Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Victorian Ladies - Articulated Paper Doll Ornaments for Christmas

I'm still on my antique paper doll kick and had a few laying around and ready to decorate,
so I turned them into Christmas ornaments.  

 6 Articulated Paper Doll Ornaments
color copies of "Prima Donna" paper dolls by L&B

The paper dolls are scaled down versions of antique c 1900 paper dolls 
made by L&B and sold by Dennison.

These dolls with bloomers and gloved hands were of well known actresses of their day 
and were called "Prima Donna" dolls when sold in the Dennison Art and Decoration 
catalog in the late 1800's and early 1900's

I started my collection of original L&B antique paper dolls after finding this
scanned set on the Internet several years ago.

These Dolls were posted on the web courtesy of Dresden Star Ornaments
Click HERE - for their pdf link to these dolls.

I started by printing the dolls on heavy white cardstock using my laser printer and making patterned paper bodices. Each doll was then cut out, assembled and trimmed for the tree.


There are so many ways you can dress these dolls up from using fabric and trims 
to adding other printed materials to finish them off.  It just makes a fun project to see what 
your imagination can come up with.


These are the 6 dolls I created using the 
3 doll patterns from above.

 Blue Butterfly Wing Skirt Doll
I printed several images of a blue butterfly and cut up the wings to create her skirt.


 Pink Crystal Flower Skirt Doll
A store bought beaded floral spray makes a great sparkly skirt.


 Green Leaf Skirt Doll
Two pretty greenery leaves were used to create this simple skirt.


 Blue Fan Skirt Doll
I printed two different sizes of an antique paper fan for this skirt.
 (This is probably my favorite out of the six dolls)


 Green Beaded Skirt Doll
A store bought beaded floral spray makes a great sparkly skirt
and it coordinates with the pink doll with similar skirt.
 
 Red Tulle Skirt Doll
A small piece of tulle and some thread made a fun skirt

I just wanted to create some simple dolls but the possibilities are endless. 
Glitter, rhinestones, crowns and fancy hats could also be added for those who want fancier dolls.


Here are some scans of antique paper dolls I have in my collection 
that can also be used to make articulated ornaments.


Alexandria of Denmark 
by L&B

 Actress Della Fox 
with Black Ballerina legs and arms by L&B


 Actress Lillian Russell 
by L&B


 Unknown Actress 
ballerina paper doll parts by L&B


Unknown Actress 
jointed paper doll parts by L&B


 Actress Adeline Pattie 
Prima Donna jointed paper doll parts by L&B


Torso Pattern 
size it as needed to use with doll parts


Grins and Giggles, 
Evelyn



18 comments:

  1. These are so much fun, I love how you've dressed them for dance. Thanks for the link, now I shall have some fun as well!

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  2. I love these 100 year old antique paper dolls and am glad to share my collection so other crafters get a chance to play with the patterns as well.

    Enjoy!

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  3. Thank you so much for posting these!! I am planning on some with strict Victorian decoration, and also with the fanciful Steampunk clothing. It's gonna be so much fun!!

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  4. You are most welcome Altheia, I'm glad you are looking forward to creating with them. The dolls sound like they will be wonderful. Please post a link back here when you are done since I'd love to see what you come up with.

    Enjoy,
    Evelyn

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  5. Great projects! Thanks for sharing! Patsy from
    HeARTworks

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  6. Hello HeARTworks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the posts! Thanks for letting me know - Evelyn

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  7. I feel I just found a trunk of \treasures! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. I'm so glad you feel that way about these dolls too. They are a treat to play with and I am more than thrilled to share their digitized images. I hope you enjoy creating with them.

      Giggles,
      Evelyn

      PS - If I'm ever lucky enough to get any more of them in my collection, I'll scan and share those too.

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  8. Oh goodness! I feel like I've just opened a wonderful present! A present of treasures! I would love to do something with these. So much to choose from. Thank you, thank you, Evelyn!! I love dolls and paper dolls!

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    1. Hey Sheila -

      I do hope you get a chance to make something fun with them too.

      Thanks for letting me know you like them.

      Enjoy,
      Evelyn

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  9. Thank you so much for paper dolls ! My daughters love them !!!We made some for gift to friends ! Greetings from creative workshops bubamara http://kreativnaradionicabubamara.blogspot.com/2012/02/viktorijanska-starinska-papirna-lutka.html

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    1. Hi Marijamagdalena - I'm glad you guys are having fun with the dolls and thanks for posting a link back to me on your blog post.

      Enjoy,
      Evelyn

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  10. These are fantastic and would make lovely gifts for friends afar..

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    1. I'm so glad you like them wybrow1966 and hope you create some of your own. Trust me you'll want to keep some for yourself so make plenty.

      Giggles,
      Evelyn

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  11. These are fantastic and would be perfect to send as gifts through the post. Many thanks.

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  12. Yes, the ones like the "Blue Fan doll" and the "Butterfly Wing doll" are fairly flat so they would not cost much to mail. The heavily embellished ones would need to go in a padded envelope and would be charged at the "package" rate so those would be quite a bit more in postage.

    Grins,
    Evelyn

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  13. I know I might be very late to the party but taking a chance I had to change focus from Fashion Doll collecting due to income issues and just started with Paper dolls Thank you these wonderful dolls are like having those expensive dolls from the era right at your fingertips Thank you so Much

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    1. I'm glad you were able to enjoy the posted dolls. It has been years since I've actively blogged so I'm glad to know my old content is still being enjoyed. Thanks for letting me know you liked it.
      Blessings,
      Evelyn aka EKDuncan

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