Upcycled Cardboard Dress Up Dolls

I have an idea! Let’s make cute cardboard dolls and dress them up for a nice, nippy winter walk with the dog! This easy, inexpensive DIY craft is a fun way to recycle cardboard boxes and fabric scraps. Create charming accessories for your dolls and their dog and have fun keeping warm while bundling them up for the cold!

What You Need

• Cardboard
• Old gloves, socks or t-shirts (any fabric scrap will work)
• Felt
• Needle and thread
• Scissors
• Pencil/pen
• Colorful markers
• Paint
• Stickers and mini pompoms
• Doll Templates

How-To

Step 1
Download doll and accessories templates. Print out the templates and trace the shapes onto cardboard. Cut out the cardboard dolls and decorate them with stickers, paint, and markers.

Step 2
Cut out the girl accessories and trace them onto different fabrics. Trace the gloves onto felt and sew them with tiny straight stitches as shown in the picture.
 I used an elastic orange velvet for the girl’s boots and a piece of fleece for the hat. Cut them out, leaving a seam allowance and stitch using backstitches.

Step 3
Cut off excess fabric from the hat and boots and turn them right side out.
 Stitch a pompom on top of the hat.
 Cut out a 10″ x 0.8″ piece of fabric for the girl’s scarf. I chose the border of my favorite leftover wool.

Step 4
Repeat the same process for making the boy’s accessories with different colors and fabrics.

Step 5
Now it’s time to dress the dog! Cut a piece of fabric for the coat. You can make the dog’s hat from felt and stitch it as you did for the gloves, using straight stitches. Add a pompom on top. Cut out 8 sock shapes (or cut 4 and fold them as shown in the above) and stitch.
 Turn the socks right side out and fit them onto the dog’s feet.

Step 6
Dress up your dolls with all their cozy new accessories! Fold the coat down onto the dog’s body and tie a piece of trim around it to keep it in place.

Tie another trim around the dog’s neck, with the other end attached to the boy’s or girl’s hand to make a leash.

Now it’s time to step outside and let your dolls show off their new winter wardrobes :)

Happy crafting!