Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
The Doll's Head
Crumple the aluminum foil onto the end of the skewer. Mold it into a basic skull shape with a rounded top and back, flat sides, and a tapered front. Compress the skull into a tight ball that is two-thirds the desired size of the finished doll's head.
Wrap the skull with masking tape. Continue to wrap the tape from the bottom of the skull down the first one-fourth inch of the skewer in order to create a neck.
Make a dent halfway between the top and the bottom of the front of the skull. The dent should be about one-eighth of the skull's depth. If the back flattens, that's OK. You can fix that later with clay.
Flatten a piece of clay and mold it over the front of the skull. Press the clay firmly enough to remove any air bubbles. Repeat until the skull is covered with clay. Add a thicker piece to round out the back of the skull if it was smashed when you made the dent. Blend the clay pieces together so that the skull is smooth.
Draw a horizontal line across the dent with the dull edge of the craft knife or with a toothpick. Draw another line running vertically along the center of the dent. Make two short marks along the horizontal line so that one is on each side of the vertical line. These are where the eyes will be placed. Make another mark halfway up the vertical line from the bottom of the dent. This is where the nose will go. Make a third mark halfway between the nose line and the bottom of the dent. This where the mouth will go.
Form a small piece of clay into a ball and flatten it slightly. Place it between the mouth mark and the bottom of the skull. Blend it with the filbert brush in with the rest of the skull to create a chin. Spread the clay toward the right, the left, and the bottom of the skull, but do not push the clay upwards where the nose will go.
Form another tiny ball of clay into an oval shape. Place it on the nose mark and blend it in place with the filbert brush. Blend up, and to the right and left, but not down toward the chin. Shape it into a nose.
Shape the mouth mark that should still be between the nose and chin into a pair of lips. Press the stylus into the space between the nose and the mouth lightly to make a philtrum (now that you know what that mysterious dent's called).
Gently press your pinkie finger into the eye marks to make eye sockets. Make sure there's still a small ridge between them to make the bridge of the nose. Soften the edges of the sockets so that they aren't too deep.
Refine the contours of the face using your fingers and your tools. Turn the skull to the side to see if the profile is what you envisioned, and if not, go back and re-sculpt.
Mark the inside and outside corners of the eyes with a toothpick. Draw in the eyes to fit the corners.
Mark where you want one ear to go using the stylus, then extend the line over the top of the head to the other side so that the second ear mark is even with the first. Form a tiny roll of clay for each ear and blend it into the rest of the head. Smooth the line over the top as well as any other seams or tool marks remaining in the clay.
Make a mound of clay in the center of a baking sheet. Set the skewer lengthwise on top of it and press down a little bit. The head should not be touching the bottom of the baking sheet. This keeps it from being flattened in the oven. Bake the clay according to the package's directions.
The Doll's Body
Cut a 23-inch length of wire and bend it in half. Shape the bend into a tight loop and twist the ends together other five or six times. This will be the doll's torso. Spread the remaining lengths of the ends apart slightly. These pieces will form the doll's legs.
Cut a 12-inch length of wire. This piece will form the doll's arms. Hold it perpendicular to the torso wire so that it intersects where the wires stop twisting. Loop each leg wire behind the arm wire. Bend each end of the arm wire at the points where you want the shoulders to go. Bend the ends of the arms to form wrists.
Twist the section of wire directly under the point where the arms intersect the torso. Repeat six to seven times. Spread the leg wires apart to the desired width of the doll's hips. Bend the wires at the hip point so that the legs run straight down. Bend the ends of the legs to form ankles. Pose the doll the way you want her to look when finished.
Roll snake-shaped pieces of clay and flatten them slightly. Wrap the pieces around the wire to form the torso.
Flatten additional pieces of clay and cover the existing torso clay with them. Press firmly to make sure there are no air bubbles in the clay. Blend the edges together with the filbert brush. Form breasts, a bottom, and a waist with the clay and smooth them onto the torso. Repeat with the arms and legs, making shoulders, elbows and knees.
Hands and Feet
Form two small balls of clay. Flatten them into tapered ovals. The wider ends will be the hands and the narrow ends will be the wrists.
Pinch pieces from the wider end of the oval and roll them into tiny cone shapes. These are the fingers. Reattach them to the hands using the filbert brush. Blend in all the seams. Draw fingernails with a toothpick. Make sure you have a right and a left hand and not two of the same!
Make the feet the same way, but with larger ovals and smaller cone shapes for toes.
Stick the hands and feet onto the wrist and ankle wires.
Attaching the Head
Remove the head from the skewer. Stick it onto the loop at the top of the torso and carefully slide it down.
Wind a slightly flattened snake of clay around the neck area and blend it into the shoulders and torso.
Slide the head to meet the neck and blend the pieces together.
Refine the doll's pose. Go back over the body to check that all the pieces are smooth.
Wrap the doll's head in foil. Bake the doll according to the package's directions.
The Doll's Hair
Cut a slit in the bottom of the sandwich bag. Slip the bag over the doll's head so that it protrudes through the slit.
Gather a small amount of viscose hair into a pile that is one centimeter thick. Wind the hair over your index finger to make sure that the hair is evenly placed and that the strands are approximately the same length.
Use a glue syringe to draw an even line across the hair, keeping it wound over your finger.
Place the straight pin over the line of glue and carefully flip it over.
Pinch the hair under the pin to keep it in place. Quickly slide the pin out from under the hair.
Set the hair aside to dry for a few minutes. Open the hair so that it lies flat with a "part" in the middle.
Draw another thin line of glue over the doll's head.
Place the hair onto the head so that the part is on top of the glue line. Let it dry.
Hold one side of the hair up and apply glue to the side of the doll's head. Place the hair back in place and gently pull the ends so that everything's well attached.
Repeat with the other side of the hair. Let the glue dry.
Arrange the hair so that the back of the head is covered.
Paint in the doll's face with acrylic and/or porcelain paints.