Ambriel

The doll I'm going to show you today was not a troublemaker at all.  In fact, everything about her makeover process was smooth, fast, and fun.  The delay in my post has more to do with the fact that my world is shifting in strange ways these days.  My eldest son and his girlfriend moved out at the beginning of the week, and this was both exhausting (moving furniture is hard) and sad (I love them!).  I'm also going to move to a new state myself in the next couple of months, and that's a big emotional adjustment.

Still, before the chaos of moving envelopes me, I'm going to work on as many My Twinn dolls as I can.  I'm also in the process of setting up an online store over at ToyBoxPhilosopher.com where I'll sell off many of my remaining dolls in a virtual garage sale.  I'll keep you updated about that in the weeks to come.

But this week, it's just business as usual.  I have the second-to-last Ariel makeover in my Abundance of Ariels collection to share with you, and this girl is a non-Denver giveaway doll.  To enter for a chance to buy this doll for $2.20, please see the rules at the end of the post.

Her initial appearance was not especially promising:

2009 My Twinn doll with the Ariel face.

It was hard to see past the horribly matted wig:

I don't think I've ever seen a wig that was this far gone:

Seaweed hair.

Here's another close-up of her face, with the stringy bangs pushed to one side:

I chose the name Ambriel for this Ariel.  I picked this name because I think it's pretty, and because it reminds me of the amber gemstone, which fits with the color scheme of this makeover.  

However, when I looked up the meaning of this name just a few minutes ago, I discovered that Ambriel is the guardian angel of May.  It would be amazing if I'd also chosen the May birthstone (emerald) for this doll, but unfortunately the emerald sash and necklace are reserved for the final Ariel in this series.

Oh, well.

Ambriel's body was in remarkably good shape, with some dirt on the vinyl limbs and a few small picks and stains on the cloth body:

The most notable thing about the body was that it had a lot of pet hair sticking out of the fabric!

I used a lint roller to remove the hairs and plucked a few of the more stubborn ones out with tweezers.  I don't know for sure if the hair was from a cat or a dog, but I would guess cat from the color striation on the hair.  On the other hand, I'm highly allergic to cats and not at all allergic to dogs, and I had no reaction to this doll.

Bodies from 2009 don't tend to squeak, but their armature is looser than it is on Denver-era dolls.

Here's Ambriel from the back:

You can see that she has a small pucker in her back seam, but very few picks in the cloth:

 Her legs were dark with dirt and she had a small red stain near her left knee:

She also had small black marks all over her vinyl arms:

I was able to remove almost all of the marks on her vinyl limbs with just a simple Mr. Clean Magic Eraser wash.  The small red stains on her leg were harder to get rid of, but I spot-cleaned those areas with a damp washcloth and was able to reduce them significantly.

Here's a closer look at Ambriel's head:

Her face was in pretty good shape under that horrendous wig, so I ripped the wig off and got to work.

Here's Ambriel's severed head in my workshop, before I did anything to her face:

She had bright blue eyes that looked a little cheap.  I liked the shape of her eyebrows, though. The only problem was that the brows did not match (the left one is smaller and lighter), and they were the wrong color for the makeover I had in mind.

I pulled off the scraggly dark eyelashes:

To get a closer look at the (very dirty!) eyes:

I popped the eyes out, scrubbed the face clean, stripped away all of the old paint, and applied a coating of Mr. Super Clear:

This is the stage where I was getting all of the Ariel heads confused.  Even Ambriel, with her non-Denver vinyl, looked a lot like the other dolls after she'd been stripped and prepped for new paint!

Ambriel was slated to be my guinea pig for testing a new color of brown acrylic eyes from Eyeco,  but right as I was getting ready to place those eyes, I received a pair of hazel brown Lauscha glass eyes in the mail.  These eyes looked a little lopsided to me:

It's hard to tell from this picture, but the irises were not placed perfectly in the center of either eye, so I didn't think they'd look very good on a doll.

I decided to test the eyes out on Ambriel to see how bad they were, and guess what?

They don't look lopsided at all!

These are really pretty eyes, too.  They photograph very dark, but they have nice hazel hues in the mix:

I had a old pale blonde Denver My Twinn wig (cut in a short bob) picked out for Ambriel, so I painted some light eyebrows to match:

I wanted these eyebrows to be a little darker than Liriel's super-fair brows:

I also wanted Ambriel to have a very bright mouth--not lipstick red, if I could help it, but brighter than most of the other Ariels I've painted so far.

This is what I came up with:

They're pretty bright.

I accentuated the bow in Ambriel's upper lip, while lessening the thickness of her lower lip:

For a fishing touch, I gave Ambriel rosy cheeks and a spray of freckles:

The blonde bobbed wig that I had chosen for Ambriel looked ok on her, but just as I was getting ready to glue it down, I happened to receive a brand-new short-cut wig from ZaZou Custom Dolls.

