What Are Little Girls Made Of ?

Sugar and spice and everything nice. That's what little girls are made of. Nursery rhyme - Unknown author. This is a DIY tutorial for a cute little embellished photo of your favorite l'il moppet. First: take a photo of the child preferably with her arms outstretched. This is so that you can attach her long skirt around her torso and have her arms and hands exposed. Print the photo on card stock.

Then carefully cut out the picture like you would a paper doll. I ran this cut out paper doll through my embossing machine. But you can also cover both sides of the photo with clear contact. You'll need to cut around that as well.

I taped a 6" long popsicle stick to the doll back to keep it stable. Using the double stick red line industrial tape.

Prepare the base. I used a 2" wooden circle from the craft store. I glued an old fashioned clothespin upside down onto the middle of the circle with wood glue. Let it dry overnight. Paint the entire stand black. Let it dry well.

Prepare the skirt. I used a folded in half vintage hankie for the skirt. Just use your imagination for your skirt fabric. (tulle, ribbon, purchase pre-made ruffle from the craft store, etc.) I gathered my hankie. You may have to gather fabric. If you use wired ribbon, just pull the wire to gather. If you buy a snippet of pre-gathered eyelet lace from the fabric store, you're home free.

I attached the skirt to the doll by wrapping the red line tape above the waist (empire style)all around both front and back of doll. Then I pressed my skirt onto the tape. I left my skirt open in the front because my vintage hankie had handmade lace all around four sides of the hankie. With my skirt in place I wrapped a narrow ribbon around her waist to finish it off.

Now you're ready to place your paper doll into the stand. I put a bit of wood glue on the bottom of the stabilizing popsicle stick before I slid the doll into the stand because I wanted her to stand high enough to accommodate her long skirt.