The Nutcracker Printable Ballerina Paper Dolls

You’re probably not surprised to hear that one of my favorite holiday traditions is going to see The Nutcracker (though you might be surprised to know that I’ve only performed in it twice: the two years between college and marriage).

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My mom and I took Honeybun for the first time the first winter we were back from Dublin and since we missed it last year, I’ll definitely be taking the girls this year.

But I don’t just go see a live performance then call it a season. I enjoy it for weeks by reading the book version with my kids. (And, of course, I have many different children’s versions to share with them!)

We also enjoy the cool Florida days watching the different recorded versions, some that I have on DVD and others I can find on TV. And we even listen to the music in the car as part of our Holiday music rotation.

And this year, I decided to take it to another level and we’re going to be reading the original E.T.A. Hoffman book, learning about the original ballet production and different ways The Nutcracker has been adapted and interpreted over time.

But I thought it would be fun to start with a creative project for the girls, ballerina paper dolls. They got into my American Girl paper dolls when we were back in Colorado this Spring and Honeybun has even started creating her own drawings that she uses during our daily resting time.

So I created them a set of printable ballerina paper dolls.

Their ballerina paper dolls set includes not only the dancer but also different ballet costume options for them to design their own costumes for The Nutcracker including classical (“pancake”) style tutus, long romantic tutus/dresses, leotards that can become whatever they want and pant/top options for the dances like Chinese, Russian and Arabian.

I chose to print the ballerina paper dolls and costumes onto card stock (AL) so they’re sturdier and used scrap booking adhesive squares (AL) to help stick the costumes to the ballerina paper dolls but you could also use light-hold glue dots (AL).

Decorating their ballerina paper dolls became an all morning crafting event when even Doodle got into decorating the costumes. You can simply color the ballerina paper dolls costumes or make the craft more involved and authentic by using (affiliate links:) fabric scraps, sequins, stickers, ribbon, glitter glue and any other miscellaneous bits and pieces laying around the house like we did.

This would also be awesome for creating a felt board set by printing on to iron-transfer paper then onto felt  on to Iron-on Transfer Paper (AL) and then copied onto Colored Felt (AL) and could be used for any ballet, not just The Nutcracker.

Pin it! and download the printable ballerina paper dolls.

This post is a part of the Christmas Book and Craft Ideas hosted by Emma Owl. Be sure to check out all the other great crafts in the series including:

Christmas Tree Craft by Books and Giggles

Dinosaur Poo Play Dough by The Gingerbread House

Easy Felt Reindeer Handprint and Footprint Ornament by Crafty Mama in Me