Making It Together: Corn Husk Dolls

One of the beautiful benefits of making things with a group of people is the experience and expertise of others. I have never made a corn husk doll and would probably never decide to learn how to make one on my own. Fortunately my friend Jamie figured out how to make them and shared her knowledge with the rest of us.

First, you start with corn husks that have been soaked in water to make them pliable. You will need about 9 husk leaves. You may want to lay down towels to protect your work surface from water. Blot dry the corn husks.



Tie 4 husks toward the top of the skinny part of the leaves:



Flip the leaves over leaving the tied part on the "inside" of the husks. Ball up a small piece of newspaper to form the head and tie to hold in place:



Wrap a small corn husk leaf around a pipe cleaner and tie ends. Trim the remainder of the pipe cleaner:



Insert arms and ball up more newspaper to form the body. Tie to hold in place:



Add another 4 or 5 leaves to the outside of the body to form the skirt. Tie and hot glue to hold in place:




Wrap another husk around the neck and secure in back with hot glue. Glue another leaf around the waste to make a belt. Feel free to add more newspaper under the skirt to add more volume:



Add hair and embellishments as you see fit. Form arms to desired pose:



Ta da!