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B&B Paper Dolls Celebrate New Years in a Regal Gown

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Evening Gowns
The B&B curvy paper dolls get to a New Years gown in color and black and white. Free printable paper doll gown from paperthinpersonas.com.

For the rest of the week, I will be posting elegant evening wear every day in honor of New Years.

For Today’s B&B paper doll series New Years gown, I wanted elegant, but not glitzy. Something sophisticated and almost Queen like. This is an evening gown for a woman who knows she is amazing and doesn’t need to show off with bright colors or spangles.

In keeping with the Royal concept, I chose purple and black for today’s New Years gown. The skirt is in soft pleats and the bodice wraps. Personally, I imagine it in something like taffeta or a thick rich mat satin, but since it is actually made of paper, who knows?

After I drew this, I realized I haven’t really given a lot of evening gown love to the B&B printable paper doll series. I might need to rectify that in the coming year.

What say you all? Do I need more B&B evening wear?

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Sprites Get Dickens Caroling Costumes for the Holidays

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Dicken’s Christmas Carol, Vaguely Victorian Fashion and Google Image Search
A pair of Dickens caroling costumes for the Sprites printable paper doll series in color or black and white. Free to print from paperthinperosnas.com.

I have never done a Christmas paper doll before. The way I’ve always figured it, there are plenty of Christmas paper dolls and I didn’t see much I could add to the genre. But since I have switched to a daily outfit posting schedule, I figured I might try it this year. So, today we have some Dickens caroling costumes for the Sprites printable paper dolls.

Dickens wrote the Christmas Carol on 1842, but there’s nothing historically correct about these outfits. In fact, I refused to do any historical research, though I did Google “Dickens Caroling Costumes” to get some ideas.

Some of the college students I work with would call that research, but I try not to think about that too much.

In fact, I would call these costumes and not clothing, because they aren’t historically correct in anyway. I knew I wanted the lady to have a bonnet and cape and for the guy to have a top hat. Beyond that, I just had fun.

I chose a holly pattern for the skirt, because I thought it was holiday and old fashioned without being too obvious.

Anyway, tomorrow is the first night of Hanukah and Christmas is on Sunday, so I would like to wish everyone who is celebrating either a really wonderful holiday. And for those who aren’t celebrating, I hope you have a great weekend with, or without, family.

Looking for some Sprite paper dolls to wear these outfits? Pick out Sprite paper dolls here.

Marisole Monday & Friends: Fantasy Warrior Paper Doll Armor

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Xena: Warrior Princess, Ancient Roman Armor, and The Color Red
Absurd fantasy paper doll armor with weapons in black and white and color. From paperthinpersonas.com.

Happy Friday! I try to save paper doll pieces that I really like for the end of the week. I think of them as a fun treat.

So, I know I have mentioned in the past my love of Xena: Warrior Princess. I also know I have mentioned my strange affection for absurd fantasy armor that wouldn’t really protect you, but darn it looks good. So, today I am pleased to provide both a nod Xena and a nod to “Wow, I don’t think that armor will work like you think armor should work.”

But seriously for a second, I think sometimes there is a lot to be said for embracing absurdity. And since I embraced absurdity with this set, I will not apologize for giving her boots high heels.

Along with the armor and boots, she has fun weapons- a pair of swords and a spear. I actually had fun trying to make them all match in design motifs. These are the thing I think about when designing paper dolls.

So, my dear readers, should fantasy armor be practical or absurd? Let me know what you think in a comment.

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Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Ms. Mannequin: Coats and Boots for Fashionable Winter Wear

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Sorel Boots, Coats and Boots Worn by College Students

Paper dolls need warm clothing, too! Here are coats and boots for the Ms. Mannequin series. Free to print in black and white or in color from paperthinpersonas.com.

I grew up in Southeast Alaska where the winter weather is so horrid that stylish winter wear is pretty much out of the question. One of the things I like about Alabama is that our winters are fairly mild and I can wear a coat that is cute, rather than waterproof and really warm.

