My Dolly Blog

Learn which tools you must have to begin customizing Blythe dolls and start creating your own unique doll today.

Do you want to make your own Custom Blythe doll but don’t know where to start? For those newbies that are just starting out, here are 12 tools for beginners.

_{(Please note the following tools are affiliate links on Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and Aliexpress. This is where I shop to get my supplies. I make a small fee if you shop through my affiliate links here which helps fund the upkeep of this website…)}

1. Carving toolset

The Niji wood carving set on Ebay for carving into Blythe dolls is great because it’s inexpensive and has a lot of different blades that will help you chisel away at your masterpiece.

2. Needle files

These are used for filing down rough edges, carving grooves, and other fine detail work on the doll.

3. Exacto knife

Can be useful for carving into the Blythe face-plates but also for trimming t-bars, or separating an EBL or SBL scalp from the dome.

4. Sanding sponges

Lots and lots of sanding is involved when customizing a Blythe doll. Sanding off the original make-up, smoothing and refining after carving, prepping to a matte surface to receive pastels or airbrush paint. Can’t do without them.

5. Chalk Pastels

It’s make-up for your Blythe. You’ll need lots of pinks, browns, and flesh tones to start and some cooler colors for eye-shadow and lids. I’ve been using Sennelier for many years even before Blythe became my medium of choice.

6. Watercolor pencils

Watercolor pencils are perfect for drawing on a Blythe doll. They’re great for adding details and realism to your dolls, like freckles and eyebrows.

7. Various paint and pastel brushes

The set I linked to should cover everything you need for doing the Blythe doll face-ups and shading as well as painting eye-lids, eye-chips, etc…

8. Mr. Super Clear UV flat

Mr. Super Clear ,(Ebay,) is must-have product to use for your Blythe doll because it gives a nice matte finish and makes it easy to apply make-up. It also helps seal pigments so that they won’t rub off or fade away. Start with UV flat or Matte at first. Then as you gain skills and confidence, Semi-gloss and gloss create a nice sheen on finished face-ups.

9. Craft glue such as Aleen’s Tacky glue

Aleen’s tacky glue is a great craft glue for gluing eye-chips to Blythe dolls. It’s easy to use and dries clear, so you can be sure the eyes look good when they’re attached. I like Aileens Fast Grab as I can change the eyes on Blythe doll without waiting too long to dry.

10. Screwdriver set

You need one of these to open Blythe up and remove her eye-mech. An All-in-one will give you the right size Phillips and flat head to unscrew and open her face-plates.

11. Acrylic paint sets

I use acrylic paint for lip lining, painting lids, eye-chips, line art, etc…

12. Dust Mask

Photo below is self explanatory. Safety is must! Protect your lungs.

Just the beginning…

This list should be enough to get you started in creating a Blythe custom doll. It is by no means exhaustive and as you gain skill, you may be brave enough to try a Dremel. But for now, this is a great start!

Good luck and have a Happy Doll Day!

How using Fake Blythes for Blythe Custom Dolls can expand creativity and experimentation.

_{(The following contains affiliate links to Amazon, EBay, Etsy and Aliepress. These are the places I shop at for my supplies. Purchasing through my links helps to fund this website and keep it updated.)}

Blythe dolls have become a popular way for artists, creatives, and collectors to express themselves. Even more so now that fake Blythe dolls are so readily available. However, fake Blythe dolls can be a bit of a controversial topic.

In this blog post I will be sharing everything I think about Fake Blythes including what their quality compared with official Takara releases, how much they cost, and where you can buy them online,(My preferred suppliers are on AliExpress!)

The Blythe hobby tends to attract creative and artistic collectors. Official Blythe releases are expensive and for the beginning customizer, a bit intimidating.

That’s where fake Blythes come in!
Fake Blythes are often cheaper than the original doll which makes them perfect for beginners or those who are on a budget. Certain official Takara Blythe dolls can be limited and many collectors want them in their original minty condition. That makes fake Blythes perfect for altering with carving tools, pastels, and paints.

The origins of Blythe dolls…

Blythe dolls were a counterpart to Barbie dolls. The original dolls were designed by Allison Katzman and released in the early 1970s by Kenner. There are two categories of these dolls: Kenner and Neo. Kenner Blythes are the original Blythe dolls. This big-eyed girl was a bit creepy to young girls and didn’t do well when originally released in 1972. Kenner Blythe doll went out of production shortly after.

Blythe doll is resurrected!

Back in 2000, a New York city video producer, Gina Garan, published a book of photographs of a doll she collected. This little book called This Is Blythe.

