Tara Cryer - Beautifully Tainted Ghoulz and Poniez

I met Tara through the dolly community as she was selling some Monster High dolls that I wanted for my collection and we got chatting, which is easy when there’s a common love for dolls.

Turns out that this super mum and carer also customises them whilst also collecting, buying and selling dolls she loves (how does she find the time? I need to get her secrets!). When I found out she customised My Little Ponies, I wanted to commission her for some special OOAKs for my kids with the theme “Be a Unicorn in a field of horses”. She delivered and delighted; her works of art come packaged beautifully in a box with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Tara started customising two years ago and life got busy; she’s now set herself up an area and has been working on some Ponies and Monster High dolls for about six months now. Tara loves customising for the craft of it, how it makes use of spare dolls and how something can be made that suits an individual’s taste that wouldn't be made for a normal toy line. Much of her inspiration comes from movies and fantasy, but she likes to add her own twist. “I like to do my interpretation of a character, take certain aspects and use it. Be it the hair colour or certain markings,” she says.

Her first foray into the world of customisation was when she saw a customised doll on Instagram of Harley Quinn from the Suicide Squad and contacted the artist about getting a custom Poison Ivy. She asked Tara what doll to use for the base and that introduced her to Monster High and other dolls. Tara then decided to make her own Poison Ivy and found it to be so much fun.

Tara is also an avid collector of Monster High and Ever After High, where she tries to get the main signature character of each doll. Her most treasured dolls are her Bride of Chucky, Tiffany and Chucky dolls from “Child’s Play”. She also has some DC Superhero girls, Living Dead Dolls and a bunch of Enchantimals. “I love that there is no age limit to dolls,” she says and I fully agree!

Some of Tara’s works are pictured here, with an Abbey Bominable as the Corpse Bride (her favourite mould), her own Poison Ivy, a rockin’ skatergirl and a Batgirl-themed pony.

Being a busy mum, Tara would love more time for her art and says “There is a lot of preparation and patience required for customising. I don't get set amounts of time so it can take anywhere from a month to a bit longer depending on what is being done. I have so many ideas just need more time to fulfil them.”

When asked what advice to give to anyone starting customising, she says, “Sometimes it's easy to compare your work to another's and think it will never be at that level but if it brings you some joy stick with it because the more customs you make, the more do's and don'ts you learn and everyone has to start somewhere. Customising is challenging but that's the fun of it all. There are so many little tricks out there that really the creativity can go on forever.”

Find Tara on Instagram and Facebook under the user name Taintedghoulz and her email address is taintedghoulz@gmail.com