(_FOR LITTLE GIRLS._)
CORN-HUSK AND FLOWER DOLLS.
NO such beautiful dolls as delight the hearts of the children of
to-day, ever peeped forth from the Christmas-stockings of our
grandmothers or great-grandmothers when they were little girls. In
those times there were not, as there are now, thousands of people
doing nothing but making toys for the entertainment and pleasure of
the little ones, and the motherly little hearts were fain to content
themselves with lavishing unlimited affection and care upon a rag,
wooden, or corn-husk baby, made and dressed at home. Since then almost
every child tired of, and surfeited with handsome and expensive
toys, has been glad at times to get grandma to make for her a real
old-fashioned dollie which might be hugged in rapturous moments of
affection without fear of dislocating some of its numerous joints, or
putting out of order its speaking or crying apparatus; and might in
times of forgetfulness be dropped on the floor and suffer no injury
thereby. Such a doll is just the kind to adopt for the summer. The fine
French doll with its delicate wax or china face, silky hair, and dainty
toilets, is more suited to the elegances of the parlor than to the wear
and tear of out-door life, and everyone knows that summer holidays
spent in the country are far too precious to be wasted taking care of
anyone’s complexion, let alone a doll’s; so it is best to leave the
city doll in her city home, safe out of harm’s way, and manufacture,
from materials to be found in the country, one more suited to country
surroundings.
Corn-husks, corn-cobs, and ordinary garden flowers can be made into
dolls which, although not quite so pretty nor so shapely as those
produced from more costly material, yet possess a charm of their own
which the children are not slow to perceive.
Little Indian girls, to whom store babies are unknown, make the most
complete and durable corn-husk dolls, and the following directions tell
just how to construct them:
[Illustration: Head Commenced.]
[Illustration: The Corn Husk.]
[Illustration: Corn-husk Tied.]
[Illustration: Head Finished.]
[Illustration: Head and Arms.]
Provide yourself with the husks of several large ears of corn, and from
among them select the soft white ones which grow closest to the ear.
Place the stiff ends of two husks together, fold a long, soft husk in a
lengthwise strip, and wind it around the ends so placed as in Fig. 111.
Select the softest and widest husk you can find, fold it across the
centre and place a piece of strong thread through it (as in Fig. 112),
draw it in, tie it securely (Fig. 113), place it entirely over the
husks you have wound, then bring it down smoothly and tie with thread
underneath (Fig. 114); this will form the head and neck. To make the
arms, divide the husks below the neck in two equal parts, fold together
two or more husks and insert them in the division (Fig. 115). Hold the
arms in place with one hand, while with the other you fold alternately
over each shoulder several layers of husks, allowing them to extend
down the front and back. When the little form seems plump enough, use
your best husks for the topmost layers and wrap the waist with strong
thread, tying it securely (Fig. 116). Next divide the husks below the
waist and make the legs by neatly wrapping each portion with thread,
trimming them off evenly at the feet. Finally, twist the arms once or
twice, tie, and trim them off at the hands. The features can be drawn
on the face with pen and ink, or may be formed of small thorns from
the rose-bush. Fig. 117 shows the doll complete, minus its costume,
which may be of almost any style or material, from the pretty robe of
a civilized lady to the more scanty garments of its originator, the
Indian. The doll is represented in full Indian costume in Fig. 118. The
war-paint and tomahawk are not necessary here, as he is smoking a pipe
of peace. His apparel is composed of one garment, which is cut from a
broad, soft corn-husk, after the pattern given in Fig. 119. A narrow
strip of husk tied about his waist forms the belt.
[Illustration: Head, Arms, and Body.]
[Illustration: Finished Doll.]
His head-dress is made of small chicken feathers stuck at regular
intervals into a strip of husk. The corn-silk hair is placed on his
head, and on top of that one end of the head-dress is fastened with a
thorn.
A small twig is used for the stem of his pipe, and two rose-bush thorns
form the bowl. Instead of using a thorn for his mouth, a round hole is
punched in the face and the stem of the pipe inserted.
[Illustration: A Real Indian Doll.]
[Illustration: The Indian’s Dress.]
=Mary Jane.=
Here is another way of making a doll which is very easy and simple.
First find a young ear of corn, one on which the silk has not turned
brown; then with a crab-apple for a head and a leaf of the corn to
dress her with, you have your material. Cut off squarely that end of
the ear where the husks are puckered, to join the stalk, and carefully
take the silk from the other end, disturbing as little as possible the
closely wrapped husks.
Roll part of the leaf (as indicated in Fig. 120) for the arms, then
with a small twig fasten the head to the arms; stick the other end of
the twig into the small end of the corn-cob, and the doll is ready for
dressing. Her bonnet is made of the leaf just where it joins the stalk
(Fig. 121), and is fastened to her head with a thorn. Before adjusting
the bonnet, however, the silk must be placed on the head to form the
hair.
[Illustration: Material and Parts of Doll.]
[Illustration: Mary Jane.]
Make the scarf of part of the leaf (Fig. 122), fold it around the
shoulders, and secure it with thorns.
The features also are made of thorns.
When her toilet is complete, you can but acknowledge that this
rosy-cheeked little maid, peeping from beneath her poke-bonnet, is very
cunning indeed.
=Flower Dolls.=
[Illustration]
The flower lady with the baby is made of a yellow gourd flower; the
small gourd attached, which has just begun to form, serves for her
head; a green gourd leaf is used for her shawl, and her bonnet is made
of a smaller leaf folded to fit her head. The baby is a white gourd
bud, with a cap made of a leaf. A small twig stuck through part of the
lady’s shawl, through the baby, and into the lady doll, holds the child
in place and makes it appear as though clasped in the mother’s arms.
The features of both dolls are scratched on with a pin and then inked.
To make the lady stand erect, a small twig is stuck into the heart of
the flower, and the other end into the top of a small paste-board-box
lid.
The other flower doll is made of the common garden flowers. The
underskirt is a petunia; a Canterbury-bell forms the over-skirt and
waist; small twigs, or broom-straws stuck through buds of the phlox,
are the arms, and the head is a daisy with the petals cut off to look
like a bonnet. The features are made with pen and ink on the yellow
centre. A reversed daisy forms the parasol.
If the flowers named are not at hand, those of a similar shape will
answer just as well.
Gaily dressed little ladies can be made of the brilliantly tinted
hollyhocks, and many other flowers can also be transformed into these
pretty though perishable dolls.
[Illustration]