Snowflake Sophistication: Winter Princess Paper Doll

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When I think of a winter princess paper doll, I think of elegance, but also quiet and soft colors. I like winter and I love bright colors, but this time of year where I live, everything feels muted. The mountains in the distance look pale blue and white and they seem to melt into the sky.

So, when designed a winter princess paper doll, I went for blues and soft purples and lots of layers.

I was inspired by this Winter Princess Dress from 2018. In my little paper doll world, “big gown” is my mental short hand for these 1860s inspired gowns that have bit skirts with lots of fancy layers. I realize that these gowns don’t have to be for princesses, but I watched a lot of Disney at an impressionable age and therefore I will always associate princesses with these big gowns.

In my head today’s winter princess gowns are the sort of thing a fairy tale princess might wear while wandering through a snow covered landscape. Possibly to meet a prince or possibly just because, she felt like it. Princes need not always be involved. 

In fact, princes never really were involved in my princess games as a child. They were not needed. Princess could do everything they needed to do.

So, I will admit that I had to get pretty close to the edge to fit on these big skirted princess dresses, but since the images I made had a .5 inch border, they should still print just fine onto letter sized paper. I would strongly recommend adding floating tabs to the backs of these skirts to help hold them to the doll.

What do you think? Do you love winter?

Imperial Elegance: An Hanfu and Kimono Inspired Fantasy Paper Doll

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This pair of fantasy gowns were heavily inspired by hanfu, which are traditional Chinese clothing, specifically those of the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). However, this has about as much in common with actual historical Chinese clothing as this paper doll has in common with actual historical English clothing. That’s to say- not a whole heck of a lot.

Rarely have I had a set that I have more trouble with coloring. This gave me fits! I initially planned on the two dresses coordinating, but then decided that seemed boring, so broke out and did two very different color schemes inspired by seasonal Japanese colors. (Yes, I know hanfu are Chinese, not Japanese, but again- this is fantasy clothing.)

In Japan, traditional kimonos are styled with seasonal color schemes. So, I tried to base these color schemes on traditional seasonal colors of Japan. One dress uses February colors, crimson and purple. The other dress uses March colors which are peach and khaki. The Kimono Lady, a defunct blog, has a really detailed write up about March colors here. I had a little more trouble finding references for February colors, but this yukata influenced the colors I chose.

I love color, but I find my own eye attracted to specific color schemes. It’s really valuable to see how different cultures combine colors. I never would have used purple and crimson together in the way that I did, but once I did it- I really loved how graphic it made the dress.

Astro Allure: An Alien in Blue

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Yes, it is another one of the alien paper dolls! This is the last of the alien paper doll cut outs I’ve got ready. I think for the moment I am over aliens, but I sure did have a lot of fun drawing them for a while.

When I was working on my alien paper dolls, I knew I wanted one to feel very feminine in her clothing. So, I designed a lot of baby doll style dresses for her. I was influenced a lot by this older paper doll, David Koma’s Winter 2014 Collection, and a dash of retro-futurism. So, an eclectic collection of influences there.

Beyond acknowledging the fun I had drawing all of these pieces, I want to emphasize how mix and match the whole little aliens series is. Some of these pieces would go great with Galaxy Glamour, Interstellar Seas, or Stardust Styles.

While today’s paper doll’s color scheme is very monochromatic, I actually went through a few different color schemes. So, there’s a second color scheme for today’s paper doll and I’ll share that one later this week for my Patrons (you can join us here).

Interstellar Seas: A Cute Alien Fashionista

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Today’s paper doll is a super cute alien with a sort of underwater theme. I mean, if I am going to draw space creature paper dolls, I think I should at least give them a fancy wardrove of mix and match clothing, right? Right. I mean, space creatures want to look cute, too.

I’m assuming that a desire to “look cute” comes with a sentience, which might be a pretty big assumption on my part. (Unrelated, but am I the only person who learned the term sentience from watching Star Trek as a kid?)

Other thoughts about today’s paper doll: One of her outfits was inspired by this outfit for Marisole Monday, also my sci-fi Pinterest fashion board always inspires these dolls. The color scheme was supposed to be “galaxy” meets “ocean”, but like… not convinced it works. When I was a teen, I really liked the character Oasis from Sluggy Freelance and that’s probably where my thing for multiple ponytails (pigtails?) came from.

I caught some sort of post-Thanksgiving bug which turned into bacteria pneumonia. So, then I ended up on a cocktail of antibiotics and all the side effects of those were super fun. Anyway, long story short- I am at like 80% capacity at the moment. However, I am looking at a week off work for the holidays (the Uni I work at closes) and therefore I am super psyched for this week to be over.

Going to draw lots, pet my cat, and maybe sew something. Super psyched to have a whole week off!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a lovely holiday and enjoys this second little space alien paper doll. There will be two more I think… yeah, two more.

