Healing My Inner Child By "Playing" With Dolls Again
How I rediscovered my love for Blythe dolls in my 30s
If you’ve been following me on social media (I actively use Instagram and Threads) then you may know that I recently started customization my Neo Blythe doll, her name is May!
I have always been a girly girl and growing up I loved playing with dolls. From Betty Spaghetty to Bratz dolls, I loved the Bratz! Dressing up and customizing my dolls was one of my favorite ways I played with my dolls as a child but eventually, I got older and had to stop playing with toys, as one normally does. However, my love for fashion and beauty never went away. I was a huge magazine girlie and would awe at latest the fashion and makeup trends I saw in Teen Vouge or Allure magazine. As we get older, we become our own dolls as we play around with clothes and makeup.
I stumbled across an Instagram post with a Blythe doll which is what fuled me to dive into the wonderful world of Blythe dolls, again. Little did I know that I was stepping into a new hobby that ignited my love for dolls and healing my inner child.
Blythe dolls are popular because of their cute unique look and in the doll-customizing world they’re easy to open and customize. In 2010, Blythe gained a resurgence because of the Littlest Pet Shop toy line.
The Blythe doll community is very small as Blythe dolls are very niche but I’ve discovered a few Blythe doll customizers on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. I listed my favorite Blythe doll creators below. Go give these creators a follow if you’re interested in their Blythe content.
BeBeDoll (YouTube) ~ Blythe customization videos for newbies
Beth Ramsden (YouTube) ~ Offers a lot of Blythe doll DIY videos
Anri Little Studio (YouTube) ~ Informative yet aesthetically pleasing custom Blythe videos
Tender_Blythe_Dolls (Instagram) ~ Gorgeous custom dolls with the best hair and knitwear
_Raspberrythreads_ (Instagram) ~ Stunning dolls and outfits
Gardenmothdolls (Instagram) ~ Blythe customizer with simple yet cute dolls
Littlecreaturesthings (TikTok) ~ Beautiful yet simple outfit pairings
I received my first and only Blythe doll, May, back in the early 2000s, I believe my older sister got her for me as a birthday gift. She was a Save The Animals doll, I wanted her because 1. she looked similar to me and 2. I had just turned vegetarian and was freshly in my animal-lover phase. She was the perfect fit for me and I loved her so much! I remember posting pictures of her back when I used Flickr.
I had always wanted to customize my Blythe doll because she had received a bad haircut and the best I could do at the time was to buy her a new wig and cover up her butchered cut. Since I’ve been binge-watching custom Blythe dolls on YouTube I decided now was the perfect time to give May some changes!
In my YouTube video, I open my SBL Blythe doll for the first time. May is an SBL Blythe doll which is an older model. Newer Blythe models are built differently and are easier to open. In the video, I give May some minor changes such as giving her ‘sleepy eyes’, and changing her strings and eyelashes. It went by smoother than I thought it would and I didn’t have any trouble opening her up!
I want to eventually give May a full makeover by sanding her face to give her a matte finish and redoing her makeup. I’m also interested in switching her body to a new one with poseable appendages but all of that will be done at a later date. I’m proud of myself for opening May up and can’t wait to make more custom changes in the future!
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In terms of clothing, I never had much Blythe doll clothing to begin with, and doll clothes for Blythe dolls can be expensive! The few Blythe clothing pieces that I do have aren’t the style I want May to wear anymore. I was really inspired by this creator who creates beautiful knitwear to make me some cute clothes for May. It’s been fun playing fashion designer and challenging myself by crocheting with a smaller crochet hook than I’m used to. I even dropped an impromptu Halloween dress collection over in my shop, I kind of got carried away but it was fun making these dresses for the season.
Immersing myself in the Blythe doll world again has fed the yearning that I once had as a child when I used to play with dolls, healing that inner child wound that I didn’t know I had. When you become an adult and are bombarded with responsibility after responsibility you forget to play or feel guilty when you’re not doing something productive for the betterment of your future. But we mustn’t forget to feed our inner childhood self and let our younger soul run wild once in a while and simply play.
Playing is so important even as an adult because when we play, we are tapping into that creative carefree side of ourselves that we had when we were younger. Back when life was less scary we were more optimistic about the future. This is your reminder to do something that you used to enjoy as a child that you haven’t in a while.