So I was sitting at my work table in my craft studio working on Christmas ornaments for a future blog hop that I'll be participating in when I looked up from my project and my eyes landed on this little doll bust that I picked up years ago. I always thought she would be cute with a little party hat or something.

But when I saw her this time I saw something a little different and I had to immediately stop working on the ornaments and switch gears!

I saw a little Gothic girl peeking out... she was saying, "I don't want to be an ordinary girl anymore, I want to be special!" So I transformed her into a little Gothic girl, perfect for Halloween!

Gothic Altered Doll

I picked up this ceramic doll bust many years ago. She is marked, "Frances Hook, Spring Breeze," and was apparently a 1981 limited edition. I looked her up though and she wasn't particularly valuable. There are several on eBay but they are not selling.

This project was actually inspired by this little girl bust that I found in the Halloween section of Fred Meyer! I. LOVE. HER! When I bought her the checkout lady said, "eww, creepy." She's not creepy to me at all, I think she's adorable! Am I weird??

So, when I looked at the doll bust that I had, I could see her transformed into a little Goth girl similar to this one!

I started by painting her hair black... because every Gothic girl has black hair!

Then she needed skin that was a little more pasty looking. I used these two colors and mixed them up to create the color I wanted.

I painted her whole face, even the eyes.

Then I gave her dark circles around her eyes... like a bad smokey-eye makeup job! 😂

The eyes and lips were painted black too. 

I added little white dots for highlights, eyebrows with a fine-point Sharpie, and a little color to her cheeks and nose with a scruffy brush and some barn red paint.

Next, I pulled out the black wool roving I have...

... and I made some little half-circles. This is called "needle felting," and I have a post that shows how to do it here: DIY Felted Snowman.

Now, why did I make little felted half-circles, you ask?

Well, because I thought she needed buns in her hair!

At this point, it was just a matter of dressing her up! I used a string of black beads and this skull and crossbones for a choker necklace.

And this butterfly for wings.

I also painted the front of the base she sits on with black chalkboard paint and added some scrapbook paper on the sides.

Finally, I added some pieces of one of these spiderweb stickers to her shoulders.

I intended them to look like tattoos but I don't think it has that effect really... they look more like part of an outfit to me but I like them just the same.

Here she is in all her Gothic glory!

She could be named by writing it on the front chalkboard surface... or write a Halloween message.

What would you name her?

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