doll hair makeovers

I got Natalie's 18" doll a couple years ago for her birthday. She LOVES this doll. It matters not that she's not an American Girl Doll. She is the Target brand, but I got her at Tuesday Morning, a discount/overstock kind of store, for $15.

I really love all the great doll stuff at Target! The brand is awesome, they have cheap shoes and accessories and even the big stuff for the dolls is affordable. Except ... the hair. Such a bummer because the dolls are so pretty and it's really unfortunate that they have the worst hair out there. It was time to remedy that. We had tried the fabric softener, we tried a trim, nothing helped. So I finally got online (right before we moved) and ordered her a new wig. I knew when I bought the doll that if her hair went to pot, I could replace the wig. I read up before buying anything. The wig came the day before we moved so I had in my suitcase for two months!

I ordered this wig from Ruby Red Galleria for $30. That included shipping, so I still only have $45 into this doll, which is still less the HALF the cost of an American Girl doll!

We went to work. Here's Victoria's before hair: (Natalie got her all ready on her salon chair with the beauty apron I'm made her for Christmas :)

 Here are the before and after hairs, side by side:

And here she is with her new wig!

 She looks AMAZING! I couldn't stop looking at her, haha! The difference in how this wig feels compared to her original hair is profound. Even new, her hair never felt or looked this pretty and I can tell this is the quality hair that will stay pretty. Natalie's already played with it tons and it still looks perfect.

If you're wondering about the process, it was pretty simple. The original doll hair was plugged, so I just cut the hair off as close as possible. Natalie couldn't look, lol. For glue, I just bought permanent fabric glue. People suggest anywhere from Elmer's to Super glue. I took the middle road and bought the fabric glue (Tacky glue brand, I think) and it's holding beautifully. I knew that super glue would be really hard to get off if we need to ever do this again or if I made a mistake so I started with something less *super*, knowing I could always go up to that if this didn't hold.

I know there are other places to buy the wigs too, but I know for sure that I can recommend this site!

For the record, I bought Layla's doll at the thrift store in perfect condition. She's the Toy's R Us brand and after I gave her a fabric softener/curlers makeover when I first got her, her hair was super soft and pretty and still is.
Here are some pics I took of that process:

Before:

 I soaked her hair in a bowl with 1 part fabric softener and 2 parts water. Then rinsed and combed each section with a little brush with thin plastic bristles.

 Then I used foam curlers and left her to dry overnight.

Ack, I can't find an after picture! But this was taken last Christmas in her new coat I'd made her :)

Still pretty! Still easy to brush through too, which was not the case with Victoria's hair.

So there ya go, if you're still deciding which brand to buy! I think the new prices for either brand are similar, around $40.