Print, Cut, Play Gingerbread Town

 Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread house found on Pinterest, no credit

The kids will be out of school soon for Christmas Break. After a day of watching tv, and maybe another day of playing on a computer, all while anticipating the excitement of Christmas morning, kids get restless. Perfect time to make a gingerbread village! 

Too messy? Too much sugar?  

Why not make a paper one?  Today, let’s put that printer to good use, and print out some candy houses. Draw some gingerbread people to go in it. Get the scissors and glue out. Then we can decorate them with bits cut from catalogs, magazines, and more.

Here are the first few:

 These are not my original house plans, by the way. I found all of them on Pinterest, and none of them had reliable source information. I always try not to step on anyone’s toes, or hard work. If you recognize who has drawn any of these please let me know so I can give credit where it is due.

You can use cardstock in your printer for a nice sturdy village. 

After printing and cutting out, it’s time to get all those Christmas shopping catalogs that have been flooding your mailbox. Cut out some decorations to glue to your gingerbread houses.

For smaller children, let them use paper punches to add decorative details. You may find it easier to glue things on before assembling, or you might prefer to add on after the houses are put together. Try both ways.

I would suggest you use a good glue on those assembly flaps. My favorite is Aleene’s Tacky Glue in the gold bottle for a good all-purpose glue. For fine detail work I prefer Art Institute Glitter Adhesive. You should be able to find both of these in any craft store, or even Walmart.

Now let’s get some peeps for your village! You will need to play around with the correct sizing for these. Make them as big or small as you prefer.

These cute elves can be fastened together with brads or eyelets for movable parts, or glue the parts together to make more of a sturdy paperdoll. Glue them onto a thin cardboard like a cereal box for durability. For small children play you might think about laminating them.

Here is a Santa to go with them:

German

I also found these ginger-people paper doll figures:

Cottonartsboutique.com

I have shown in past blogs how to make stands for your paper dolls.

Other ideas for your gingerbread village include using scraps of fabric, ric-rac, ribbons, buttons and more to decorate your houses.

Try some glitter glue for sparkle! I think Sticklers is the best for that, and it comes in so many colors.

Most of all, have fun.

Here is one last paper doll for you:

‘Til next time,

inkspired

Mermaid paper dolls

 Hello!

Original Paper Collage Painting by inkspired

All paper collages are hand cut from recycled junk mail - catalogs, flyers, magazines, etc.

Let’s have some fun with mermaid paper dolls!

Unless noted, these are all free for you to download and print for your personal enjoyment. Let’s play nice and not try to sell them or mass produce any.

Unfortunately most I have found on Pinterest with no identifying info on who drew them or where you could find them.

As always, I try to give credit where it is due. If you know information about any of these please let me know so I can give credit.

Some of the paper doll clothes do not have tabs, so be sure to add those when you are cutting them out.

Artist: Milka Tertsunen; ArtStation

Cory Jensen is a favorite paper doll artist of mine for two reasons. He is incredibly talented, and most of his paper dolls he offers for free! Here are a few of his:

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

By Cory Jensen

Here are a few more versions of The Little Mermaid; many are styled after Disney’s Ariel.

By Cory Jensen

Unknown

By Cory Jensen

‘Irina’ Collage Art Doll by inkspired

Paperthinpersonas.com

If you like these paper dolls the artist offers free ones when you sign up for her e-mails.

Artist: Audrey Kaiser

Print out your mermaid twice. The first one glue to thin cardboard, like a cereal box. Or you can print onto a heavier weight cardstock. Then cut out. Draw a stand on first if you want, and cut as one.

The second print is printed on paper. Cut the costumes out, remembering to add tabs if there aren’t any. If it needs to be colored, do this before you cut out.

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

I thought we needed some mer-men to compliment our mermaids.

Here is a jointed merman by a different artist-

Artist: Shawne Johnson

Here is another jointed PaperDoll, a mermaid, you can put together with brads, eyelets, or string.

PheeMcFaddell.com

Here is one by the same artist that you can color yourself-

This next one is just the mermaid. I thought it was such a great, simple design that you might like to draw some outfits for her. 

Print her out. Go over the major lines with a black Sharpie. Place on a window, with a plain sheet of paper on top. Trace the main lines. Now you have the basic shape and you can start creating outfits to fit!

Make a few copies of the basic shape. Draw your clothes slightly larger, and don’t forget to add tabs. Since she is a mermaid, draw a stand so she can stand alone for playtime. You could draw a piece of coral or seaweed for her to ‘sit’ on.

Have fun!

www.finfriends.com/printable-mermaid-easter-paper-dolls/

Posted on Pinterest by Crafty Annabelle

Now it’s time to go take a break and drink some water and eat goldfish crackers!

The next 2 mermaid paper dolls are by the same artist, but very different styles-

Artist: Julie Allen Matthews

Artist: Julie Allen Matthews 

Next I have 2 more by Cory Jensen-

Paper dolls by Cory Jensen

The next 2 paper dolls are Lucia and Rina, drawn in manga style-

Artist unknown

 I’ve covered many different styles of mermaids for you. Now the hard part - which one to pick to print and play with first?

‘Til next time,

inkspired

You can find me on Pinterest as

Karen Kloberdans