Frida Kahlo Altered Book Paper Doll

For this swap, you will create an altered book along the lines of , except you will create it so the face and clothing is that of Frida Kahlo.

I apologize in advance for not having more clear directions or a video, but here is what I think you should do to make this doll/altered book:

First, determine your book and cut the pages and covers to make a skirt shape as shown in the photo.

Next, glue some of the pages together and remove some of them. If you've made an altered book before, you know how to do this already. If you have not created an altered book before, there are plenty of videos and how-tos out there. Google it. You may determine this is beyond your skill set, but really, it is a lot of fun and not that hard. SO much fun! I really encourage you to give it a try!

I would like this altered book/doll to have a "niche." That is a cut-out space that will be the main display area in the front of the skirt where it will be on display when the book is stood up with the pages fanned out. Treat it as you would a shrine and fill it and decorate it to reflect Frida.

You should also decorate, paint, collage, and alter other pages in the "skirt" portion of the doll to pay homage to Frida and her style of artwork. I don't think we should put a tulle overskirt on our dolls, though. It will cover up the artwork.

Decorate the entire doll/pages with fibers, paint, collage, flowers, embellishments, etc. to reflect the theme.

Add a head and torso, arms, etc by creating them out of cardboard, and gluing those elements to either a long strip of cardboard or perhaps a paint stick or tongue depressor and inserting this into the spine of the book so the head, torso and arms are in the appropriate positions.

Make sure to sign the back of your doll/book with your name and group information as well as the date. People will surely keep these and need to know who the artist was.

I know this sounds rather daunting to those who may never have created an altered book, but believe me, these are wonderful works of art. I am giving a long creative time on these so you can experiment. An altered book is not something that can be created overnight. It takes much preparation, but they are keepsakes to be treasured. Believe me, when you finish yours, you will not want to give it up, so please make sure you create something that will wow your partner and make them happy they sent out a wonderful work of art.