Arts and Craft Toy Nostalgia

Anyone remember Creepy Crawlers? That craft toy with metal molds and the plasti-goop that you would cook in a small oven has been cited as a childhood favorite by many kids since the product was released. Here's a little reminder of what the product looked like:

As a kid in the 90's, I owned this little toy. I can't remember if we got it because I wanted to make things in an oven or because I had two older brothers and they wanted this thing. Either way, I definitely enjoyed it. A few years later, however, I was introduced to this lovely little toy; Dolly Maker!

Basically a "girl friendly" version of Creepy Crawlers. But regardless of the marketing ploy to in include girls in the metal mold cooking this was actually a lot of fun. I mean, just look at that box! What kid who likes making things and like dolls wouldn't be incredibly excited about this? It was one of my favorite toys for sure and one that I held onto for all these years (creepy crawlers, too actually, but whatever). I believe I was 9 when my Dad got this for me and I made dolls like crazy and gave them to the people I loved most. Most of them were like, "oh, thanks, it's so cute!" and either later on or right away thought, "what am I supposed to do with this?" But, there were two people who always liked the dolls; my Grandma and my Aunt. Both of them thought these dolls were so cute and I ended up making several more for them. One in particular was completely pink and purple and it stuck out brightly against everything. It was passed from room to room, moving as someone would pick it up and leave it behind. Quickly, it turned into a game, hiding the little doll in obvious or more creative places for others in the house to find; open a draw, there's the pink dolly. Open a cupboard, there's the pink dolly. Open the freezer? Pink dolly. Think you can go to the store in peace? Nope! Open your wallet, pink dolly's trying to hide as legal tender. Unfortunately, the pink dolly was left in the supermarket years ago - I want to say at Kroger's, maybe Farmer Jack? Now that's a name that hasn't been around here in quite a few years. Anyway, my Aunt had propped it up against a package of meat in the meat department. My Grandma was coming right up behind her to pick out something but it wasn't until later that we found out my Grandma didn't see it, it was still in the store. I can't remember if my Aunt went back looking for it later, I get the feeling she did but it wasn't there anymore. When I think of it I wonder if someone else found it and the pink dolly hiding started for someone else.

Anyway, I have two young nieces. The oldest is 5 and 1/2 and the youngest is 3 but will be 4 next month. I'm 24, I'll be 25 next month, but I don't think I will ever be real grown up; I love video games, children's books, jigsaw puzzles, dressing up, playing on playgrounds and browsing toy isles. Then again, is anyone ever really a grown up? Sometimes I wonder if we're just all pretending and secretly even the hardest of hard asses go home and play a game they used to play as a kid. Anyway, not exactly because a "traditional" grown up, I think that has enabled me to be able to connect with my nieces a bit easier and being in the Aunt role, I want them to introduce them to the things that made me happy when I was little, things that I shared with my Aunt that brought me closer to her. So a few weeks ago when I caught sight of my Dolly Maker machine and all the plasti-goop bottles in my Aunt's basement I knew I had to bring them home and be a big kid again. The nostalgia of creating something I had created as a child was a lot of fun but I had to say, not that I'm older things were a bit...different.

Just the sight of that little oven always makes me smile. As a kid the first doll I made was one that was supposed to look like me. Apparently I had to do the same thing this time, so here I am cooking in the oven.

While I'm waiting for the little dolly me to bake, I decided to create a doll modeled after a character I've been developing for a children's book. The character is the tooth fairy and was inspired by a strange dream I had as a child. For years I insisted I saw the tooth fairy, that she was real, and that she hadn't given me a quarter that night because I had accidentally picked a tooth that had fallen out previously. The tooth fairy, in my house, would take my teeth and give me a quarter but would then turn the teeth over to my Mom so she could keep them for sentimental value. The tooth fairy was such a nice lady! But that night, I had woken to see her flying from the little table in my room, fluttering over to me, above my head and wagging her finger back and forth with a little smile on her face. The next morning, I realized she knew! She knew it was a wrong tooth! But she wasn't holding it against me, which was nice. ANYWAY, since I've created character studies for The Tooth Fairy I thought it might be cute to make dolly maker version of her while I was waiting for the version of me to finish cooking.

