Magnet Paper Dolls

I have been thinking about new ways to entertain Savannah.  She’s two and sometimes just needs something new to occupy her attention for the next 15 10 5 minutes.  I had an interesting idea the other day, paper dolls.  Paper and a two year old don’t always mix well… what could be used thats stronger than paper?  Magnets!  I have seen some really cool magnet paper dolls, but I am kind of picky and I don’t know where to look to find them.

I began to wonder if I could just make some myself.  My mom has told me stories of when she used to make her own paper dolls, so why couldn’t I make magnet paper dolls for Savannah?  I began to draw, I used a template to help me draw the dolls body.  I had a little too much fun drawing dresses for the doll.  Of course I figured Princess dresses would be well appreciated and I felt they were easier to draw than other simple clothing.

First draft on the computer.  So far so good.  I hoped they would work once printed and cut out, but they looked so pretty on the computer.  I ended up scanning in my pictures and putting them into paint to color them in.  After that I copied them back into word where I could put them all for easier printing and making sure they would fit the doll.

I had my husband pick up the magnet paper from Staples and made sure the printer had ink and started printing.  I will admit I got very nervous right before printing.  I take after my grandmother, I am a coward. My worrying was not needed, everything came out as expected, perhaps better.  I waited to make sure the ink was completely dry and began to cut them out.  The magnet paper was really easy to cut through, so no letting Savannah have scissors around this toy.

I love how the back of each dress is a complete magnet, I’ve read reviews where if done otherwise they do not work as well.

I wanted the doll to have a permanent home so I used mod-podge to attach the doll to a metal plate.

*I ended up using a matte finish photo paper… my regular printer paper bubbled and wrinkled* Also, beware when printing with inkjet printers they tend to bleed if they get wet.  I did not have this problem when I used the photo paper.
Letting Savannah play with her new toy.  She loves it!  She gets so excited when she sees it.  I showed her once how it worked and she was off.  Even better, it captivated her for longer than 5 minutes.

In the end, this turned out wonderful!  I cannot find paper dolls like these anywhere else, and my sweet princess loves them.  The nicest part, if a dress rips all I have to do is print a new one.

Next project:  A case to put them in.  My mom had a great idea to make a case that looks like an art portfolio with handles, I am in the middle of the design now and will let you know how it goes and will  include the pattern/tutorial later.

I had such fun making these dolls if you would like to download my dolls and print them for yourself, you can do so here. Enjoy!

Mary Catherine

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Margaret

13 thoughts on “Magnet Paper Dolls”

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