Harlequin Russian dolls

Today's the last day of my Russian dolls themed week. These dolls are quite small, the largest being just a few inches high. They were part of a "Paint your own Princess Dolls" kit that I found in the bookshop The Works for a few pounds. I really should go back and buy some more!

I love looking at images of Russian dolls online, and I've got a Pinterest board full of them. I loved the triangles on these dolls, the dark wood of these, the face of this doll, the vintage look of these, and the colours of a painting here (which also happen to be similar to the colours in my bathroom).

1. I painted the dolls with a couple of coats of interior wax to give a darker wood appearance.

2. I stuck washi tape to paper and used different sizes of circle punches to punch it out. Then I peeled it off and stuck to the dolls where I wanted the face.

3. I drew triangles all over with a pencil.

4. I filled in the triangles with various colours of paint - three colours of turquoise, and an orange mixed from red and yellow.

5. After peeling off the washi tape, I dotted on black and pink paint with a cocktail stick for the eyes and cheeks, and tiny dots of white as highlights in the eyes.

6. I gave them a coat of varnish.

7. I ran a craft knife around the join before separating the halves.

I think they are going to be very much at home in my bathroom!