How to Make a Cornhusk Doll Family

Cornhusk dolls are an American favorite mentioned in children's literature like the Little House on the Prairie series. They are easy to make and are great projects to connect children with our roots. They also make free playthings. You can create a cornhusk doll family for a doll's house or just for fun. Make clothes for your dolls or leave them natural if you prefer. This is a fun activity for the whole family.

Things You'll Need

• Cornhusks
• String

Instructions

Make cornhusk children

1. Separate green corn husks from the corn cob and work with them to make your cornhusk doll family while they are still green and flexible. After they dry you won't be able to bend and fold them any more because they will be too brittle. However, the dolls will dry and remain in the shape you created for a long time.

2. Start with two long husk leaves. They will each be about 8 inches long as as much as 2 1/2 inches wide. Place them one on top of the other with the veins running in the same direction. Fold the leaves down so that the top meets the bottom with a fold in the middle. About one inch below the fold, pinch the leaves together and tie a piece of string tightly around the pinch. The inch from the fold to the tie is the head of your doll.

3. Take a new leaf. Fold it in half length-wise. Then fold it in half again the other way. Tear another husk leaf into a long piece about 1/4 inch wide. Wind this tightly around the piece you just folded. Tuck the ends into the winding. Leave loose about 1/4 inch at each end for hands. Insert the wound bundle into the opening just below where you tied the string to create your head. The ends should stick out like arms (they are the arms!) perpendicular to the head. Tie another piece of string just below the arms to hold them in place. This completes a cornhusk girl doll.

4. Make a cornhusk boy doll by cutting the skirt in half up to the place you tied the arms to the body. Wind a long thin piece of corn husk around each leg, tucking the ends in like you did to make the arms. Leave feet, about 1/4 inch long at the bottom of each leg. This completes your corn husk boy doll. A variation is to make each child doll like a boy and then sew clothes from scraps of fabric for each doll.

Make adult cornhusk dolls

1. Make the head the same way you made the girl or boy cornhusk doll's head.

2. Fold a cornhusk leaf the long way but do not fold it in half to make the arms. Wind a long thin strip of cornhusk leaf around the arms leaving 1/4 inch hands at each end. Tuck the wound arms just below where you tied off the head. Tie another string tightly just below the arms.

3. Use scissors to cut the cornhusk leaf that extends down from the arms in half length-wise. Take another cornhusk leaf. Fold it vertically and wind it with a long narrow strip of cornhusk for the legs. Make sure to leave room (unwound) for the feet at both ends. Bend the wound piece at the middle. Put the bend against the string you used to tie beneath the arms so that one leg touches each section of the piece you cut. Wind another long strip of cornhusk leaf around the top of each leg so that the section connecting to the top of the doll's body is inside the winding. Do this for both legs. This completes the father doll.

4. Make a mother doll by adding a corn husk skirt. Take 4-6 more cornhusk leaves- the number you need depends on the thickness of the body. Place two or three leaves on the table under the doll. Place the other leaves on top of the doll. Tie a string around the leaves (the doll will be in the middle of the leaves) at the doll's waist. Tie it very tightly. Hold the doll near the feet. Fold down the outer leaves so that they bend back over the string that holds them at the doll's waist. Use another thin piece of cornhusk leaf as a belt to hold the skirt in place. (A variation is to make clothes from fabric scraps.)