Princess Paper Doll Collage

Nina Surel remembers playing with paper dolls when she was five-years-old. Now when she's not enjoying her tropical surroundings in Miami, Fla., this Argentinean native is still dressing her favorite paper dolls in feminine, mixed-media collages.

Materials:

cotton fabric
enlarged paper doll photocopy
paper doll dresses
pink yarn
pink pompons
15" x 25" artist canvas on wood frame
rubber hearts
stickers
letter tiles (spelling Cherish)
acrylic paint, pink and white
wood fencing for craft projects
white glue
gel medium
jewelry
pins
ribbon
staple gun
duck mold
plaster of Paris
scissors
tracing paper
pencil

Steps:

1. Cut cotton fabric large enough to cover the canvas frame and to fold over to cover all sides. Stretch fabric across the artist canvas and staple the fabric to the back of the frame using a staple gun (figure A). Mix glue with water and brush over fabric. Let dry.

2. Enlarge the paper doll image 200 times or until the doll is 12 inches high (figure B). Cut out the doll.

3. Create a wig by tracing the outline of the hair onto paper. Cut out the wig backing and glue on pink strips of yarn for the hair. Then, glue the wig onto the paper doll (figure C).

4. Glue the paper doll onto the fabric using gel medium. Brush gel medium over the top of the doll and let dry.

5. Glue pink pompons onto the dress for decoration using white glue (figure D).

6. Paint fence pieces with white acrylic paint. When dry, glue across the bottom of the canvas (figure E).

7. Mix plaster of Paris with water according to package directions and pour into duck molds (figure F). Allow the plaster to harden, remove from molds, then paint with white acrylic paint to seal them. Glue the ducks on across the top of the canvas (figure G).

E-mail: ninasurel@bellsouth.net

Website: www.ninasurel.com