Boot Restoration

This Internet-captured photo illustrates how Top Model Nikki's boots looked before my doll's boots began to flake.

Quite some time ago, I discovered that the top layer of Top Model Nikki's knee-high faux leather aqua boots was flaking off, breaking down, disintegrating! I peeled off all the flakes and the remaining top layer with the intention of sealing the knit material that was underneath.

 

I inserted marking pens in the boots in preparation for sealing with varnish.

 

The boots remained as illustrated above, with a marking pen placed inside each to hold their shape while I applied varnish. I didn't get around to doing this until recently after another pair of flaking boots arrived that needed my immediate attention.

Part of the Barbie Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader uniform, these boots had begun to flake in areas.

The flaking cowboy boots from the opposite side are shown here.

With two boots that needed restoration, I was motivated to begin the quick, but necessary restoration. 

Pens were inserted inside the cowboy boots, too. 

The inserted pens served to maintain the boot shape, to prevent the insides from sticking, and to hold while applying the sealant to the outer surfaces. 

Next, I applied thin layers of matte varnish to both boots and allowed the boots to dry after placing the pen-held boots upside down inside two vintage brass napkin holders that had been my mother's.

After the varnish dried, I didn't like the finished surface, so I used Mod Podge for both boots to complete the necessary sealing.

The Sealed Boots

Top Model Nikki's boots sealed well.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader boots also sealed well.

The dolls model their newly sealed boots next.

Top Model Nikki proudly poses in her new (but stiff) boots.

She's thankful that her feet and legs are no longer bare.

Artsy/Desiree posed next. 

Desiree already loved wearing the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader uniform.

She loves wearing it even more now that the boots are sealed.

While the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader ensemble is not her original clothes, Desiree wears it well. The "hot pants" fit her like a glove. 

The girls pose together in this final picture.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

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Tinkerbell and Ariel Dolls

Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell 

The promo pictures promise a good likeness of Yara Shahidi as Tinkerbell in the upcoming Disney Peter Pan movie. The doll can be pre-ordered at the link. #ad

https://amzn.to/3TlbVsG

Ariel doll from The Little Mermaid

Let's not forget Halle Bailey as Ariel doll from The Little Mermaid, which is also a great likeness in the promo pictures. Order Ariel at the next link. #ad

https://amzn.to/3JcPykm

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!

New Doll, New Body, Redressed

Alysa Simply Chic, an early Jason Wu fashion doll designed for Integrity Toys (2000), was featured in my first book, The Definitive Guide to Collecting Black Dolls (Hobby House Press, Inc., 2003).

Candi Fashion Forward On the Go (seen here wearing the original fashion) by Jason Wu for Integrity Toys had been on my wish list and part of my eBay searches for years. I gave up on finding this 2003-released doll and removed it from my saved eBay searches because I was not willing to pay sellers' asking prices.

My long-sought-after Candi arrived with a broken neck.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to buy Candi at a price I was willing to pay. Unfortunately, the doll arrived with a damaged neck. The seller sent a different doll as a  replacement and allowed me to keep Candi. My next task was to find a body that would match Candi's.

Not planning to use Alysa's body (seen in the first picture of this post), I decided to see if that doll's body would match Candi's complexion. It did. Still not planning to sacrifice Alysa's body, I gingerly removed the doll's head and placed Candi's head onto the body to see if it would fit. It did. 

The decision not to sacrifice Alysa's body swiftly changed, but she remains whole because I swapped both dolls' heads onto the different bodies. 

While removing Candi's head from the original body, the two-piece knob that held the head in place that also allowed it to rotate, broke apart. I had to fish one piece of it out of the doll's head. Without the neck knob on the old body,  Alysa's head sits too low on the neck, but I decided to use the body for her anyway. 

Alysa's clothes are now on her "new-to-her" body and Mod Podge is layered onto the neck cracks.

Before the permanent swap, to stabilize the cracked neck of Candi's original body, I applied Mod Podge to the cracks and allowed it to dry before attaching Alysa's head. 

Candi arrived wearing the 2001 Holiday Toast Candi fashion with a pair of gold high-heel shoes.

Made of silk-type fabric, the 2001 Holiday Toast Candi Fashion is seen from the front and from the back in this photo.

 

The dress is lovely, but I wanted to see if one of Shasarignis' fashions would fit her.

She looks stunning in this two-piece pants suit by Shasarignis.

I paired the pink pants suit by Shasarignis with a pair of gray high-heels. 

Look at that face! Isn't she gorgeous!

Because I could not remove Alysa's three-strand pearl necklace from the body that's now Candi's, Candi continues to wear the pearls. She is also wearing Alysa's pearl earrings.

Alysa wears her wired pearl bracelet as a necklace now.

I gave Alysa a new pair of larger pearl stud earrings. What had been her pearl bracelet is now a necklace to mask the neck length she lost during the head swap.

Candi and Alysa

Overall, I am pleased with the purchase and with these two Jason-Wu-designed dolls for Integrity Toys (IT). The fact that they both still have IT bodies is a plus.

Oh, wait! Just as I was about to put the dolls on a display shelf, Candi decided she wanted to wear different, more stylish shoes. 

She chose a pink wedge mule.

This is a close-up of the shoes Candi chose.

Dolls will be dolls.

©Black Doll Collecting/dbg

There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.

__________

Thank you for reading. Comments that are not spam are appreciated. Spam comments will not be published, so don't waste your time. To contact me directly regarding dolls or any of my posts, please use the contact form on the right of the home page, which is visible in "web view." A link to web viewing should be visible at the bottom of this page.

If you're not already a subscriber, visit, "like" and follow the Black Doll Collecting Facebook page or bookmark the Black Doll Collecting home page and visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays when typically new posts are published.

Check out what I am selling here. 
Check out my eBay listings here.
Please follow my sister blog Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.
*New*Visit/Follow DeeBeeGee's Virtual Black Doll Museum
Donate here to support this blog. Thank you!