Friday, July 4, 2008

Why 'The Elegant Toothpick'?

I am a dollmaker. You can make dolls out of all sorts of things - clay, cloth & porcelain are the usual suspects. I use toothpicks. Look closely at Rapunzel here. Imagine the head stripped down to a single toothpick. Under the dress are two spindly little toothpick legs (thank goodness for floor-length skirts). Each arm is two pieces of toothpick, attached to look bent at the elbow. Everything added to the toothpick skeleton: the head, the body structure, the gown, the hair, the flowers, is all embroidery floss, or thread. Yes, I'm nuts; yes, I love it.

I've been making toothpick dolls for about 15 years now, & would love to share some of the techniques I've come up with. Got a trace of insanity running through you? It really does help. If you'd like to learn, stick around. Toothpick dolls are tiny, fiddly, exasperating, & oh-so-fun.
Oh, by the way, there is an easier version. Toothpick Doll Lite. A little more basic, but with just as much personality. I teach this version to girls at Birthday Parties & other get-togethers. If you want to learn, this is what you start out with. Someday I'll post a photo of the first doll I ever made. The sad little thing. In the meantime, check out more photos of both kinds of dolls at http://www.angelamichelledolls.com/

6 comments:

Unknown said...

your dolls are wonderful.... a toothpick?!?!?!?! you have much patience.

Mytutorlist.com said...

Wow, I can't imagine making dolls out of toothpicks. You are very talented. :)

Jenn Maruska said...

Oh. My. Gosh.

That is adorable. And the hair... oh please write a blog post about the hair! : D

twenty pound tabby said...

I like making small dolls, but yours are really really tiny! The detail is amazing.

To answer your question - I do have a twenty pound tabby. He's a very large framed cat - big body, head, shoulders, etc., so he's not fat. And I also have a little ten pound tabby who is so delicate in comparison.

Stela said...

That's amazing how you make dolls out of toothpicks! So original!!

WW said...

Your little toothpick dolls are amazing. Never seen so much detail that small!