Materials:
Trying to up things a notch, I made these into fridge magnets the next year. You know those "Dress Me Up David" magnets, where you stick clothes on Michelangelo's David statue? I love them. I bought some HP Magnetic Inkjet Paper and was on my way. Of course, Zach needed a buddy so I made Heather templates, too. It's just a lot of copying and pasting. Of course, I got a little detailed with the clothing, but that's just me. I scootched them around until they all fit on one page and printed them up on my brother's colour inkjet printer. I cut them out. Now, herein lies the funky part. The inkjet paper isn't water resistant and I was worried about the colour coming off, by water or just by handling (it seemed to scrape off easily on my test pieces). My first thought was to use spray sealant, so I bought some Krylon Clear Coat. When sprayed on the test piece, it caused the black from the magnet to show through in little patches. UGH. Coating idea number two was to brush on some white glue. I used a craft glue that I watered down a little. Though the wetness of the glue caused a little spotting, when it dried it looked fine. THEN I sprayed the Krylon Clear Coat which made it a little less tacky. Unfortunately, because I'd cut the little buggers FIRST, they curled up. I found that rolling them the opposite way did the trick.
All in all I'm a bit disappointed with the magnets in performance, though they sure are cute. The little pieces (like the hats and scarves) have such a tiny amount of magneting-power that they adhere only in the most tentative way and fall off at the slightest provocation. Everything is still tacky which actually helps with getting the clothes to stick, but is not ultimately desirable. I would recommend Contac paper if I didn't think it'd be too heavy. Some day I'll figure this one out.
I dated a guy who likes toys. It was a lot of fun to give him weird and wacky things he can't buy in stores. I customized Legos for him, for example. One year for Christmas, I made Zach Paper Dolls. The process was simple. In my MS Paint program, I drew a Zach Doll (in his boxers). This would be the base for all of the clothing. Then, I copied the image and pasted it a bunch of times. Using the body as a template, I drew clothes over it (this way I was sure they'd fit properly). I decided to draw clothes Zach actually has, but you could do generic clothing, too. I made sure everything fit on one page and took my files to my local copying establishment. I printed it out on card stock and -- tadaaa! -- I had paper dolls! After printing, I drew the tabs on by hand because it was too much of a pain with the Paint program and I was running short on time. Don't forget the tabs or the clothes won't stay on the body. Remember, too, to add a base for the main doll body.
Total time spent: approximately three hours
US Dollars spent: approximately two dollars (for printing)
Please note: Unless otherwise noted, all of these instructions, photographs, and ideas are mine. Please give me credit (and send me pictures!) if you work off of these designs. The sale of any items based on these designs is prohibited.
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