Free Paper Dolls

In addition to the dolls themselves, accessories and clothing can also be made from either free or very inexpensive products. Normally, accessories and clothing for paper dolls is made of thick paper or card stock, and decorated with markers, crayons, paint, beads, ribbon, sequins, or any other embellishment.

Paper Dolls are Historical

Paper dolls have been in existence for centuries. One of the reasons they are such popular toys is they are inherently either very inexpensive or free. In the past, imported manufactured paper dolls were the ones most commonly sold.

Magazines: Beginning in the mid 1800s, paper dolls began appearing in magazines. When an adult was done reading the magazine, children were able to cut out the free printed paper dolls and color the accompanying clothing.

Advertising: When the popularity of paper dolls in magazines surged, advertisers began using paper doll cut-outs as part of their marketing strategies. During the early to mid 1900s, free paper dolls began appearing in ads for coffee, baking ingredients, and other home-related items. Children were able to keep and play with the free dolls, and their parents were constantly reminded of the items the dolls were promoting – a win-win situation for everyone!

Newspapers and Comic Books: Newspaper and comic book publishers quickly jumped on the paper doll bandwagon and began printing free cut-outs in their publications. Sometimes, a doll would appear in one issue, and the clothing and accessories would appear in the next… encouraging parents to purchase more than one.

Where to Find Them

It’s not hard to find paper dolls in stores. They’re normally for sale in toy stores, craft and fabric stores, and doll catalogues. Finding free dolls is also possible, even though they are not as common now as they were over a century ago.

Free paper dolls still appear in certain magazines and sometimes on greeting cards. However, the best place to obtain a free doll is to access the Internet and download doll templates or cut-outs from websites such as:

• Marilee’s Paperdolls
• Royal Paper Dolls
• Stardoll
• Billy Bear 4 Kids.com
• Paper Doll Printables

How to Make Paper Dolls

A great craft activity for kids is to make a paper doll. This activity is twice the fun because not only can kids spend their time using their creativity when making their doll, but they can play with the doll for countless hours after it is complete.

To make a paper doll:

1) Choose paper to use for the doll. The best type is a little bit thicker than regular computer paper.

2) Either trace a doll from a template downloaded from the Internet, or draw a doll outline on the paper.

3) Using a pair of scissors carefully cut out the doll.

4) Using crayons, markers or paint, decorate the doll with a face, hair and clothes.

Make clothes for the doll:

1) Using the outline of the doll as a guide, trace the body onto another piece of paper so that a shirt, pants, skirt, or dress can be made to fit. (Make sure to add tabs so that the doll’s clothing can be secured when complete).

2) Carefully cut out the clothing, being careful to not cut off the tabs.

3) Decorate the clothing using crayons, markers, paint, yarn, ribbon, or any other type of decoration.

At any time, more clothing can be made, and additional dolls can be created so that the original doll even has a new friend!

Comment on Free Paper Dolls

(Displayed with your comment)                        (Will not be displayed)

Verification Code: