Restoring my old American Girl doll, "Molly"

I've been holding onto my old American Girl doll, Molly, for a few years in hopes of getting it restored and giving it to Molly at some point. I decided this was the year and thought she was old enough to be excited about it. I was originally planning to send it in to the American Girl company, but after doing a little research online and watching a few tutorials, decided to try to take a stab at it myself. 

Her hair was in pretty rough shape and she really needed a good cleaning.

First I cleaned her all up with a magic eraser, and it really was magic. I can't believe how much dirt came off of her and how easily it cleaned her right up.

Next, we tackled her hair. The tutorial I watched had you wash and condition the doll's hair with regular shampoo and conditioner. Then you saturate the doll hair with fabric softener, brush it out, and let it sit for 24 hours before rinsing it out. 

I could not believe the transformation! It was incredible. It was one of the most satisfying things I think I have ever done. I gave the doll a quick little trim to even her hair back out and voila!

She turned out so cute and even better than I had hoped. With Molly's birthday being near Easter, I had just made her Easter dress. I decided to make a matching dress for her new doll with the extra fabric. It was surprisingly sort of hard trying to make it so small! Thankfully, it worked out and it was a fun little surprise for her.

We gave Molly the wooden dresser that was also mine as a child, and my neighbor gave me the wooden four-poster bed a few years ago that happened to match perfectly! I used an old set of Molly's sheets to make bedding and a pillow for the bed. I still had almost all of the doll's original clothing also. 

This was such a fun little project to work on and I am so happy to see how much she loves it. As I write this several months after her birthday, she still plays with the doll all the time. We enjoy going to the store and picking out a new outfit every once in awhile. Such a fun thing to share with my girl!