As I mentioned last week, I am trying to post one “winter” themed piece a week for December. Today’s coats and boots are this weeks “winter” items. Not quite as ambitious as say Julie’s amazing 30 days of Angel paper dolls, but my little nod to the season. I do find since I just draw “one” thing for each day, it is much easier to do holiday/themed pieces, because finishing one paper doll outfit last minute is far simpler than finishing four or five that I needed to fill up a sheet in the past.

Needless to say, I am really enjoying this new way of doing things.

All right, so the white boots with the fur trim are based on some Sorel boots, but only in the vaguest of ways. The brown boots are based on some I saw a college student wearing and thought were cute. The coats are both based on items from various fashion magazines in my house.

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here.

Marisole Monday & Friends: On the Red Carpet

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Say Yes to the Dress and Gowns Like This One or This One or This One
A purple ruched evening gown for the Marisole Monday and Friends paper doll series. Free to print in color or black and white.

One of my guilty pleasures is the show, Say Yes to the Dress. I thought I would have to give it up when I gave up cable, but fortunately, you can watch it on Hulu and who doesn’t want to watch insane bridal gowns on TV?

This only important because the show was on when I came up with the idea of doing a ruched paper doll evening gown like today’s for Marisole Monday & Friends lady paper dolls.

I will openly confess that I didn’t want to do a paper doll wedding dress, so I chose a lavender color for today’s paper doll evening gown. I’m just not a big wedding dress person, even though I like the show. Even as a kid, I was never one of those people who imagined my own wedding day. Don’t get me wrong, I cry at every wedding, but it was never part of my imaginary world as a kid.

Now, I did totally imagine being at a ball as a kid. So, red carpet paper doll gowns was much more up my alley.

So, are you a wedding dress or evening dress kinda person? Let me know in a comment.

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Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Flower Fairies: Yumiko as a Flower Fairy

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Flower Fairies, Cicely Mary Barker, and the Book, Fairie-ality

A cute little flower fairy paper doll free to print in color or black and white.

A few weeks ago, I posted my flower fairy outfits for the Sprite paper dolls inspired by nasturtiums. At the time, my two Sprite fairy paper dolls weren’t done yet, but now they are. So, today Yumiko of the Sprites paper doll family today is showing off her fairy side. Tomorrow, her male partner in crime Xavier will make his fairy debut.

Even with this new format, I do plan to post Sprites as sets. I like having a lady and a gent of the same theme posting two days in a row. I think it is fun.

And it is my blog, so I get to decide what is fun here.

All of my flower fairy designs owe something to Cicely Mary Barker who illustrated what are now “classic” flower fairy illustrations starting in the 1920s. Here are some of her fairy illustrations.

There is something so innocent about Cicely Mary Barker’s art. I still really love her books and I loved them when I was a child. My favorite was the Willow Fairy. Of course, the book Fairie-ality was also a big influence. Highly recommended.

I went back and forth and back and forth about the color scheme for this one. I tried out blue skin and green skin, but I really like how the purple turned out. If you think she needs a different color, then there’s always the black and white version.

So, here’s my question for my readers today, was I the only Cicely Mary Barker flower fairy fan as a child? Let me know in a comment!

And if you like the blog, and want to see what goes on the behind the scenes, then join us on Patreon. A dollar a month gets you access to the Behind the Scenes blog and five dollars gets you the Vivian Paper Doll Project. Right now, my patrons are voting on a name for a new Marisole Monday and Friends paper doll.

Looking for something for today’s Sprite paper doll to wear? Pick out some clothing here.

A Paper Doll Suit from 1860s

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Sarah Josepha Hale, 1860’s Men’s Clothing and Harvest Colors

A paper doll men's suit from 1861 featuring a cutaway coat and harvest colors. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com.

I’ve never done a Thanksgiving paper doll before. Personally, I have always struggled to come up with an idea that isn’t either cliche or offensive. The portrayal of Native American, for example, in paper doll form has generally been rather awful and I certainly wasn’t in the mood to do some mythical pilgrims.

