The Rebecca Rubin Project

Back at the beginning of August I wrote about a $10 Rebecca that I was lucky enough to find on Craig's List. She was nude, and had gotten on the wrong side of a canine at some point, but you just don't pass up a $10 Rebecca. You don't. Her hair was a little dry, but not as bad as I've seen, and her eyes worked well. Her limbs weren't even very loose, and in good condition if you could overlook the missing hand. 

I could. Besides, I'd been looking for a doll to experiment with rehabing on, and I found her!

This is an "after" image. Keep reading for her "befores" and a description of how I got her there. 

I knew very little about Rebecca before we picked her up, so the first stop was our local library. (Naturally) In less than a day we, as a family, were all caught up on Rebecca's story. I have to say, I am surprisingly fond of this spunky little girl from NYC! I'd never been interested before, and only wanted to get her one day as a means to complete my Historical Collection, but I'm very glad that I picked her up.

Of course, I then was facing the challenge of making her look good again. Outside of some cleaning, Oxy treatments, and minor hair work, I'd never much of a rehab on any doll. I'd certainly never swapped out limbs, but unless I wanted to wrap Rebecca's hand in a handkerchief and pretend she lost it in a factory accident, I had no choice. It was time to tackle the limbs!

Listen, if you have never unstuffed an American Girl doll, there are some things you should know going in. First, there is an absurd amount of stuffing crammed into that doll body! Like double or triple the amount that you think should be able to fit in there! It's also a little traumatizing to realize that you are completely pulling apart a $115 doll, even if you didn't spend that much on it. At some point you are sitting there, looking at the bits and pieces of what used to be an American Girl doll strewn out in front of you, thinking "Oh my God, what if I can never get it back together?!" Don't worry. You can.

Rebecca had a bit of a bite mark on her foot as well, (as you can see above) but I decided to leave that alone for now since it will be covered by her stockings and shoes. At some point in the future I plan to swap that leg out too, but for this rehab I chose to focus on her mangled arm. This meant that I only had one limb to remove, which is good, I think, for your first time. 

Since her limbs were still relatively tight, I decided not to replace the elastic at this time. (I also didn't feel like waiting to order it new, and I don't want to use the hair tie method.) It was not easy getting the knot untied. I ended up requesting Mr. D's help, and he may or may not have injured himself in the process. (I am a lucky woman!) In the end we got it, and Rebecca's offending arm was removed from her body. (No dolls were harmed in the making of this blog post.)

Now I needed to get the other tension cup out of her chewed arm so that I could use it in her new arm. There is a very little bit of give in the newer plastic, but not enough to get the tension cup out without breaking it. To soften the plastic up a bit I warmed it with my hair dryer for about 30 seconds. This made the plastic softer, and I was able to use pliers to pull the tension cup out of the arm. I used the same method on the new arm in order to get the tension cup back in.

Once you get to this point it is fairly easy to put your doll back together. Everything just goes back the way you took it apart.

I tightened this knot a bit more after taking this picture. There is also a way to replace the elastic that used metal crimps instead of tying, but I was able to tie it back fairly well. Her arm is very tight now. One day I will do a complete replace, with the elastic and everything, and I will document the crimping method.

So, this looks a little intimidating, but once you are to this point you might as well just skip over the finish line. There is a lot of stuffing, and it was a job getting it all back in. Sometimes you have to shift the stuffing about a bit, shove it down again when you think you can't anymore, but it will all fit. I promise. Things look much better when you have the body stuffed again, and even better than that when you get the head reattached. (In hindsight, I would have waiting until I got her head back on before taking her hair out of the curlers. I worried the entire time that I was going to ruin the curls I'd just put back in.)

Speaking of her hair, I think it cleaned up very nicely if I do say so myself.

I didn't use any heat. I just wet her hair thoroughly, rolled it, and then sat her in front of a box fan for a day. (I did this to help it dry since I've heard horror stories of mold growing under the wig cap, and I got her hair pretty wet.) I didn't even wash her hair first, though I might try that next time. One of these days I'm going to brave a hot water dunk. Not yet though.

I'd ordered her original meet dress around the same time that I ordered her new arms, so the only thing left to do was dress her. I'm still on the hunt for her bloomers, hair clip, and meet accessories, but there is time, and I think she looks pretty fabulous without them.

What do you think? What was your first rehab?

I know there are a lot of pictures. I'm sorry. I had a hard time choosing.

Is it common for the Josefina mold to sometimes seem like her eyes are a bit "off". I don't always notice it, but every once in awhile I do a double take on the mold. (This in no way shape or form means I don't like it. I think the Josefina mold is gorgeous. I just think there eyes look a bit funky sometimes.)

~Mrs. D

You Know What You Don't Do?

You know what you don't do? You don't pass up a $10 Rebecca, no matter how much you've promised yourself that you won't buy anymore AG things until Melody comes out. (20 days and counting, folks! Eeek!) You don't even pass her up if she has a bite mark on her foot and one of her hands looks like it made an absolutely delicious dog toy. Nope. You just tell your husband that you can fix that and arrange to pick up both Rebecca and the $15 Nicki that is also being sold on Craigslist. Because you can.

Rebecca was released far after my peak American Girl days, and before my children were old enough to pull me back in. It only made sense that I did the proper research before fixing our newest girl up since I knew next to nothing about her. (I knew that she was a Jewish girl that wanted to be an actress living in New York in 1914. That's it.) So I got my hands on her books and started reading. I'll tell you what, by the time I was done I was immensely fond of spunky little Rebecca! (If you haven't read her story you should!) It made me that much more determined to bring her back to her former glory, even though I've had next to no free time during this summer. (Seriously, you would think I'd have a little more free time since we're not doing any formal schooling, but nope! Free time is a myth!) 

You should expect to see a lot more of Rebecca's rehab on the blog in the upcoming weeks, even though I will have to squeeze it in between lesson planning and the start of the school year. *sniff* Until then, here is what I had to start with, and where we are now. (We're waiting on new limbs that should arrive this week.) 

Due to the state of her right hand my youngest daughter has been calling her "Boo Boo".

I couldn't not buy her, especially when the only thing really wrong were her limbs. (Her hair isn't greasy or anything. I'd begun to dampen it for recurling before I remembered to take the pictures. It's a little dry at the ends, but in remarkably good shape.) Though I'd not paid much attention before, I think Rebecca is very pretty, though I am partial to the Josefina mold. (Because I am partial to Josefina, no doubt!) 

Poor "Boo Boo"! That must really sting!

One of the odder things I've had on our windowsills! Usually when a doll is getting a sun treatment her entire body is still attached. This is the first time I've beheaded one, and I have to admit that it's making me a tad nervous. It's frightening to see a $115 doll dismantled, even if you only paid $10 for her. I can't wait to see the finished product though! 

have you ever taken a doll apart? How'd it go?

-Mrs. D