Sunday, September 27, 2009

Little Clothespin Cutie


I'm afraid my Bento Lunch creations are at Risk. I've discovered a new obsession that seems to be monopolizing my time lately.



Isn't she adorable (if I do say so myself)? Now can you see why I'm obsessed with making these little cuties. This one was completely "styled" by Little K. She chose the fabric and colors (hair and eye colors are the same as hers)...she even painted the legs/tights and stripes herself.



I love how the stripes on her tights are all wonky.

This one was actually just a trial run. We have a friend who celebrated her 6th Birthday this weekend, and I wanted to make a little Clothespin Doll Scene for her present.



This is what we made for her. The colors are coordinated to her Birthday invitation (shown in the background). The little dolls hair and eye colors match the Birthday Girl.



Her theme was "Birds in the Garden", so we had to add some flowers and a little bluebird singing away.






I've been admiring the work of several Flickr artists that make fantastic clothespin dolls. Some of my faves are Jenny at
be cheery, Susan at Sweetimaginations and Carol at Wee Cute Treasures. Their creations inspired me to give this craft a try. They give their dolls such personality and each artist has their own unique style. It's been fun watching their work.

I remember making clothespin dolls as a child. I think it was a kit that had all the pins and sheets of felt with itty bitty pattern pieces that you cut into clothes and then glued to the clothespin. I worked for hours on those little creations. I guess I was a bit obsessive even back then. The thrill has come rushing back, and I still have lots of supplies, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these cuties to come.

But first - I think I better go pack Little K a bento box for school tomorrow.

16 comments:

  1. Those are adorable - but I'd miss your bentos!

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  2. Oh Karina, Karina, Karina...What have you gone and done!!!! That is one of the cutest things i have EVER seen!! I'm running down to Michael's in about 1 1/2 minutes to get stuff to make some for my girls!!!

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  3. These dolls are just DARLING! No wonder you have taken a break from another obsession. So cute!

    By the way, a friend has a cute giveaway going on her blog for her 100th post - a little Halloween mini quilt that is really nice. Pass it on!

    http://laurasbirdnest.blogspot.com/2009/09/100th-post-give-away.html

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  4. Came across your photo on Bench Monday and had to visit your blog. so cute and inspiring and i am in love with this--great work!

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  5. The dolls are amazing! You are such an incredibly talented woman! Great bentos on Flikr too! :)

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  6. Bento posts, crafts posts, or any other bunches or bits posts, just keep posting! Love your blog!

    Your blog has been awarded! There is an award waiting for you on my blog http://www.pcgirl.net/blog/

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  7. Supercute! Bento and Clothespin Cutie Mom! Maybe you can incorporate the two ;)

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  8. Seriously...one of the cutest things ever. WOW!!! I love it, i'm going to have to check out those flickr links you posted, these are just too cute!!

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  9. Hi Karina, I have an award for you to pick up on my blog. :)

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  10. love.... love... love it! I recently e-mailed my girlfriend a link to a wedding cake topper made like these on Etsy. Maybe she could hire you? ;)

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  11. Oh my Goodness!! These are so cute. I am going to tell my Momma to come and look here quick, this is her favorite kind of stuff. You are very good at making your very cute little girls!!!

    Buggy Hugs, Hannah

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  12. Wowzers!!! Hannah wasn't lying when she said these were soooo cute and I had to see them!!! They really really are and my girls have gone crazy over them!! It has inspired us to give it a go, as soon as I figure out where to buy the clothes pin, head and stand!!!

    HUGS ~ LORi

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  13. Where did you get those bluebirds?

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  14. The bluebirds are formed by hand from Skulpey clay. I cheated and just painted the beak yellow (too hard to attach a separate piece of yellow clay).

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  15. Thank you for your response Karina. I am tempted to try the doll pin myself but curious to know how, for the first doll the neck looks to be deeper down on the body but the second doll that's not the case. What sizes did you use for the head and the pin?

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  16. For both dolls I used the same size pin and head. The head is 1 1/4" (called a dowel cap). There seems to be a lot of variance within the packages of each of these. Some of the pin tops are larger than others, and in the doll heads, the hole is drilled deeper in some than others. I was able to control that better (in my later creations) by simply stuffing a bit of tissue paper into the hole in the doll head to get it to sit above the shoulders (and then glue it all together).

    The clothes pins (doll bodies) seem to be one standard size, but there are differences in shape - just notice which ones you like (some have a more sloping shoulder area).

    I hope you give this a try - they are so much fun to make.

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