I had my fair share of dolls when I was young but the one that stands out in my memory was named Betty Bonnet and she was made of paper. I coerced my dad into photocopying my Betty Bonnet book numerous times so that I could colour in her outfits over and over again and many happy hours were spent cutting out the pieces and playing with Betty’s family.

Yes, I may be too old to play with paper dolls but I’m not too old to admire them; I have framed a few single page sheets of paper dolls for my daughter’s bedroom wall, including the modern but quaint designs by Emily Martin of The Black Apple.

Babyology reader Stephanie recently provided us with a whole new avenue for paper doll collecting by pointing us in the direction of Lulu. Lulu is a self-publishing website that is free to join. There are oodles of free downloads including lots of great activities for children, notably very sweet retro paper dolls and divine vintage lacing cards.

Our reader Stephanie is clearly very crafty as she sent a couple of great tips that wouldn’t have occurred to me in a million years. These include printing your paper dolls on magnetic paper (readily available at stationery suppliers) and using a scrap-booking mini-hole puncher to create neat holes in your lacing cards. Thank you Stephanie!

Also check out sweet little Melanie, a doll to colour in and the very groovy mod dolls complete with a huge summer, fall and spring wardrobe – both are free to download.