Monday, March 16, 2009

My First Doll: Pathetic, Sweet Thing

Want to see the first toothpick doll I ever made (15 long years ago...)? Pictures at the end of this post.

Well, if you subscribe to the Angela Michelle Dolls Newsletter, you probably came looking for the Advanced Toothpick Doll Tutorial. You'll get it, don't worry! There's a link to all the spilled secrets below. I recently taught a tutorial in the Custom Dolls, Houses, & Miniatures forums. We covered the basics, and then delved into how to make a skirt (that will make a doll stand on her own), and how to start adding intricate accents with split-thread detailing.

To access the tutorial:

1 - Head to http://www.cdhm.org/. Click on "Forums" in the top right corner.

2 - If you're not already a member of this forum, scroll down to "CDHM Announcements". Click on the last topic in that section, "CDHM Forum - Registration Benefits". It will show you how to join (it's free, by the way).

3 - Join the forum! It's free, and you'll be able to see my toothpick doll tutorial, as well as a host of other tutorials, tips, & tons of information relating to dolls & miniatures. There are some fabulous artisans there!

4 - Once you've joined, scroll down to the "Tutorials" board & click on "Past Tutorials". Go to "Click here for Past Classes", scroll to the bottom of that list & you'll see "Learn to Make a Toothpick Doll". There you go! Oh, and before you leave there, check out some of those other tutorials - they're so much fun! Bonus if you have free time that's begging to be filled in a creative way.

All of the information in that tutorial will eventually make its way into this blog, but I'm holding off for a couple months, as CDHM is often able to publish its tutorials in publications, & a magazine will decline if the information is freely available on the internet already. Thus, the schedule switch. But you can still access that entire tutorial today if you wish.

So, what to do with the next week? Thought you might like seeing how I started in the Toothpick World...


This was my first doll, made from a flyer my mom picked up in a craft store. That was circa 1994, & I was about 13 years old. We were stationed on an air base in Italy, & toothpicks & thread were some of the few craft supplies I had access to.

The rest of this week I'll pull out some photos of other oooold dolls, including Mr. & Mrs. Martian, & my homage to Star Wars.

Fun, fun :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you still have that doll or is that a picture of her? I think she is great considering she was made by a 13 yr. old. Your site is the first I have heard of toothpick dolls and I want to thank you for sharing it.

AngelaMichelle said...

Oh, I still have her. She's probably worth the most to me. I'm glad you now know of toothpick dolls!