Scissors

Ribbon or Buttons: 1/2 yard of string or ribbon, or 6 buttons In the 18th century, a working man’s buttons would have been made of horn, bone, wood, or pewter. Choose buttons about 5/8" wide in brown, off-white, or white metal. Eighteenth Century buttons usually had 2 holes, not four, or were metal with a loop on the back.

Glue, markers. Corn silk, moss, yarn or wool for hair are optional.

Wealthy girls might have dolls which were shipped from England. Such dolls were often delicate and made of wood with glass eyes and human hair. Children on a tenant farm did not have bought dolls, instead, they might have a cloth doll made from rags or corn husks, both of which are items found on the farm.

Directions:

2. Tie the husks at the top. Hold the tied end and fold the husks down over the knot.

3. Use a piece of string to tie a neck about 1" below the fold. This will be the head.

4. Roll another husk, lengthwise, to make a long tube. This will be the arms.

5. Tie the ends of the "arms," about 1/2" from the edges. That will make the wrists and hands.

6. Slide the arm section up under the neck.

7. Tie a string tightly below the arms to hold them in place and to make a waist.

8. Draw a face on the dolly with permanent marker.

9. Optional - Your dolly does not need hair, but you can make it by gluing on corn silk, moss, yarn or wool.