Pink CIrcus Elephant dollPaper dolls are the perfect emergency boredom-buster to have on hand, at least if you’re our family; every fall, a bunch of annoying colds and coughs descend on my children, leaving at least one of them at any given time home on a school day, moaning “I’m boooooored.” I’m loving this wonderful Etsy find as an alternative to 12-hour movie marathons.

We’re already big fans of the gorgeous collectible carved Alice in Wonderland dolls at Etsy shop Cart Before the Horse, but we’re so happy to find their awesome articulated paper-animal dolls which are just as lovely.

articulated paper doll elephant | cart before the horse
Just cut out the paper doll parts which are printed on beautiful heavy paper stock, add a few mini-brads (okay, so you might want to have those on hand) and the dolls are ready for all kinds of moveable, poseable action. And if you’re looking for a new twist on wall decor, all of these paper creations would look exceptionally sweet in a shadow box, too.

red riding hood paper dolls | cart before the horse
articulated paper dolls | cart before the horse
Personally, I think if anything’s going to make a lethargic four-year-old smile, it’s a striped-sock-clad, plie-ing pink elephant–or a Big Bad Wolf or a dragonfly named Lulu. And I’ll take any of those over another auto-tuned episode of The Backyardigans any day. –Stephanie S.

Welcome home one of the elegant DIY articulated paper dolls from Cart Before the Horse

[h/t smallforbig on Pinterest]