When I was a little girl, I loved playing with the old dolls at my grandma's house. My gram had my mom's doll and my auntie Margie's doll. Mom's doll was a Eegee Cuddle Bun doll. Margie's was the Eegee boy version of the doll. My uncle Joe used to heckle me and change their heads. It always upset me to have the girl wear boys clothes and see the boy in a dress.
Years went by and those dolls were stuffed away in a box somewhere. They didn't fare well. Their bodies disintegrated. They were forgotten....until I started doing doll restoration. Now remember, I do COMPOSITION doll restoration. Until mom makes a request.
Poor Baby was infested with mold and no longer had a body. But...how do you tell your mom you can't fix her childhood plaything? The most important part of the doll is the head. I just needed to find her a body. I began the search. I bought countless dolls and after YEARS, I found her a body. I didn't know how to tackle the mold. Thank goodness for Facebook doll groups. I found the advice I needed for everything except the eyes. I called Rubie from Forgetmenotdolls.com for some advise and she taught me a trick. You kill the mold with a hair dryer and a cone to target the heat.
The difference in the eyes is incredible!
Cotton tipped applicators and toothpicks get into the grooves and tight spots to clean the dirt and mildew. Benzoyl peroxide and hydrogen peroxide are great to remove stains and sanitize the head before painting. These are my favorite cotton tipped applicators.
After her eyes were clear, I needed to touch up the hair. I color matched the brown paint on the hair and carefully airbrushed oil based paint on her hair to freshen it up. The head was sticky after I painted it. After about a week it finally "cured" and looks and feels great!
Getting the head on the new body was a challenge. My wonderful husband helped me with that. I lucked out and found a neck connector that worked great. I did need to remove some of the stuffing from the new body to make room for her connector.
I found a picture of this doll in the wishbook web
I designed a pattern and found fabric and lace that are very close matches to the 1956 dress that baby wore when she was under that tree long ago. I lucked out and found shoes on eBay. Baby is redressed and ready to go.
I am giving her to my mom for Christmas this year. So much love went into this doll. I know that there are so many happy memories in that little head. Merry Christmas Mama!
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