What started as a hobby to earn a few extra dollars for retrenched CSIRO science communicator Sonia Singh has now gone viral – twice. In mid-January she posted images online of heavily-made-up Bratz op shop dolls she had repainted to look more natural.
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Within days people had shared the story around the world, prompting emotional debates about body image and the sexualisation of children's toys.
When SBS2 aired a short documentary about her in early February, the dolls went viral again. Her partner (and makeshift social media manager) John, says the video has now been watched more than 20 million times
"It's been a bit crazy," he says from the couple's home near Hobart, Tasmania, which they share with their two-year-old daughter.
Singh has since posted (and sold within seconds) a batch of 20 dolls on Etsy.comranging in price from $75 to $165. The pair have trade-marked the business name Tree Change Dolls™ and posted DIY videos showing people how to make their own. They still receive between 50 and 60 emails a day.
But don't expect to see the dolls in Kmart anytime soon. The pair politely declined the offer to go into mass production with a Spanish toy manufacturer, here in Melbourne next week for a trade toy fair.
"One of the things that I really want to do is encourage people to be a bit more creative," says Singh. "Children don't need brand-new toys … I guess my messages are around creativity, recycling and fixing things."
Despite claiming not to have "a creative bone" in her body Anna Wong, 31, is one who has enthusiastically taken up the call. Inspired by Singh's story, the Mt Waverly accountant and married mother of one borrowed a sewing machine and got to work.
"For me it's more of a journey," she says, adding it may take her a few more weeks to finish the doll she is making, and perhaps even longer before her 15-month-old daughter gets to play with it.
"She's quite destructive," explains Wong. "I might wait until she's a little bit older."
In Torquay, primary school teacher and full-time mother of two Michelle Conn, 36, says her three-year-old daughter prefers her restyled dolls because they are "nicer" than the heavily-made-up ones and, in Kingsville, Kelly Devoil, 30, has even made a Frida Kahlo doll for her art-loving two-year-old son, inspired also by Singh's up-cycling philosophy. "It's a rescued toy," she says. "I like teaching kids about that."
Back in Tasmania, Singh hopes to sell more dolls eventually, including at least one a month oneBay.com, where half the profits will be donated to a charity. In March it will be the International Women's Development Agency. The rest will go back into start-up costs for a thriving business Singh was never expecting to have.
"It's not as though I've done anything super, super original. It's just something that people out there really want to get back in touch with: being more creative, making things, fixing things – that more down-to-earth style and values."
