Oh hello dear blog that I once upon a time kept up with. I’m afraid that your faster and more convenient social media competitors have relegated you to a back shelf. But I thought I would like to do a post on these most recent dolls of mine.

Having spent most of the summer delving into the world of needle felting and waldorf dolls, I took a little rabbit trail into waldorfs that weren’t needle felted. Easier, less time consuming and more cost effective for my shop, I thought a simpler, more small-child friendly doll would be a good addition.

So I started these. The first one I posted sold in hours, the next two had interested buyers before they were finished. Then I had a few custom requests. The interest was not just in their simplicity and lower price- but in the fact that you get two for the price of one. They are topsy turvy dolls- a pretty vintage idea (and a pretty strange one, I’ll admit) where the doll is in fact, legless and two headed. These strange deformities are, however, well covered by a generous skirt, so that, with a simple flip of the dress, you get two dolls in two costumes.

To make things even more fun, I’ve taken some inspiration from Disney and produced a set of fairy tale topsy-turveys. Cinderella was an obvious first choice- servant on one side, princess on the other.

But what about Sleeping Beauty? Disguised peasant girl wandering the forest discovers that she is really a princess- then ends up being cursed anyways, but gets a lovely crown and princess gown (not to mention a prince) to compensate for her losses. (And yes, I know her dress is blue and gets changed to pink later, but I already had a lot of blue dresses!)

It was easy to jump off from there. Next I tackled a struggling waitress from New Orleans who finds herself in love…wait for it….with a frog-

And then a long-haired, purple-clad, tower dweller who sacrifices her golden locks when need demands, replacing them with a cute brunette bob.

And of course the mermaid who wanted to be where the people are. I had a really hard time figuring out a way to make her fins look convincing. These dolls take a fair amount of creativity. We’re going with these for now with possible improvements in future.

And last but not least, a poor and obscure village beauty who longs for adventure and finds it (and a famous golden dress) right in her own back yard!

You guys- these were so fun to make. And my brain is swimming with other ideas and is more than open to custom suggestions. They are soft and cuddly and very sturdily made and even some of my boys love playing with them (on the sly, of course). I don’t need to tell you that my daughter has claimed every single one as soon as it is done. 😂

They’re all on my shop tonight! Let me know what you think and if you’re interested!