Hello, doll enthusiasts and curious onlookers! Gather ’round for another installment in the saga of launching the Lil Missy Dolls. Today, we’re delving into the surprisingly tricky world of plastic hands. Yes, hands. Those tiny, crucial appendages that have caused me more headaches than I ever imagined possible.
I was determined to match the plastic hands from the original Lil Missy Beaded Doll kits. My logic was simple and two-fold. First, people with old kits might need replacement hands (because, for some mysterious reason, hands seem to vanish from many of the kits I’ve bought on eBay over the years). Second, hands are tricky to get right, and the originals had a solid track record.
With the help of my talented husband, we embarked on the quest to create molds of these tiny hands. Armed with silicone, patience, and a lot of determination, we managed to make the molds. But then came the real challenge: the hole for the wire at the wrists.
Let me tell you, this was no small feat. Our early attempts produced hands with no holes or holes the size of craters. Definitely not what I wanted. Picture a doll with hands that either couldn’t attach to the body or looked like she was wearing bizarre, oversized bracelets. Not exactly the elegant look I was going for.
After many failed attempts and more than a few laughs at our hand-making mishaps, I finally threw in the towel. It was time to call in the professionals. I hired a company familiar with plastic molding to copy the original hands exactly and send me 5,000 copies of each hand. Yes, 5,000. My house is now the proud owner of more tiny hands than a doll hospital.
So, rest assured, dear customers, we have plenty of hands. Your Lil Missy Dolls will be perfectly equipped to wave, hold, and do whatever tiny plastic hands are supposed to do. And should you ever need a replacement, I’ve got you covered—probably for the next decade or so.
Until next time, keep crafting and remember: sometimes, it takes a village (or at least a professional plastic molding company) to get a hand-y problem just right.