Meredith Does Some Modeling

Last week, I asked you for ideas for Meredith's wardrobe, and you had some great suggestions! Here's what they look like on Meredith, with my silly titles for each picture.

First, Meredith in the swimsuit suggested by Claire M.

 Next, Meredith in the orange shirt, capris, and blue hair suggested by myagrocks.

And finally, Meredith in the tank top, jeans, Converses, and highlighted hair suggested by Allie.

Thanks everyone for your style advice!

Tutorial Tuesday: Making Doll Beds

Once you've made your doll, you need a place for it to sleep! This week's tutorial shows a very simple method of making beds. You can adapt it to make bunk beds, loft beds, trundle beds, or sleeping bags.

First you trace a rectangle around the doll that you want to make a bed for; in my case, it was Meredith (finally in another outfit!). This will be the mattress.

Next you draw a rectangle about the same width right next to the first. This will be the blanket. Make sure to make the second rectangle smaller so the blanket doesn't cover your doll's face!

Draw a pillow in the top of the rectangle. You can make it in whatever shape you want and even add more, it's all up to you.

Add detail to your pillow! Since I wanted the bedding to have an ice cream/sweets theme, I drew sprinkles on the big pillow and made the small one look like a doughnut. Be creative!

Cut out the two rectangles as one big shape - don't cut them out separately. Fold the smaller one over the larger one like a book. Trim them if necessary so that the bottoms and sides match up.

Next, decorate the blanket. Draw whatever designs you like on the outer side. You can match it to the pillows - I drew little ice creams and popsicles - or make the blanket's pattern contrast the pillows. It's your choice! 

Tape together the bottom and open side of the blanket and mattress. You should have a pocket to slide your doll into. 

Sweet dreams! 

What would you like to see next week?

New Girl Needs Clothes

Today's photo comes in the form of a plea from the newest resident of Casa Paper Doll.

My problem with making clothes is that I can never come up with something on my own - I have to see a picture of it in front of me. Also, for some reason I have a problem with adapting a doll outfit from a human outfit. I'm not a fan of most of the clothing that the Blythe company sells, and most of the stuff on Etsy isn't really calling my name. The only reason Meredith has any clothing at all is because it goes against my principles to let a doll go around naked. 

Meredith has been letting me know in no uncertain terms that she's tired of this outfit. Please comment if you have any style or online shop suggestions so she doesn't have to be stuck in this outfit forever!

EDIT: Thanks for all your suggestions! I think next week I'll make a collage of pictures of Meredith in each of the outfits you suggest. Meredith and I are very grateful for your help!

February Giveaway Winner Announced!

The winner, as chosen by a random number generator, is Myagrocks! Please email me at the address in the sidebar.

Thanks to all of you who entered. I really appreciate your support and wish you good luck in the next giveaway, which hopefully will happen in March.

Tutorial Tuesday: Naming Dolls

This is more of a set of tips than an actual tutorial, but since a doll's name is an important part of its character, I felt that it deserved a post.

I feel that a doll's name should reflect its personality. Since we can't really talk to dolls to assess their personalities, we have to do that through looking at their faces. That's why I like my dolls to have sweet faces, because I want them to have sweet personalities.

When trying to name a doll, don't look at the doll you based it from, because likely your doll will not look exactly the same and you will end up with the wrong name. For instance, when I made Vivienne, I planned to name her Kaia. I chose that name because I thought it fit the doll I based Vivienne on, but when Vivienne was finished, I realized that the name didn't fit her at all. She didn't look like a Kaia to me. So I thought about what her personality might be like, and I came up with the name Vivienne. In my opinion it suits her perfectly, because I based it on the paper doll and not the plastic doll. On rare occasions you'll get lucky and the name that fit the plastic doll will fit the paper doll too, but in over eleven years of making paper dolls this has only happened once (with Keira).

After you decide your doll's personality, you can start looking for a name. You can look by category or nationality (such as "old-fashioned girl names" or "Indian girl names"); parenting websites are usually a great source of names. Another site that I like is babynamegenie.com, which will randomly select names for you.

Finally, don't feel pressured to come up with a name at once. It's a good idea to sleep on it, or to not think about it for a while. If it keeps coming back, it's probably the right one.

Have fun picking names!

Photo Shoot Sunday: New Releases

Saige, Vivienne, and I went outside again for this week's photo shoot. We decided to feature two of the newly released outfits from American Girl, the Easy Breezy outfit and the Sweet Spring dress. The problem was that my dogs were outside with me, and they love to chew paper. It was a challenge to take pictures and keep curious dogs away!

I managed to get one good shot before the wind started blowing.

It was hard to get them to stay on the plant!

I like how Saige's hair looks windblown here.

And just for fun, they lounged on my dog's belly. He was lying on his back and I couldn't resist! Luckily, he didn't notice. (I don't think he would have eaten them - my other dog was the one who ate a paper doll back in November - but I was ready to grab them just in case!) 

What do you want to see next week?

Valentine Releases from American Girl

What do you think of the new items from American Girl? I was honestly just expecting the sweet spring dress that American Girl showed on their Facebook page (I know, I'm a little naive), so it was a great surprise to see all the new stuff. In general, I really like the new items, not just because they look really creative and fun, but because of the challenge they offer for those of us who love paper dolls. I can't wait to get started on that bike! Here are some of my favorite new releases.

The pattern on the top is going to be tricky to recreate (plaids are notoriously hard), but I love the look. I also love that they included these shorts, which I am a big fan of.

I appreciate that American Girl kept the pink to a minimum. The cream and lace make it more sophisticated, while still maintaining its age-appropriateness.  This would look beautiful with Vivienne's dark hair.

Isn't this adorable? The cakes remind me of the ones at the American Girl bistro. 

I really love that they made a pet birthday set. It's a really cute concept, and I think the pets of Casa Paper Doll will like it. 

I was so excited to see this on the American Girl website. This is going to be so much fun to make! I think this bike and the helmet from Saige's hat set will go together nicely.

And just when I thought the bike couldn't get better, I saw the pet trailer. I'm not sure how I'll make this, but you can bet that it will happen!

I'm not actually going to make this, because I don't know if you can keep calves in a horse stable, and the dress isn't really calling my name, but this is such an adorable and surprising set that I had to include it here. Not having read Caroline's books, I was not expecting a calf at all, but Garnet is just so sweet! It  looks like something from the Little House on the Prairie series; in fact, when I first saw Garnet I thought of Star and Bright, the two red calves in Farmer Boy. Caroline's dress surprised me too, but I'm glad that she finally has an outfit in her collection that isn't especially fancy. 

To add to this doll excitement, tomorrow the Pippaloo shop on Etsy releases its new food collection! I can't wait until the weekend so I can get started on making all this great doll stuff.