur the background a bit - but most of the things I can easily find are more for outdoor sets.

If you just have photos you use - it would be good to know if you printed them yourself etc.

The photo I'm showing isn't at the standard I'm planning for in the future. My stuff is mostly in boxes until our renovation is finished but I wanted to share something.

Caption: My Bestie happens to be here during Pride. She let me pick out her outfit and we're taking a break after the first half of my very slow 3 block daily walk. She's telling me a funny story about her kids.

Photo visual description: The photo is of two dolls sitting on a parkbench in front of a wooden wall. One has long dark red hair and is wearing a silver puffsleeve top and a rainbow tutu. She is gesturing with her hands. The other has a dark blonde pixie cut and is wearing a white t-shirt and a tie dye skirt with pink soled white sneakers and a fitness tracker. She is relaxed and seems to be listening.

I bought the Amber doll from the 90s series clueless because i loved her hair. The only problem is the two MtM options in the spreadsheet page are both beautiful and fairly expensive dolls.

I figured if two dolls look good with the same MtM body then they can probably be a base for each other. My main issue is being able to have the dolls sit in chairs. As much as i love MtMs they are not made in big enough numbers.

I'm not sure if y'all can see this but in the second photo I show them next to each other (it's hard to see with one in the box). The deluxe is quite pale and Amber is very peach. I was wondering if anyone has had luck rebodying her.

My guess given the sheet is that someone tried to find the best place to put her but that none of the new bodies are peach enough. And if i can find either of the MtMs cheap enough to justify buying, I love their heads. I could just give the doll away. Is anyone interested in trying to find her match?