My Little Friend, The Reborn Doll

By Author: Michelle Robbins
Total Articles: 7
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The creation of dolls that appear more realistic, lifelike, and more similar to a human child has become a current trend for collectors and hobbyists. Known as "reborn dolls," this trend is paving the way to a new market for hobbymakers and others involved in the collectable world. Being able to create lifelike dolls is consistently spreading throughout the community of craftspeople who have grown bored with the more traditionally-sold retail dolls.

The market for reborn dolls has absolutely exploded in the past five years, thanks to a widespread implementation of art techniques that allow for more realistic-looking dolls. The berenguer and preemie dolls that have sold for years can be credited partially for the craze brought on by reborn dolls, as they began the trend of lifelike qualities and expressions that make them reminiscent of a real human baby.

Many times, reborn dolls are made using a specific procedure that works to remove the doll of its artificial appearance and trappings to create a more natural looking and feeling model. This procedure most often begins with taking apart the doll and removing the ...
... paint that was put on at the production facility. This removing of the paint leaves a plastic shell that you can modify as necessary.

When you are working to create a reborn doll, you will need to add a purple color to the inside of the head, arms, and legs, so that you can start to achieve a realistic baby skin color. You will then paint the outside of these pieces with several different skin tone paints and colors, adding real skin color, and then to bring the doll a lifelike look, you will use other tones and techniques, creating skin lines, blemishes, and other effects.

From here, hair and eyelashes are added to the doll using real human hair or soft, humanlike mohawk faux fair, allowing the reborn dolls to have human characteristics. This process often is done by hand and by strand, which can take dozens of hours. Once this is completed, the doll is reassembled with a softer filling and underbelly, and then may have other additions made to create an even more lifelike appearance, such as a breathing or heartbeat sound box to create a realistic appearance of living.

Those who want to create Reborn Dolls without putting in a great deal of time and effort can pick up specialized doll kits that allow them to do so. Lots of folks would willingly spend a considerable amount of money for one of them. The finished products are often given as presents to women who have recently had babies. They are lovely mementos and are often made to appear like the infants themselves shortly after they were born.
The Berenguer and Preemie Dolls are partly to credit for the new trend in creating more lifelike dolls. Dolls can be taken apart to create Reborn Dolls which takes dozens of hours of work including painting the interior purple and using many shades of paint to create the same coloring as a human baby. Each strand of hair is added by hand and the doll is reassembled with softer filling. People are willing to pay as high as a few hundred dollars to have one made instead of making one from Reborn Doll Kits. New mothers are the typical recipients as a keepsake imitating their newborn child.