Make your own String Voodoo Dolls!

Okay...let's start with a disclaimer.
I did this project with my 10 and 8 year old kids.
I thought this would be a fun kid craft...but it turned out
to be a little harder than anticipated...
so I ended up doing all the wrapping...
and they came in to decorate.

This would be a fun gift for kids to give their friends!
Funny little stocking stuffers too!

Step 1: What You'll Need...

So here is what you'll need:
Pipe cleaners
Wooden Bead or ball (ours are balls with a hole half way through it)
Yarn
Embroidery floss
School glue
Hot glue
Scissors
Felt
Patience

Step 2: Build the Skeleton!

You will need to build a skeleton frame for your little guy.

Take a pipecleaner and a wooden ball bead.

Begin by making a skeleton.
Fold the Pipe cleaner in half...
Wooden Bead or Ball hot glued in place
Bend pipe cleaners about an inch away from head to make arms.
Then back to the middle.
Then bend remaining length in half for the legs.
It basically makes a star shape!

Step 3: Mummify!

Take your yarn. We used white yarn and covered the whole body.
It ends up looking like a mummy!

We tied it off in the middle and began wrapping.
Our pipe cleaners were thick fuzz, so there
was some trimming that took place.

The yarn slips around a bit, so this is where I sort of took over.
I used hot glue to tack the yarn in place here and there...

Especially over the head. It was so slippery that
the yarn just kept sliding off.

Finally all mummified!

Step 4: Clothing!

Next we busted out the embroidery floss.
You could use yarn or twine...but we have gangs of this stuff.

Now you are building the clothes!
You have to decide what you want your little voodoo baby to look like...I picked a pumpkin head guy.
The kids picked a fairy and a bunny. Then we did a bunch more!

I found that hot gluing the ends of the hands and
then wrapping from hand to hand works best.

Step 5: Glue

After they were all covered...we spread a little school glue on the
backside of them. I thought maybe this would keep the string
in place forever...since it was delicate work getting it on!

Step 6: Decorate!

Then we used bits of felt and hot glue to decorate!

I used more floss and a needle to stitch little X eyes and a straight mouth...
and some stitches on his chest.

And a stick from the yard for a stem!
or
Eyelashes and googily eyes--and a lollipop!
or
Wiskers, ears and a nose!
or...
A Santa hat and beard

Whatever you like!
You could poke pins in it...

Something about the raggedness of these voodoo dolls is so charming!

Step 7: Pick Favorites!

And I think this little Pink bubble gum voodoo baby is my favorite!
I love the uneven legs and the whimsical smile!

Step 8: Done!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Let me know if you make a string doll!
They are so cute!
We started a game called "house ninja"...we hide that little ninja guy around
the house and when you find him, you hide him somewhere different.
The family LOVES it!

Thanks for viewing! Vote for me in the Fiber Arts Contest!

Check out my blog: doodlecraft