I just came across this photo from a year ago and wanted to share it. I decided to make my real Emmy an Emmy toddler doll for her birthday. This was only my second time painting a reborn with Genesis Paint, and my first time painting on my own. (I also did a reborn when I was a kid alongside my mom with the “Old Rose” paint everyone used to use when reborning first started.)
Anyway, I kept putting off painting this baby until just a few days before her birthday. Since I was short on time, and partly as a challenge to myself, I wanted to see if I could do it with only one layer of paint (only one bake). I didn’t want to invest too much time anyway since I didn’t know how well real Emmy would take care of it. She never had a reborn before. I found I needed to go straight for the yellow if I wanted to get the color I was after with only one layer. I got this done in one bake just like I challenged myself to do (though that’s probably not the best route to go for a collectable, lol). Of course, I used a wig. I’ve never rooted or had the time to learn how.
My daughter Emmy absolutely loves her Emmy toddler! She’s had her for over a year now, and I am really impressed that she does not have any damage or missing paint. She might be ready for a real reborn! (A reborn that’s not rushed, that is). She even takes Emmy with her to the dinner table a lot! Her wig fell off a few times, but that’s it. Speaking of which, what’s the best glue to make a wig stay longer? This wig doesn’t fit the best, but I bought it anyway since it looks like my real Emmy’s hair.
Jessica, maybe you can share the whole process with me. One coat (bake)? I know you must have used something besides yellow. I think I would be happy if all my dolls looked that good. I only make them for myself, anyway.
I use stick pins for wig. With flat heads. I bend them close to the head of the pin at a 90 degree angle. Then once in place a little glue on inside of head on the pins and it does not move.
Wow, thank you so much for the comments, everyone!
@EnchantedOrphanage I did try both of those glues I’m pretty sure. This wig is difficult, because it wasn’t even meant for dolls. There’s not a lot of area to put the glue. @342jda I like the pin idea! I’ll have to try that!
@Jacelyn5440 Thank you! I didn’t really have a process. I just pulled out my old paint set I got from Sarah Mellman’s ROSE cares class years ago and started playing with it. If I remember right, I started with the BabySkin color, but I could see it wasn’t going to do much if I only wanted to bake it once. I wiped it off and went straight for the Genesis Yellow. It was very thinned down so I didn’t overdo it. I also used a flesh color and kind of blended it together. I can’t remember which flesh color. Since it was so thinned out, it was easy to blend together. I blended it with a sponge at first, but it wasn’t looking quite right. I finished blending with my finger, since I’m used to blending that way for makeup, lol. I wouldn’t recommend using your fingers for paint on a regular basis, though, I’m sure that wasn’t the healthiest thing to do. The brows I think I just painted really fine with a brown Genesis paint. The lips was the same flesh color I used on the rest of the face. I just went heavier in the creases. I wasn’t sure if it would bake well or not, but it held up really well.
She absolutely loves it! One of her favorite gifts to receive now is clothes for her Emmy toddler. Toddlers are so fun to dress too! I’ve been giving her new clothes for pretty much every holiday.
I do have an Emmy toddler for myself as well. She was reborn by Mary K Skay. She did a much better job than I did, I love her so much! Real Emmy gets to enjoy the Emmy made by Mary K Skay as well, but I don’t let her dress that one herself or take her to the dinner table like she does with her own.
I’ll have to post a picture of my collection sometime. I’ve got quite a collection now!
