Baby Flora

Last November, Chris & I were at the Scot's Antique show at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.  In the past, this was the beginning of our Holiday season, but since we've dramatically slowed down on collecting we only do the show occasionally.  This year, we walked up and down the aisles some times stopping for a closer look at something that attracted our attention.  We saw all kinds of things we truly loved, but didn't want to spend money on...or find a place in our home for.  One booth was selling old toys.  Most of them were very high priced Tonka trucks and extremely expensive comic books that I had probably just thrown away as a child when I was tired reading it.  On one table was a box filled with the most ugliest dolls you have ever seen.  They were plastic with atrocious faces and some of them were filthy from sitting in a garage or attic for years and years.  A few even had some deterioration to the plastic from age.  The booth owner said they were dolls given away at Fairs back in the 60's and 70s.  I could not in my imagination want something so ugly back when I was a girl going to the Fair.  But I was itching for them.  Did you ever see something and know you wanted it not because of what it was but because of your Muse crying to your subconscious?  Well, at negotiations and getting 16 ugly ugly dolls for ten dollars, we decided it was time to leave.

 

I knew I could not use any of these ugly dolls in the condition they presently were in.  They were sticky from age and neglect...oh and they were so ugly.  Now let's jump to Dick Blick's here in Columbus.  We had a 40% off coupon burning our hands while we walked down the aisles looking for something new to try working with.  We stopped and looked at each other and decided to buy the mold maker kit.  Came home with our prize, and then it dawned on us...those ulgy dolls!  Chris cut the head off of one with the least obnoxious face and following the directions, we were able to make a mold.  Then we poured the plastic resin into the mold not knowing what to expect and were pleasantly surprised to see a charming face.  But it was still plastic and white, white white.  I did see that you can add coloring to the plastic resin, but I didn't want to do that.  I'd taken several classes where we'd done cloth over a clay face, so I decided to try that with the white plastic head.  After an hour of working diligently, I stepped away and was happy with the results. Then I got out my gel pins and chalks and colored in the face.  How amazing it turned out.  From something so ugly to something adorable. 

 

I tried my hand at making a doll body to match the head.  It turned out with a few flaws that I need to tweak to get corrected.  I wanted to turn this doll into a toddler in her pajamas wanting to go to bed with her stuffed bunny.  I tried different ways to do hair, but then I flashed on a picture I'd once seen of a little girl wearing her bunny hat and it came together.  When I finished, I was very happy with her.  I decided to name her Flora.  I still have a way to go to get the pattern perfected so that maybe someday in the future I can teach it.  Plus I have to work on the stuffed animal pattern as this one is a moderated pattern from Leslie Molen.  If I want to teach this, I definitely have to have everything original! 

So here is Flora.  There are others waiting to be molded and worked on.  Hopefully, this can be my year project to get all the kinks worked out and either teach or sell some adorable toddler dolls.