A Feminist Doll Makeover - Craftivism Inspiration

You might have already heard about Tree Change Dolls - reclaimed dolls with a more realistic makeover - but I only recently stumbled upon the work of Sonja Singh.  She takes previously-loved dolls with unnatural, overly made up painted faces and turns them into natural looking dolls!

Here's an example of the incredible transformation:

The makeunders are quite labor intensive: Sonja first removes the painted faces, cleans and sometimes repairs the dolls, re-styles the hair (sometimes actually thinning out unnaturally thick hair), repaints more realistic faces, and then her Mom knits and sews wholesome garments.  Sonja even makes new shoes and accessories for the dolls, which are more eco-friendly than their former plastic duds.  In her pursuit of realism and authenticity, she even adds skin imperfections to her dolls and mixes up a natural looking shade of white for the eyes.

Unsurprisingly, every time she lists a batch of these transformed dolls in her Etsy shop, she sells out immediately!  

Because, as she points out, she isn't the first person to re-paint the faces on dolls, she generously shares videos of her process.  That's right - even though she relies on these dolls to make a living, she shows others how to do it themselves!  She has a video tutorial for how to remove painted faces from dolls, another video sharing tips for restyling doll hair, and even a video that demonstrates how she re-paints more natural faces on her dolls. 

Sonja is a feminist inspiration because not only is she working to change the way children grow to understand social constructions of beauty, she doesn't safeguard her techniques and instead encourages individual people to give dolls makeunders themselves.  As an avid thrifter and lover of second-hand finds, that these dolls are reclaimed and repaired makes me love this enterprise even more.

The next time I hit the thrifts, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for an obnoxiously overdone doll to breathe new life into for one of the littles in my family, although I definitely do not posses the face painting skills Sonja has mastered!   

Reading her story and pouring over photos of her incredible doll makeovers just made my day because it's just so amazing to read about people changing the world with their talent.  I see feminist implications for her work, and I feel inspired and uplifted.  I wanted to pass on the good vibes in case you hadn't heard of Tree Change Dolls either!

Check out Sonja's Tree Change Dolls on Etsy, Instagram, Facebook , Twitter, or Tumblr.

How to Stencil a Mirror - A Feminist DIY Craftivism Project

I recently made a cute and poignant feminist DIY project that I'm so thrilled so share with you!  As you know, I'm pursuing a PhD in Feminist and Gender studies and I've been struggling for a way to combine my academic pursuits and my passion for making things.  This craftivist project combines my two loves perfectly - and there's even some mint and a yard sale find involved!

I just love how my stenciled mirror turned out!  Thanks to the help of a custom stencil, I stenciled an important feminist message on a mirror, as a daily reminder of the social construction of what is beautiful.   I need this reminder in my life.

Here's how I made this stenciled mirror:

First I painted a cute, ornate frame that I found yard saling last summer.  Using a small paintbrush, I primed it first, then applied three coats of a pale, pale turquoise (the same paint I used for the framed bakelite brooches).  Spray paint would make this task a little easier, but I started tackling this project when it was still too cold to paint outside.

Unfortunately, my attempts to simply tape off the frame were ultimately unsuccessful because you could see the underside of the frame reflected in the glass.  Oops.  So, I quickly took it apart, painted the back and inner edge of the frame, then put it back together.

Word to the wise: take a mirror apart before painting!

 
Now for the fun part!  I was inspired by this feminist warning I saw on Pinterest:

via Pinterest

I ordered a custom stencil from Stencils Online with these same words.  Stencils Online create amazing custom stencils and are super DIY savvy.  Once I had sent over my designs, they provided me with proofs, offering me a variety of options and making sure I was 100% happy during the entire process.  Once I was satisfied with the font, size, and layout, I was sent two durable, polyester film (Mylar) custom stencils.

I used a temporary spray adhesive to keep the stencil from slipping once it was positioned in place.  I covered everything but the stencil with newspaper and then I lightly misted the stencil with thin, even coats of white Krylon Primer (leftover from these play kitchen projects).  I figured primer would grip the glass really well - just rolling on latex paint did not work.   

It kind of looks like it has been etched, no?  That could actually be another way to emblazon a mirror with this feminist statement, but spray paint was easy and affordable for me.

It looks more faded in the photos above because I took them at an angle to avoid getting yours truly in the shot.  Do you have any idea how darn hard it is to photograph a mirror? 

Now I have a beautiful "new" mirror, with a feminist twist!  And my penchant for ornate mirrors has officially blossomed into a full-blown obsession!  Remember my DIY magnetic message board, card display and vintage framed bakelite brooches? I need a support group.

If you're thinking of doing a project with custom stencils, alphabet stencils or decorative lettering, I highly recommend Stencils Online because their customer service, pricing and product can't be beat! 

Curious about my second stenciled mirror project?  Click the link to see!

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