More than a Doll….

By Tom and Sherry Bushnell

 This summer, Michelle asked if we would be interested in having one of her life-like dolls for CHASK or A Blessed Beginning for the purposes of helping women experience what a newborn would feel and look like. Granted nothing can replace the real wiggle and warmth of a human baby, but these certainly come a close second… as you will see.

When our doll arrived in the mail a few months later, I opened the box and sucked in a deep breath…. I was shocked at how real it looked. Everyone in the NATHHAN / CHASK office was completely taken aback. Suddenly, the imp in me had a hilarious idea. As a midwife, I had just been to a long string of births. It was my first morning home in a few days. Tom at work at Wilson Law firm in town and had invited me to lunch (He missed me!)

    I carefully wrapped the baby up in its handmade, light mint-green, crocheted blanket snuggly. Arriving at his office and practicing my “motherly pose”, cradled the “baby” in my arms very lovingly. I walked into the office and all the ladies were suddenly on “super-alert”.. You know that “whaaaaat do you have in therrrrrre? expression. I walked over to Tom’s desk and said in all seriousness… “Honey, one of the moms I delivered was not able to keep her baby, and she decided she would like me to have her….” Tom’s eyes got a big as saucers. Then he produced the biggggggest smile. “Really….?”

    I nodded, feeling slightly guilty at this point for my deception, as he was obviously thrilled.

I gently handed him the baby. He looked sweetly down, bent his head closer, then closer and looked up at me quizzically…. “Is this real!?...This is a doll!” My mischievous grin turned into laughter at his confused the…. Oh…. You got me!” look on his face.

    I must say that I un-nerved him for several hours. The ladies in the office were incredulous at the life-like look and were equally stunned.

Here is a letter from Michelle, I thought you might like to know how a doll like this is made and see if you can think of any uses for a realistic doll that can totally pass as a live baby…. For a minute or two….

My name is Michelle,

I have been making dolls for 13 years. This became my passion, as I love children. I feel my love for children comes out in my dolls. Here is how they are made by me.

Making a Life-Like doll

To make a life-like doll, first someone has to sculpt one out of clay. After sanding and finishing the sculpt, the doll is sent to a factory in China to produce molds. These will be used to make the molds for making a vinyl doll "kit". The kit includes just the head, limbs. There is no color is this kit. They are just blank.

As an artist, I have to create the colors to make this doll appear life like. The coloring I use is a special paint that has to be mixed to a very watery consistency. I paint the colors on the doll layer by layer, very thin layers. This can take a month to complete. Each layer has to be heat set. After I have gotten the color the skin hue and color I have aimed for, I have to be sure that the head and limbs are just as I want them. Do I need to add something? Once I am absolutely sure the paint is how I like, and it looks realistic to me, then I go on to the details such as shading, which there are special brushes needed. Once I have completed the shading and it is heat set (this is very important) then I can go on to the eye brows. I use a very fine paint brush to feather on the eye brows. Once they are perfect, and they are how I want them, then I will go on to the toe and finger nails. I mix up the colors that I want to use for the nails, paint then very carefully and then heat set them. I use the nail color to paint the white tips on the nails to make them appear to be realistic as possible.

Once I have all the fine details done, then the baby is ready to have the eyes placed. I buy the best eyes on the market. The cheaper eyes change color, or fade as there is nothing to protect them from the sun.

After the eyes have been placed, then I gather the supplies for they baby’s hair. The hair is called "mo-hair" and it comes from a Angora goat. The hair is cut, then cleaned, then dyed with special dye. This is a quite a process to get the hair cleaned and right. I use what is called a rooting needle or "felting needle". These are very sharp! Trust me! I have had this meet my finger many times and it hurts! I have to be very careful. There is a technique to rooting so the hair so it will lay flat and look realistic. The rooting can take very well up to months to complete. After I have rooted the head, then I glue the inside of the head so the hair will not pull out….else the baby will be bald over time.

Letting the head set aside to dry, I then go on to the body. I make my own and custom fit the body to the doll. I make the body very soft. Once I have my body made, I put it together with bear joints. This allows the doll to move its limbs

easily. After this is completed. I go back to the head now that the glue is dry. If I want my baby to have a pacifier, then I cut the nipple off and glue the magnet to the paci and into the inside of the head. Once dry, I take the filling for completing my doll and put it in the head and limbs, body, putting the baby together. I then dress it.... And there you have your doll finished! It can take me anywhere from about 4 weeks to 3 months.

There are many other methods to make these dolls and this is just one example of how they are made. I created "Hope" for CHASK. I wanted them to use her as they needed. Hope took about 3 months to complete. I create dolls for mother's who cannot have children. For those who have lost a child, or someone who would like a doll to look like their grown child, in baby form. This art is very rewarding. I also have donated dolls to our church to help with Christmas funds, food drive raffle, reconstruction of a new addition to our church. God has given me a talent and it is one I like to share.

I presently have one on e-bay. My e-bay seller’s name monkeykrust.

As of the new year I will only be making special orders.

agracefulhand@aol.com