Hello! It’s Decorator Jennifer Valencia here with another Happy Halloween Hybrid idea for you all. This is one of my all-time favorite crafts to do with my daughter — paper dolls. She LOVES playing with paper dolls of all varieties. We’ve done Dora and Diego, Disney Fairies, Tuff Puppy, various Richard Scarry characters, and more. We have often made paper dolls as big as she is (using easel paper), and small ones that fit into her hand. Today I’ll give you a quick tutorial on how to make small Halloween ones.
Ghostie Paper Dolls for a 4-year-old
Playing With Halloween Paper Dolls
Probably you are thinking: “Seriously? I need a tutorial on how to make paper dolls?” Well, sure, if you want to make the really cool ones, I say! Also: Isn’t it true that seeing something you know how to do can still spur your creativity or remind you of something fun to make? I mean, I don’t necessary need instructions on how to eat a Snickers bar, but if I saw instructions on how to eat one, I’d probably start craving one, and then I’d get one, and then the Mars Company would have cleverly made $1.00. (Off topic: Did you ever see the Seinfeld show where they all start eating Snickers Bars with a knife and fork? Do you think candy sales went up after that one originally aired?) And I don’t need instructions on how to dry my hands in the public bathroom at the mall, but they like to tell me anyway with cute little wiggly lines and a picture of hands on the dryer. I found one that I liked at HappyPlace.com. Helpful in its own way, no?
Wash Hands, Get Bacon! From HappyPlace.com
Back to topic: Paper dolls. We use these for several things. First of all, it’s fun for kids to plain-old-PLAY with them; my daughter tells stories about them and moves them around and makes houses and habitats for them. Also, we can practice counting with them. Sometimes if I bring out a batch of brand new paper dolls, she is excited enough by them to practice counting in English and Spanish, and doing some addition and subtraction practice with me. We can also work on fractions (1/2, 1/3, etc.) We do this not by ripping a Tinkerbell into two even pieces, but by batching — 2 fairies here, 2 fairies there…1/2 in each pile. (I just wanted to clarify so you don’t think we’re paper-thirsty crazed doll-killers over here.) And if I make paper dolls based on animals or objects, we can play vocabulary games in Spanish with them. If you are learning another language, this can be a fun and easy way to learn new vocabulary words. Sometimes we play hide-and-seek with them, too: She and I take turns hiding the paper dolls around the room and then have our very own Easter Egg Hunt to find them.
Deja Vu Check: If you’re feeling a sense of deja vu, it’s not a mistake. I have done these paper doll posts before for other holidays. I’m sort of wondering how many more of these I can do before I wear it out? One, two more? But there is nothing quite like rehashing my old wheels, so here goes!
Instructions: First, get a roll of clear packing tape, sharp craft scissors, plain white paper, and some cute embellishments from Design House Digital. I recommend this kit called Life In October by Kate Teague. It’s an oldie but a goodie, because it has CUTE Halloween thingies in it, and the last thing I want to give a 4-year-old (at least MY 4-year-old) is creepy ghouls and goblins, kwim? Those are great for other things…just not for kid paper dolls. After all, I do not personally live in the Adams Family home. Nor do I want to wake up to a toddler nightmare.
You can find the kit here:
http://www.designhousedigital.com/kate-teague/life-october-illustrations
Directions: Start a 8.5×11 page in Adobe Photoshop or Elements. Drag several of the embellies onto your page and resize them as desired. We like to always make a “mom” paper doll and then “kids” for her. So if we have large ghost, that will be “mom,” and then I need to make some smaller ones to be her “babies.” I’m sure you know this, but to resize an element: Make sure the appropriate layer is highlighted. Hit CTRL T to get your transformation box, hold down the SHIFT key, and drag one corner of your embellie up or down to make it larger or smaller. Then hit ENTER to accept your new size.
Resizing a Candy Corn - If Only We Could Do This For Real, Right?
I like to fit as many of these as humanly possible to conserve paper, because every 1 cent saved is…well, I guess I just like to conserve paper. Good for the environment and all! Print out your page and then coat it front and back with slightly-overlapping layers of clear packing tape. Smooth the tape down carefully so it does not create large air pockets. Using tape to laminate the dolls is a total God-send, in my opinion. It’s WAY cheaper than buying a laminating machine and laminating paper, it’s easy to cut, and it makes the dolls semi-permanent. They can still get ruined if, say, then are immersed in a cup of apple juice, but they can handle damp or sticky fingers and still live to see another day.
Packing Tape - We Go Through These Like You Wouldn't Believe
Then, once your taping is complete, cut out all of the dolls with your craft scissors. Regular scissors will drive you insane because all of the images will have intricate edges that big old dull scissors will turn into cheap-looking mincemeat of a paper doll. And a cheap-looking paper doll is just not worth having, right?
When they are done, present them to your child, and have fun together! Here are some images of my daughter’s paper dolls.
Playing With Halloween Paper Dolls
Showing Off A Paper Doll Spider
Thanks for reading along with me. Please let me know if you decide to make some Halloween paper dolls…and post pictures so we can all “oooh” and “aaaah” in the gallery. Please also comment if you already use or like the packing tape idea! And now I will sign off. Wishing you gigantic candy corns….or not, if you don’t like candy corn…but definitely a happy fall season!
