Fall Show and Restringing Workshop Recap

Every year the Denver Museum of Miniatures, Dolls and Toys puts on a Fall Show in September.  I've been pushing for more doll content, so the plan is to ramp up the doll offerings a little every year.  This year I had two speakers on doll topics on Saturday, and an American Girl restringing workshop on Sunday.  In addition, I had two tables of doll displays in the exhibit room, one of them being a timeline for Cosmopolitan Ginger, and the other (of course) being all American Girl.

The entire show went great, but I especially want to talk about how the restringing workshop went.  I had 7 participants, and provided each one with a goodie bag with some starter tools and supplies in a reusable bag.  It was my very first workshop, and I definitely learned some things about how I'd do it differently next time.

I have a few thoughts about things I wish I'd done in retrospect, and hope to fix next time:

1. I was really nervous when I started out, and as a result I don't think it was the smoothest beginning.  As a kid and a young adult, I used to really fear any type of public speaking.  I didn't even like ordering at a restaurant!  In my adult life, though, I've done enough speaking and taken on enough leadership positions that it no longer bothers me.  I'm often a little bit nervous when I start, but nothing like the overwhelming fear I used to feel.  Still, I was more nervous than I expected, and as a result I jumped around a little to start.
2. I don't remember if I mentioned cleaning the dolls, and for some reason this really bothers me.  I meant to say early on that I usually clean the doll when I have the limbs off to restring.  It's so much easier when you don't have the torso attached!  I do remember saying that I use baking soda and water to clean, but I don't think I elaborated as much as I intended.
3. I learned to always test everything beforehand.  I did test out all the tools and supplies, but when three more people signed up the night before, I went out and bought a couple more heating pads locally.  They weren't my preferred brand and I didn't test them first.  They did not get hot enough for heating limbs, and one of them had a hard time staying on.  Stay away from the Sunbeam king size heating pads!  It may have been the fact that they were made without a removable cover, so they were too plush for the heat to be effective.  Whatever the reason, the limbs wouldn't get hot enough in them, so people ended up having to share with my larger preferred brand of heating pad for American Girl restringing.
4. I definitely should have allowed for more time.  I thought two hours would be a good time allotment, and it might have been if not for the heating pad snafu.  Plus I gave everyone an unplanned tour of my toolbox, which led to a tangential discussion of eye swaps.  And there was also an overview of showing people how to date dolls.  But next time I'll plan on building in some additional time, so that we don't run out if things get interesting.
5. I should have had my husband film and take pictures.  He'd asked if I wanted him to film and I said no, but I probably should have said yes.  At the very least I should have had him take some pictures.

There were also some things that I loved and would do again next time:

1. The goodie bags were a hit.  I filled them with the basic tools and supplies you need to restring an American Girl doll.  The tools were all ones I purchased in bulk so they weren't necessarily the highest quality, but for someone who is restringing a few dolls on their own, they'll work fine.  The gallon-size reusable bag that held everything will double as a bag to put stuffing in while restringing, which I think was one of my more genius ideas.
2. Everyone seemed interested in the tangents.  I don't really regret going off about dating dolls or giving everyone a tour of my toolbox.  It took time, but everyone seemed really interested.  I also think it sparked enough interest that I'll talk to the museum about doing an eye swapping workshop, maybe sometime soon, in the classroom there.
3. Sophie, duh.  Sophie was a hit as usual.  She's my best girl and will definitely be my helper again next time, too.

On the whole, everything went very well, and I was really happy with it.  I felt afterward the way I usually feel after filming a program with Rachel Hoffman: totally energized.  I was also exhausted, but excited at the same time.  If I hadn't been so tired, I probably would have gone home and worked on dolls until I collapsed.

Today, on the other hand, I've been feeling what I always call a "productivity hangover."  I don't know if there's a better name for it, but I always feel it after a day or longer of a lot of sustained productivity or busyness.  It's like an extreme tiredness and lack of motivation.  So I slept late today and didn't get very much done.  It was semi-planned for, though, so I didn't really push myself too hard.  Hopefully I'll feel more back to normal tomorrow.

I am hoping I won't lose that energy I felt after the workshop, though.  I have a lot of dolls hanging around that need work!