Bountiful Baby Customer Forum

I found it at walmart where they sell the beading supplys and it is used to drill a hole thru a glass bead so I figured it would work and sure enough it works great!

The method I use to open the nostrils is with an awl. I heat just the tip of the awl to red hot then insert it into the nostril. It will melt the vinyl so don't pull it out right away. Let it cool. Then I go back and reheat the awl more than just the tip. I heat it on the gas stove. Then I insert it a second time and it makes a bigger opening. The only drawback I find is that sometimes the melted vinyl is around the back of the opening inside the head. I usually try to remove some of it with a scalpel otherwise the baby doll looks like it has "boogers" in it's little nose. I'm a little leary of using a drill and haven't tried that method yet.

In using the skewer...I use orange sticks. They are a little larger. As vinyl has memory and wants to return to it's original state...I insert the sticks in every bake I do. If I forget one bake, the holes will close some. I leave them if after the last bake, for about a day. That way the paint is there too in the inner nose. I will never drill or awl a nose again!

I hated the drill thingy method! I couldn't get it right, had "boogers" and scratches. So, I tried this method and liked it too, but it still didn't stay permanently through last touchups and booboo fixes. So yesterday I got brave, and my husband brought me two sizes of his awls and I heated them on the stove and then opened a nose on a new kit. I loved the look. So, I then got out all the other babies with "boogers" and redid them. They look awesome now! Heat is the only way I will ever open a nose again, either with the awl or with the orangesticks/toothpicks method. It is just so clean and natural looking.
Joy