Make a Corn Husk Doll - Claude Moore Colonial Farm>

Supplies:
Dried Corn Husks Corn husks are the green outer layer of fresh corn. Corn husk dolls are made out of dried corn husks. When corn is not available in grocery stores, corn husks can sometimes be found in the Mexican food section of the grocery store or at craft stores. 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.
Background: 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: 1. Take at least 2 corn husks and put them together like pages in a book; put aside at least 1 corn husk for the arms. 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. 10. If you want your doll to wear trousers, cut the bottom of the husks up the middle, almost to the waist tie, then tie each side about 1/2" from the bottom to make ankles and feet.

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