Sending your reborn baby home~

One very important detail to creating beautiful life-like reborn baby dolls is sending them safely home. Of course there are other ways to ship a baby home, but this is how I do it:

Depending on the size of the reborn baby, I select either a large Priority Mailing box or one of the longer boxes I have purchased to use to ship dolls home. For the doll I am using in this tutorial, I have selected a large Priority box.

Begin by covering the bottom and sides of the box with bubble wrap. I find that the small size bubbles work just great. On top of the bubble wrap, I place two layers of tissue paper to extend the sides of the box.

To create a pillow for the baby's head, wrap the extra outfits in tissue paper, folding it carefully over and placing this "pillow" in the corner of the box.

Place cute ribbons down in the box. The next step is to place the blanket on top of the ribbons. (The ribbons will be used to secure the baby in the blanket.)

Place the baby doll in the box, curling him/her up so that all the limbs are maneuvered in a way that won't cause stress on the limbs and won't be extending the top of the box. You can see that this doll is fully dressed in long pants and sleeves to further protect him. If your doll is not traveling home in long clothes, be sure that the blanket will wrap between his legs to keep the vinyl from rubbing on vinyl.

All of my babies travel home with a stuffie of some kind. That stuffie is a great barrier between the package wrappings and the baby's face. It helps keep the eye lashes from being smashed during shipping. Place the stuffie on top of the dolls chest and onto the dolls chin. Wrap the arms gently around the stuffie.

Swaddle the doll with the blanket, adjusting the stuffie and limbs as needed. Snugly tie the ribbons around the doll.

For any extra accessories that your doll has, package them into a small bag or cute package of your choice. NEVER travel your dolls home with the bracelet on him/her and the pacifier on his/her mouth! These can rub onto the vinyl and paint causing damage to the doll. Double wrap "formula" bottles in zip lock bags and then wrap bubble wrap around that. Stand the bottle upright in the box. Place photo CD's away from any magnets.
Place the extras around the sides of the doll. This helps to snug the doll into the box. Make sure that the extras do not come into contact with the the dolls vinyl as colors can bleed especially if they get wet during transport. Speaking of wet; Some people like to place their dolls in a large trash bag for the trip home. I typically do not do this unless my customer requests it of me. It is at this point, when the doll is snugly wrapped into the blanket and then wrapped fully in white tissue paper that it can be placed in a 13 gallon CLEAN and white kitchen trash bag. Be sure that no ink from the bag sits on any part of the doll.

Fold the tissue paper and bubble wrap over the doll paying close attention of the eye lashes. Be very careful to keep from smashing the eye lashes of the doll. Secure the bubble wrap with a cute sticker, place any extra bubble pillows in the box so that the doll will not wiggle or move on the trip home (and always be sure to wrap printed bubbles in tissue paper if there is a chance that they would come into contact with the dolls vinyl). Place any birth certificates or other information on top and add a personalized note for the new mommy.

Securely tape the box with strong tape, print your label, add cute stickers if desired and send the baby home to it's new mommy. Of course, it is wise to ship with insurance to protect you and the buyer in the event that anything would happen to the doll within the shipping service.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON PACKAGING:

NEVER use Styrofoam peanuts for shipping dolls in. They have been known to react with certain vinyl, ruining the doll. If you MUST use them, be sure that the doll is fully protected from coming into contact with them. Placing the doll in a large kitchen trash bag is a good idea if using peanuts. Make sure that no peanuts can get into the bag.

It is a good idea to only use white tissue paper and and other shipping supplies. Inks can come off of colored papers and leach onto the doll. Be sure that all inks on bubbles cannot come into contact with the doll.

NEVER travel your dolls home with the bracelet on him and the pacifier on his mouth! These can rub onto the vinyl and paint causing damage to the doll.

Be sure to fill all air pockets in the box with bubble pillows. If the doll cannot move in the box, it cannot get damaged. Also the solidity of the package prevents the box from being smashed during shipping.

Be sure to use a personal touch when sending your babies home. Think of how you would like to receive a new doll and how fun it is to open that package and see how much care went into the packaging of it.

Use your imagination but above all, your common sense when shipping a doll home. :)