How to Paint Nesting Dolls the Easy Way

Learn how to paint nesting dolls with spray paint and some acrylic paint details. These got a revamp, and I’ll show you how it’s done!

Skills Required: Beginner. You’ll be doing a lot of painting – but it’s simple painting, so don’t worry if you’re not Van Gogh. This is a great starter project for getting handy with brushes.

Well, hello again!  It’s Jennifer of Brave New Home here to share a refresh project today. I love taking once loved items, breathing new life into them and falling in love with them all over again.

At Brave New Home, I blog about home design, decorating, and create lots of thrifty DIY projects in the process. I invite you to stop on over whenever you have a chance! Onto today’s project.

I have a set of nesting dolls that I received as a present from my mother when I was a little girl. There used to be five of them total but they somehow got into my four-year-old’s hands and two went missing.

A third got broken. These dolls have sentimental meaning to me and try as I might, I could never find a way to work them into my home decor. So rather than safely store them away, I decided to breathe new life into them to display and enjoy them.

For this project, you will need a set of wooden nesting dolls (you can buy unfinished wooden ones so you don’t have to paint over a design), primer, acrylic paints, and clear acrylic spray paint.

DIY Stacking Dolls

I started by giving them a coat of primer. It felt wrong spray painting over a beautiful design, but I assured myself that in the end this would actually lead to these objects being better enjoyed.

I got some spray paint on the part of the wood where the top and bottom parts meet so I sanded it off. Any paint in this area will make it excessively difficult to open and close your nesting dolls, so you want to remove it.

Because the wood is thin, you’ll want to be gentle when opening and closing your dolls.

Next, I penciled in my design. I wanted them to look recognizable, yet modernized.

I painted on my design with acrylic paints.

Think about layering the paints for the neatest finish possible. This means you’ll want to start with the paints that cover the largest area then work your way in. I had so much fun painting my dolls, I lost all track of time!

After my dolls were completely dried, I went in with a permanent marker to add the details of their faces.

Finally, I gave the dolls a spray of clear acrylic coating.

Looking at my images (which are actually larger than the dolls themselves), I see now that I could have mixed my paint a little more thoroughly. Having said that, it just adds to the uniqueness of the project!

Sidebar: don’t ever be too hard on yourself when it comes to painted crafts. Just go with the flow, so to speak.

I think these stacking dolls could work with everyday decor, but could also have a place in holiday decorating. Especially if you use Christmas colors.

I wish I would have included some hearts from the front view. They up the sweet factor just a bit more.

While looking for some other wood pieces, I coincidentally found out you can actually buy unfinished nesting dolls to paint yourself in case you don’t have an unused set you’re willing to paint on. That’s pretty cool, right?

If you are interested in a buying a set of stacking dolls that are unpainted, just click on the image below:

Are you ready to get crafty? You can get the printed how to card for this project here:

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For other painted projects we love, check out the following posts:

• Tribal Painted Baskets
• Wooden Nativity Set
• Make Oscar Statues From Ken Dolls
• 14K Gold Picture Frame