So, why do a suit from the 1860s? Well, I wanted to honor Sarah Josepha Hale.

First of all, she wrote Mary Had a Little Lamb, which is pretty cool, but more then that she was the editor of the important publication Godey’s Lady’s Book, and was an advocate for Thanksgiving.

In short, Hale believed that Thanksgiving was about choosing a time to both unite as a Nation and to express our joy and gratitude for our many blessings. Given the current political climate, I cannot think of a better reason to have a holiday. Her advocacy for the national holiday began in 1846 and was successful in 1863 when Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, formally announced a National Day of Thanksgiving.

In celebration this year, I have drawn a suit from the 1860s, specifically 1861. I actually had a really impossible time finding a suit from 1863, so this will have to do. Keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, the suit is done in harvest colors. You’ll need a gent to wear this suit, so I recommend picking up one of the Marisole Monday & Friends guy paper dolls and outfitting him. Should you like him to have a lady date to his 1860s Thanksgiving Dinner, then here’s some 1860s clothing for the Marisole Monday & Friends lady paper dolls.

I don’t know nearly as much about men’s clothing of the Victorian era as I know about women’s clothing, so I am pretty nervous about how accurate this is, but I did my best and I think this is the first ever historical men’s paper doll outfit I have ever posted. So, please be kind to my first attempt. I also need to get some books on men’s clothing of the 19th century. Anyone got any recommendations?

Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday with family, with friends or just with the day off.

I’d also like to take this chance to thank everyone. I am thankful for everyone who supports the blog on Patreon, who leaves a comment, who follows me on Twitter or who just comes to read. Trust me when I say, it is because of my great readers that PTP is still around.

Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Guy Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Ms. Mannequin: Running Away to Join the Circus

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  My Circus Pinterest Board and my Love of Boots

A circus inspired paper doll outfit for the Ms. Mannequin series from paperthinpersonas.com. Free to print in color or black and white.

I have this odd fondness for vintage circus art. While I can’t really explain it, I mostly think I like vintage posters in general and old photos. By far the strongest influence on today’s paper doll outfit was my circus Pinterest board. Also, like my Ancient Greek fantasy gown from Tuesday, I realized I haven’t done much Circus inspired stuff since my Marisole Monday & Friend’s set from 2014.

Several years ago, my National Novel Writing Month project involved a circus. I never finished it, but that’s okay. Is anyone doing NaNoWriMo this year? I usually do, but I confess I’m not this time.

Anyway, I think this is the sort of circus outfit that is probably worn more often by burlesque dancers than actual circus performers, because I don’t think you can do trapeze in those boots, but then again, I don’t know much about actual circuses or their performers. Let’s be honest, here.

Still, I think there’s a lot of interesting things you can do visually with circus imagery.

Meanwhile, what do you think of today’s paper doll outfit? Let me know in a comment!

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick out a Ms. Mannequin Paper Doll Here

Sprites: Flower Fairies Can Be Boys!

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations:  Flower Fairies, Nasturtiums and the Book, Fairie-ality

Fairy paper doll clothing for both boy and girl paper dolls. Free to print form paperthinpersonas.com.

So, when I was doodling this fairy paper doll clothing, I said to a friend, “Can flower fairies be boys?”

And she was like, “Of course, don’t be sexist.”

And I was like, “Well, in that case…”

Here today we have flower fairy clothing for both boy and girl paper dolls. I also have fairy versions of two Sprites dolls in the works, but they aren’t ready for prime time yet, unlike my flower fairy outfits.

So, I own a lot of serious costume history books and I own a lot of books of fairy tales and folklore. I own only one book that combines the two. That is Fairie-Ality, an amazing collection of fairy outfits made from natural materials and beautifully photographed. It is a book I use when I am looking for fairy inspiration.

Other than that, this set of fairy paper doll clothing was inspired by Nasturtiums. I love Nasturtiums, because they taste spicy and they grow best in poor soil. Anyway, they are most often yellow, orange or red flowers, hence the yellow, orange and red color scheme.

