Creating Brenda Mize Dolls: A Step-by-Step Guide

“How Brenda Mize Creates a Handcrafted Porcelain Doll”

September, 2025

Every Brenda Mize porcelain doll begins as liquid porcelain slip and passes through many individual stages before becoming a finished collectible. Brenda personally pours, cleans, fires, sands, prepares, hand-paints, assembles, wigs, dresses, and completes her dolls in her Connecticut studio.

The process below offers a behind-the-scenes look at how a handcrafted Brenda Mize Doll is created from porcelain casting to final presentation.

Materials and Tools

• High quality porcelain slip (Seeley)

• Specialty paints and brushes

• Premium fabrics for costumes

• Modacrylic Doll Wigs

• Adhesives and finishing materials

• Dianna Effner doll molds

• Kiln for firing porcelain

• Porcelain cleaning tools

 Step by Step Process 

Step 1: Preparing the Porcelain Slip and Molding 

1. Preparing Porcelain Slip: The process begins with preparing the porcelain slip, a liquid mixture of porcelain and water. This slip is mixed to achieve the right consistency for pouring into the molds.

2. Pouring Doll Molds: The prepared porcelain slip is then poured into plaster molds and allowed to sit for a specified period of time.

3. Draining Doll Molds: After the slip has been poured, the molds are drained to remove excess slip, leaving a thin shell that will form the doll's body.   

4.   Letting Them Sit Overnight: The molds are left to sit overnight, allowing the porcelain to set and harden to a greenware state so they can easily be removed from the doll molds.  

Step 2: Removal from Mold and Cleaning 

1.   Removing from Mold: The next day, the hardened porcelain pieces are carefully removed from the molds and the appropriate holes are created using a custom tool in both the torsos and the heads.

2.   Cleaning and Removing Seams: Once out of the molds, each piece is carefully cleaned, and any seams or imperfections are smoothed out as well as joint holes being enlarged and cleaned out with a special tool.(Pieces must be left at this point to dry in preparation for kiln loading.)     

Step 3: Firing the Porcelain 

 1. Firing in the Kiln: The cleaned porcelain pieces are fired in a special porcelain kiln that needs to reach a temperature of 2200 degrees Fahrenheit (Cone 6). This step ensures that the porcelain achieves the desired hardness and durability.

 2. Cooling: Pieces are left in the kiln overnight and when a kiln temperature of 100 degrees or less is reached, the pieces can then be removed from the kiln to cool further. 

Step 4: Sanding and Preparing Joints 

1.   Sanding Doll Parts:     After firing, each doll part is carefully sanded to achieve a smooth finish. This step is crucial for the final look and feel of the doll.

2.   Stuffing Arms and Legs with Fiber Fill: This step is done to ensure that the hardening agent has something to adhere to.

3.   Filling Joints with Hardening Agent:      Joints (legs and arms) are filled with a hardening agent to ensure durability and proper articulation.       

4.   Stringing Hooks:      Hooks are then inserted into both arms and legs to facilitate the assembly of the doll's movable parts and left overnight to dry and harden.      

Step 5: Painting and Blushing 

1. Painting Fingernails and Toenails:     Each doll's fingernails and toenail tips are painted white to add a touch of realism.

2. Sealing:     The painted nails are sealed to preserve the color and finish.

3. Detailing:     Both arms and leg details are enhanced with acrylic paint detail.

4. Blushing Torso, Arms, and Legs:      A subtle blush is applied to the torso, arms, and legs to enhance the lifelike appearance of the doll.       

Step 6: Painting Facial Features 

1.   Painting Facial Features:      Painting the doll's facial features, including eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows, and mouth, is a delicate and time-consuming process that takes several hours to complete. This step brings each doll to life with a unique personality.

2.   Sealing:     The heads are sealed multiple times with various sealants to set the paint, ensure longevity and give facial features a more realistic appearance.       

Step 7: Assembling the Doll 

1.   Assembling with Elastic String Cord:     Each doll is assembled using a high-quality elastic string cord. First, the head (using a special hook inserted through the head) and the legs are strung through the torso, and then the arms are attached separately.

2.   Attaching Pate to Doll Head: A pate is glued to the head of the doll and left to dry.   

Step 8: Dressing the Doll 

1.   Attaching the Wig:     Each doll then has a modacrylic (or mohair) wig attached with a special glue, styled to complement the doll's personality.       

2. Dressing the Doll:     Each doll is dressed in either one of my handmade costumes or in a dress from Effner Boneka in Germany. The outfit is completed with doll panties, tights or socks, and shoes.  A doll stand is attached to the doll at this point. 

Final Touches and Packaging

1.   Final Touches:     Final adjustments and touch-ups are made and a miniature teddy bear, tiny porcelain doll or basket with flowers is decided upon as an accessory for the doll.

2.   Packaging:     Each doll is packaged in a custom box using an ample amount of bubble wrap for cushioning as well as an exterior box, ready to be delivered to her new home.

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