P is for Princesses

Today is the end of week three of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. It's letter P and this happens to be one of my top three favorite projects for this year's A to Z.

Princess Peg Dolls!

I made two sets of these for the two eldest nieces this past Christmas. I love how they turned out. They were really fun to make. Time consuming, but fun.

Today's post is pretty photo heavy, but I think it's worth it. It's more or less just some showing off...

I started out with a pile of wooden peg dolls that I bought from Woodworks, Ltd. They're super cute. You can buy them in several styles and sizes. Mine stand about 2 1/2" tall.

Each doll was painted using acrylic paints and basic art paint brushes.

It took me about 1 hour per doll. Some were a bit more time involved. I think Anna took me nearly three.

I set things up in somewhat of an assembly line fashion, minimizing the number of times I had to clean my brushes as I switched from color to color.

There were a couple of designs that I changed between the first and second batches, but mostly I remained true to my original designs.

I made 2 sets of 15 dolls each...a total of 30 painted dolls.

When all of the painting was done and each doll had dried, I had Collin help me out and each princess was coated with a thin layer of clearcoat spray.

These were probably my favorites of the gifts we gave for Christmas last year. There's no doubt that I will be making more in the future.

In fact, when I was done I had a hard time giving them up.

I now have a Pinterest board dedicated to ideas for future peg dolls.

It could be a small obsession.

If I thought I could get away with it, I'd quit my job and do nothing but paint peg dolls and sew hand puppets all day long. It's just too fun.

There were a few times that I had to search out the characters on the internet to get specifics on their costumes and hair.

I tried to make them as accurately detailed as possible, down to the bow and arrow on Merida's hip, the flowers on Anna's jumper, and the curling vine on Tiana's dress.

This was one of those projects where the time invested definitely paid off. I didn't mind the amount of time it took. It was fun to watch them come to life as I painted.

What do you think? Were they worth the time investment?

How did I do? Would you have recognized them all if there hadn't been name labels? Who would you have missed?

Do you have any favorites among the bunch?

I'll be spending the next couple of days working on a few of the projects for the rest of the month. If you liked today's post, you'll definitely want to make sure you pop over next Wednesday for letter S. I think you'll like it.

Oh...the project for Monday's Q is also pretty good. Don't mind me while I strain my arm trying to pat myself on the back.

Miss any of my A to Z posts so far this year? Find them below...

1. A is for Anna (Easy Anna Cape)
2. B is for Bath (Appliqued Bath Mat)
3. C is for Child (Children's Growth Ruler)
4. D is for Denim (Denim Bib)
5. E is for Etch (Etched Casserole Dishes)
6. F is for Felt (Felt Hopscotch Mat)
7. G is for Good Night ("Good Night" Envelope Pillows)
8. H is for Hood (Easy Hooded Towel)
9. I is for Insulated (Insulated Beverage Cozies)
10. J is for Jumper (Embroidered Spring Jumper)
11. K is for Know (Know When to Hold 'Em/Fold 'Em Laundry Sign)
12. L is for Loveseat (Envelope Loveseat Pillows)
13. M is for Mittens (Fleece Baby Mittens)
14. N is for Ninja Turtle (Felt Ninja Turtle)
15. O is for Owl (Owl Stuffies)

Are you visiting from A to Z?

Be sure to leave me a comment (including your blog link) so I can come over and return the favor!