How to Make African Dolls
- 1). Cut a piece of board or plywood 6 by 6-inches. Drill a hole in the center of it slightly smaller then the thickness of the wire used to make a wire hanger. Don't drill all the way through the wood. This will be the base of the African doll.
- 2). Cut the long, straight length of wire from the bottom of the wire hanger. Squeeze a dab of silicone glue into the hole in the wood base and stick one end of the wire hanger in the hole. Let glue set up.
- 3). Cut a 12 by 12-inch square of fiber batting out and wrap it around the vertical wire. Use a hot glue gun to seal the batting together. Hot glue a 2-inch diameter ball of batting to the top of the wire.
- 4). Take a dark tube sock and pull it down over the wire and batting form. Cut off excess from the bottom and then staple the sock to the wood base with a staple gun. Cut two slits on either side of the sock where outstretched arms should be located. Cut a length of clothes hanger wire 8 to 9-inch long and push it through one slit in the sock and out the other.
- 5). Take hemp cord and start wrapping it around the sock covered batting glued on for the head. Wrap and hot glue periodically until the head is the correct size for the body. Start wrapping the cord again but this time start wrapping under the arms then up and over working upwards to form the neck. Keep wrapping the neck until it's in proportion to the head.
- 6). Cut 2-inch strips of colorful cloth and start hot gluing them to the body of the doll. Start at the bottom and work up slowly overlapping strips of fabric on top of the previous layer. Work up to below the outstretched wire arms. Come back with scissors and cut those individual 2-inch strips into finer strips to create the look of grass.
- 7). Drape more fabric over the arms, glue and cut as in Step 6. Over the colorful fabric drape and glue on burlap for a rustic look.
- 8). Warm up a ball of Fimo polymer clay--a synthetic clay, in your hands then sculpt a miniature African mask that is in proportion to the head. This mask when finished will be glued on to the front of the head wrapped in hemp cord. Fire the clay mask in a toaster oven per directions on the package. Let it cool.
- 9). Use brushes and acrylic artist paints to finish rendering the details on the clay mask. Glue the mask to the head with silicone glue. Hot glue on strips of raffia--a natural grass-like fiber purchased at craft stores, around the edge of the mask to add drama or use it for hair.
