Just a little tip for rerooting beginners, as I am still a beginner myself.

I was too scared to order hair from the internet to start with incase i made a big mistake or it turned out that i didnt in fact enjoy rerooting.

So what do I do? I use wigs instead, you know the kind you buy in party or novelty shops. I bought a bright pink one the other day for about 3.50euros and it has a mass of hair on it, perfect for experimenting. One of the great things is, you can usually find them in all the fantasy colours, I have a thing for pink and seafoam

So until im confident rerooting thats what i use, and then I willl move on to buying some nice hair from the internet.

If you are looking for a great rerooting guide/instructions make sure you check out WideEyedGirls, they have a step by step tutorial with pictures.

Give me some time and I will share my pink reroot with you when I finish I promise. Also let me know if you complete a reroot with some wig hair and post a pic!

Last Sunday I bought 25 more Barbies. I have a supplier now haha I’m so addicted. She phones me when she gets a load in and I literally run down to wherever this lady is, normally at a car boot sale.

Because I always buy from this sweet German lady she gives me “special price for you Barbie Girl” as she says. My Nan also sweeps around her nearest car boot sales, and sends them to me in bulk when she gets chance.

It’s funny when people ask me what are my hobbies, or when people come to my house and see this bookshelf just full of dolls. They sometimes say grow up or do a funny look, but they don’t really understand the concept of Barbie collecting and doll art.

A reroot is as far as I have gotten with a few of my dolls although I have done a lot yes a lot of research! The very first victim was a Betty doll, that I bought from the Chinese Bazaar shop. She was very fragile plastic and very cheap, if I am totally honest I only bought her for her ballerina outfits. :p I also got an old blue carnival wig to try to give Betty some new hair. It all went horribly wrong and she just looked crazed, her hair was sticking up everywhere as I had no idea about tension and different methods and to top that off her arms and legs started to snap off with all the handling trying to “stuff” the hair into her head.

Then came Disney Esmeralda, I have written a bit about her hair stories or disasters in other posts lol. Looking back now at when she had her perm, (which was very well carried out by my Mother, who is even more a newbie to doll art than I am, although she is a whizz at making outfits) I sometimes wish I had left it like that as now she has this BIG hair in glossy brown and cherry streaks, which I STILL haven’t completed and moved onto another………

As I got bored of Esmeralda I moved onto Ariel from The Little Mermaid. My supplier always seems to have loads of these in her doll basket which I pick through with a fine tooth comb every few weeks. Are they unwanted? Who knows? I wasn’t really keen on her hair, nothing against people with red hair by any means, just that she didn’t seem to suit it. “I know I’ll make her a blonde”. Famous last words, as I don’t know what on earth made me think of making her a blonde, she clearly wasn’t happy with the idea. The hair I had bought was like really fake and not the shiny consistency that was Esmeraldas new hair. Uh oh here come the unrooting tools…….

After seeing this fake blonde hair on Ariel i was stuck for ideas, I didn’t want to waste precious customising time on a reroot that I was never going to be happy with! Browsing in yes you guessed it The Chinese Bazaar shop I found some crochet cotton in red and green. It was a “nice price” so I bought it and you will have to wait for the results friends, as my current project is Ariel’s green reroot!

Happy Pimpin’
~Vikki @ pimpmybarbie~

When trying to take off the head of a Barbie or other fashion doll you must be very careful not to break or damage the neck.To help with this first heat the neck of the doll with a hairdryer for a few seconds, it should make it easier to remove the head. I found that some Disney dolls have a ball type joint, whilst Barbies seem to have a hook shape. You must be very careful not to heat it too long also, as you might give the doll heat damage.

If you have any tips on removing dolls heads, please leave a comment.