How to pierce a doll’s ear
Yeah yeah yeah, I can just hear you guys thinking that she’s gone over the deep end now with this post, am I right? I promise I haven’t and I won’t be doing posts like this now all the time LOL. But if you have a little girl that is obsessed with dolls like mine this might be helpful for you.
Here’s the reason for this post. Two weeks ago I was feeling sick and my daughter was bored out of her mind.
So we ended up playing with her dolls…doing their hair, picking out clothing…yada yada yada…and she asked me when we could go to NYC to have her doll’s ears pierced. And you know me, right? At $15 per doll times 5, plus the trip to NYC, there is no way I’m spending that.
So I got to thinking of my beloved power drill. No investigating, no googling, just a spur-of-the-moment decision, and all her dolls had a makeover.
I swear it was a spur of the moment, this post reenacted the process thanks to Photoshop. I didn’t actually take photos that day because it all went that fast.
So stop searching for an American girl ear piercing coupon or where to get it done. Just do it yourself. Here is what I did.
How to pierce a doll’s ear
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Materials used
- American Girl doll earrings
- power drill
- 1/16 drill bit and a 5/64 drill bit
- sharpie
- lighter
Step-by-step instructions
I marked the spot where I wanted the earring to be with the Sharpie.
I used the small drill bit to pre-drill a tiny hole, then took the bigger drill bit and drilled again:
And then (I feel like this step was really necessary because the earrings were still so hard to put in without this step) I heated the 5/64 drill bit with a lighter and drilled again which opened up the hole perfectly. I wiped the ear and was able to easily put the earrings in.
Here she is with her perfectly pierced ears:
And with her earrings in:
And another one with earrings but I’m not going to torture you with the rest of all the dolls 😉
That’s it.
Where to buy cute American Girl doll earrings
Etsy is always one of my favorite places to find affordable options from small businesses. And below you can find some of my favorite doll earrings I have found.
I always really struggle with writing posts like this because it really isn’t my thing at all and I always think nobody else will be interested either but I hope it is helping someone LOL.
Also, check out my daughter’s dark blue girl’s bedroom and how to organize slime supplies.
Tschüß
Printable instructions
How to pierce a doll’s ear
How to pierce a doll's ear or should I say how to pierce an American Girl doll's ears. It is super easy and way more affordable than having it done at the store. All you need is the right-sized drill bit!
Instructions
- Mark the spot where you want the earrings to be with the Sharpie on each side of the doll.
- Use the smaller drill bit to pre-drill a tiny hole.
- Then heat the 5/64 drill bit with a lighter and drill into the hole again. This opens up the hole perfectly.
- Wipe the ear clean.
- Insert the earrings and you are done.
Haha, I love this project. Cute little makeover. Now your girl can also change up earrings on her doll. I wonder why manufacturers don’t do that, it’s so much fun and the doll seems to like the new look as well. 🙂
Oh they do do that at the American Girl salon for $15 per doll which is ridiculous. She has 5 of them and it adds up. So we played salon at our house 😉
What? That is very expensive! You are right for doing it yourself. I bet your daughter was very excited.
Lol! I didn’t even know you could take dolls to have their ears pierced. Great idea!
i have a stupid question- how do they stay put? really, i want to know- because i would love to do this for emmy. 🙂 she is getting her ears pierced soon so i know she would love it.
thank you for sharing!
The drill bit has to be just right and slightly smaller. They earrings fit in the doll’s ear really tight and don’t fall out. Good luck!
Maybe, I’ll bring our dolls over to you! Hailey got her doll’s ears pierced at the AG store last year for her birthday- because Hailey had just gotten her ears pierced. 🙂
You can certainly bring them down, I pierced Lilly’s cousin’s doll’s ears too. I’ll pierce Hailey’s doll’s ears too. They are due for a play date 🙂
American Girl dolls haven’t made it into our house yet but I will keep this in mind when they (inevitably) do!
I can’t believe they haven’t arrived at your house yet. Lilly is kind of obsessed with them. Especially the ones that look similar to her.
Julie,
You amaze me all the time! Such an interesting post! Who knew I would love to read about doing this! Don’t second guess yourself ever – your blog is just plain fun to read!
A big fan,
Kathleen
Oh thanks so so much Kathleen.
Man. Dolls have come a long ways. I feel mine were lucky to have clothes on let alone earrings! 🙂
Yeah how about it. Same here, mine ended up having dreadlocks the way I treated them 😉
I bet lots of people will find it helpful! It’s one of those, “I never would have thought to do that myself, but it’s brilliantly simple!” things :).
I hope so 😉
She’s so adorable with earrings on 😀
Thank you and my daughter thinks so too
This post made me smile 🙂 I’m sure I’ll need to reference it in the near future!
I have the feeling that you will need it too. Those dolls are addicting to those little girls. We’ve even done the American Girl restaurant with her, her friends and their dolls. It’s out of control.
Who knew?! I’ll need to remember this for when Evelyn is big enough for American Girl Dolls. (It’s a day I’m HIGHLY looking forward to! My whole childhood was spent playing hours and hours with my Kirsten doll.)