When I was a child I knew my mother's dolls were behind a wall in her old room at my grandmother's. How I used to imagine what they'd be like. When I was in high-school my grandfather passed away, and the wallpaper came down. There were loads of dolls from the forties and fifties, but most of them fell to bits. There was a leather cowgirl, she was the only other big doll besides the Ideal Bride, here, and Toni, who I also have. My brother brought the bride and Toni out to me last Christmas. Toni is looking good, but the bride was a mess that most would just toss her out. She was in pieces, and her head was full of cracks. These dolls are what they called celluloid, but they're really just hard paper pulp like paper mache, imagine a hollow chocolate Easter bunny versus a solid one. That's the difference between these dolls and a wooden doll like a Shoenhut. I'd restrung and cleaned up both the bride and Toni when I was a junior in high-school. When I was in my twenties I discovered how fragile these dolls really were when the bride fell forward and hit her face. It was full of cracks. So, this is her second face lift. She actually looks better this time. Shows what time and love can do. The first time I painted her and finished her with an antique medium. The cracks were fixed, but she was matte and you could see the brushstrokes, so she looked amateur and unoriginal. This time, I tried to keep her as original as possible, considering her circumstances, which weren't good. When Glenn brought her to me, originally I had tried to sand her face to refinish her, which didn't help out with her cracks at all. So, first, I filled all of her cracks, inside and out with Super Glue Fix All Adhesive. Then, and this is key, I found COLOR SHOT Skinny Dip Satin paint + primer spray paint. She was already apart, and I took her out on the back porch on a foil covered old cookie sheet and gave her body two coats, each side, flipping her, allowing her to dry between each coat. I covered her eyes with paper tape and gave her head three coats each side, although the back of her head is covered with her original wig. Then, her body got two more coats of satin finish, her head got three. I painted and made up her face lightly with make up and tried to rub out most of the imperfections with my fingers and a polishing cloth. I also used a toothpick to perfect my mistakes, and some cotton swabs with the same paint and satin finish. Although Mummy had plenty of Nancy Anne Storybook dolls, too, those had fallen to bits. My friend had sent me a box of dolls she'd won, and this was one of them. I thought she was a lot worse off than she was. Really, she just needed cleaned up and a new wig. She's The Queen of Hearts and will be sweet for Valentine's Day. I washed her gown in cool water and Woolite and dried it between paper towels. It only needed a snap sewn on the back. I wiped her off and touched up her chipped shoes with a Sharpie. Her wig is wool and glued on.
