altered art fairy doll DIY

I picked up this book from the library last week and Tara and I decided to make some altered art. The projects in this book are super simple, adooooorable beyond words and are a great starting point for more complex projects. I have never done altered art before but have always been interested in it...so this was the perfect opportunity. My goal was to get Tara to do most everything by herself...she picked the project and the materials and I helped + guided her.

This was the lady that caught her eye (isn't she too fantastic??)..."Doll of Eclectic Origin"...perfect!! So... we used her as a staring point...not wanting to exactly copy her.

So we looked around the house and found our materials...an old lampshade that was damaged during our move; I ripped off the fabric and ...it's perfect for her dress!! Some fabric, ribbon, paper flowers, sparkly tissue paper, buttons...

A sheet of watercolor paper becomes her bodice!! Here's Tara painting it...love the gorgous bright colors!

Here's Tara placing the rolled up piece of paper into the lampshade base. Perfect!! I used duct tape on the inside to keep it all together.

Next I fashioned the wings out of 20 gauge wire (I have all sorts of cool + funky stuff in my studio!!) and then...

added some pattered paper + glue = beeeeeyoooootiful fairy wings!!

Next...Tara wanted the sparkly tissue paper for her dress. Then she added some paper flowers, ribbon and fabric roses. I added the wings (more duct tape!!).

Another view...isn't she gorgous???

 Tara wanted to add flowers to her dress...

Then we added a photo attached to a wooden ice cream stick...a glittery crown (of course!!) and ta dah!!!
Tara is excited beyond belief!! The best part??...seeing her face in wide open excitement at what she created!! Next...we're going to try our hand at the travelling circus:) Thanks for looking!