Simple bead head dollhouse dolls

April asked about acquiring a family of dolls at an affordable price, dressed as pioneers from the Little House books. Her twelve year old is working on a Little House project. Grammy is an example of the first dolls I made for my dollhouses. She has a pipe cleaner skeletal system. Her arms and legs are covered with hollow shoe string pieces and her torso was padded with batting and gauze. She has a wooden bead head that has been painted, along with the shoe string limbs with flesh colored acrylic paint. A simple face was drawn/painted and then she was dressed with fabric scraps. Her shoes are felt and her apron is a paper doily. Her hair is macrame cord that has been unraveled.

To make the skeleton start with one pipe cleaner that is about twice as long as you want the finished doll to be tall. For example, for a 5 inch doll start with a 10 inch long pipe cleaner piece. Bend it in half into an upside down "V." Leave about half to three quarters of an inch at the point of the V and twist that section tightly. Cut a piece of pipe cleaner to roughly twice the length of an arm and slip it into the skeleton right under the twisted portion. Twist tightly for the next inch or so, then spread the remaining pipe cleaner to form two legs. Cut a hollow shoelace into 2 arm length pieces and 2 leg length pieces and slip them over the corresponding limb. Paint the limbs and the bead with the flesh colored paint and let dry. Next, pad the torso with batting and wrap it with self stick gauze to hold in place. If necessary, stitch the shoe strings edges to the stuffed torso. Paint the face with simple eyes, nose and mouth - don't forget the eyebrows! Now dress and wig your doll. Have fun and good luck!