If you've been a regular reader of The Crafty Crow, you
know that I often feature peg doll tutorials. They are such
a simple homemade toy that appeal to all children
and bring an immense feel of satisfaction and
play value to the maker.
In March, 2011, I featured a project for fairy
peg people by Margaret Bloom, of We Bloom Here, and
today I am happy to help launch the blog tour for a new
book by Margaret called Making Peg Dolls
. You'll find the book packed with over 60 cute peg doll designs that
reflect the seasons, fairy tales, holidays and festivals.
Besides the wood peg doll bases, you probably
have the rest of the supplies on hand. Margaret’s book
offers clear, step-by-step instructions with delightful
hand-drawn illustrations for creating beautiful designs.
However, in her introduction, she tells the reader:
Please do not limit yourself to my designs. Give a handful
of blank dolls to eager children and see what they come
up with. Hold a few dolls in your own hands. Let them
whisper into your ear their own stories.
Each little doll has a story to tell…
In honor of the blog tour and book launch, Margaret has
shared a Valentine Love-Bug tutorial just for Crafty Crow
readers! Wouldn’t one of these little dolls be a lovely way
to greet a child at breakfast on Valentine’s morning?
Valentine Love-Bug Peg Doll Tutorial
Supplies:
A handful of wooden peg doll bases (mine are
4 cm tall, but you could use any size)
Watercolor paint and brushes
Wool felt in pink, lavendar and white
Fabric scissors and pinking shears
Paper flower stamens
Lightweight cardstock or other paper
White craft glue
Scotch tape/Sellotape
Toothpicks
Glitter
Directions:
Step 1: First paint hair and then faces on your dolls.
Step 2: Paint the bodies of your dolls a pale
shade of pink or lavender.
Step 3: From pink or lavender felt, cut three small
strips per doll. For my 4 cm dolls, I cut each strip a half
cm wide by 6 cm long. If you would like your dolls to be
able to carry tiny placards, apply glue to the middle strip
of felt, according to the photo above.
Step 4: To secure the antennae, cut a small circle of felt
1 cm wide. Bend a paper flower stamen in half and glue
so that the bend in the stamen is secured beneath
the circle of felt.
Note: if you cannot obtain paper flower stamens,
antennae can be constructed by looping tiny beads
onto the ends of thin gauge wire.
Step 5: Cut wings from white felt and secure to the back
of your Love Bugs with glue. I cut my wings together
in one piece, however, if you prefer, you can cut each
wing separately. Teardrop shapes cut from
felt make nice wings.
Step 6: To create tiny placards for the dolls to hold, type
words & messages, print them on lightweight cardstock
and then use a pinking shears to clip around each word.
If you don’t want to type the words, you could write
them on your paper and then cut them out with
regular scissors or pinking shears.
Step 7: Attach a toothpick to the back of your placard
with a bit of scotch tape/sellotape.
Step 8: As a final touch, you can use a paint brush to
apply a bit of glue around the edge of each placard and
add glitter for a bit of extra sparkle.
It would be fun to try different color combinations or
make up your own original messages for the little
dolls to carry on their placards…
I hope you have fun as you prepare for Valentine’s Day!
Thank you so much to Margaret for this
sweet Valentine peg doll tutorial!
Check out the cute animation in
the trailer for Making Peg Dolls here!
In the upcoming blog tour there will be book excerpts,
giveaways, an interview with Margaret Bloom, and more:
February 5th: The Magic Onions
February 6th: The Toymaker
February 7th: Clean
February 8th: Anna Branford
February 11th: Red Bird Crafts
February 12th: Art is a Way
February 13th: Softearth's World
February 14th: Chocolate Eyes
February 15th: Rhythm and Rhyme
February 18th: Wild Faerie Caps
February 19th: Sacred Dirt
All photos by Margaret and Paul Bloom, used
with permission of Hawthorn Press.
