Toto

Inspiration

rowing up, I shared a bedroom with my twin sister Claudia. Our bedroom was a magnificent place for make-believe. A place where Toto would come to life. It was a nice size room, large enough to fit two twin beds, a large low antique dresser, and still have, between the two beds, plenty of area to play. The north wall was a half wall painted royal blue with windows that expanded from side to side. The south wall had a wall to wall and ceiling to floor built-in-closet. The east wall was white, and my bed was against it. The west wall was covered with light cherry paneling, and my sister Claudia’s bed was against it. Disguised by the wood paneling, there was a secret door to the bathroom. Our bedroom was far from ordinary, as it welcomed Toto from time to time.

The bedroom floor was tiled with large 16” by 16” square yellow tiles. Those yellow tiles were fantastic. They came very handy when sorting barbie’s clothes, color pencils, or blocks. They were perfect for playing hopscotch. And the tiles provided a nice surface for playing jacks, and pick-up sticks. But the best of all, was when we pretended to be Dorothy as we skipped across the bedroom following the yellow-brick-road. I remember, in the evenings after brushing my teeth, following my own yellow-brick road, holding Toto in my arms, from the bathroom until I reached my bed. I would crawl in bed, close my eyes, and imagine having reached the Emerald City with my friend Toto. And then, my dreams would take over, transporting me to the magical worlds I used to draw with my colored pencils. Until the next day, when I would trace my steps back into the bathroom, and into an ordinary world where there was only room for yellow tiles, and none for yellow-brick-roads or Toto.

Toto Ornament Design Process

L. Frank Baum describes Toto in his book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, as being “a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose.” Based on his description of Toto, we can infer that Toto is either a Cairn Terrier, a Yorkie Terrier or a Silky Terrier. Nevertheless, Toto was a small black and friendly dog, whom Dorothy adored. So, I found wooden pegs smaller than those I used for the rest of the figurines in the Wizard of Oz ornaments collection, to make his body. Like some of the other figurines, I made his torso from cardboard tubes that I covered with black cotton material with different patterns.

I gave Toto a friendly face with a wee nose and silky hair that I painted using acrylic paint. I added ears made from felt on either side of his head. I made his paws from black glitter cardstock and gave him a tail made from black pipe-cleaners. To complete the Toto figurine, I added a green bow around his neck, just like Dorothy had “tied a green ribbon around Toto’s neck” when getting ready to meet the Wizard of Oz for the first time. Same as Dorothy, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, I placed Toto standing on a yellow base that represents the yellow-brick-road that leads to Emerald City. The yellow-brick-road that, just like me, you might have dreamed of following, once upon a time.