Last week's unplugged theme was "old." Well as a re-use nut, this one had about a MILLION possibilities. In a drawer in the basement we have old magazines, old calendars, old scrap fabric, buttons, and ribbon. We have wrapping paper and toilet paper holders. But in the spirit of the task, I decided to take the theme in a different direction...after all, "old" is really going to be a secondary theme to all of our unplugged projects.
In my pile of scrap paper, I found a bag of paper dolls that I bought at a garage sale a couple years ago. Okay, they're not only old themselves, but they're an old timey, old fashioned toy. I didn't want to give E the actual paper dolls, because, well frankly, she's two, and I didn't want them destroyed. So my idea was to photocopy them and laminate the photocopies while keeping the originals. But I hit a snag...when I dumped out the bag, it turned out to be an assortment of clothes that didn't fit the assortment of dolls. So I did a google image search...I found a doll and clothes and I printed them on photo paper. Then I laminated them with contact paper and cut them out, and put magnets on the back.
As a bonus, some of the old clothes I had fit the new/old doll! So I photocopied them, along with the paper dog pet! The two outfits in the top left corner on the paper above look funny because I had to put another outfit behind them to provide missing hands...I figured that was easier than trying to draw them. So I'll cut the background outfits out after I laminate them.
We are packing for vacation as we speak, so I haven't gotten a chance to see if E enjoys this "old" toy. If I had to guess, her favorite part will probably be peeling the sticky magnets off the back. If that's the case, I'll put these away in the "Big Girl Toys" box I have in the basement. See you next week!
Posts
9 comments:
This would be a fantastic project for a car trip. Thanks for sharing!
I love paper dolls! We did this when our gals were 3 and 5 and we had a very long road trip. I used a small cookie sheet for the play space and for storing I bought a cupon holder from the dollar tree. They did indeed play with the dolls.
I'd have to find some kind of "manly" paper doll because my boys would have none of this; but I loved your project.. and to use magnets! Quite cool.. when I read that I had what I like to call a DUH! moment at how simple, obvious but amazing idea. :D Makes me rethink magnets a bit.. I have a roll of magnetic tape.. hmmm
My daugther enjoys things like this that involve magnets too - and they are great in the car toys. Have a great trip!
Once my daughter is a little older I think this would be great to make for her to play with on the fridge while I'm cooking!
Such a cute idea.
What a good idea! I never would have thought of Googling paper dolls...or of photocopying an old paper doll that I didn't want wrecked. Very good tips. Thank you!
(Enjoy your vacation)
Lol at the Big girls toy box. Great idea to laminate and add magnets.
great idea.... i saw a similar post on angry chicken about having a special wooden box with latch to house the paper dolls.... i am thinking of making something similar for my girls for christmas thanks for the tips
Post a Comment