I'm a very lucky person to have a special friend across the sea sending me all sorts of breathtaking treasures every once in a while. In one of her packages was this adorable set of two old Dennison's jointed paper dolls, five dresses and a small, unopened package of Dennison's Assorted Colored Buttons For Doll's Dresses - a very pretty trimming.
Very pretty trimmings seem to be the key to creating very pretty dresses for paper dolls! Three of the dresses have details made from paper doilies, and there are buckles and buttons there as well. One dress appears to be printed on crepe paper (perhaps this one came with the dolls), but the others seem to be handcrafted from various types of paper.
I would've adored these dolls as a child and made them tons of more dresses. I don't remember playing with paper dolls much as a child, but I remember enjoying the part where you cut out the doll and its clothes much more than the imaginary play part. One case of severe paper doll envy took place: the neighbour girl had a wonderful paper doll of Ariel, the Little Mermaid, and I tried to replicate it at home. I can't remember how successful my attempt was, but I'm sure I put quite a bit of effort in it!
Paper dolls are something I knew very little about, so I did some online searches and I'm now happy to leave you with a nice, long article about the history of paper dolls, should you, too, be interested in some self education.
I find myself in a situation where I need to make more room for writing my second book of poems, so this Accumulator Seriali series won't be happening weekly anymore - sorry! I've yet to decide on the new routine, but it'll either be bi-weekly or monthly, depending on how much time writing wants to steal from my other projects. I hope to keep up with my bookbinding and art posts as usual, so, fear not, I'm not disappearing!