Dolls throughout history have been made with piercings mimicking the styles of the times and places in which they were created. Many examples of antique dolls with pierced ears can be found in a quick search on the internet. Some, like those made of ceramic material (bisque, china and parian dolls), would have been easily pierced with a needle when the heads were damp unfired clay. Wax, wood, and papier mache heads were likely pierced after the heads were created. These dolls were sometimes pierced with a needle or the holes were drilled with a small drill bit. This tutorial shows how to pierce a BJD’s ears using a pin vise. The holes are drilled through the lobe for a natural look.
Drilling actual holes in a resin doll’s ears is an advantage if the doll will be wearing heavy earrings, or if the earrings will be changed regularly. This technique works for larger dolls. Doll heads which have most of the back of their ear molded to the head may not be able to be pierced in this manner.
The doll used for this tutorial is a PlanetDoll Tara. The pin vise was purchased from a train and model hobby shop, and they can also be found online. Dollmore sells a simple ear piercing drill (which can be found HERE). A similar piercing drill could also be made. When I purchased my pin vise, I bought an array of the smallest drill bits available, but I used the very smallest bit for piercing. The earrings shown on Tara were made with small earring hooks trimmed to size and some tiny charms.
PlanetDoll Tara, purchased from Denver Doll Emporium, has glass eyes and wig from Jpopdolls. Her outfit was made by Nankatts from the pattern Seasons from gracefaerie designs.
