Requires: Eyes, hair dryer, screwdriver
You only need to do this step if you have a doll that has open eyes. If you have a closed eye doll, then you are safe to move on.
Changing the dolls eyes can have a very dramatic effect on the babies face so you should take as much time as possible to get this part correct. If you don’t line the eyes up correctly, you may end up with uneven eyes, a cross-eyed baby or worse.
You can get some very lifelike acrylic eyes quite cheaply nowadays, especially on eBay, and when you buy them you should get the half round eyes rather than the full circled ones. This is so they can be held in place properly. Once the hair is secure and the glue is dried, you first need to remove the old eyes from the doll.
Using a hair dryer, an oven or hot water again, heat the head so it is easier to pop the eyes out. Once the area is pliable and being careful not to burn yourself squeeze near the eyes so they start to almost pop out and then insert the screwdriver under the eye and simply pry it out.
It does not matter if the plastic eye breaks or is damaged as it will not be needed again. However, be very careful not to tear the vinyl on the dolls face. Repeat to remove the other eye, reheating as required.
Putting the eyes back in is the same again, but in reverse – heat the dolls head again until it is pliable and then add your new dolls eye into the socket. As the vinyl cools down it will tighten and shrink slightly which will hold the eye in place. Repeat for the second eye, and be sure you get the eyes positioned correctly as you do them.
Alternate method
If you cannot get them into the socket, then you can glue them in place. First, carve away the back of the eye socket so that is hangs like a flap.
Put the eye in place, and add some glue to the back and reattach the flap. This is a lot easier to do, but can cause problems if the eyes are not aligned correctly.
Making the nostrils come to life
The nostrils also need to be removed and the simplest way to do this is with a handheld drill.
Simply drill through the nostrils making sure you do not use a drill bit that is too big. After you have done this, you may need to file the holes down so they are smooth, but in most cases just removing any excess vinyl is fine.
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