Dolls carry the news of the day By Jenny Stepanski [email protected] When Diane Allen, East Troy, formerly of Watertown, cleaned her mother's attic in the early 1970s, she found something that would create a spark inside her. That day Allen discovered four of her childhood dolls, as well as doll outfits, which evoked a sense of nostalgia that has yet to fade. As a member of the South Eastern Wisconsin Doll Club, Allen has been collecting dolls for over 40 years, but she doesn't settle for just collecting, she also customizes her collection. "When my husband was alive, I used to sew outfits for my dolls using vintage fabrics," she said, "but after his passing, I haven't felt much like sewing." For two years, Allen thought she was done designing doll clothes but then she found a new inspiration. In December 2013, she read an article in the New York Times that would challenge her to reignite her passion for design. "I read about a woman who created dresses for herself out of paper and I thought, 'I would like to try that, it's something different.' Only I wanted to do it on a smaller scale," said Allen. Shortly after reading the article, Allen began teaching herself how to make doll outfits out of the newspapers, mainly the Watertown Daily Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. When Allen learned that February would be her turn to host the South Eastern Wisconsin Doll Club meeting, she was inspired to host it around the theme "Barbie in the news," with the idea that she could create newspaper outfits to give as favors. She asked each member to collect articles of Barbie being mentioned in the news to share at the meeting. Then she began constructing a dresses made from newspapers to present to each member at the meeting. "Each dress was made for a specific person, to match her interest," She said. For example, one friend really enjoys cowboy-themed items, so that lady received a cowgirl. Another woman loves Target, so Allen used Target ads to construct the outfit, even pasting the store's logo on the dress. Allen said she loves using newspaper to produce outfits because "so much detail is there, but you don't notice it -- all you see is a big picture," she said. Each doll outfit takes her about a week to make, because the glue needs time to dry in between layers. She has produced 14 doll outfits since the beginning of the year, using patterns and glue. "At first I thought I would sew the paper dresses, but then the paper catches or the machine punches holes in it, so I switched to gluing. Now I use rubber cement or even school glue," she said. She describes the process of making the paper dresses as "cutting and pasting giddily." Although sometimes the paper would rip or patterns would not work out, she never let that discourage her from creating. "So yeah, I ruined quite a bit. It was a labor of love." She said referencing the fact that she was motivated by wanting to give the dolls and dresses to her friends in the club. After the outfit is completed, she stores it on the doll in a dark place, such as a closet, to keep the paper out of the sunlight and prevent fading. The dolls she used as the favors for the meeting were inexpensive, modern Barbies. Although she designed dresses in the past using fabrics, she said using newspaper presented a new type of thrill. "It's a thrill to search for the right articles and then envision what they will become," she said, then she gestured to a picture in the paper in front of her, "That would be such a great skirt! Even upside down, because you don't have to see the picture, it becomes something new." Then she pointed at a picture of two ladies wearing pink shirts and said, "And you see this, right here -- these ladies -- they will become the bodice. And you won't even know they are there!" Allen's collection includes over 300 dolls, many of which are Barbies. Although she also has some non- Barbie dolls, she considers herself mainly to be a Barbie person. "However," she said, "it's difficult when you start collecting to stick to just one thing. Barbie collectors can't just collect Barbies -- everyone has to take their collection in a different direction." Allen's other collecting interests include paper dolls, children's books, vintage clothing, nun dolls, Halloween-themed dolls, "Gone With the Wind" and "Mad Men" dolls, Madame Alexander dolls and Vogue dolls. Creating and collecting are therapeutic to Allen. "Collecting is good therapy and good motivations for those