Hanukkah Paper Dolls: The Eighth Night

Hanukkah Paper Doll Templates with menorahs for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

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Happy eighth night of Hanukkah and our paper dolls have many menorahs to show off, all shining brightly.

I wanted to make it super easy to download these Hanukkah paper dolls, so I added a link to a full 8 page PDF of the whole set that you can grab.

Today, let’s talk about menorahs. A Hanukkah menorah, also known as a hanukkiah, is a special nine-branched candle holder. Out of the nine lights, eight represent the nights of the holiday. Every night, an additional light is lit compared to the previous one. By the last night, all eight branches are shining brightly.

The ninth light is called the shamash (“helper”), which is used in some traditions to light the other eight. The purpose of the shamash is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud, against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than showing and thinking about the Hanukkah miracle. So, the shamash is available to do the work of lighting the other lights and give light if needed.

Except in times when antisemitism is so high that it would be dangerous to do so, menorahs are typically placed in windows, visible from the street. I like to position mine where I can keep an eye on it and ensure my cat doesn’t get too close. She tends to get closer than I would like to candles.

If you have more questions about Hanukkah, Chabad has a handy Hanukkah FAQ.

I wanted to draw three different styles of menorah, because they can look like all sorts of different things. I like this dinosaur one, myself.

This is the end of this series for Hanukkah 2023! I’ve been wanting to do a Hanukkah series for years, so I am happy I finally buckled down and got it done.

Hanukkah Paper Dolls: Seventh Night

A printable Hanukkah paper doll coloring page with a menorah, jelly donuts, and two outfits.  Holiday-themed Jewish paper doll coloring pages for kids.

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Happy Hanukkah Night 7!

Continuing the theme of food for Hannukah, I had originally planned to feature challah here. Hanukkah was the only time of year other than Rosh Hashanah that I recall my mom making challah. Challah is more of a Sabbath than a Hanukkah thing, of course. I’m not trying to draw universal Holiday-themed Jewish paper doll coloring pages. I’m trying to draw ones that reflect, to some degree, my childhood memories of this Jewish holiday- Hanukkah.

But I heard from other people that jelly donuts are a Hannukah thing for a lot of families. So, I did my best to draw a plate of Sufganiyot, a type of jelly donut. I confess I have never had them and I have no idea if they are recognizable, but I hope so!

I added some mugs, because well, everyone likes hot chocolate or coffee or tea or something hot.

By the way, my favorite challah recipe this is one from Smitten Kitchen. I do not have a favorite jelly donut recipe, because I’ve never made them. Frying things scares me! But cooking stuff in oil is 100% a Hanukkah tradition.

Tomorrow the Hanukkah paper dolls will wrap up. Plus I’ll also share a single download of all 8 pages, which will be easier to print.

BTW: I’ve stuck with the spelling Hanukkah for the holiday, but you can also spell it Chanukah, or several other ways. Hebrew doesn’t transliterate into English very well. The first letter of the word Hanukkah is the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet- chet/het – which is pronounced sort of like the “ch” in loch. It’s a guttural sound. Anyway, this is why there’s a lot of different spellings of Hanukkah. None of them are wrong. I just had to chose one, so I chose the one I was seeing the most of.

Hanukkah Paper Dolls: The Sixth Night

A Hanukkah printable paper doll coloring page with nightgowns and a menorah on it.

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Happy Night six of Hanukkah!

I feel like all dolls need nightgowns, don’t you? I think they’re such a critical part of a paper doll’s wardrobe. Other than that, there’s nothing really Hanukkah related in today’s post, except the menorah. I think I’ll save talking about those until the end of the holiday. I have a plan for that.

Anyway, there’s not a lot to say about this set, so here are some nightgowns for the Hanukkah paper dolls and I hope everyone is still having a warm and wonderful December.

Hannukah Paper Dolls: The Fifth Night

A ballgown coloring page for Hannukah with gelt and a menorah. A very cute hand-drawn Hanukkah paper doll craft for kids.

Download Black and White PDF | The Other Days of the Hanukkah Series

And on the fifth night of Hanukkah, we have gelt and party dresses which seem like they should be part of any Hanukkah themed paper doll.

So, you might recall that last night, I talked about gifts. Well, gifts are very much a USA thing. In a lot of world and for a long time, money was traditionally given to the children during Hanukkah- usually in the form of coins. I still remember getting a silver dollar on Hanukkah more than one year. Those coins are called gelt, a Yiddish word for money.

Today, that money is usually chocolate coins, but still fun. Maybe more fun, because who really wants a handful of quarters? I try to buy gelt when I see it in stores.

Both of these party dresses were inspired by dresses from the 1830s. This dress to be specific. I love the fashion from the 1830s. It’s such a very not restrained period in women’s clothing.