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So, my question for all my readers today is, what is your favorite flower? I confess nasturtiums are some of my favorites. Let me know in a comment!

Looking for some Sprite paper dolls to wear these outfits? Pick out Sprite paper dolls here.

Acorn Pixie Pants and a Stuffed Owl Paper Doll Outfit

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Unisex Children’s Clothing, Fig & Me Dolls, Untied Shoes, and Twig & Tale Sewing Patterns

poppet-modern-unisex-blue-color

When I was in middle school, I never tied my shoes. I wore hiking boots all day. Whenever people told me, my shoes were untied, then I would tell them that, “It’s okay. I like living dangerously.”

The truth was that I was just forgetful and they had a tendency to become untied.

So, I was thinking of that when I drew this set of Poppet paper doll clothing.

I was also thinking about gender neutral children’s clothing which seems to be a trend. I think the pants could be worn by a boy or a girl, though all the Poppets are girl paper dolls. They are based off this pattern from Twig and Tale. I wanted to stick with the nature theme, so her pants have acorns on them and she has a stuffed owl. I don’t know why I’ve been on such a stuffed animal drawing kick. I did a bunny last time and an owl this time.

I guess I just like drawing stuffed animals and that is probably okay. Her owl is purple.

After this, the next two Poppet pieces in progress are both historical. I have a bunch of 1920s stuff in the works for them and some Edwardian looks too. I think today’s outfit would go well with last week’s explorer outfit and this one from 2014.

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.

Ancient Greek Fantasy Gown Paper Doll

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Ancient Greek Dress, Corsets, Lyres and Pale Aqua

A ancient greek inspired paper doll fantasy gown with a corset and lute.

So, I have been spending some time with my big paper doll index and I have noticed there are a few tags with very few items in them. I don’t think everything has to be even, but I was surprised at how few Ancient Greek Inspired pieces of paper doll art I have posted. The last one was back in 2013. So, just like I created an Astronaut and a Ninja recently to try to flesh out those areas, I decided to dabble in the world of Ancient Greek inspiration.

Therefore today’s fantasy gown was inspired by Ancient Greek clothing, particularly the peplos which was women by women and fasten at the shoulders. Because I have a fondness in my heart for corsets, I added one over the top and her accessories are a scroll and a lyre, because everyone needs a lyre, don’t they?

Plus, they didn’t have codex format in Ancient Greece, so scrolls it is.

Other paper doll light tags include Russia inspired, cyborgs and ballet. Which one of those should I work on next? Let me know in a comment if you have an opinion, just remember: I always reserve the right to ignore suggestions and, of course, things take a long long time to go from idea to finished paper doll.

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Need a Marisole Monday & Friends Paper Doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick One Out Here. 

Explorer’s Outfit with a Bunny Companion

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Today’s Printable Paper Doll Inspirations: Fig & Me Dolls, Stuffed Bunnies, Oliver & S Sewing Patterns and Adventures

Poppet paper dolls are off exploring with her faithful bunny companion. Free paper doll clothes to print in color or black and white.

I have fond memories of exploring as a child. I was lucky enough to live in a small town in Alaska with lost of wilderness around me, so it wasn’t hard to just hike back into the woods and feel like you were in some secret place where no one had ever been.

So, the Poppets are off exploring today in this outfit designed for the occasion complete with a bag to carry back treasures in and a bunny companion.

I had a stuffed bunny as a child named Mr. Bunny (I still have him) and so I have always had a fondness for stuffed bunnies.

Today’s paper doll’s shirt is based off an Oliver + S sewing pattern called Hopscotch Skirt and Knit Top. I’ve always had a fondness for Oliver + S, because they used to use paper dolls in their pattern packaging.

Her shoes were inspired by this Fig & Me doll’s shoes.

So, my question to all of you is this- Did you have exploring adventures when you were a child? And where did you go to have them?

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Need a paper doll to wear today’s outfit? Pick a Poppet Paper Doll Here.