Original surprise balls with dolls are not cheap, and fakes are disappointing in quality, so not every parent can keep up with the LOL mania. But there is a way out: you can make a toy yourself from various materials (clay, plasticine, mastic, felt, fabric, paper and cardboard). In addition, there is no better way to keep a child busy than making a LOL doll with him. Such a toy will be more expensive than any store-bought surprise.
Features of LOL dolls
American company MGA Entertainment, whose Bratz dolls once pushed aside the popular Barbie, in 2016 began producing slightly outrageous Lil Outrageous Littles, better known as LOL dolls. The toy is a plastic surprise ball with a doll inside.
Marketing experts, having analyzed popular videos on YouTube, came to the conclusion that videos with toy unboxing get more views, which means that children really enjoy this process.
This is how the idea of a new surprise toy was born, in which, unlike Kinder Surprise, to get to the toy, you need not just unpack the ball, but also remove six layers of protective film from it. Under each layer of packaging, a small surprise is hidden: a riddle-rebus, bright stickers, a bottle, clothes and shoes, some fashion accessory (hair clip, glasses or a mobile phone).
The LOL baby can write, cry, spit water or change color. In addition to the doll, the child can also play with the ball in which it is hidden. It can be a handbag in which it is convenient to take the baby with you on a walk, a bath for bathing or a dining area with a table.
Please note! The main feature of the dolls is that they are all collectible. To date, several series have been released, in which, in addition to the dolls themselves, there are their younger sisters, pets, as well as special limited sets.
The principle of making a paper doll
LOL toys made from paper with your own hands are made according to one principle. A suitable image of a doll should be transferred to paper in any available way, then cut out along the contour and strengthened by gluing it to cardboard so that the toy can please the child longer.
If the task is to make a homemade paper ball with a doll, then it is additionally necessary to make it, as well as make accessories and clothes so that the baby can be dressed up.
Preparatory stage
At the preparatory stage, you need to find a template for the doll, her clothes and accessories, and also make blanks for the 2D ball, the size of which will depend on the size of the surprises put into it. If you have artistic skills, you can draw the templates yourself, looking at the image on the package.
Please note! There is an easier way to make a toy - use ready-made pictures with images of LOL dolls, as well as clothes and accessories for cutting.
Once the size of the doll is known, you can make blanks for the 2D ball based on it. You will need to make 7 round blanks:
- the front side, on which you can draw or print an image of one of the dolls in the series and make an original inscription “LOL”;
- the back side with a list of surprises and a lock to make them easier to open;
- The remaining circles that will separate the surprises from each other can be cut out of colored paper and be sure to make the same lock on each one as on the back side.
Advice! To easily tear the layers of the ball, you need to make a perforation of the drawn lightning bolt by making frequent punctures with a needle along the zipper on both sides.
What you will need during the work process
In the process of working on a paper surprise, you will need the following tools and materials:
- Paper. If the doll is drawn by yourself, you can use regular album sheets or watercolor paper. Regular office paper or photo paper will do for printed templates, the images will be brighter on it, and the toy will last longer.
- Colored origami paper - you can use it to make layers of a ball, confetti or an applique on a ball.
- Thick cardboard – this will be the basis for the paper doll, which will extend the life of the toy.
- Glue to connect the parts of the ball and the doll. You can use PVA, glue in a pencil or any other for paper.
- Scissors - the finished template will need to be cut out, for this you will need sharp scissors, and for small details a stationery or mock-up knife will do.
- You will need a ruler to determine the size of the doll and the diameter of the 2D ball.
- Colored pencils and markers to color the templates.
Additionally, to decorate the surprise, you can use rhinestones, satin ribbons, lace and anything else your imagination suggests.
How to transfer templates to paper
The easiest way to transfer templates to paper is to print them on a color printer. You can do this at home if you have such a device or contact the nearest mini printing house.
The second method is not as fast, but creative, when the child draws and colors the doll himself. It would be good to have an image of the toy in front of your eyes, so that you can accurately reproduce it down to the smallest detail on paper.
Important! It is imperative to praise the child for his efforts and work, even if the outrageous little girl turned out not quite like the original.
If you have a coloring book with LOL dolls in your home, you can copy the image of the little girl you like onto a sheet of paper through the glass.
Making a doll
When the template of the toy, its clothes and accessories is selected, the method of transferring the template onto paper is determined, it's time to move directly to the step-by-step master class on how to make a surprise LOL doll with your own hands from paper:
- Redraw the image of the doll on paper or print out a template you like.
- Then glue it onto a sheet of thick cardboard and place it under a small press, for example, a thick book, until it dries completely.
- Carefully cut out the dried blank with scissors and, if necessary, paint it with paints, felt-tip pens or pencils.
- Draw or print out outfits for the doll on sheets of office paper, carefully cut them out, leaving white rectangles so that later you can dress up the outrageous little girl by folding them back.
The finished doll only needs to be packed in a 2D ball, behind each layer of which a new surprise will be hidden.
Advice! If the child is directly involved in creating the toy, then you can make two surprises that mom will pack herself so that he doesn’t know which one is which.
What can you make for LOL dolls from paper
A surprise ball is not the only thing you can make for LOL paper dolls. If you use enough imagination, you can make a dollhouse craft. Not only can playing with it completely captivate a child, but also the creation process. After all, you need to figure out how many rooms there will be in the dollhouse, what furniture there will be, what additional interior items will need to be made.
The simplest paper house can be made from a regular drawing album or notebook, or you can take large sheets of thick cardboard and assemble a home for the baby from them.
The cut-out blanks of future rooms should be painted with paints, pencils or pasted over with self-adhesive paper, imitating wallpaper on the walls. Furniture for the interior can be drawn so that it reflects the character of the little inhabitant or cut out from old magazines. It is better to make the doors of the house, cabinets and nightstands opening, and put outfits in the wardrobe.
A bathroom mirror can be made from a piece of foil. And don't forget about cute little things: flower pots, bedside lamps, bottles and jars of cosmetics.
The room sheets can be fastened together with a string, tying it into a bow, but it is better for an adult to do the stitching, since the baby can get hurt. With this method, there is still the possibility of adding rooms as you wish.
LOL paper dolls are not just an alternative to expensive store toys, but also an opportunity to develop a child's creative skills, which he will definitely need at school. To create his own unique LOL world with unique inhabitants, the child will need simple tools and materials for creativity, as well as support from parents.
