I’ve been collecting and restoring vintage American Girl dolls for the past 5 years or so, but this is my first blog post with a before and after with some of my work. Recently I purchased a 1989 white bodied Kirsten doll on eBay. She truly looked like the had been in the garbage. She had layers upon layers of dirt, cut frizzy hair, a torn torso, and deep scratches and puncture holes on her face and limbs. She really was a mess!

After a bit of a cleaning, I could tell she would in fact be a beautiful doll. I removed the disgusting wig and clothes and started work on cleaning the vinyl. Then I repaired her torso, repaired the scratched and punctured vinyl, repainted her face with makeup and teeth, rewigged her with a genuine early Pleasant Company Kirsten wig, and finished by curling her lashes.

I am so thrilled with how she turned out! She is truly a gorgeous doll with the rarely seen bluish gray eyes of the 1989 year.