 

This doll mold seemed to have the basic hair shape The Tooth Fairy has, so I went with this one. I forget which doll this is supposed to actually be - maybe the ballerina. 

 Time to choose the plasti-goop! Blues this time around. Dark blue hair, eyes and accents on the dress. First up, though, was the eyes. And no matter how careful you know, that plasti-goop just goes wherever the crap it wants. Kind of frustrating.

 But, once that was cleaned up with a little bit of rolled toilet paper, I started on the undies, body and hair. This stuff is pretty liquidy so you kind of have to go in little spurts here and there if you're trying to get all fancy like I was. I definitely don't recommend fancy if it's your first time. Shoot, this wasn't even my first time and I should have done fancy anything. You wouldn't think dripping goop into a metal mold would be difficult but when you throw tiny details into the mix is SUCKS.

 But eventually I finished pouring all the liquid plastic in and I was ready to slide it into the oven. Thankfully, the little me had finished by that time and I was ready to take her out of the oven and see how well she came out.

Oh, GOOD GRACIOUS.

 Okay, maybe it's not so bad, right? Maybe just the back looks terrible. The white plasti-goop seems to have held up pretty well, unless that darker color around the edge means it's a little burnt on the top side. And hey, GUESS WHAT, it was.

Yep, definitely burnt. And shoo, look at those eyes - this just sort of looks like a zombie doll. Why does this keep happening to the dolls I try to model after myself. Regardless, though, it was still fun but for now I tossed her aside in order to create the dress for the Tooth Fairy.

Not exactly the kind of dress I imagined she would have, but close enough for a rough idea for the doll. The colors seem to be going together pretty well. Next I had to check if the second doll came out any better than the first.

Oh, success! Sort of! Sure, her hair is leaking down to cover her eyes, but whatever, it looks better than the first one and doesn't seem to be burnt. But I'll tell you what, it was about this time that I remember, "oh yeah! This stuff SMELLS TERRIBLY." My room is now a 9 by 11 holding space for hot plastic air. Thank goodness all that's left is the dress. Hopefully that comes out decently!

Good enough! Definitely exactly what I had in mind when I started making the doll, but I'm still pretty happy with it. Kind of fun, revisiting these old art projects that were so loved as a child. And you know, the other one didn't come out too terribly either. I didn't make new clothes for her though, that smell was just getting out of control. I just threw on some old clothes I had made that I found in a little bag with all the supplies.

Overall, it was a nice experience, going through and creating the same sort of thing I had done as a child. When I made these back then, I really felt like this awesome artist, actually creating something tangible, something that wasn't just on paper like everyone else around me was doing. Though I enjoyed drawing, of course, and it's certainly what I typically do now when it comes to art, it was still amazing back then to know, "I created this doll." I'm hoping that maybe my nieces will feel the same excitement I did while creating these little dolls that I felt when I was young. Maybe it'll help them realize they they like creating things, too. And if not, an afternoon of fun is just as good. :)

As for the resemblance between the Tooth Fairy doll here and my Tooth Fairy concepts, well, there's definitely a difference...

It was a quick little study of the character in my sketchbook that I did earlier this year for a Character Design class. It's been a while, I guess I forgot she didn't have dark blue skin but light blue. Excellent. Way off base with the doll. But, oh well! I'll just have more to hide around my Aunt's house. :)

On a side note, though these dolls may not have come out right and the smell was awful cooking them, there are still the metal molds. A mold can be used to cast anything and for that same class we were introduced to sculpty clay. I had the idea to use the sculpty with the dolly maker metal molds, casting the dolls and clothing to create actual hard dolls instead of these rubbery ones. This could open up a lot of doors in creating the little dolls - the clothing could be applied directly to the doll prior to cooking, things could be molded a bit further and cooking paint could be applied in great detail throughout the entire surface of the doll allowing for more experimentation with the clothing, hair and skin. There are plenty of possibilities to use these old toys to create something new.

What are some of the toys you played with as a child that were artistic or crafty in nature? Have you thought of revisiting them with the amount of knowledge of art that you have now? Some times it's the simplest things we've played with as a child that have led us down the artistic road.