The color of this new wig is more of a golden strawberry blonde, and it just happened to match Ambriel's new eyebrows perfectly....so she got a last-minute wig upgrade!

I have to say, this girl has good timing.  She managed to score glass eyes and a $44 wig by just being in the right place at the right time.

Here she is:

Ambriel, our guardian angel of May, is wearing the July birthstone (ruby) with a bright red satin sash to match.  Or--if you prefer--she's wearing the January birthstone (garnet) which can also be red.

This wig (called "Natalie") is what I believe to be the very first custom wig in the 13-14" size that isn't long.  I understand why people like long-haired dolls (the hair is fun to play with!) but this little wig is very attractive...and also surprisingly fun!

The length and slightly curled ends make it super-easy to control and very fun to flip around into different positions.

I positioned the wig so that it has a side part, and this makes one half of the hair slightly longer than the other:

I like that both sides of the wig are still long enough to tuck behind Ambriel's shoulders.

I positioned the hair this way so that I could get a nice clear portrait:

And here's the comparison GIF:

Let's see how the whole lineup of Ariel dolls is looking at this point (with just one left to go!):

Ambriel is like the little sister in this group.  Her short hair makes her seem very playful and young!

Clips don't look great in the short hair, in part because the wig seems a little too high on the head when it's clipped back.  I actually re-set the wig twice, and if I move it forward on the head any more than this, the left side of the hair is constantly covering Ambriel's face.

She'll still come with the clips though, for anyone who wants to use them.

I had a lot more fun photographing Ambriel without the clips.

The short hair makes the angel wings much easier to use, and they're visible from the back:

Here's Ambriel with her wings and halo:

All of the Ariels have been photographed in this exact same dress and (when applicable) the same wings and halo.  I felt like the white dresses would be safest in their packages until I was ready to sell the dolls.

When the girls travel to their new homes, Ambriel will keep the ensemble you've seen in all of the photos, and the other five will get their own fresh-out-of-the-package dress, with new wings and halos. 

I took Ambriel outside for a few more photographs:

The sun brings out the golden tones in this wig so nicely!

Ambriel loved seeing the woods,

but she was most fascinated with our makeshift little garden.  She even found a newly-ripe tomato!

I told Ambriel not to eat the tomato just yet (so she wouldn't get tomato stains on her dress) so she carried the tomato all around the yard with her, delighted that it matched her sash and necklace so nicely!

Little Ambriel is very fun to have around.  She was never meant to have such beautiful glass eyes or such a unique, high-end wig, but how could I say no to that face?  In my mind, she's the spunky one of the group, and running around barefoot in my garden suits her perfectly.  Her makeover went very smoothly, and I think she's overcome her scruffy past and can fit in beautifully with the Denver girls.

Here's a summary of all the work that was done on Ambriel:

-her head was removed from her body and all vinyl parts were thoroughly cleaned

-stains on the cloth body were spot-cleaned with plain water

-the head was scrubbed with Mr. Clean Magic eraser and all old paint was stripped

-the old eyes were removed

-the head was coated with Mr. Super Clear sealant

-she was given new hazel glass eyes from Lauscha, Germany

-she was given new eyelashes

-her face was repainted, including lips, blush, eyebrows, and freckles

-she is wearing a short-cut wig from ZaZou Custom Dolls

-she is wearing a white peasant dress from Doll Clothes by Carole.  The dress is accented with a red satin sash and a red crystal birthstone pendant.

-she will come with feather wings and a fairy light halo

Ambriel will be sold for $2.20 on Etsy to the person who wins a random drawing from entries in the comments section of this post.

Here are the rules for entry into the giveaway:
1. Comment below to enter.
2. Start your comment with the words "I'm in!" so I can tell who is entering and who is just commenting.
3. If you do not have a Blogger account, please contact me through Etsy and I will enter for you.
4. To protect against duplicate entries, comments from inactivated accounts and anonymous comments will not be considered.
5. If you are unable to comment for any other reason, you can contact me through Etsy and I will enter for you.
6. A mailing address outside of the United States is disqualifying.*
7. If you are under 18, please secure the permission of a parent or guardian and make sure that the $2.20 Etsy transaction is ok.

*If you do not have a US mailing address and still wish to enter, I will accept your entry if you are willing to assume all international shipping costs and risks.  Delays in international shipping have been significant lately.  International entries will only be accepted if they've been pre-approved through Etsy messaging before the drawing occurs.

Comments are closed!

I hope you all enjoy the newest member of the Ariel pack!  Good luck to everyone who wants a chance to win her.