Here’s a good video on that.

Thanks to Japanese company CWC, Neo Blythes have been in production since the early 2000 and Blythe has loyal collectors from all over the world. The original Kenner Blythe dolls are highly sought after and collectible. They can go for at least $1000 depending on their condition.

Neo Blythes are usually more affordable. They can usually be purchased for just over $100-200. Some can go for a bit more depending on how rare or limited it was.

Anything with tan or darker skin tone will go for more. They don’t make the darker skin tones very often and there is higher demand when they are released.

The Fake Blythes come on the scene…

But, alas, the fake Blythe dolls came along and finally catered to those of us wanting Blythes of color. Some of them come with big black curly hair. The official Takara releases never offered anything like that.

My thoughts on fakes…

At first, I was excited by all the hair and skin colors. They’re very inexpensive, so if you want to experiment more, you won’t be out a lot if you destroy the face-plate. But there was a lot of controversy and many collectors refuse to buy fake Blythe customs. Personally, I didn’t like the way their eyes looked. The face-plate might have been molded from one of the Neo Blythe molds but the eye-mechs were not and their quality wasn’t as good as the official Takara dolls.

The fake Blythe dolls flooding the market also caused a flood in amateur customs taking over the sales pages on Facebook and other social media. Newbies saw dollar signs in the Blythe custom doll market and wanted to cash in. Not all had greedy motives. Many talented customizers broke through the flood of mediocre and atrocious customs and made amazing Blythe custom dolls that were affordable to the more discerning collector on a tight budget.

Eventually, things even out. Fakes are here to stay and there are some sellers offering their own version of Blythe. I really like these new fakes that are called NBL Blythes by this seller on AliExpress. The quality is very good and they offer something unique. I also found them on eBay for those who do not want to set up an AliExpress account.

Here’s one of my NBL Blythe custom doll.

It’s nice for artists to be able to have access to these less expensive materials. You can also buy just the face-plates from Etsy or eBay and practice and improve your skills before going all-in on a full custom.

With the use of epoxy putty, some of the alterations on these dolls can be so extreme that the original mold gets obscured. Fake Blythes offer a neutral canvas to go as extreme in altering the dolls as someone likes.

Guilty as charged… I do customize Fake Blythe dolls.

So yes, I will use fake Blythe dolls to customize. I understand why some are against it and that’s OK! However, they’ve been around for a long time now and they offer things the official releases won’t offer.

I’ll also add that there are still many collectors who want untouched pristine official Takara Blythe dolls. In fact, it has been recently announced that Takara Tomy Inc. will no longer be manufacturing and distributing Blythes. CWC is taking its production to a different manufacturer.

That will make it even less attractive to break into a new Official Takara Blythe doll and do plastic surgery on her.

So that’s the quick and dirty on Blythe Fakes and using them for Blythe custom dolls. I’m looking forward to what this new manufacturing company does with our favorite girl.

Till next time, have a Happy Doll Day!

I made another Blythe doll custom with teeth. In my last post, I gave hints on what to use to make pearly white realistic teeth.

Here’s what it looks like behind the scenes…

Now, I’m going to assume if you’re wanting to make Blythe teeth, you already know how to do some basic carving and sculpting. You can play around with the clay and decide how you want to shape it to look like teeth.

I baked the clay on parchment paper in the toaster oven set at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for around 5-7 minutes. You have to watch it because it will start to turn yellow if you leave it in too long.

After baking them, once cooled, I used a coat of gloss medium and tried fitting them. Make sure you seal the inside of the faceplate with Mr. Super Clear to prevent any pastel residue from staining the teeth.

Trim and fit…

Getting the teeth to fit in place was a little tricky and I ended up having to trim them with an Exacto knife to fit. Thankfully, this clay has some flexibility to it and can be easily trimmed.

Blythe Custom Doll tool list and supplies: Click here!

Next, I used Aileen’s Fast Grab tacky glue which has enough viscosity to it to keep the teeth in place, and yet you still have time to adjust it.

Because this doll has such a wide-open mouth, I needed something behind the teeth to hide the inside of the head. What’s behind teeth? A tongue of course! Got some regular Sculpey clay and made a tongue shape, baked it, painted it a rosy color, and then glossed it and installed it with tacky glue.

So here she is! Introducing my latest toothy custom! April!

April is available for Adoption in the shop here!

Hope this post was informative and helpful on how to make Blythe doll custom teeth! Thanks for stopping by and have a happy doll day!