Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter P

Why am I talking about the letter p? Because my recent content incidentally starts with the letter P. Such as paper doll... pom pom... and even pony.

Let's get into it so I can take you on a creative journey.

{My Poppet}

You will find my printable paper doll design over at My Poppet. For those who remember and loved paper dolls will appreciate this free printable.

{Kidspot}

Head on over to Kidspot. There you will find my hilarious Pom Pom Shoes DIY.

{this blog}

Then head back to my blog and you will find a sewing tutorial for a flying pony. It comes complete with instructions, and a video (should the instructions make no sense whatsoever ;)).

Made Mermaid

I had time on my hands this afternoon, so I made the paper doll mermaid… and here she is. I have one extremely pleased client.

© Melissa Gaggiano

© Melissa Gaggiano

Penny Paper Doll

    I have only just finished making a paper doll. Her name is Penny and you can download and print her for free.

    I recommend printing onto a thick paper so Penny will stand up after you cut her out [if not, print onto regular paper then glue to cardboard before cutting. Cut as close to her body as possible, and cut along the line near her feet. Wrap this rectangular section into a cylinder shape and tape the edges together.

    Additional enhancements: I kept the skin clear, so that it can be coloured in to be any tone you like.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Illustraiton by Melissa Gaggiano.

Washi Ningyo

Link to

    I just stumbled across these gorgeous Japanese 3D paper dolls. If you love paper, and you love dolls, then you'll love these precious little pieces. These dolls are by Dust of Enchantment artist - Tracy Zagniotova.

    There is a lot of wonderful I could say about Tracy, but honestly she says it best. So I'll share her links, and you can have a read for yourself.

• About Tracy
• Dust of Enchantment website
• Etsy shop

Paper Dolls & Beds

Craft & Photography by Melissa Gaggiano.

    A fair while ago I crafted out of tissue boxes an economical doll house [you will find the tutorial for this here].  The doll house was well loved and eventually had to be retired, but not without saving some parts for another doll house - such as the hand illustrated walls.
    Recently my eldest was pressing for another homemade doll house. This time I handed over creative control to my daughter, letting her decorate the joined tissue boxes with paint, feathers and cut up fashion magazines.
    The doll house was built but something was missing. It was sadly in need of people. So I made a paper doll family, including a cat.
    Alas the paper family needed a bed to sleep in. Again, out came the cardboard, pencil, pen, cutting board and what not. And the above beds were made with a some thought, and very little difficulty on my part. I had fun making the people and beds.

The Gwen-Paper-Dolyn

    This is by no means a tutorial, but I thought I'd share with you the progress of a paper doll which had been made for my eldest [at her request]. Perhaps at some later stage when I have perfected the paper doll I will go about creating a tutorial for this one.

In the beginning, a template was drawn.

The template was coloured in and cut out.

And finally, the base was taped into a cylinder and the dress was
placed over the body.

Rainy Day Doll House

    Here is something to do on a rainy day [if you're living in Melbourne this can happen any moment; if you're living in Darwin you can set your clock by it at 4 PM.]. It is a papercraft doll house.
    Yesterday I set to it with my paper supplies and two empty tissue boxes and worked over a two hour period [ taking into consideration the lunch break]. The result was a homemade doll house. It is Gwen's first doll house and it is pretty neat I must say. I had such a fun time making the house.
    When I was a little girl I used to this sort of thing - just crafting stuff with paper, scissors and an entire roll of sticky tape. It felt good to get back into that child-like creative space, of not following set instructions and just letting the project develop itself naturally.
    You can use the following photos [which document my doll house construction process] to make your own doll house. All you need are two tissue boxes [or as many as you wish], paper, card, textas and pencils, scissors, sticky tape, ruler and paint. This sounds like a lot, but you can simply use any scrap paper or card you have about your house. Think green! For instance, to make the roofline you could use last year's Chrismas cards.

Cut off the top/lid of the tissue box.

Tape together the two tissue boxes.
Stick down trimmed paper for the floor and ceilings.

Looking good.

Draw on to trimmed paper some wall details.
There are three walls per room/tissue box.
Use a ruler to get an estimate of how much to trim the paper.
Colour in the wall details.

Stick the wall details into the tissue box.
Fold scrap card in half and tape to the top tissue box,
creating a triangular roofline.

Still looking good.

Oh yeah!

Cut a triangle piece of paper/card same size as the roof,
and glue to the back, thus creating an attic.

Now you can paint the exterior of the house.
If you have a variety of paints, try something creative
with extra details - windows, doors, flowerbeds.

With your left over card do some cutting and folding
and you've got some basic furniture - like
a bed or a table.

Oh! And don't forget some little paper people
to live in the lovely paper house.

Tah-dah! She loves it.

Drop me a line if you try this rainy day papercraft project. I'd love to see how it went.

My First 2010

I have spent the past week or so taking it easy. Mostly reading, watching Enterprise, playing with the bub, quality conversation time with the hub, and pondering potential art projects for 2010. Can you believe it is really 2010? Where has the time gone?

Yesterday I began work on a paper doll titled Lil Red. I have some special ideas for this paper doll. I want to incorporate real life textures, such as knit and crochet patterns into the clothes to give it that realistic/crafty look. So we'll see how we go… 

My Awesome Pyjama Pants

If Madonna and super heroes can get away with wearing their underwear outside their regular clothes, then surely I could wear my comfy pyjama pants out in public too.  For instance, I can wear my pyjama pants in the following situations and no one would be the wiser:

• to bed.
• going shopping in.
• wearing at a No Doubt concert.
• playing golf in.
• to a Reggae bar.
• what other situation could I wear my PJs at???