Paper dolls and other paper toys

You may ask what this has to do with the blog title, namely paper, dolls, and toys? Well, it is a toy, and made for a doll to sleep in. It involves two kinds of paper: Card stock in the mattress and masking tape. Also, the end of this article explains how to make a fairy doll.

1) The basis of this project is a butter jar.
Cut it about 1 cm from the base, around most of the base. Except at the headboard part – cut a headboard shape at one end.

2) Optional: Paint the inside and outside of the rim and headboard brown. Brown will look more realistic than white when seen through holes where the tree bark does not 100% fit.

Using white wood glue, cover the rim outside and both sides of the headboard with thin strips of tree bark. (I used the back of Eucalyptus tree bark – this has lovely rich colours, interesting patterns and basically a smooth texture.)

3) Attach four large wood beads with strong glue as bed legs.

4) Make a paper pattern of the mattress shape – put a piece of thin paper into the bed base, and make fold marks where it touches the corner. Cut on the fold marks. Make sure the paper piece fit. If not, cut it at the relevant spots. When it fits into the base of the bed, cut away another 1-2 mm all the way round the shape. This is to give some room for the mattress material.

5) Use your pattern piece and cut a piece of card stock in that shape. Glue the card stock to a thin layer of sponge or quilt batting, then cut the sponge or batting to match the card stock shape. You now have an uncovered mattess.

6) a) Cut a piece of cloth to cover the mattress, somewhat bigger than the mattress. Cut into the sides, up to the mattress. b) Wrap it to cover the sponge side in one piece, and glue the tabs down on the card stock. c) Cut another piece of cloth, this one the size of the mattress. Cover the card stock side. The mattress is now ready to place on the bed frame.

7) This petal bed cover was made by adding strips of masking tape to both sides of a foil bedspread shape to cover the foil. (Do not use non-stick foil. The masking tape needs to stick.) I then attached cloth flower petals to the masking tape with modge podge. The foil inside means the cover can be shaped into the position you want, while cloth alone do not shape well in miniatures. Of course, you can make a bedspread to your taste.

8) The pillow here is two cloth flower petals sewn together with a bit of stuffing, but you could sew a normal pillow if you prefer it.

Bonus)
Where did I get a fairy doll? It is easy to make one! I got a 10cm doll and a set of butterfly fridge magnets with plastic wings from Crazy Store. (A chain of cheap stores in South Africa.) I removed the magnet of the set of wings that best match the doll dress in colour, and stuck the wings to the doll. I decorated the wings with some stick-on “jewels”, and – I had a fairy doll!