I’ve always been fascinated with dolls and I believe that no one’s really too old to enjoy their company. From daily playthings to actual collections, I’m sure that each and every girl has had her own fair share of “doll-love” stories.
I’ve never been a fan of typical-looking dolls, though. Even as a child, my Barbies weren’t exactly just the typical “doctor Barbies” or “dentist Barbies,” – not because I didn’t like them, but merely because I wanted my dolls to have that extra character. That’s why Creative Chaos piqued my curiousity.
Margaux of Creative Chaos improved her skills in making dolls and creating crafted items from “ordinary” materials by watching online tutorials and taking workshops. Using various techniques like collaging, rubber stamping, and decoupage, on wooden gamepieces like puzzles, tangrams, domino tiles, jenga blocks, and toy blocks to turn them into wall or tabletop art and shelf sitters and sell them at arts and crafts fairs soon became her thing. The thought of “giving another chance at life” to old things, or adding another perspective or “facet” to everyday things and making others realize that these objects aren’t so ordinary after all is the inspiration for her business.
These are some of the pieces she created using old domino tiles and matchboxes:
Around September last year, she began to make button-eyed dolls freehand, taking inspiration from characters from books she has read and TV series she has watched. The thing about these dolls is that we are once made to think that button-eyed dolls are “witchy”, which made Margaux think that some might find them a little creepy. Its huge success therefore somewhat shocked her. Even husbands and fathers buy these dolls for their wives and daughters.
“One might say that I have found my “crochet voice” through the dolls,” Margaux shared. One thing I love about Creative Chaos is that it inspires thinking out of the box. Margaux told me that she prefers weirder designs because it makes the process of dollmaking more fun for her and more exciting for the customer.
When conceptualising a doll for me, she was quite challenged when I asked her to create a mini version of myself because she had never done a doll-version of a client before. When she found a photo of me wearing an anime-inspired hat, we made the decision to use that as inspiration.
Personally, I was giddy with anticipation just thinking about how my mini-me would turn out. To be fair, her worry was absolutely unnecessary because I absolutely loved the finish product!!!
The dolls are 15 to 17 inches tall and range from Php1,600 – 2,500 in price. She can also come up with petite versions that are about 7 to 8 inches in size (Php750).
I absolutely love the “personality” of each doll she produces. The dolls are of high quality, too, and come with their very own “birth certificates”, giving that extra buddy feel. It also smells like candy, making you want to snuggle with it even more!
Creative Chaos
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeChaosManila
Instagram: @margaux_creativechaos/
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeChaosMNL
Love dolls as much as I do? Check out another doll-story here: Bratz Dolls are Getting Make-Unders
